Autism and Communication Service
Service
Local Offer – 4th August
Name of Service
Autism and Communication Service
Team Leader /contact
person
Ali Jary - Educational psychologist
Contact details
Ali Jary
Angela Williams
Holway Centre
Byron Road
Taunton
TA1 2DR
Somerset County Council
PO Box 5176
Shepton Mallet,
BA4 9DD
ajary@somerset.gov.uk
Tel: 01823 334475
awilliams@somerset.gov.uk
Tel: 01749 822800
Angela Williams – Advisory teacher
Service Manager
Peter Harnett
Autism and Communication Service Manager
Contact details
Address
Holway Centre
Byron Road
Taunton TA4 2DR
Tel: 01823 355324
pharnett@somerset.gov.uk
Where is the team located & what areas does it cover?
The Autism and Communication Service has specialist advisory teachers. The Advisory
Teachers are located in 4 area bases across Somerset.
Area
Address
Area
Address
Taunton and West
Somerset
Holway Centre
Byron Road
Taunton
TA1 2JD
01823 334475
Buckland House
8 Buckland Road
Pen Mill
Yeovil
BA21 5EA
01278 446445
Sedgemoor
Chandos House
6 Castle Street
Bridgwater
TA6 3DB
01278 446445
Learning and
Achievement
Somerset County
Council
PO Box 5176
Shepton Mallet
BA4 9DD
01749 822800
South Somerset
Mendip
1. Who does your service provide for?
We provide support for children and young people with autism and communication
needs, their parent carers and schools, academies and free schools. There needs to
be evidence of particular needs for the service to be involved.
How can I start using the service?
For initial concerns parent carers should speak to their child’s class teacher or form
tutor.
If parent carers consider that their child would benefit from advice and support from
this service they should speak to the school’s SENCO.
Referrals to this service come from SENCOs in liaison with and consent from parent
carers, via a referral form. Parents are able to request consultation with the service:
however, this should be done in conjunction with the school
What does your service do?

We offer training and advice to all schools.

Promote an autism and communication friendly approach for all schools and
settings. All schools in Somerset have access to the guidance in the Inclusive
Communication Framework (**link**) this helps everyone understand the
graduated response to meeting needs.

We meet pupils, parent carers and teachers, to discuss strategies to address the
needs of these pupils, whether academic, or personal and social

We support schools to raise standards of achievement, communication skills and
social and emotional skills through the provision of high quality specialist support

We support schools in building their capacity to meet a wide diversity of autism
and communication needs

We work with educational psychologists, speech and language therapists,
occupations therapists, CAOT, CAMHS and Parent Partnership paediatricians,
social care workers and others.....?

We provide for up to 70 pupils with Autism and Communication needs in
specialist centres on school sites and in 2 centres which are not on school sites

We provide training for parents and carers in collaboration with CAOT and other
agencies
What is our approach to supporting children and young people with autism
and communication needs?
Our approach focuses on:



early identification of the strengths and barriers to learning for children and
young people;
ensuring schools have access to a range of strategies and intervention to
enable children and young people to be fully included and obtain good
outcomes
working with parent carers and other professionals as a “team around the
child”.
How do we consult with parents and/or children and young people about their
needs?
When working with a pupil/student we always consult with parent carers as well as
ascertaining the views of the young person.
Parents are always offered the opportunity of a face to face meeting.
Pupils/students in schools are asked their views on what they like best about school
and what they find difficult as well as what works for them in the classroom.
We liaise with other agencies who may be involved.
Following the visit a feedback is given to the school and parents.
What additional learning support is available for children and young people?
** add later**
How do we evaluate the effectiveness of our support?
We use a variety of ways to evaluate how effective our support is for individual
children. These include:-
Parent carer questionnaires
Discussion with school staff
Pupil/student views
Monitoring and evaluating focused interventions which have been
recommended
Multi-disciplinary Consultation meetings where individual children may be
discussed
How are decisions made about the support offered to parent carers and
individual children?
Schools prioritise the level of involvement required through discussion at Multidisciplinary Consultation Meetings. The work might involve discussion, individual
pupil/student work or staff training.
How do you communicate with service users and how are they involved in
decision making/planning?
We work with Parent Partnership and the Parent carer Forum
This service produces an annual newsletter which can be accessed by parents via
the local authority website. (insert link
The opinions of parent carers and young people are sought through discussion and
via questionnaires.
What is the experience and training of the staff in The Autism and
Communication Service?
The advisory team are all trained specialist teachers. All have had level 3 Autism
Education Trust (AET) training.
All have received level 1 safeguarding training.
The continuing professional development needs of staff are identified through the
annual review process.
How do I complain or make positive comments ?
In the first instance parent carers should raise any concerns or comment about
anything related to the service received for their children through discussion with the
advisory teacher involved with the child or the team leader.
How can I get more information?
Contact us directly via phone or e mail
Via website (link to website)