Education East Sussex SEND Services
Overview
Education East Sussex is a division within East Sussex County Council's Children's Services. They work together with schools and families to deliver excellence and inclusion in education.
Education East Sussex is a combination of previous divisions known as:
- ISEND (Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities); and
- SLES (Schools Standards, Learning and Effectiveness Service).
Education East Sussex offer services that support children and young people with SEND. SEND is a shorter term for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. This page lists these SEND services.
Please note, some of the services below signpost to our directory, on 1Space. These services are contactable via the public. The directory provides their full service information and contact details.
Accessing the services
Access to most of the services on this page is via Education Front Door referrals on Czone. Referrals are usually made by professionals who support children. For example, the Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) in schools and nurseries:
The Education Support, Behaviour and Attendance Service (ESBAS) is no longer running. Older documents on this website may still refer to it.
The East Sussex County Council site has information on school attendance and behaviour:
You can also see our Team Around the School and Setting (TASS) heading. This explains how we are supporting schools with attendance and inclusion.
Assessment and Planning (A&P)
The Assessment and Planning (A&P) team manage Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). This includes the assessment and planning process. Some children and young people (0 to 25) may need an EHCP:
Interim Provision Service (IPS)
The Interim Provision Service (IPS) is an interim teaching service. It is for children and young people:
- between 5-25 years old, and
- with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
Access to teaching support is only via referral from Assessment and Planning (A&P). Referrals and requests for support are not available from:
- Educational settings,
- Parents and carers, or
- Other services or professionals.
SEND Placement Support Service (SEND PSS)
The SEND PSS supports the successful placement of learners in their local mainstream school.
Access to SEND PSS support is only via referral from Assessment and Planning (A&P). This is for a focused piece of work.
Referrals and requests for support are not available from:
- Educational settings
- Parents and carers, and
- Other services or professionals
SEND Post 16 & INMS team
The SEND Post 16 & INMS team work with other teams within the Local Authority. INMS is short for independent and non-maintained schools.
Their main role is to support providers in post 16 and INMS to deliver:
- High quality, and
- Inclusive provision.
This aims to meet the need of all young people in their setting, along with high quality transition. They achieve this via:
- Quality Assurance
- Working close with providers to support continual improvements
The team also oversee the High Needs Funding applications for post 16 provisions. This ensures young people get the funding they need to:
- Access learning, and
- Meet their aspirations.
Children's Disability Service (CDS)
The Children’s Disability Service (CDS) helps children who have:
- a severe and enduring cognitive delay
- a severe learning disability
- low functional abilities
The child may also have physical disabilities.
We assess children up to 18 years old, and their families, for social care support:
Please note, CDS is a part of Children's Social Care.
Early Intervention Service (EIS)
EIS and Early Intervention (EI) workers will work in a team around the child approach. This includes working alongside families and other agencies. They aim to identify what support will work best. They offer families information, advice and guidance about appropriate:
- Mainstream,
- Universal, or
- Targeted resources in the community.
These resources aim to meet their child’s needs.
Where necessary, the EI worker will support families direct to access:
- Services, or
- Funding.
This may be from charities and other sources. This helps to ensure that the disabled child and their family receive timely, coordinated support.
Access to EIS is only via referral from the Children's Disability Service.
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)
PBS is a small team of specialist Positive Behaviour Support practitioners. They form part of the Children’s Disability Service social care team. Positive Behaviour Support is a recognised approach to working with behaviours that challenge. PBS works in a person-centred way. They aim to:
- Promote wellbeing, and
- Ensure the environment suits children’s needs.
Access to PBS is only via referral from the Children's Disability Service.
Communication, Learning, Autism Support Service (CLASS)
Communication, Learning and Autism Support Service (CLASS) offers support, advice and training. We offer this to mainstream schools and academies. We work with other services to support children and young people to access full-time education.
Our staff hold specialist qualifications in:
- Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN), including Autism,
- Specific Learning Difficulties (SLD), and
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
You can find out more about CLASS, on the 1Space directory:
CLASS+ and Spectrum are a part of CLASS.
CLASS+
CLASS+ works across East Sussex to support families / carers of:
- Autistic children and young people, and
- those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
This includes those on the diagnosis pathways.
We provide advice and support that:
- Enables families / carers to develop their knowledge and understanding of Autism and ADHD
- Helps families / carers develop their confidence around supporting their neurodiverse child
- Allows families / carers to build on their child’s strengths, confidence, and self-esteem
This team is part of the CLASS service.
CLASS+ also run sessions throughout East Sussex. They offer:
These sessions allow parents and carers the opportunity to:
- Listen and learn,
- Share questions and ideas, and
- Share experiences with other parents.
Educational Psychology Service (EPS)
The Educational Psychology Service (EPS) works with children & young people aged 0-25 years. This takes place within their educational setting. EPS focuses primarily on the:
- Learning,
- Social, and
- Emotional development of problems.
The work of an educational psychologist can either be:
- Direct with a child
- With a group of children
- Indirect through their work with parents/carers, teachers and other professionals
Indirect work often involves:
- Research
- Training
- Consultation
- Discussion
This helps to clarify the precise nature and requirements of any proposed intervention. This is either at the individual or systems level. Direct work can involve delivering intervention to an individual child or group. It usually involves some form of assessment.
Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing (MHEW) in Education Team
The Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing (MHEW) in Education Team is part of EPS.
The MHEW in Education Team have three Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisors. They offer the following support:
- Helping schools and colleges to develop and put in place whole school approaches to MHEW.
- Ongoing development for school and college staff on a range of mental health themes. This often takes place during INSET days or staff meetings. It enables schools and colleges to identify pupils with mental health problems and to set up appropriate support.
- Help to audit mental health practice and make achievable MHEW action plans.
- Running of events and conferences.
- Sharing good practice and developing resources. This is in response to current mental health themes.
Czone is an East Sussex County Council website for schools. The website has a page on the whole school approach (WSA). The page is aimed at education settings, but parents and carers might also find it useful to read:
Elective Home Education (EHE)
The EHE team fulfil the statutory duties for families that choose to home educate their children.
We provide advice and support to families to:
- enable home educators to provide the best possible education for their child, and
- satisfy the Local Authority’s duty to establish that a child is in receipt of a suitable education.
We work in a variety of ways with families including:
- home visits
- visits in the community
- virtual meetings
- signposting to resources and services
This team is part of the TLP service.
You can also download the East Sussex Elective Home Education Policy (October 2024) Word document.
English as an Additional Language Service (EALS)
We are a team of specialist:
- English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers, and
- Bilingual Support Officers (BSO).
We work with pupils who have English as an additional language. We help them access the curriculum and fully integrate in to school life. We work with pupils from reception and from key stage 1 to 4 (aged 4 to 16).
We have BSOs speaking many of the languages spoken in East Sussex. This includes:
- Arabic,
- Polish,
- Pashto,
- Malayalam,
- Ukrainian,
- Russian,
- Turkish, and
- Portuguese.
If you speak a different language, contact the team to ask if they have a BSO speaking your language.
You can find out more about EALS, on the 1Space directory:
SEND Early Years' Service (SEYS)
The SEND Early Years’ Service (SEYS) supports pre-school aged children with SEND. This may include complex needs that create a barrier to learning and inclusion.
SEYS can provide support if:
- universal and targeted strategies are in place, but
- a child is not making progress
SEYS support children with one or more of the following:
- Severe or profound learning difficulties affecting communication and independence
- Significant developmental delays
- Significant physical delay or disability
- Autism or social communication difficulties that impact on inclusion
- Syndromes and neurological conditions with a lifelong impact on development
- Severe speech, language, and communication difficulties due to the above
SEYS offer advice and training for behavioural difficulties that affect attendance. They also support children who have English as an Additional Language:
Parents and carers can also download the SEND Early Years' Service referral form as a Word document.
Sensory Needs Service (SNS)
SNS provides support to deaf and vision impaired (VI) children and young people (CYP) aged 0 to 25, and their families.
We also provide guidance to:
- Education settings, and
- Other professionals.
The SNS support and promote the inclusion of CYP with VI and deafness in a range of settings. We also have four Deaf Support Facilities (DSF) in East Sussex. These support our highest need pupils:
Sibling Service (Sibs)
The Sibling Service (Sibs) is for children aged 6 to 17 who have a brother or sister with a disability. Sibs provides short breaks and activity days:
Spectrum
Spectrum is a free, county-wide service that helps Autistic children and young people ‘aged 5–18’ to:
- Access activities in their local community,
- Develop their independence, and
- Build confidence.
You can find out more about Spectrum on our directory:
- Find out more about Spectrum on 1Space
- View Spectrum service terms and conditions
- View the Spectrum referral form | East Sussex County Council
This team is part of the CLASS service.
Teaching and Learning Provision (TLP)
TLP provides temporary educational support for children and young people (5-16) who are not able to attend school full-time. This can be because of:
- illness
- pysical health, or
- mental health.
You can find out more about TLP by visiting the 1Space directory:
You can also view the ‘TLP Medical Needs Policy (October 2024)’ PDF.
Elective Home Education (EHE) is a part of TLP.
Team Around the School and Setting (TASS)
The Team Around the School and Setting (TASS) supports East Sussex schools with:
- improving attendance
- increasing inclusive practice
- improving outcomes
Access to TASS support is via schools only. This is for a focused piece of work on whole school practice or specific cohorts of concern. Parents are unable to refer or request support from this service.
Attendance Support Team (AST)
The Attendance Support Team (AST) is part of Team Around the School and Setting (TASS). The Attendance Support Team track attendance data in schools in East Sussex. This helps to identify issues and barriers to attendance early on.
The team will support schools to manage any concerns. They help the school plan individual or group approaches to improve attendance.
The AST work in area-based teams to provide in-school support and advice in:
- Lewes, Coastal and Wealden
- Hastings and Rother
- Eastbourne and Hailsham
The Children's Commissioner for England website has resources for families. This includes a downloadable 'Guide for parents on school attendance'.
Access to AST support is via schools only. This is for a focused piece of work around whole school improvement and specific cohorts. Parents are unable to refer or request support from this service.
Attendance below 50%
The Level 2 Keywork Team works with the AST to improve school attendance. The team is part of the Early Help Service. The Early Help level 2 team support schools with individual referrals. They offer a whole family approach. This aims to address need and overcome barriers. The AST and level 2 team work together to improve school attendance.
They offer support to families with children whose attendance has dropped below 50% for two terms in a row (current and previous).
The team takes a whole family approach. They work with parents, carers and children within the family. The intervention is voluntary.
Please note, this team is a part of Children's Social Care. Referrals are made via school with parent or carer consent.
Inclusion Team
The Inclusion Team is part of Team Around the School and Setting (TASS). Their role is to:
- Work in partnership with other teams from Children's Services.
- Work with the senior leadership team and teachers to develop practice.
- Analyse data to identify training needs and development. This is as part of the school improvement plan.
- Support whole school understanding of inclusion and the links to attendance and exclusion.
- Provide and align in-person or virtual training with school priorities and emerging need.
- Provide advice and coaching for staff.
The Inclusion Team work in area-based teams to provide in-school support and advice in:
- Lewes, Coastal and Wealden
- Hastings and Rother
- Eastbourne and Hailsham
Access to Inclusion support (TASS) is via schools only. This is for:
- a focused piece of work around whole school improvement
- specific cohorts, or
- individuals of concern.
Parents are unable to refer or request support from this service.
Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms
We explain some of the terms used on this website on our page, Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms.