Special Educational Needs Improvement Team

Our Special Educational Needs Improvement Team (SENIT) consists of two teams, the Low Incidence Needs Team (LINT) and the High Incidence Needs Team (HINT).

Referrals to HINT are usually made by schools/settings, with parent permission. Referrals to LINT are usually made by Health professionals, but can also be made by school/settings and parents/carers. You can find referral forms by visiting the Information for Practitioners webpage.

Low Incidence Needs Team (LINT)

The Low Incidence Needs Team (LINT) includes the Hearing Impairment Team and the Visual Impairment Team both of which provide support to pre-school and school-age children in Gateshead. Specialist teachers and support staff hold the necessary mandatory qualifications in the areas of Hearing Impairment and Visual Impairment. These teams provide services which may include home teaching for pre-school children and teaching support for school-age children, information and advice on a child's hearing/visual impairment and its implications, support with hearing/vision assessments and technologies, assistance with access to specialist equipment, sign language and Braille teaching if appropriate and supporting participation in leisure and social activities outside of school.

Hearing Impairment Team

This team works with children and young people with a hearing impairment (HI) aged 0-25 years. The team consists of specialist teachers and support assistants, specialist speech and language therapist (SALT) and a specialist HI learning mentor.

Visual Impairment Team

The Visual Impairment Team works with children and young people aged 0-25 years with a visual impairment (VI). The team consists of specialist teachers and support assistants, a Habilitation Officer and a specialist learning mentor.

Information about our referral processes and eligibility criteria

Hearing Impairment Team - Referral Process (PDF, 80 KB)(opens new window)

Visual Impairment Team - Referral Process (PDF, 82 KB)(opens new window)

Gateshead LINT Eligibility Criteria (PDF, 166 KB)(opens new window)

LINT Criteria for initiating assessment for EHCP (PDF, 188 KB)(opens new window)

External links

National Deaf Children's Society (opens new window)

The Buzz - website for deaf children and young people in the UK (opens new window)

Useful Vision (opens new window)

Royal National Institute for the Blind (opens new window)

Guide Dogs (opens new window)

Blind Children UK (opens new window)

High Incidence Needs Team (HINT)

High Incidence Needs Team (HINT) consists of teachers who are specialists in the areas of:

Communication and Interaction
- Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)
- Complex Social Communication (CSC)
- Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC)
Physical and Medical Needs
Cognition and Learning
- General learning difficulties
- Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)

The team provide assessment, advice, recommendations and support to schools and settings providing for children and young people aged 4-25 years with High Incidence Needs.

The team has a useful resource pack (PDF, 1 MB)(opens new window) for teaching staff working with children and young people with SEND. This outlines strategies to use with children with a range of different needs including speech and language, listening and memory, autism and working memory.