Children's Sensory and Physical Needs Service

The Children's Sensory and Physical Needs Service is part of the Specialist Teaching and Support Services (STASS).

Our vision as the STaSS team is to: “To offer high-quality support for all children through a collaborative approach to provide transformational learning experiences so that children can flourish and make excellent holistic progress and successfully transition to responsible citizens"

What is the Children's Sensory and Physical Needs Service?

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The Children's Sensory and Physical Needs Service is made up of the Deaf and MSI Children and Young People Service and the Vision and Physical Needs Service which includes, The Support Team for Deaf Children, The Vision Impairment Outreach Team, The Physical Needs Team and the Local Authority Led Resourced Provisions for Children and Young People who are Deaf and Children and Young People with a Vision Impairment.

These teams work collectively to provide information, advice, support, direct teaching, and training to ensure that children and young people, 0 - 25 who are deaf or with a vision impairment, multi-sensory impairment, and physical needs have their needs met.
 
The Children's Sensory and Physical Needs Service works in 2 distinct ways;
 
The specialist outreach staff work from the centre to provide a service to children and young people, 0-25, who are at home, or who attend their local early years setting, school, or post-16 provision.
 
The specialist resourced provision staff work in one of four Local Authority Led Resourced Provisions, (LARP) hosted by mainstream primary and secondary schools, and specifically provide a high level of teaching and support for children and young people who have severe to profound deafness and/or vision impairment.
The focus of the service is to support young people to develop positive well-being, independence, and preparation for adulthood from the early years. In addition to supporting full curriculum access, appropriately qualified and skilled staff deliver specialist curricula and teach specialist skills, such as braille, ICT, British Sign Language (BSL) Personal Understanding of Deafness (PUD), mobility, habilitation skills, self-advocacy, disability awareness and independence.

Who is the Children's Sensory and Physical Needs Service for?

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All children and young people 0-25 are entitled to an assessment of need if they present with sensory or physical needs. Children and young people who have a medical diagnosis of a sensory impairment or physical disability will be assessed, and support will be allocated according to the Bradford Matrix of Need and The National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NATSiP) eligibility criteria.

 
The team will work with parents/carers and families, in homes, early years settings, mainstream and special schools, and post-16 provisions.
 
In order to ensure needs are appropriately met, we employ a range of specialist staff – specialist teachers, educational audiologists, early years specialist practitioners, technology officers, habilitation specialists, audiology officers, deaf instructors, specialist support workers, support officers, and leaders – to ensure that children and young people 0-25, and their families, and settings receive the specialist support they need to be successful and achieve.

Meet the Teams

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Deaf and Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI) Children's Service

The Deaf and MSI Children's Service supports children and young people who are deaf or have a dual-sensory impairment (both a vision and hearing impairment). Support is provided from birth to 19 years old.

More information about the Deaf and MSI Children's Service can be found here.

More information about the MSI Team can be found here.

Physical Needs Team

The Physical Needs team supports children and young people with a range of physical needs. Support is provided from birth to 25 years old.

More information about the Physical Needs Team can be found here.

Vision Impairment Team

The Vision Impairment team supports children and young people who have identifiable ophthalmic conditions that result in a reduced level of vision function. Support is provided from birth to 25 years old.

More information about the Vision Impairment Team can be found here.

Contact Details

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Useful Links

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Children's Sensory and Physical Needs Service Referral Form

Contact the Local Offer

Last Updated: 21.11.2025