This page tells you about Northumberland schools and what support can be offered for learners with Special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
Click here for a list of all Northumberland schools. . Other specialist schools for learners with SEND in the North East include: Ashbrooke House School Castle School (Part of the Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust) GUST Harbour Schools Group Kirby Moor Northumberland College Parkside House School Percy Hedley Northern Counties Hedleys Foundation Nunnykirk School Thornhill School Kyloe House School (part of Kyloe House childrens home)
Parents and young people need to contact the Northumberland mediation service before taking their concerns to a SEND Tribunal.
Mediation aims to resolve disputes by involving an impartial third party.
In Northumberland the mediation service is provided by Barnardo’s Disability and Inclusion Support Service (DIAS). You can access this service by speaking to your Local Authority (LA) Officer, contacting the Information Advice and Support Service, or contacting Barnardo’s DAIS Service directly at 20 Bewick Road, Gateshead, NE8 4DP. Telephone 0191 4784667. Email: daismediationservices@barnardos.org.uk
Families are required to obtain a certificate either once they have information about mediation or following mediation.
You must have this certificate if you wish to lodge an appeal. Taking part in the mediation process does not affect your right, subsequently, to appeal to the tribunal.
What is the National Trial?
The government are extending the powers of the SEND Tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care aspects of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans as part of a two-year trial. The trial will apply to decisions made on EHC plans issued/amended from 3 April 2018. The important thing to understand is that you cannot go to a SEND Tribunal if you don't have an education complaint. The trial gives you new rights to request recommendations about the health and social care needs and provision specificied in EHC plans, in addition to the educational aspects, when making a SEND appeal. What does this mean for parents and young people?
This gives families a "one stop shop" (or single route of redress) where they can seek redress for concerns in an EHC plan. The tribunal can make "non-binding" recommendations about health and social care provision in EHC plans. This means that the law does not require health and social care commissioners to follow the judgements. Although the judgements are non-binding, the local authority and health care commissioners are expected to follow them and because they are recommendations from a specialist tribunal, they cannot be rejected lightly. The health or social care commissioner must write to the family and the local authority within five weeks to tell them if they are going to follow the recommendations or not. If they are, then they need to explain the actions they are going to take. However, if they decide not to follow the tribunal judgement, they must explain why they are not following the tribunal’s recommendations. In these instances, you can still take your case to the relevant ombudsman (for social care or for health) and / or judicial review as you can now. What happens once the SEND National Trial ends?
The government are trialling this new process for two years. At the end of the period, they will assess how well it has worked and make a decision whether the new tribunal recommendation powers should continue after March 2021. IFF Research will be contacting parents and young people who have been through the trial to find out about their experiences. They will be gathering evidence to help the government make this decision. More information can be found at:
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