Ivel and Chiltern 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.

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.

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.

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.

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