News and FAQs (SEND and the Local Offer)

What is the Local Offer?

The Local Offer brings together a wealth of information from social care, health, education and other services about the support they are expected to offer to children and young people aged 0-25 years with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), including those who do not have an Education, Health and Care Plan, and how to access those services.

 The Local Offer has two key purposes:

• To provide clear, comprehensive and accessible information about services available

• To ensure local services involve and listen to children and young people in Buckinghamshire with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and their parents and carers when they develop and review their services.

The Local Offer has been developed in conjunction with children and young people, parents, carers and local services. 

This video made by young people in Buckinghamshire explains what the Local Offer means to them.

The Local Offer Briefing Note provides further detailed information about the Local Offer.

The Local Offer Presentation gives an overview of the Buckinghamshire Local Offer for professionals.

How is the Local Offer kept up to date?

Services and organisations can keep their records up to date at any time. We have a dedicated Local Offer Information Officer who works with teams and services to regularly review the information pages, and check for broken links and accessibility criteria. Our Local Offer Advisory Group has representatives from different services including FACT Bucks and meets every term to review different areas of the Local Offer. We work closely with the SEND Youth Forum so they can share their views on things to improve. You can have your say by sending us your feedback.

What should I do if I am unhappy with a school?

If you are unhappy with a school you should raise your concern directly with that school and follow their own process for making a complaint.

Find out about what you can do if you are not happy with a decision made by the Council.

Where can I find activities for young people?

Find out about activities for children and young people with SEND. 

You can use filters to narrow your search by age, location, type of activity, time of week, etc.

Watch videos about local activities made by young people.

If you know about clubs and activities that aren’t listed on our website, let us know!

How can I get my child tested for dyslexia?

There are a number of ways to get your child assessed. The British Dyslexia Association can provide resources and professionals who can make formal assessments.  Many schools have specialist teachers qualified to undertake formal dyslexia assessments.  It’s always worth discussing with a local SENCO to see if they can find out more about locally qualified assessors.  Bucks Educational Psychology Service does not routinely undertake ‘dyslexia assessments’, but the service will, as part of its work, assess any specific learning difficulties a child or young person may present with.

Does an early years setting have to take disabled children?

An early years setting cannot refuse to admit a child aged under five years who has a disability, if the reason is related to the disability.  Such action could amount to discrimination under the Equality Act.

For a child with an EHC plan, there is a difference between maintained nurseries and private, voluntary and independent provision. A maintained nursery can be named in an EHC plan and if it is, the nursery must admit that child. For private voluntary and independent provision, the local authority can ask the provider if they are willing to admit that child. The provider can say no.

What happens where a four year old isn’t toilet-trained?  Will they be allowed to go to school?

Most children are toilet-trained by the time they start school but there are a small number who are not.  All schools must admit these children and work with the family to help the child develop this skill.  The school might need to make reasonable adjustments to their teaching and support programme, and they might liaise with the health visitor, depending on the child’s needs.