The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (2015) provides statutory guidance for many organisations including local authorities and state-maintained schools and colleges.

Children of service personnel are specifically mentioned in the Code of Practice (section 10.53 onwards). Organisations with duties under the Code are asked to consider the difficulties service children with SEND may face that are unique to the nature of their serving parent's employment.

These needs may arise from:

• Service induced mobility: Service personnel may relocate more often than the rest of the population and, sometimes, at short notice. Such transitions should be well managed to avoid service children with SEN experiencing delays in having their needs assessed and met
• The deployment of serving parents to operational arenas, while not constituting SEN in itself, may result in a service child experiencing anxiety, dips in educational performance and/or emotional difficulties. Children may also be affected similarly by siblings' deployment

Herefordshire's SEND Local Offer sets out the support, services and information available for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

• If you are a service family moving into Herefordshire and you have a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), please contact the SEN team as soon as you have a confirmed posting.
• If your child does not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), please apply for a school place via the admissions team. Once you have been allocated a school place, make contact with the SENCO at the school to ensure they are fully aware of your child's needs and can plan for them.

Service families who require additional support with accessing educational provision for their children can contact the MOD's Children's Education Advisory Service (CEAS) for free advice and guidance.