ECASS Strand 5 Pupil Referral and Triage Pathway - Now open for referrals
All Headteachers and SENCOs
Dear Headteacher/SENCO,
We would like to advise you that the ECASS Strand 5 Pupil Referral and Triage Pathway is now open for trial. Via Strand 5, schools will be able to refer up to 4 pupils who they suspect have speech, language and communication difficulties. This pathway will involve a number of steps detailed in the flow chart attached. The process aims to assess both the needs of the child and how the ECASS team and school can work together to best support them.
As we are a new service, the team need to ascertain the level of need across the borough at both Primary and Secondary level. This will enable us to deploy our capacity to ensure effective operation of this strand. We are proposing to trial this controlled pilot across 2 full academic terms. There will be only be 1 Strand 5 panel held at the end of the spring term with assessment & support taking place during the summer term. A 2nd panel will be held at the end of the summer term with assessment and support scheduled to take place across the autumn term.
1st Panel Date: 31st March 2022
2nd Panel Date: TBC
The panel will only consider fully completed referrals. The panel will triage all referrals under the same criteria. Those that meet the ECASS criteria will then be prioritised into date order based on when the referral was received. During our pilot period, we will operate on a first come, first serve basis for face-to-face SALT assessment (Support Package A). Once the team have reached capacity for face-to-face sessions, the remainder of the triaged referrals will be supported by our SALT led drop-in surgeries (Support Package B).
Our aim is to provide a service which is equitable for all children and young people. The outcome of this pilot will help the ECASS team to structure an effective Strand 5 service delivery, which meets the evolving needs of the borough’s children and young people.
Please ensure that you follow each step within the referral pathway before submitting your evidence to the ECASS referral email. Each referral will be carefully considered at the ECASS Strand 5 Panel before a decision to accept the referral will be made.
ECASS Strand 5 Referral Email: ECASSpanel@enfield.gov.uk
We have attached the following:
1. Strand 5 referral pathway (flow chart)
2. Strand 5 assessment and support flyer
3. Strand 5 Referral Form
4. The ECASS Progress Monitoring Log (Please note, only use this if your IEPs do not have a rating scale attached to each target)
Kindest regards,
Cigdem Alkan
ECASS Service Lead
Cigdem.alkan@enfield.gov.uk