Local Offer Information for Education Professionals

The Local Offer sets out, in one place, information about provision and support that the Local Authority expects to be in place for children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). 

• Cheshire East guiding principles (PDF, 340KB)  produced through collaborative work between professionals from a variety of agencies and local parent carers to guide the development of the Cheshire East Local Offer.

SEND Reforms

The Local Offer is one component of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms arising from the Children and Families Act 2014. The Special Educational Needs and Disability page has more about the implementation of the SEND reforms in Cheshire East, including the implementation of the Local Offer.

Developing your Education Setting's Local Offer

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on education settings to co-operate with the local authority in creating the Local Offer. From 1 September 2014, maintained nurseries, schools and academies have a duty to produce and publish an “SEN Information Report” which describes detailed information about how their SEN policy is implemented.

Local Offer Questions for Educational Settings (MS Word, 223KB) are standard questions for Cheshire East schools and education settings and services to use when developing their Local Offer in line with duties, regulations and requirements. Using a single set of questions will ensure that our local information is clear and consistent, and easy for families and professionals to find.

The process

1. Complete the appropriate question document using information for your setting
2. Publish the completed question document on your own website as a PDF
3. Email the link to the final published version of your local offer to LiveWellCEC@cheshireeast.gov.uk

For any queries on the content of the question set, please contact SENDpartnerships@cheshireeast.gov.uk 

The Cheshire East Local Offer – Guidance and Questions for Educational Settings

• Question set for completion by pre-16 educational settings (e.g schools)  Local Offer Questions for Educational Settings (MS Word, 223KB)
• Question set for completion by post-16 educational settings (e.g. colleges) Local Offer Questions for Educational Settings – Young Person’s version (MS Word, 224KB)
• An example to assist in the development of your local offer The Cheshire East Local Offer – Ivy Bank Primary School and Resourced Provision (PDF, 660KB)
• Slides providing further guidance for educational settings on local offer requirements (MS Powerpoint, 1MB)

Writing tips

It’s very important that parents can understand what is available to them, so please use plain English and avoid jargon and acronyms as far as possible. Further guidance can be downloaded for free from the Plain English Campaign.