Wakefield Early Support Advice Information Liaison (WESAIL) is available to parents and carers of a child or a young person, who has, or may have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) aged 0-25 years who are living within the Wakefield District.
This service is also available to young people themselves and those working with families.
Wakefield Early Support, Advice,Information and Liaison (WESAIL) provides a free, confidetial and impartial service - which means we do not take sides and try to ensure everyone is given opporunities to express their views and feel listened to.
WESAIL provide information, advice, support and signposting according to need by either by telephone or where needed on an individual or targeted basis or through events and workshops. We share details of events on the Local Offer, our facebook page and provide information through the Information Network.
WESAIL offers information covering a range of matters relating to Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) including education, health, social care, personalisation, personal budgets along with benefits and leisure.
The aim of the WESAIL service is to support children, young people, their parents, carers and families by providing information to navigate systems and processes so that they can play an active role in decision making about matters relating to their or their children's health, education, social care to support and empower them in meeting their child's needs and promoting self-advocacy.
Referrals for support can be made by telephone or directly to the service by either
WESAIL is also responsible for updating the Local Offer and engaging with children, young people, families and stakeholders in its ongoing development and review. The aim of the local Offer is to help people easily find information about the services, activities and supportavailable in the local area for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and /or Disabilities and their families.
You can contact us directly Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm by telephone or email.
Please note we do not offer appointments at our stated office address.
WESAIL Parent/Carer Training places on the workshops, included in the brochure below, can be booked using Eventbright.
Please type in “wesail” in the search box to view all the workshops available and select the one you are interested in. You then need to click on the green “register” button which takes you to a brief online booking form.
Confirmation of your booking will then be emailed to you, along with a reminder of the details nearer to the date of the event.
Please do not hesitate to contact us on 01924 304152 if you require any assistance or have any queries.
WESAIL Workshop Brochure 2018-19 - updated
To find out about our policies on how we may use your details, our service and what to do it you have a complaint about WESAIL, please see the policies listed below.
WESAIL SENDIASS Impartiality Policy
Your Data Your Rights Privacy Notice
Your Data Your Rights WESAIL Service Specfic Information - February 2019
The new Minimum Standards for Information Advice and Support Services (IASS, sometimes known as SENDIASS) were finalised in September 2018. These are part of the Information Advice and Support Programme (IASP) and will be the basis of future operational plans and linked funding in 2019/20.
The standards were drawn up by a group of IASS managers, parents, Local Authority representatives and the chair of the IASP board, in consultation with the Department for Education. They are based on the law, the SEND Code of Practice and the IASS Quality Standards (which they now supercede). The consultation process received feedback from IAS Services, LA staff, third sector organisations, health services and parents.
We use the term ‘advocacy’ in these standards, and we are using a definition of advocacy which we think accurately describes the work and role of IASS.
An easy read version of the standards is available to download below.
IASS Minimum Standards - Easy Read VersionYou can find out more information about a range of SEND topics by downloading the documents included here.
We will be adding more useful handouts to this section over time.
If there are any key topics you think should be included, please click on the Feedback button at the bottom of the page and let us know.
Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs)
SENDIASS Handout - Disagree about SEN Provision
SENDIASS Handout - Going to Meetings
SENDIASS Handout - Personal Budgets for SENIf you live outside the Wakefield District, you can find details of the SENDIASS service in your area by visiting the Information, Advice and Support Services website.
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