SEND Specialist Advice and Support (SEND SAS)
SEND Specialist Advice and Support (SEND SAS) is part of Children’s Services in Hertfordshire County Council. We work throughout Hertfordshire to support children and young people (0-25) with special educational needs and disabilities, their families and schools or settings.
Our team of specialist advisory teachers have additional qualifications and/or expertise in their field and are supported by a team of skilled in their area practitioners. Specialist advisory teachers support the following areas of special educational needs and disabilities:
- sensory impairment (visual, hearing and deafblind),
- physical and neurological impairment,
- autism, social communication and interaction needs
- cognition and learning needs
SEND SAS provides specialist advice, guidance, modelling of strategies and interventions. We also provide a range of training to support the development of classroom strategies and targeted intervention to ensure children and young people have access to learning within their school/setting. Our offer of support includes advice about enabling environments for children and young people with a sensory and/or physical disability to ensure their access and inclusion.
In addition to home visits for our babies and toddlers, we provide specialist groups to support our Early Years children and their parents/carers. The groups are for children with a sensory need.
We have a strong commitment to supporting the wider work of Hertfordshire County Council’s strategic developments, including Local Partnership working with stakeholders to improve outcomes for our children and young people.
In response to national SEND reforms and our commitment to inclusion, SEND SAS is strengthening its early intervention offer to mainstream schools through whole-school approaches. We work collaboratively with school leaders and staff to develop inclusive practice, build workforce confidence and capability, and support the identification and meeting of needs at the earliest opportunity. By promoting effective universal provision and targeted support, we aim to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND and reduce barriers to learning and participation.