Welcome to Shropshire’s Education Access Service.

Thank you for visiting our website, its designed to help practitioners and families to find out what help and advice is available from us.  Please take time to explore the website and find out more.

We have a fantastic team in the Education Access Service who are here to support, so please feel able to get in touch to share good news as well as when support is needed.

Jo Kelly, Head of the Virtual School and Access to Education

What is the Education Access Service?

Our team provides Inclusion and Education Welfare support to families, schools and partners, a key part of this includes safeguarding.

Our aim is to achieve improving outcomes for children and young people who are in need of support to achieve successful attendance, access and inclusion in education settings.

What do we do?

Our team promotes education, attendance, inclusion, safety and wellbeing and we influence policy and practice that affects our learners. We advise and work closely with schools/settings, parents/carers and other professionals such as early help and social care to support our children to fulfil their potential.

We provide advice and training to professionals on matters that are important for our children and it is important we hear their voice around the things that are important to them so we can act in their best interests.

We work hard to ensure that Shropshire’s children and young people have the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential and improve their life chances so they can be healthy, happy and live their best lives. We are mindful to promote a way of working that asks the question ‘would this be good enough for my own child?’

Our team supports with statutory functions such as

• Elective Home Education
• Children Missing Education
• Section 19
• 6^th day provision for young people who have been excluded
• Attendance and the legal processes to support this
• Child employment

We also support and advise as follows:

• when a child/young person is at risk of exclusion or suspension
• we can come into your school/setting to undertake Pupil Planning Meetings, these are aimed at reducing the risk of suspension or exclusion. These are most effectively used as an early intervention strategy but can bring people together to help reflect and move forwards with a robust plan when there has been an incident.
• with the Shropshire Inclusion Pathway – through Integrated Consultation Panels, TMBSS Pathway and Section 19 requests.

Where are we based?

At the Guildhall offices in Shrewsbury SY3 8HQ

Team contacts

You can contact us as follows:

You can also contact us at eas@shropshire.gov.uk and (01743) 254397