What is the SEND Local Offer?

What is the SEND Local Offer?

The SEND Local Offer brings together helpful and useful information for children and young people with SEND, from birth to 25 years, and their families. The information is all contained within one website, which will enable you to search for services and within your own community and Nottinghamshire as a whole. This will cover public services that are available within:

• Education: e.g. nurseries, playgroups, schools and colleges as well as support services like educational psychologists, early years and early intervention services
• Health:  e.g. GPs, school nurses, therapists and mental health support
• Social care: e.g. respite services and children’s disability services

It will also enable you to find out what support and services are available in the voluntary and private sectors, for example from charities and disability groups.

As well as containing many records of different services, the SEND Local Offer is a really useful source of information, advice and guidance. For example, you can find information on Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans, support for special educational needs in schools and preparing for adulthood.

Click here for the SEND Local Offer leaflet

The Young Peoples Zone

If you’re under the age of 25, have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and live anywhere in Nottinghamshire, we have a Young People's Zone designed for you. 

Find information on:

• Education
• Health
• Relationships
• Interests
• Housing
• Money
• Work

Click here for the Young People's Zone leaflet

You can access the SEND Local Offer in the following ways:

• The SEND Local Offer can be accessed through smart phones, tablets and laptops/desktops. Just type 'Notts Local Offer' in to a search engine such as Google or type www.nottinghamshire.sendlocaloffer.org.uk in to your web browser

• Nottinghamshire County Council’s Customer Services Team will be able to provide details of the information contained within the SEND Local Offer to those without easy access to the internet

• Pop into you Local library in Nottinghamshire to access the SEND Local Offer on a public computer or telephone: 01623 677 200 or email: ask@inspireculture.org.uk

There are tools available on the SEND Local Offer, which will enable you to adapt the website to your specific needs: 

Accessibility Menu Option

If you look at the menu options at the top of the page you will see an 'Accessibility' option that can enable you to choose the text size and to choose a colour theme including different contrast as you use the site. 

Google Translate

Google Translator provides an easy way to translate web pages into a variety of languages. Simply select the language required from the drop down list. 

Reach Deck Toolbar

ReachDeck reads website content out loud, highlighting each word as it is spoken in a high quality, human-sounding voice. ReachDeck helps website visitors who require online reading support and those who simply prefer to listen to information instead of reading it. ReachDeck is particularly useful for those with print disabilities such as dyslexia or mild visual impairments and those with English as a second language.

Features include:

• Secure Site Reading
• International Languages
• Talking Translator  
• Text Magnification  
• MP3 Maker  
• PDF Reading
• Screen Masking  

To find out how to use ReachDeck (formerly BrowseAloud) you can watch the following video:

You can search for information on the SEND Local Offer in the following ways:

Search Bar

You can search the site by typing in to the search bar at the top of the page. For example, if you are looking for 'swimming clubs' you can type this in to the search bar. You can then click in to the individual records of those services for further information on what they offer.

Tiles

There are six tiles on the home that look like apps:

• Education
• Health and Social Care
• Developing Indepdence, Employment and Training
• Getting Around
• Things to Do
• Short Breaks

Just click in to any one of these tiles to find out information relating to that category. You will find sub-categories within these tiles with relevant information and services.

Filters

You can narrow down search results by clicking in to the filters. There are a number of different filters, which can be ticked either individually or in combination. These include searching by:

• age range
• area
• post code
• type of need

The SEND Local Offer is intended for you and should be shaped by you. There are various ways that you feedback on your experience of the SEND Local Offer and also on provider services that you have accessed:

• If you have comments or feedback you want to give us on what is or isn’t included then please e-mail us at local.offer@nottscc.gov.uk

• As well as telling us how we can improve the content of the SEND Local Offer, we also want to know how easy you find the site to navigate and search; what you did like, what weren’t you so keen on? You can do this by clicking on the 'Feedback' tab, which displays on the right side of pages

• The site also features a ‘rate and review’ facility. This is intended to work like ‘Trip Adviser’ and enables you to give star ratings and provide comment/feedback on specific services or provision that you or your family have accessed. You will need to sign in and register to be able to leave a review. You can find a link to do this in the 'Reviews' drop down on service provider records. 

You Said, We Did

The SEND Local Offer is and will continue to be a ‘work-in-progress’. We will continue to modify, expand and develop our offer in response to the feedback we receive from you and as we become aware of other services and provision, which need to be included. The 'You Said, We Did' section of the SEND Local Offer provides details on how the site is being developed in response to feedback that is received.

For further information on how we work together with parents/carers, children and young people to produce information and services, please go to the 'Co-Production' section.

Nottinghamshire's SEND Local Offer

To find out more about Nottinghamshire's SEND Local Offer you can read the SEND Local Offer leaflet.

Council for Disabled Children Video

Watch the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) video, which provides information about what a Local Offer is. 

Parent/Carer Guides

The Department for Education has produced a Guide for Parents/Carers to the new reforms which are changing the ways in which children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities are supported.

Children and Young People's Guides

The Department for Education has produced a Young Person's Guide to the Children and Families Act 2014, which is changing the ways in which children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities are supported.

Mencap have published an Easy Read Guide to the changes for children and young people. 

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspect local areas together to see how effectively they fulfil their responsibilities for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities, which includes the Local Offer. Nottinghamshire was last inspected in June 2016. You can find out more on the Government website.