Local Offer

Experience of including people with special educational needs and disabilities

There are two parts to the CISS core offer, which are:

Inclusion Support Meetings

For very early intervention, CISS holds Inclusion Support Meetings every half term: an opportunity for a member of school staff to consult a CISS teacher about effective strategies to manage pupils and/or any general whole school inclusion issues. Within an Inclusion Support Meeting, a CISS teacher will be able to give advice and guidance, recommend resources, discuss tailored training under the CISS traded offer and signpost appropriately to other agencies. This is an anonymised process but, in line with good practice, CISS will expect that schools will have consulted with parents/carers prior to joining an Inclusion Support Meeting. Meetings are held via Microsoft Teams or telephone. A face-to-face consultation can be purchased, if preferred.

CISS caseload 

This forms the other part of the core offer. Where there is clear evidence that, despite 2 cycles of assess, plan, do, review, there is still cause for concern around the pupil's attendance, safety and/or engagement in school and learning, and so there is a need for more specialist support to help the pupil, then a referral can be made directly to the service from a school. If the referral is accepted, the pupil becomes 'open' to CISS.

CISS is a service that's delivered in school, but all practitioners appreciate that having parents on board is essential to any involvement. Schools only make referrals to CISS with parental consent, which is shown by a parental signature on the referral form.

If the referral is accepted, then parent/carers can expect initial meetings to be held between CISS, parents/carers and the school to help gather more information. Following this, an Inclusion Plan will then be co-produced and a review date set. Schools should send a copy of the plan to parents/carers. Schools may be in contact with CISS in between the planning meeting and the review meeting and CISS may provide additional advice and guidance. The Plan will be updated and schools should send this to parents/carers. Regular reviews are held to which parents/carers are invited, whilst the pupil is classed as 'open'. Schools should send a copy of the review and new plan, if produced, to parents/carers. When the pupil has made sufficient progress against the CISS core offer progress statements, the referral is closed. Schools may re-refer at any point, should further input be needed. Whilst 'open', input from CISS varies according to the needs of the pupil. 

 

Conditions Supported

Autistic spectrum conditions
Communication difficulties
Learning difficulties
Mental health conditions