SEND advocacy navigating the education system for children and young people with Special Educational Needs
SEND advocacy navigating the education system for children and young people with Special Educational Needs
Deana began a full-time career as a SEND Education Law Advocate at the beginning of 2020 after experiencing the complexities of understanding and obtaining support for her children with special educational needs. Deana completed the IPSEA SEND Disability Law courses in levels 1, 2 & 3 in 2020, later enabling her to become a SENDIASS practitioner providing free SEND advocacy. Deana later joined the country's first and longest-running childrens charity in their children's legal practice unit as an Education Caseworker Paralegal securing appropriate educational provision for children with special educational needs. Deana is currently in the third year of study for her law degree and hopes to sit the Solicitors Qualifying Exam.
If you are on a low-income or receiving certain benefits, you may be eligible for Legal Aid. In some cases, a young person may qualify for legal aid in their own right, The type of legal aid available for SEND Tribunal Cases is known as 'Legal Help'. If eligible, you can obtain support from a legal professional to prepare your case and funding for expert professional reports. Legal Help does not cover having a representative at the hearing. https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid
Open today | 09:00 – 17:00 |
A one-hour discussion to understand your current position, provide advice, and discuss next step options around SEND support in schools, EHC Needs Assessments, and other SEND Advocacy services. You will be provided with Support Call Notes that detail the issues discussed and offer next-step advice. Please book all calls through the Get In Touch facility on the website.
In person or virtual support for meetings with a school or Local Authority for an Annual Review meeting or support at Mediation. In-person attendance will be charged at £35 per hour travel time, 0.45p per mile fuel cost, or full reimbursement of train tickets. Costs include a review of any relevant documentation.
Drafting your parental request for an Education, Health and Care Needs assessment. I will draft a request using all of your evidence such as any already existing assessment reports, diagnostic reports or other relevant documentation. You will be provided with the draft to review and submit to your Local Authority.
Support at school meetings to discuss SEND support, concerns, and ways forward. In-person or virtual attendance. In-person attendance will be charged at £35ph travel time and 45p mile or reimbursement of train tickets.
The EHCP check service involves a detailed review of the plan against legal requirements. Comments will be provided directly within the document to clearly link each concern to the specific section requiring attention and establish if all special educational needs are identified in Section B (needs), and that the special educational provision to meet those needs are listed in Section F (Provision). This approach ensures precision and clarity when you engage with the Local Authority
Check service for both Local Authority commissioned reports and independent reports to check if the recommendations are specific and quantified. This service then allows you to send the report check back to the relevant professional for them to consider and amend if appropriate. Each report is charged seperately.
If you have already registered your appeal with the First Tier Tribunal (Special Education Needs and Disability), (SENDIST), you will have received a word version of the Education, Health and Care Plan from the Local Authority, this is known as the Working Document. The Working Document is a legal document and is part of the appeal process, there are set rules for those who work on the Working Document to follow laid down in the Tribunal Key.
Drafting your Grounds of Appeal for a refusal to carry out an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (ECHNA), refusal to re-assess Education, Health and Care needs, refusal to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). You will be required to send me a copy of the Local Authority's decision letter and supporting evidence along with a copy of the Mediation Certificate. I will draft the Grounds of Appeal and complete the tribunal form to allow you to register your appeal.
Drafting your Contents Appeal for Sections B (needs) & Section F (provision) of the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), or an extended appeal for Sections B & F plus Health and Social Care. Drafting Contents appeal for Sectiion B (needs), Section F (provision) and Section I (placement). Drafting Grounds of appeal for Cease to Maintain an Education, Health and Care Plan
If you need to register an appeal but do not feel that you can navigate the process alone then this service may assist. I can manage the process for you up to the point of attendance at the hearing should a hearing be necessary. It is always the intention that all parties work collaboratively to resolve as many of the disputed issues as possible prior to the hearing in an effort to negate the need to attend Tribual or ensure efficiency at the hearing.
Send Sense Advocacy ("we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and personal data. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
This notice applies to all individuals who use our services, visit our website, or otherwise provide us with personal information.
Data Controller: Send Sense Advocacy
Contact: Deana Spilletts
Address: 76 Cromwell Road, Rugby, CV22 5LZ
Telephone: 07769 173855
Email: info@sendsenseadvocacy.co.uk
Website: https://sendsenseadvocacy.co.uk/
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or how we handle your personal data, please contact us using the details above.
We collect and process the following categories of personal data:
• Contact Information: Name, email address, telephone number, postal address
• Child/Young Person Information: Name, date of birth, school/educational setting, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) information
• Health Information: Medical diagnoses, health conditions, therapy reports, healthcare professional assessments
• Educational Information: Educational history, attainment data, school reports, Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
• Professional Reports: Educational psychologist reports, occupational therapy assessments, speech and language therapy reports, and medical reports
• Correspondence: Emails, letters, and other communications with us
• Payment Information: Billing address, payment method (we do not store credit card details)
• Website Usage Data: IP address, browser type, pages visited, time spent on pages
• Technical Data: Device information, operating system, referring website addresses
We process special category data (sensitive personal information) including:
• Health data relating to physical or mental health conditions
• Information about disabilities
• Racial or ethnic origin (where relevant to SEND assessment)
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
• Drafting parental requests for Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments
• Reviewing and analysing assessment reports and educational documents
• Providing advocacy and support services
• Communicating with you about your case
• Corresponding with Local Authorities and other relevant bodies on your behalf
· Case Management for SEND Tribunal Appeals
• Processing payments and maintaining financial records
• Responding to inquiries and providing customer support
• Maintaining case files and records
• Improving our services and website functionality
• Complying with legal and regulatory requirements
• Responding to legal processes and requests from authorities
• Protecting our legal rights and interests
We process your personal data based on the following legal grounds:
Processing is necessary to perform our contract with you (our engagement letter and terms of service). This includes providing the advocacy services you have commissioned.
For special category data (health information, disability information), we rely on your explicit consent, which you provide when engaging our services. You have the right to withdraw consent at any time by contacting us.
We process certain data based on our legitimate business interests, including:
• Maintaining accurate business records
• Improving our services and website
• Protecting against fraud and misuse of services
We process data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, such as tax and accounting requirements.
We may share your personal data with:
We share relevant information with Local Authority SEND teams when submitting EHC needs assessment requests or other correspondence on your behalf.
Where necessary and with your consent, we may communicate with schools, colleges, or other educational settings.
With your explicit consent, we may correspond with medical professionals, therapists, or other healthcare providers involved in your child's care.
We use carefully selected third-party service providers who process data on our behalf:
• Cloud storage providers (for secure document storage)
• Email service providers
• Payment processors
• Website hosting providers
All service providers are required to implement appropriate security measures and process data only as instructed by us.
We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights.
We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties.
We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected:
• Active Client Files: Retained for the duration of our engagement and for 6 years thereafter (in line with standard limitation periods)
• Financial Records: Retained for 7 years from the end of the financial year (HMRC requirement)
• Enquiry Information: If you do not become a client, initial enquiry information is retained for 12 months
• Website Analytics: Anonymized usage data retained for up to 26 months
After these retention periods, we securely delete or anonymize your personal data. You may request earlier deletion, subject to any legal obligations we have to retain certain records.
We implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data, including:
• Encrypted data storage and transmission
• Password-protected systems and devices
• Secure cloud storage with UK-based servers
• Regular backups of important data
• Limited access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
• Regular review and update of security practices
While we take all reasonable precautions, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. If you have concerns about the security of your information, please contact us.
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (known as a Subject Access Request).
You can request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
You can request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances, subject to legal retention requirements.
You can request that we limit how we use your personal data in certain situations.
You can request a copy of your personal data in a commonly used electronic format to transfer to another service provider.
You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 2. We will respond to your request within one month. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to improve your browsing experience and analyze website traffic.
Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They help websites remember your preferences and understand how you use the site.
• Essential Cookies: Necessary for the website to function properly (e.g., security, session management)
• Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our website (e.g., Google Analytics)
• Functional Cookies: Remember your preferences and settings
You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality. For more information about cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these external sites. Please review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.
As part of our advocacy services, we process information about children and young people with special educational needs. We recognise the importance of protecting children's data and:
• Only process children's data with parental or guardian consent
• Apply additional safeguards when handling children's information
• Ensure children's data is accessed only by authorised individuals
• Delete children's data in accordance with our retention policy
We primarily store and process your data within the United Kingdom. If we need to transfer data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:
• Adequacy decisions by the UK government
• Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the ICO
• Other mechanisms permitted under UK data protection law
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this notice indicates when it was last revised.
Significant changes will be communicated to active clients via email. We encourage you to review this notice periodically when visiting our website.
If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please get in touch with us first using the details in Section 2. We will investigate and respond to your complaint promptly.
If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Notice or our data protection practices, please get in touch with us:
Send Sense Advocacy
Deana Spilletts
76 Cromwell Road
Rugby
CV22 5LZ
United Kingdom
Telephone: 07769 173855
Email: info@sendsenseadvocacy.co.uk
Website: https://sendsenseadvocacy.co.uk/
END OF PRIVACY NOTICE