Rainbow SEND Assessments:

Terms and Conditions

a) Rainbow SEND Assessments will arrange an assessment of consultation for the student that is relevant to the reason for referral and within our area of expertise.

b) Full specialist assessment: In order to obtain a balanced picture, it is essential to have background information from home, school, and other professionals. No contact will be made with other professionals without prior written permission from parents.

c) After a full specialist assessment, it takes between two to three weeks before the formal report will be sent to whoever commissioned the assessment. Individual assessments will highlight the student’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses, offer advice on appropriate learning and coping strategies, and give information on sources of appropriate teaching, advice and support where relevant. Where appropriate, reports will be circulated to both parents and to professionals involved in the education of the child as agreed, in advance, with the parents.

d) Rainbow SEND Assessments will arrange for assessments to be performed in a suitable assessment room at school or at the child’s home.

e) Face-to-face assessments that involve travel of more than one hour may be subject to a travel charge which can be discussed in the initial contact.

f) Rainbow SEND Assessments will attend to any queries about reports as quickly as possible.

g) Rainbow SEND Assessments will apply professional codes of conduct and ethics at all times when engaging with clients.

h) When schools, or other organisations, commission an assessment, payment is to be made within 28 days of the invoice being created. This will normally be at the same time as the reports are send back to school/other organisation. Late payments will incur a late fee of £100.

I) Illness of the child being assessed will require a new assessment date to be booked at the time of cancellation (schools/other organisations).

Rainbow SEND Assessments reserve the right to terminate, or not to accept, a referral, or not to circulate a report, if:

a) The referral appears to be outside Rainbow SEND Assessments’ area of expertise.

b) There is an apparent conflict of interest between relevant parties involved.

c) Any relevant parties are in, or intend to be in, dispute.

d) Rainbow SEND Assessments’ status could be compromised if there are current legal or tribunal proceedings that may be affected by our involvement.

e) The fee has not been paid at the required time.

f) The parents of the student being assessed fail to comply with any of the conditions stated above in this document where such failure could compromise the validity of the assessment.

In the case of termination or non-acceptance of a referral or non-circulation of a report, under subclauses a, b, c, d, e and f above, and if a fee has already been received, the administrative and assessment fees shall be returned to the client and only the dues for services provided up to termination will be kept by Rainbow SEND Assessments.

The parents of the student being assessed will:

a) Where applicable, agree with Rainbow SEND Assessments, in advance of the assessment, the reason for referral and give their agreement to proceed with the assessment.

b) Complete and return relevant questionnaires, or other pertinent information, when requested to do so.

c) Confirm if any confidential information given verbally or through relevant questionnaires should not be divulged in the report.

d) Inform Rainbow SEND Assessments if the student has received any assessment in the past as it may have a bearing on the assessment to be performed.

e) Use reports for the sole purpose of attending to the needs of the child being assessed.

f) Pay the fees in full at least 5 days prior to the assessment. The exact date will be noted on the invoice. The full fee will be charged for appointments missed or cancelled without notification or prior warning or good cause. An administrative fee of £200 will be retained if the appointment is cancelled within four working days of the arranged date. Rescheduled appointments are not subject to this charge, but Rainbow SEND Assessments’ consultant must be emailed by 08:00 on the day of the appointment to give notification of illness or other unforeseen reasons for postponement.

g) Agree to all of the above terms and conditions.

The student being assessed will:

a) Be punctual for the assessment. Waiting charges will be part of the cost of a delayed session.

b) Inform Rainbow SEND Assessments prior to the assessment of any personal, health or other factors that may influence the assessment to be performed.

c) Ensure that the student has their hearing aids, prescription spectacles/coloured overlays if it is the student’s normal way of working.

d) Agree to all of the above terms and conditions.

Professionals, other than the parents of the student will:

a) Complete and return relevant questionnaires, or other pertinent information, when requested to do so.

b) Use reports for the sole purpose of attending to the needs of the child being assessed.

c) Respect the confidential status of reports and conform to the regulations of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

d) Agree with the parents of the student being assessed, in advance of the assessment, the reason for referral to Rainbow SEND Assessments and obtain their agreement to proceed with the assessment.

e) Agree with the parents of the child being assessed, in advance of Rainbow SEND Assessments’ involvement and the arrangements for distribution of reports. The report will not be circulated to other parties without the parents’ consent.

f) Agree to all of the above terms and conditions.

Confidentiality

a) The confidentiality of the student involved in assessment is of paramount importance to Rainbow SEND Assessments. When you, the parents or carers, enter into a contract with Rainbow SEND Assessments for the assessment of your child, personal details with be collected about you and your child that are necessary to fulfil the contract. All of the personal data collected will be sourced from the parents/carers and the child involved in the assessment, and where appropriate from those involved in the child’s education, health and care plan.

b) Rainbow SEND Assessments will only ever use your details in the execution of your contract with them. The information is held both electronic and paper form in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Your details will be held in a database, but it will not be used for any other purpose but the execution of this contract or future contracts with you.

c) Rainbow SEND Assessments will only share your details or that of your child with another person if they are involved in your child’s care and you have given authorisation for Rainbow SEND Assessments to share these details with them. It is recommended that parents/carers share the assessment report with your child’s school, but Rainbow SEND Assessments will not do so without prior permission from parents or carers.

d) In exceptional circumstances a Court of Law may require Rainbow SEND Assessments to disclose information to them, in which case Rainbow SEND Assessments cannot refuse to co-operate.

e) You have the right to access your personal data and that of your child that is held and to verify that this data is only used as described in the above Terms and Conditions. The parents/carers will be shown all of the personal data that is held on them and their child as part of the assessment, teaching and evaluation services provided. However, if more details or additional copies of the information held are required, a charge may be raised to cover cost of production and distribution.

f) You may request for your or your child’s personal data to be corrected if it is inaccurate but where the information is Rainbow SEND Assessments’ professional opinion, this request may be refused. Should you request access or change to your own or your child’s personal data, Rainbow SEND Assessments will aim to respond within two weeks of receiving the request.

Report and Record Storage

Rainbow SEND Assessments will undertake to hold a copy of any assessment report or teaching record on file for a minimum period of seven years, after which time it may be destroyed.

Suzanne Shrewsbury

T/A Rainbow SEND Assessments

January 2024