BELS Services
Barnet Education & Learning Service (BELS) is a local authority controlled company which is responsible for providing the Council's Education & Skills service to Barnet schools (and other Education settings).
Some of the Teams you can expect to find within BELS include:
School Admissions
The School Admissions Team are responsible for supporting you with new school applications, whether that's during school transfer times (pre-school to school or Primary to Secondary) or any other time during the school year (In Year Applications). To find more information on the School Admissions process visit the Barnet Council Website:
School admissions | Barnet Council
SEND and inclusion
The SEND Teams help children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities.
The SEND Teams comprise of:
SEND Team / Assessment and Planning Case Workers and Annual Review officers. The SEND officers manage EHCP documentation making sure all relevant, up to date, information is collated so that an EHCP accurately reflects the child.
Educational Psychology Team - You can contact the EP Team directly for advice by emailing: educationalpsychology@barnet.gov.uk
Autism Spectrum Disorder/BEAM Team
Hearing Impairment (HI)
Visual Impairment (VI)
Inclusion Advisory Team / SALT Speech and Language Therapist SEMH
Physical Disability Team
You can find a wealth of information about the above teams and the SEND Local Offer on the Local Offer Website: www.barnetlocaloffer.org.uk
Visit the Local Offer pages if your child has an EHCP or you are thinking of applying for an EHCP.
Below is the link to the .Gov page and the new SEND Code of Practice: Chapters 10:30 -10:38 are EHE specific
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25
Barnet Library Services
The Barnet library service offers access to reading material, audio and internet based resources. You are able to find your local library, sign up for a range of activities being held at your local library (often for free), register your need for the Home Library Service (if you are unable to get to your local library ), plus much much more.
https://www.barnet.gov.uk/libraries-0
Education Welfare Team
The Education Welfare Team support families and schools to ensure children and Young People are attending school or are in education in some other setting, such as Elective Home Education.
The Education Welfare Team comprises of:
Education Welfare Officers
Children Missing Education Officer
Child licensing and child employment officer ( Contact Will Adnams on will.adnams@barnet.gov.uk for information on Child Employment Laws and regulations and Child performance Licenses)
Elective Home Education Advisory Teacher and business support officer.
Education Welfare Team also support children and young people who are at risk of permanent exclusion or who are being permanently excluded from their mainstream school setting.
Post 16 Team
The BEETS Team (Barnet Education Employment and Training Support) works to support young people in Barnet between the ages of 13 and 19 by providing high quality information, advice and guidance (careers guidance) regarding post 16 options.
This support is providing in a range of community venues, as well as schools and colleges.
For Young People who are electively home educated, the Post 16 Team will make contact following their final day in compulsory education - usually the last Friday in June.
For Information on the Post 16 Team visit the BELs website: www.bels.org.uk and press on the post 16 link.
Safeguarding / MASH Team
The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) Team is the first point of entry for referrals about children and young people, made by professionals, families, and the public. If you have a concern about a child, you need to make a referral via the MASH referral form, where it can be screened and filtered to the correct service:
visit www.barnet.gov.uk and search for MASH.
The Barnet Safeguarding Children Partnership's (BSCP) aim is to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in Barnet, and to achieve this we work collectively to improve safeguarding practice and respond to local issues.
We welcome professionals, volunteers, parents, carers, and - most importantly - children and young people to our website. We hope the different sections help you to understand our work and provide useful information about local services and how to tackle abuse and neglect:
Barnet Safeguarding Children Partnership website:
The Barnet Safeguarding Children Partnership - bscp (thebarnetscp.org.uk)