School 2 School Support Service update

We commission the School 2 School (S2S) Support Service as part of a range of services we offer to schools and early years settings to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The service provides mainstream settings with support from colleagues in specialist schools, to help them better meet the needs of their children.

The current contract was due to come to an end in July 2024 and we are working with our special schools to reshape the offer to ensure it has the greatest impact for our children and young people.

In the meantime, we have extended the current S2S contract to March 2025, while we work to develop and pilot the new model.

The number of commissioned requests for this two-term period is 50 for early years settings and 85 for mainstream schools, this reflects the proportion of referrals usually actioned by the S2S team across this period.

Reminder of changes to the service for early years settings

We are making some changes to the service for September, to ensure S2S resource is targeted where it is most needed:

• The service has always been and will remain free for early years settings.
• Any setting wishing to discuss a referral should contact their early years adviser via the early year's advice line in the first instance.
• Although we are extending the service for the next two terms, all allocations will be made during the autumn term to allow them to complete the work by the end of the spring term.

Reminder of changes to the service for mainstream schools

We are making some changes to the service for September, to ensure S2S resource is targeted where it is most needed:

• The service will be free for mainstream schools. Mainstream schools previously had to pay £100 for the service.
• Although we are extending the service for the next two terms, all allocations will be made during the autumn term to allow the service to complete the work by the end of the spring term.
• Over the summer the LA has started to identify settings who may benefit from support from the service, particularly Year R, Year 7 transitions and enhanced SEND provisions (ESPs).
• Mainstream schools will continue to benefit from the support of our school and community teams and the extra speech and language support we have developed.

We are also developing new ways of working in zones, so that settings can work better together to support children with SEND in their communities.

All other avenues of support remain open to settings and the new service will be up and running after the spring term to ensure continuation of support.