8. How do the school get more specialist help for pupils if they need it?

In our school, if we feel a pupil needs more specialist help, we can work with the following people:

Agency or Service	Who they work with	How school can get in touch with them
Educational Psychology Service (EPS)	Children with complex needs and where an application for an Education, Health and Care Plan assessment is made.	School have an allocated Educational Psychologist who the SENCo is in regular contact with. Parental consent is required.
Pupil and School Support Service (PSS)	Children who are working below the expected level or who have cognition and learning difficulties	We have a PSS Teacher who visits regularly. The SENCo will speak with parents if they feel a PSS teacher should work with individual pupils.
Communication Autism Team (CAT)	Children who are being assessed for or already have a diagnosis of autism or social communication difficulties	We have an allocated worker who we can contact after a referral has been made to the team. Parental consent is required.
Physical Disability Support Service (PDSS)	Children with Physical Difficulties which impact on their school access. They also provide training for staff	We have an allocated worker who we can contact after a referral has been made to the team. Parental consent is required.
Sensory Support Service (SSS)	Children who have hearing or visual impairment	Pupils are usually referred following a medical diagnosis; however school can contact them for general advice.
Speech and Language Therapy Service	Children who are having difficulty with speech, language or communication. Children can have an in-depth assessment and intervention where needed	We work with West Midlands Independent Speech and Language Therapy Service. Parental consent is required.
Behaviour Support (COBS)	Children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs.	The City of Birmingham School provides an allocated behaviour specialist who gives advice and works directly with pupils and their teachers. Parental consent is required.
School Nurse	Children with medical needs and their families.	The school nurse visits for a fortnightly drop-in and arranges meetings with parents who have been referred to their service. Parental consent is required. She also works with small groups of children.
School Counsellor	Children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs and their families	Our school counsellor delivers blocks of support to identified children. Parental permission is always sought.