Special Educational Needs & Disability Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS)

About Liverpool & Knowsley SEND IASS

SEND IASS services provide free and confidential impartial information, advice and support to children/young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and their parents/carers. SEND IASS is a statutory service, which mean there has to be one in every local authority. 

SEND IASS were previously known as Parent Partnership. The name changed when the range of services SEND IASS provide expanded to include children and young people from 0-25. SEND IASS also covers other issues related to special educational needs/disability (SEND) such as health and social care issues. 

Liverpool and Knowsley SEND IASS is a combined service for residents of Liverpool and Knowsley and is delivered by WIRED a charity which delivers a variety of services across Wirral, Liverpool, Knowsley and Warrington. 

Liverpool and Knowsley SEND IASS offer:

• Telephone and Email Service
• Information, Advice and Support for parents/carers, and young people with SEND.
• Written information about Special Educational Needs (SEN)
• Information sessions for parents and carers
• Information, Advice and Support relating to School Admissions & Appeals, Education, Health and Care plans (EHCP), Tribunals, Disability Discrimination, SEN Support, Transport, Exclusions and Post-16. 

 

How does the Service work?

• Any child or young person with special educational needs or a disability or their parent or carer who needs help regarding their own or their child’s education and related health and social care issues can contact us. 
• We offer information, advice and support over the telephone and by email,. If you contact us by telephone please leave a message clearly stating your name, number and a brief description of your concern. A member of staff will contact you within five working days to discuss your circumstances. 
• We also offer self-advocacy support, this means help with speaking up at meetings, and support at SEND IASS office to complete forms. This service is available for those families that need it most. 

What do we do to help?

• We provide full, accurate information on your rights, roles and responsibilities within the SEND process. We can explain how support for SEND is organised and help you to find your way through the systems.
• We give you information about the range of options available to you so that you can contribute to the decisions made about your child’s education.
• We have links with parents’ groups and voluntary organisations as well as other services, so we can point you towards other sources of help and support. We also have links with forums that services use to consult parents when planning to change or develop the services they offer.
• We work to the national standards set out for Information, Advice and Support Services in the SEND Code of Practice (2015).

We also have a dedicated Children and Young Person's worker for those that might want to access our service without their parents or carers involvement. This service is confidential, drop us an email or give us a call if you would like to know more about this.