Useful links

Training for Schools and Settings can be found on SEND Academy bookings

HCC: Deaf & Hearing Support Service

A team of qualified specialists and teachers, who support deaf children and young people aged 0-25. We work with families that have a child or young person who is newly identified as deaf, and with schools to support those who are deaf.  Our team is made up of:

• Qualified Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People (ToDs) 
• Deaf Communication Specialists
• Family Support Workers
• Specialist SEND Technicians 
• Educational Audiologists

Herts Grid webpage

Hertfordshire Ordinarily Available Provision Guidance document

An information and advice service for Social Care and Education colleagues for students known to Children’s Services on CP/CiN plans age 0-18.  

Their responsibilities cover:

• CLA
• PLAC, included adopted
• Children with Kinship Orders (SGO, CAO)
• CP
• CIN
• Children known to Social care in any capacity
• EHE
• CME

These flyers are attached at the bottom of this page.

Links to two part Attachment Aware and Trauma Informed Training

Understanding Attachment Aware & Trauma informed practice - part 1 (youtube.com)

Understanding Attachment Aware and Trauma Informed Practice - Part 2 (youtube.com)

NESSIE

We support the positive mental health of children and young people. We do this three ways:

• We offer 1-1 and group arts therapies for children and young people;
• We offer training and supervision of professionals in educational settings;
• We offer training forums and support to parents and carers.

NESSIE resources

See EMWiE flyer below for more information.

Supporting all educational settings, from early years to further education (including independent and specialist settings), to deliver a whole school college approach (WSCA) to emotional and mental wellbeing, enabling our children and young people to grow and thrive and become independent adults.

schoolsmh@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Safe Space

Safe Space provides quality assured counselling and arts therapy for 5-19 year olds across Hertfordshire. We also provide support for care leavers up to the age of 21. Part of Hertfordshire County Council's Children's Services, with over 22 years of quality assured services, and a team of 28 therapists, Safe Space has a range of experience to draw upon.

See leaflet below in attachments.

Our children and young people’s therapy service provides occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy for children and young people in Hertfordshire. 

More information about the referral process can be found in the attachments below.

Signpost Counselling

Caring Support for Children and Young People Aged 5-25 in Hertfordshire

Signpost aims to support children and young people by offering a safe and confidential space for them to talk about their mental health in the hope of supporting them to develop coping strategies, to build their self-esteem and confidence.

Advice line: 01923 470 680, choose option 3, then option 1 and leave a message.

Our advice line is a dedicated telephone number which parents, carers and professionals can call to speak to a therapist about a new referral or a child’s development. Please leave a message and a therapist will contact you. Calls are responded to by a therapist on weekdays.

Hertfordshire’s Families First website provides valuable information, advice, and support for families. It covers a wide range of topics, including parenting advice, childcare, emotional and mental health, relationship support, and services for young people and much more.

If you need more help beyond your usual support network (such as health visitors, schools, or family centres), Families First can work with you to create a personalized package of support. It’s available to all Hertfordshire families with children under 18 (or up to 25 if they have a learning need or disability).

Families First Induction day

Secondly, we have been developing a Families First Induction day to offer to external partners, based on a programme we have been running internally within Children’s Services over the past year. The induction day is ideal for new members of staff or those wishing to learn more about Families First. These training days give a whistle-stop tour of some of the services that offer support to children, young people and families and will also now be open for external partners to attend.

These sessions will be taking place quarterly via Microsoft Teams, at 9am-3pm on the following dates:-

25 June 2025

If you have any team members that would like to join the next event, please email Familiesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov.uk to request a place.

More information in our SENCo information and Professionals Calendar

Contact:  AutismTraining@hertfordshire.gov.uk 

See flyers for workshops/courses in attachments below.

See attachments below to print a copy.

The Sandbox is an innovative digital mental healthcare service for Children and Young People.  

The professional referrals we receive via sandbox@mindler.co.uk provide a great deal of support when triaging and treating a child or young person (CYP) to receive the best mental health support for them.  

Lumi Nova Tales of courage is a free therapeutic goal-based game aimed at 7-12 year-olds which can help them with problems such as mild to moderate anxiety, low mood, low self-esteem, stress and any other worries.

The Lumi Nova team has created a short explainer film to help professionals, parents and carers know how it can support children.  

Depending on your child or young person's area of need, there are a wide range of services in Hertfordshire that can help.

Hertfordshire Services on a page

• Speech, Language & Communication
• Neurodiversity
• Learning difficulties and disabilities
• Deafness & sight loss
• Physical Needs

They can also be found on Hertfordshire's Local Offer website:  Hertfordshire Services for Children and Young People

nasen is the National Association for Special Educational Needs – a charitable membership organisation that exists to support and champion those working with, and for, children and young people with SEND and learning differences.

We do this by providing free resources and support for all members, leading targeted programmes and projects to deliver widespread improvements, offering a structured programme of professional development, accredited training and conferences as well as a package of SEND services throughout the UK and internationally. 

Meeting the needs of every child free CPD course

DfE funded online course is free to access and will provide early years practitioners with an overview and understanding of inclusive practice for SEND in early years settings. The 2-hour webinar will cover the following topics.

• What do we mean by SEND?  
• Responsibilities of a setting towards children with SEND
• The role of the SENCO and the key person
• What effective inclusive practice looks like in an early years setting
• How to use Nasen's free resources and materials

Who would benefit from this training?   

• Early years practitioners
• Childminders
• New SENCOs 

Throughout this webinar you will be invited to participate in a range of activities to support your learning.

Identifying a Young Carer awareness
Could the young person that you are working with be a young carer?  Listen to them – do they help care for someone in their family who has a mental or physical disability or illness, or because there are struggles with drugs or alcohol?   Carers in Hertfordshire can offer guidance, information, advice and assessments. Refer them to www.carersinherts.org.uk/young-carers for an assessment.

Website:  https://www.hct.nhs.uk/service-details/service/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-camhs-step2-61/

Child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) Step2 service 

Step2 is an early intervention child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) service working with mild to moderate mental health difficulties, as such, we do not work with children and young people who have been medicated for a mental health presentation. Where a child or young person requires medication to manage their mental health condition, they no longer meet Step2 criteria. If however, the presenting needs of the child are deemed to be most suitable to be treated by Step2 then we would expect the prescribing physician to be responsible for deciding whether that young person remains on medication or stops. If the family and physician do not feel it is appropriate to stop medication, then treatment will need to be sought elsewhere.

We also offer a screening service for suspected Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which is available for young people who have a GP in West or South Hertfordshire - for more information click on the link  Making a referral  https://www.hct.nhs.uk/service-details/service/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-camhs-step2-61/

Visit here for children in East and North Herts  https://www.enherts-tr.nhs.uk/services/adhd-add/referral-information/

The Step2 under 5s clinicians offer parent/infant relationship focused work using strengths and evidence based approaches to promote emotional health and wellbeing for infants and young children. Interventions offered include 1:1 and group approaches.

The service operates on Mondays to Fridays between 9am and 5pm. We have one main base at Starfish House in Stevenage and offer clinics on specific days of the week at other sites throughout Hertfordshire.

To help families and professionals we offer two dedicated support lines, one for parent/carers and one for schools and health professionals.

Parents and carers: 07469 255139

Schools & Health Professionals: 07444 201197

Our trained Stand-by-me Practitioners can offer advice and information on how to handle difficult conversations and hopefully relieve at least a little of the worry and stress that these conversations can cause.

https://acamhlearn.org/Home

ACAMH Learn, the new multi-disciplinary knowledge hub from the charity The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Develop your understanding with evidence-based content from world leading experts. Explore the different levels of learning that best suits your needs, with; talks, lectures, Q&As, interviews, quizzes, podcasts, and live streamed events. Take a look at the audiences below that best matches you.

PLUS... set up a free ACAMH Learn Account and get CPD certificates for the content you watch, and listen to.

Find a selection of resources on children’s bowels and bladders – including on potty training – that may be helpful for early years settings. There are more helpful resources available across our website.

Free helpline: 0808 801 0343 Mon to Thur, 10am - 2pm

eric website