Meeting and Tribunal Support
We often get requests for Birmingham SENDIASS to attend meetings.
Due to the number of parent/carers, children and young people we support we are not able to accept all the meeting requests we receive.
Meeting requests will always be looked into, and a decision will be made based on the below guidelines.
Meetings
- Requests for meeting attendance must be received at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting date.
- Meeting attendance from SENDIASS is subject to our availability and may be reduced in busy periods.
- Meetings in person (sometimes called face-to-face meetings) are subject to availability, necessity* and location.
- SENDIASS may offer to attend meeting virtually, using Microsoft Teams or Zoom online, if attending a meeting in person is not possible.
- SENDIASS Officers will only attend meetings if they have a valuable contribution to make or if you are unable to advocate for your child, or yourself.*
- If we do not agree to attend a meeting, we can provide support before the meeting or signpost you to relevant resources, if given enough time before the meeting date, and offer support after the meeting.
Tribunals
- SENDIASS Officers can attend Tribunals with you if they are available and if you are unable to independently advocate for your child, or yourself.*
- At Tribunals, SENDIASS Officers can attend in a supporter or a representative role. Attendance as a supporter or representative must be agreed with your SENDIASS Officer before naming them on an appeal form.
Please see Additional Support Needs for more information.
Self-Advocacy
Self-advocacy means being able to speak for yourself. Our role at Birmingham SENDIASS is to provide information and tools to give you the confidence to express your views, wishes and rights.
You are the best person to speak for your child or for yourself.
Resources
To support you we have created the below resources: