Local Offer - Specialist Education Support Services

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Education Support Services

Attendance and Pupil Welfare Service

The role of the Attendance and Pupil Welfare Service (APWS) is to:
  • Advise and support families, children and schools to ensure that all children receive an education by regular attendance at school or otherwise
  • Work with home educating families and services to offer support and advice
  • Identify children missing education and ensure their re-engagement with education
  • Ensure that child employment and performance is undertaken within the requirements of the legislation
Tel: 01302 736504 
Email: welfare.service@doncaster.gov.uk

Autism and Social Communication Education and Training Service - ASCETS

ASCETS work with schools, children and their families to support the improvement of learning outcomes particularly where they have autism and social communication needs. ASCETS work primarily with children from the age of 5 years old when they start attending in Y1, up to the age of 25 when young people could still be accessing college. This work is focused on the ways in which we can contribute to the assessment, planning, delivery and review of pupils’ achievement and progress, particularly through SEN support plans or other targeted plans run by schools with pupils and families where there are autism  and social communication needs. Children who are younger than this are supported by the Pre-school Inclusion Team (PSIT) that works with Private, Voluntary and Independent settings as well as maintained nurseries (from September 2016) - this is inclusive of children who may have a diagnosis of autism or social communication needs. Please see the early years offer for SEND for further details on PSIT.

The service supports schools in developing robust provision for pupils with Autism and Social Communication Difficulties through the Doncaster Autism Charter Mark, a set of quality-assured standards which schools can achieve for consistently good or outstanding practice.

ASCETS consists of specialist teachers and  specialist support officers whose work is mainly focused through the ways they can contribute to the support plans run by schools. Please talk to your school about how the ASCETS team might become involved in contributing to your child’s planned support to improve learning outcomes. For a general enquiry about our services please call 01302 734838.

Starting Off

A new parenting workshop called Starting Off was launched in 2018, the workshop has been designed and delivered in partnership between our own ASCETS team and the Autism Spectrum Assessment team at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI).

Starting Off is a free 2 day course designed for parents of children recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The course is available on a monthly basis during term-time. Early evaluations of the workshops have been highly positive, with parents feeling much more confident in their understanding of the implications of an autism diagnosis. The workshops are designed to complement the range of other on-going parent support which ASCETS provide for parents of children with Autism and associated Social Communication Difficulties.

For more information about Autism Parenting support and to book on to a course, please contact call 01302 734838. Alternatively you can speak to the SENCo at your child's school who can make a referral on your behalf. 

Behaviour Outreach Support Service (BOSS)

Our team vision is to enhance and empower the circle of support for Doncaster children, inspiring them to become the best version of themselves.

We work with primary and secondary schools, children and families in an outreach capacity. We work alongside schools to support children & young people who may be experiencing behavioural difficulties or have an unmet or identified social, emotional mental health need (SEMH). 

Our services include:

  • Specialist support advice and guidance to schools specifically around supporting children with behaviour and SEMH needs.
  • Bespoke pieces of work with children to support them in their mainstream setting either as one to one or in a small group capacity.
  • We work collaboratively with families, schools and other agencies to create, monitor and deliver bespoke support plans for children with behaviour or SEMH needs. 
  • Training offer for schools e.g. Midday supervisor training, Keyworker, therapeutic approaches, ACEs etc.
  • Family support which may include direct work with families or delivery of parenting support courses e.g. Family Links.
  • Transition support for children moving through key stages e.g. Year 6 to Year 7.

The service can be accessed by schools referring children for outreach support. If you feel your child may benefit from our services, please contact your school in the first instance.

We also offer open training for schools and other agencies at our office in Bentley  - this can be tailored to meet the needs of the client and offered in-house where necessary.

Educational Psychology Service

The Educational Psychology Service works with children, parents, schools, pre-school providers, other education settings and health and care agencies to apply the principles of the SEN Code of Practice to:

  • help children and young people to improve their learning and to achieve the best they can in life 
  • promote the inclusion of all children and young people in the life of their school and in the local community 

Tel: 01302 737291

SENDIAS Service - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support (formerly SAIDSEND)

Does your child or you have special educational needs and is/are under the age of 25? Our SENDIAS service can provide independent information, guidance and support for parents / carers of children with any level of special educational needs and/or disabilities. We also provide support for young people up to 25 who have disabilities.

The best results can be achieved if parents, carers, teachers and others involved with you or your child can work together to make a difference to your child's education and the lives of young people. We work together with partners to give parents/carers and young people the information you need to achieve the best possible future for you or your children.

Tel: 01302 736920 
Email: sendias@doncaster.gov.uk

Participation and Transition Service

The Participation and Transition Service aims to ensure suitable Post 16 provision and support for young people to continue and progress into learning.

Tel: 01302 862150 
Email: pats@doncaster.gov.uk

Service for Children with a Hearing Impairment (SCHI)

The SCHI (Service for Children with a Hearing Impairment) strives to enable pupils who are Deaf or who have a Hearing Impairment to achieve their true educational potential by providing the highest quality support, to address their learning needs arising as a result of their hearing loss, in partnership with pupils, parents, educational settings, social care and health.

The SCHI will help promote a culture where pupils with a hearing impairment are included in all aspects of school life and are given equal educational opportunities to realise their full potential. 

For further information, advice and guidance visit the website below or alternatively contact Sarah Barton.

Email: sarah.barton@doncaster.gov.uk

Team contacts - HI Service Contacts
HI Referral Form
Download (224KB - DOC)

Equipment care

***Please remember to store & dispose of batteries safely & out of the reach of young children/ those who are vulnerable. (If you suspect or know someone has swallowed a battery, they need to go to A&E straight away).

Audiology

Doncaster Royal Infirmary Children’s Audiology - 

  • Appointment/repair/mould Booking System: 01302 642500
  • Audiology Department/Hearing Aid Batteries: 01302 642763

Sheffield Children’s Audiology only:

Sheffield Children’s Audiology are able offer some limited telephone appointments and provide some postal service – you can contact them via email if you feel it is urgent: sch.audiologyreferrals@nhs.net

For enquiries relating to batteries, hearing aid repairs or ear moulds contact: 07854 089810, Answers to FAQs: www.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk/services/hearing

Charities who support/inform

How (and what) we hear

How to activate subtitles for on-demand videos:

BBC IPlayer, ITV HUB, 4OD, 5 On Demand, Netflix

Product support and equipment

Support for Cochlear Implant Users (instruction books/ videos)

Support for Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) wearers

  • Cochlear Baha 5/ Baha 5 Power/ Baha 4 users (scroll down to find your device) – Cochlear.com
  • Oticon Ponto 3 / Oticon Ponto 4 Baha users (scroll down to find the relevant guide for your BAHA) – Oticon Medical.com
  • Support for Oticon Hearing Aid wearers – Oticon.co.uk

Resources

  • The Listening Room - (website developed by Phonak & Advanced Bionics (AB) which contains free resources and ideas to support deaf children’s spoken language and listening development for all ages)
  • Book Trust - (for some great books which are read aloud. Some have signing included)
  • Nottingham Auditory Implant Programme (NAIP) information 
  • Resources for children with deaf adults - has some good resources to keep your children busy
  • Advanced Bionics listening resources - (supporting all children with a hearing loss – all housed in one webpage which can be accessed by logging in on
  • For Adults and Teens: SoundSuccess, The Listening Room and Musical Atmospheres.
  • For under 5 users: BabyBeats™ program.
  • For school aged children: Listening Adventures, Vocab Scenes and The Listening Room.

Communication approaches

British Sign Language (BSL)

Service for Children with a Visual Impairment (SCVI)

The Service for Children with a Visual Impairment (SCVI) has three main aims:

  • Maximise access to the curriculum
  • Support children, young people and their families to understand and manage their Visual Impairment 
  • Maximise independence in preparation for leaving secondary education 

Contact Information

Amanda Bayley-Sunter (BSc, QTS, QTVI)
Lead Teacher
Doncaster Services for Children with Vision Impairment

Please be aware that this is a term time only service, we will endeavor to respond as soon as possible. 

Consent and Referral Form
Download (222KB - DOC)

School Admissions

If your child has an Education Health and Care Plan and you wish to apply for school admissions, you should contact the Special Educational Needs team.

SEN Service and Frequently Asked Questions from the SEND Code of Practice

The SEN Service aims to provide a range of educational opportunities and additional resources for children with Special Educational Needs to enable the child's needs to be met in an inclusive setting.

Tel: 01302 737210 or 737211 
Email: sen@doncaster.gov.uk

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Last updated: 22 October 2021 16:46:19