Ivel and Chiltern Outreach Service

What is the Special School Outreach Service?

• We work collaboratively with mainstream schools and alternative resource provisions in Central Bedfordshire to build capacity and confidence in meeting the needs of a wider range of children and young people with SEND. This includes autistic pupils/students, those with challenges in cognition and learning, and those with similar needs who are undiagnosed at the time of referral.
• We aim to support schools in meeting the needs of children/young people in Year 1 to Year 11 with more complex educational needs who require support beyond the Universal level.
• We will also work with pupils in Reception who have an EHCP.
• This is a school-based service, providing support to mainstream schools.   Support may include observation of the child/young person, meeting with the child/young person, meetings with SENCo/teaching staff, meeting with family and written recommendations/advice.
• The north of the locality is covered by the Ivel Valley outreach team; the south of the locality is covered by the Chiltern outreach team.

How do schools refer?

• Before making a referral, SENCos should access our SEND toolkit
• The school needs to provide evidence of at least two cycles of the Assess/Plan/Do/Review process, examples of documents for this purpose are a SEND Support Plan, an Individual Education Plan (IEP), Provision Map or equivalent to evidence implementation and impact of schools’ universal level strategies before targeted support is advised.
• The schools submit their referrals via the Central Bedfordshire Single Referral Pathway.  Each area special school can accept up to fifty referrals per term.  

What happens once a referral is received?

• Initial contact will be made with the school within five working days.
• If a referral is received without sufficient evidence of implementation of appropriate strategies and reflection on the impact of the strategies, schools may be asked to provide further evidence.
• If the Special School Outreach Service is not deemed to be the most appropriate to offer support, the referral may be redirected to the relevant agency.

 What happens once a referral is accepted?

• The outreach team will arrange a visit within six school-working weeks of receiving the referral.
• They will make one or two dedicated visits to the school setting, depending on the complexity of the case.
• The support will be concluded with a written summary of recommendations, completed within fifteen school-working days of the last visit. Schools will be expected to share the reports with families.
• The consultations are aimed at raising confidence and capacity in schools to meet the needs of pupils/students with SEND.
• Schools will be asked to complete an evaluation form to monitor quality.