Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service
Last updated: 08/02/2023
Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service work in partnership with schools and families for children who are deaf, vision and multi-sensory impaired to enable them to have good outcomes and a positive future.
Who to contact
- Contact Name
- Jane Peters
- Contact Position
- Head of Service
- Telephone
-
01628 796786
07887 540921 -
Jane.peters@achievingforchildren.org.uk
- Website
- https://berkshiresensoryconsortium.co.uk
- https://www.facebook.com/berksscs/
Where to go
- Name
- Town Hall
- Address
-
St Ives Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire - Postcode
- SL6 1RF
Time / Date Details
- When is it on
- Open term time Monday to Friday 8.45 - 5.15
- Session Information
-
Our pre-school groups are a great way to meet the SCS team
families and other children who are deaf /hard of hearing or have a vision or multisensory impairment . For more information please visit our website https://www.berkshiresensoryconsortium.co.uk/chatty-monkeys-and-busy-bees/
Other Details
Costs
- Details
- The Service does not make any charge to parents.
Independent schools can access the service but are charged for this provision. Colleges and 16+ provisions would access the service via Inclusion Premium funding arrangements between the colleges or local authorities and the service
Availability
- Age Ranges
- Referral required
- Yes
- Referral Details
Pre-school children and young people are referred by the Ophthalmology or Audiology Health Service. School age children and young people are referred by their school following a diagnosis by Ophthalmology or Audiology that confirms a vision or hearing loss that meets the agreed medical assessment criteria for referral which would indicate that the impairment is likely to affect access to learning opportunities.
- Other notes
The Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service works with children and young people attending school and residents in the Berkshire Unitary Authorities who have educational needs arising from a diagnosed hearing loss or, vision or multi-sensory impairment. Specialist teachers, paediatric habilitation specialists, educational audiologists and specialist teaching assistants provide a key worker service for pre-school children, pre-school groups, parent workshops and provide advice, teaching and training for pupils, parents and schools.
Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service is hosted by Achieving for Children on behalf of Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) as part of the Berkshire Joint Arrangement between RBWM, Slough, Bracknell Forest, Wokingham, Reading and West Berkshire Local Authorities.
- Related links
-
How to Refer
Inclusion Information
Dietary Needs
- Has Provision
- No
Local Offer
- Description
The Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service works with children and young people up to the age of 19 attending school and resident in the Berkshire Unitary Authorities who have educational needs arising from a diagnosed hearing loss/deafness &/or vision or multi-sensory impairment.
Specialist teachers, paediatric habilitation specialists, educational audiologists and specialist teaching assistants provide a key worker service for pre-school children, pre-school groups, parent workshops and provide advice, teaching and training for pupils, parents and schools.
We loan specialist equipment to schools for children resident and attending schools in the Berkshire local authorities who are on our caseload and whose needs are not met via the Education, Health and Care Plans or high needs funding from their resident local authority.Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service is hosted by Achieving for Children on behalf of Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) as part of the Berkshire Joint Arrangement between RBWM, Slough, Bracknell Forest, Wokingham, Reading and West Berkshire Local Authorities.
- Contact Name
- Jane Peters
- Contact Telephone
- 01628 796786
- Contact Email
- Jane.peters@achievingforchildren.org.uk
- Links
-
AfC RBWM Local Offier
- SEN Provision Type
- Hearing Impairment, Visual Impairment
- Local Offer Age Bands
-
0 to 1
1 to 4
5 to 7
7 to 11
12 to 14
15 to 16
16 to 18
19 plus - Needs Level
- High
- Medium
- Low
General Provider
Referral to the service would need to be supported by a clinical diagnosis of a vision impairment, hearing loss or multi-sensory impairment that indicated a mild to profound loss not correctable by use of glasses. The service would then make an assessment of the needs of the child or young person including using the National Sensory Impairment Partnership Eligibility Criteria and provide written recommendations which would include adding on to the service caseload where appropriate.
Referral to the service would need to be supported by a clinical diagnosis of deafness/hearing loss and/or vision, multi-sensory impairment that indicated a mild to profound loss not correctable by use of glasses. The service would then make an assessment of the needs of the child or young person including using the National Sensory Impairment Partnership Eligibility Criteria and provide written recommendations which would include adding on to the service caseload where appropriate.
Hearing loss: we expect to make contact within 24 hours from receipt of a referral for a pre-school child and 5 days for a school age referral during school term times. We make contact with families of children diagnosed with a hearing loss through Newborn Hearing Screening within 24 hours of diagnosis during school holidays.
Vision impairment: We expect to make contact within 24 hours from receipt of a referral and 5 days for a school aged referral. The response to referrals is primarily during school term times although we provide some additional cover during the summer holidays so that a blind diagnosis will be followed by a visit before the beginning of a new academic year.
Multi-sensory impairment: We expect to make contact within 24 hours from receipt of a referral and 5 days for a school aged referral during school term times, once a child has been confirmed as having impairments of both their senses of hearing and vision.
All referrals will be followed by an assessment to be completed within 6 weeks of referral during school terms and receipt of relevant provision is made immediately following.
The Service does not make any charge to parents.
Independent schools can access the service but are charged for this provision. Colleges and 16+ provisions would access the service via top-up funding arrangements between the colleges or local authorities and the service
Compliments and complaints can be directed to
- Your allocated specialist teacher
- Vision Impairment - Team Lead: jean.weiss@achievingforchildren.org.uk
- Qualified Teacher of the Deaf - Team Leader: gail.ditchfield@achievingforchildren.org.uk
- Head of Service: jane.peters@achievingforchildren.org.uk
We follow the Achieving for Children complaints procedure which can be found here: https://rbwm.afcinfo.org.uk/pages/local-offer/information-and-advice/find-out-more-about-the-local-offer/raising-concerns-and-complaints-about-achieving-for-children
All staff have additional qualifications for working with children and young people with a sensory impairment. We undertake regular reviews of staff performance and report and evaluate the outcomes we achieve with children and young people on our caseload against national attainment data. All staff are vetted and meet the requirements of Local Authority employment regulations for working with children and young people.
Quality checks
- DBS check
West Berkshire Council do not promote or endorse any of the services listed in this Directory. For more information on this please read our disclaimer.