SEND training guide for professionals

This is a guide for practitioners working with children and young people with SEND, and their families, to find additional training and increase your knowledge of SEND.

For a professionals' guide to the support available for families, see the SEN support guide, which was co-produced to help all practitioners identify how conditions affect children and how to access support with or without a diagnosis.

Essential reading

Essential reading, includes the SEND code of practice statutory duties, and related documentation for relevant sector, including Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - local offer.

Council for Disabled Children

Training catalogue from Council for Disabled Children includes:

• Level 1 SEND Basic Awareness

• Level 2 SEND Basic Awareness

• Information, Advice and support

• Holistic outcomes in EHCP's

• Expert parent programme

• Ordinarily available provision: Thresholds and expectations of schools and settings

• Social care and SEND

• Focus on Health advice

• The role of CAMHS in the EHCP Process

• Decisions, capacity and an introduction to Liberty Protection Safeguards

• Delivering quality annual reviews

Disability Matters

Disability Matters Hub is a free eLearning resource for the UK workforce.

It consists of three programmes:

• Disability Matters: all Disability Matters eLearning sessions

• Disability Matters Learning Packages: eLearning sessions that have been grouped together to meet particular learning needs.

• Disability Matters Resources: Face-to-face training resource packs

Early help training

Early help training for practitioners provides free multi-agency training for all professionals working with children, and families in Lancashire with SEND workshops planned for 2024.

NSPCC

Supporting children who have additional needs and disabilities (NSPCC Learning) provides resources, information and guidance to help you protect children and young people who have additional needs and disabilities.

The following websites provide information, advice and resources about autism and supporting autistic children and young people:

Autism Unlocked -  videos, blogs and podcasts made with people who experience autism every day, whether that be an autistic individual, a parent of an autistic child, or a clinician who specialises in autism. Created by Clinical Partners with NHS Lancashire and Cumbria.

Autistic and OK (Ambitious About Autism) - this programme and toolkit is designed to help prevent autistic secondary school pupils from reaching crisis point with their mental health and includes a staff training module and resources.

Know Your Normal (Ambitious about Autism) - resources for autistic pupils, teachers, and parent carers. It includes materials for autistic students in years 10 and above to run peer-led sessions on mental health and wellbeing for younger autistic pupils.

Autism Support Specialists Lancashire - Reachout ASC provide information, training, and resources including articles for professionals and parent carers.

Elearning for healthcare provide free autism awareness, Keyworking and Oliver McGowan Training even if you do not work for an NHS organisation or do not have an NHS email address. You'll need to register with the elfh Hub.

Inclusion / SEND training to be embedded within current training programmes, dependent on area of work.

Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA)

Lancashire Educational Psychology Service has developed emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) guidance and training to help the workforce in supporting young people experiencing emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA).

There is accompanying EBSA parental guidance, school anxiety and school avoidance, on the SEND local offer.

Trauma

Children may as a result of attachment, trauma or sensory needs exhibit emotional distress. Children may not be engaging in their learning or may be exhibiting challenging behaviour. Babies and young children are very vulnerable to trauma as they can't protect themselves or understand what is happening.

The Virtual School has provided some information about attachment, trauma or sensory needs.

The Trauma Informed Lancashire website has information and resources for practitioners about trauma informed practice and to support public and third sector services in becoming trauma informed.

Autism and learning disabilities

The Skills for Health website includes core capabilities frameworks for supporting autistic people and/or people with a learning disability, relevant to those working in any sector and all staff working across health and social care.

Specific and appropriate to particular professional groups.

Inclusive practice

National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi): access a range of research, resources and publications about inclusion from this independent, not-for-profit organisation.

SEND law

Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA) is a charity that offers free and independent legal advice and support to families of children and young people with SEND. They also provide training on the SEND legal framework.

Early identification of needs

Completion of the early notification of SEND form (DOCX 106 KB) means that the LA is aware of children with SEND and can ensure they have access to the right support to be able to access early years education.

The Early Years SEND Request for Involvement notification form should be completed by a health or education professional, alongside parents or carers.

The Early Years SENCo Handbook 2022 is a suite of documents developed by Lancashire Specialist Teaching Service to support practitioners working in early years' settings.

The SEN support guide for professionals provides help for all practitioners and providers to identify how conditions can affect children and young people, and how they can access support with or without a diagnosis.

Complex needs

The NHS Long Term Plan includes a commitment that ‘by 2023/24 children and young people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic, with the most complex needs and at risk of mental health hospital admission or are in inpatient settings, will have a designated children and young people keyworker (NHS England).

Preparation for adulthood

Information and guidance for young people and adulthood prepares young people moving from children’s services to adult services.

Education, health, and care plans

EHC plans and annual reviews webpages provide information for professionals.

Annual reviews occur annually for those over 5 and every 6 months for those under 5. Often, they won't require SEND Team, Educational Psychology or Specialist Teacher representation. The SEND Team and Educational Psychologist will make a judgement on their attendance based on the pre-review paperwork and this would usually be when there is evidence of a significant change to the young person's needs and provision.

Early years practitioners

Deaf or deaf (D/deaf) children

Deaf babies and children encounter specific hurdles in communication and language that influence their relationships, learning, and overall well-being. The Anna Freud Deafness and me toolkit aims to build understanding of the barriers that deaf children may experience and provide information and activities that can build positive mental health. The term ‘deaf’ is being used to refer to all types of hearing loss from mild to profound.

Local authority partners

Course centre - Blackburn with Darwen Learning (melearning.university)

• Safeguarding Children with Disabilities

• Epilepsy Awareness

• Autism Awareness

• Disability Awareness

• Dysphagia Awareness

• Positive Mental Health Awareness

• LGBTQ+ Awareness

• 7 minute Briefings – various

• Care Certificate Standard 9 - Mental Health, Dementia and Learning Disability (Awareness)

• Early Years SEND - How to assess using the Development Journal

• Early Years SEND - Makaton Level 1 and 2 Course 

• Education Health and Care Plan

Lancashire County Council

Course library - Blue LMS (melearning.university)

• Autism Awareness 

• Mental Capacity Act

Astute LXP (astute-elearning.com)

• Suicide awareness

• Deaf Awareness

• Sight loss Awareness

Inclusion / SEND to be embedded within current training programmes, dependent on area of work.

Education providers

The Virtual School provide fully funded training for schools and settings in Lancashire on attachment and trauma.

Local authority partners

Course centre - Blackburn with Darwen Learning (melearning.university) 

• Equality Diversity and Inclusion

• Care Certificate Standard 4 - Equality and Diversity

Health and Social Care

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism for health and social care staff provides training to help them understand people who have a learning disability and autistic people. The government made the training a requirement for CQC registered service providers to ensure the health and social care workforce have the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate, and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability. This requirement is set out in the Health and Care Act 2022.

Specific and appropriate to particular professional groups.

Health partners

Keyworking (elearning for healthcare) has been developed to support NHS England to implement Keyworking services for children and young people with a learning disability and autistic children and young people. Keyworking services will support children and young people who are at risk of admission, or have been admitted to a mental health hospital, and their families.

Education providers

Education workforce development provides information for professionals working in early years settings, schools, and further education colleges.

The support reference guide.

Schools are expected to make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND. Area SEND Inspection support for staff.

LPDS STS SENDCo Seminar training.

Lancashire Emotional Health in Schools and Colleges training - training and support from LEHSS is free for anyone employed by a school or college in the Lancashire County Council area. To help meet the learning needs in your setting around mental health, we offer Universal, Targeted and Specialist support.

Autism in Schools / Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS)

The Autism in Schools project has shown how schools can provide positive environments and support for autistic pupils. Autism in Schools also encourages schools to work in partnership with SEND families, creating opportunities for parent carers to come together, to provide support to each other, share information and to co-produce solutions to any issues identified.

Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) will bring health and education specialists and expert parent carers into mainstream primary settings to:

• Help shape whole school SEND provision.

• Provide early interventions at a school level.

• Upskill school staff.

• Support strengthening of partnerships between schools and parent carers.

Social Care

Social Care Academy

Learning packages available include:

• Children with ADHD

• Mental Capacity Act and DoLS for Children's Services

• Autism for Children's Residential services

• Supporting Children with Physical Disabilities

• Health and Safety in Relation to Children with Disabilities

• Understanding How Autism Affects Children's Behaviours

• Mental Health in Children and How to Support Them

• Developing Communication with Children and Young People with SEND

Local authority partners

Course centre - Blackburn with Darwen Learning (melearning.university)

• Adverse Childhood Experiences

• Education Health and Care Plan

• Mental Capacity Act

• Eating Disorders

• Understanding Behaviour of Children and Young People

• Suicide Prevention

• Managing Continence

• Managing Stoma Care

Specialist continuing professional development relevant to role.

Education providers

Specialist training providers

Education providers can access specialist training from:

• The SEND Specialist Teaching Service

• Lancashire Professional Development Service (LPDS)

Fire safety and other safety themes

Lancashire Fire and Rescue offer sessions tailored especially for people with SEND. Visit the website to book a session and access the SENDSafe toolkit of activities for people with SEND to learn about both fire safety and other safety themes.