How the ECP Team Supports Children, Young People and Families

We work with 0-25-year-old-children and young people in Sandwell and other parts of the country. We help schools, post-16 settings, families and other professionals in the borough to meet the learning, development and emotional needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

The tiers of support available to schools to support children and young people within Sandwell can be found within our Graduated Approach document which can be found in the downloads section.

Consultation   

We meet with children and young people, parents and carers, and school/post-16 setting staff to jointly build plans of support to ensure the progress of children and young people with SEND.

Organisational Work 

We work with schools, post-16 settings, professionals and other psychologists to support their practice. We aim to develop new and creative ways of working which promote the well-being and emotional health of children and young people and school communities in Sandwell.

Educational and child psychologists also work alongside schools, post-16 settings and local authority staff to support children and young people and families after critical incidents and local emergencies.

Assessment     

We’re committed to using child-centred assessment approaches to understand the strengths and needs of every child and young person with SEND. We place the aspirations, wishes and concerns of CYP and their parents as the centre of our assessment and information gathering process.

Some children and young people with SEND may need additional support through our Education, Health and Care Plan application process.

Leading Research

We are very proud of the wide range of research projects undertaken by our team throughout the year. This research plays a key role in developing practice within the Educational and Child Psychology team, school communities and Local Authority Inclusion Support Service.

See the downloads section for more about our most recent research projects and their role in supporting children, young people and schools/post-16 settings in Sandwell.

Useful Resources

Sandwell’s ‘Preparing for your Future’ Agenda (see download section) is a service-wide commitment to supporting schools, colleges and families to ensure each young person is prepared for their future and adult life from the earliest years.

The resources on this page aim to provide information to parents on this agenda and useful websites that can offer further support.

Alongside this there are practical resources from organisations such as NHS and Black Country Consortium that can support you and your child in preparing for post-16 life can be found.

• My Choices SEND guide (see downloads)
• Ready Steady Go parent plan (see downloads)
• Preparing for Adulthood
• Time to talk next steps
• Connexions Sandwell
• Black Country LEP

Our Working Partners             

At Sandwell, we are extremely lucky to work in multi-disciplinary teams with a wide range of professionals, e.g. advisory teachers, specialist development officers, early years and sensory practitioners.

We are also proud to work alongside the council's Public Health team, the NHS, CCG, West Midlands Police, Youth Justice and Sandwell Children’s Trust.