'About NatSIP' Articles

NatSIP runs a full programme of events, and the increased size of our event programme this year means that we will be processing over 1,000 booking forms. 

Help us to help you when you want to book a place on one of our events by following the notes below:

1.  Download the booking form for the event from the NatSIP website.  Booking forms are individual to each event, and are for one delegate only.  If you want to book for multiple delegates, please send in a copy of the form or each individual delegate.

 

2.  Fill in the form completely.  We cannot process partially completed forms, and we may not have time to notify you that we cannot process your form because you have left something blank.

 

3.  The commonest booking form fields left blank are 6. Your NatSIP affiliation number and 7. Your purchase order number.  We must have these fields filled in to process your booking.  Please do not email your form in if you don't yet have a purchase order number, or fill the box in with 'Number to follow' - we can't always track PO numbers back to the booking form.  Please wait until you have a purchase order number and enter it on the form before e-mailing your for in to us.

 

4.  Payment by invoice

NatSIP's host organisation is Kent County Council.  If you need to set us up as a supplier on your purchase order system, you can find our address and bank information here.

 

5.  Payment by phone:

For small payments (less than £20) we will ask you to pay by phone.  (This will be shown as a specific option on the booking form). 

To pay by phone, please call the KCC Cashiers Team on 03000 416336, but email in your booking form in the normal way with the date of the payment and a booking confirmation will be sent to you. Please use reference SLucas-NatSIP for your payment.

Thank you!

 

If you need to set NatSIP up as a supplier on your purchasing system, for example, to become a member, or to pay for an event place, you will need the information below:

NatSIP's host organisation is Kent County Council. 

Our address is:

NatSIP@Kent County Council
SEN Finance
2nd Floor, Brook House
Reeves Way
John Wilson Business Park
Whitstable
Kent CT5 3SS

Telephone number: 03000 418675

The address for payments is:

Kent County Council
Accounts Receivable
2nd Floor, 1 Sessions Square
Maidstone
Kent ME14 1XX

Email your remittance advice to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Our bank account details are:

Sort Code: 60-60-08
Account Number: 00100013
Account Name: KCC General Account
Bank: Nat West
KCC VAT Number: GG204269191

 

As well as simply visiting the site every so often, there are some simple ways to keep in touch with what's going on on the NatSIP website:

1.  Follow us on Twitter - follow @NatSIPUK and you'll get a tweet from us each time we put something new on the site

2.  Like us on Facebook - We have a Facebook page called 'National Sensory Impairment Partnership' which is updated every time we put something new on the site.  Add us to your timeline to stay up-to-date.

3.  You can sign up for our Email Digest service - receive a weekly (or fortnightly or monthly) email from us showing what's new on the site.  You need to be a registered user of the site and to have logged in before you can sign up for the digest.  See the Email Digest Settings option in the user menu (left) once you are logged on.

4.  Sign up for the NatSIP Newsletter - we send emails with details of what we are doing, and the events we are running.  You need to be registered on the site and lopgged in before you can sign up to the newsletter.  Registration is free, and open to anyone.  A walkthrough/howto on the registration process is here.  Once you have logged in, the newsletter signup box appears on the home page of the site, on the right...

 

1.  NatSIP is listed in the UK Information Comissioner's Office (ICO) Register of Data Controllers.  Our register entry is Reference No ZA258097.

We process data as described in our registration, which you can view here.

2.  The lawful bases for our processing of your data

NatSIP uses several lawful bases for processing data.  These are:

a.  Our legitimate interests - NatSIP's processing of your data is is necessary for the purposes of pursuing NatSIP's legitimate interests (or those of a third party who funds NatSIP's activities or places contracts with NatSIP (except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data).

b.  Our contract with you - NatSIP's processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are your organisation is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into such a contract.

c.  Your consent -

3.  What data we collect

Like many websites, we place cookies on your machine when you use our website

4.  We log downloads and page views

When you visit a page, or download a document from the document library, we log this.  We record the date, time, name of the document you downloaded or page you visited, and other information, including your user name (if your are logged in), IP address, and information about which web browser you use.

We collect this information so that we can see which items are most popular, and where they are used.  We also analyse browser information to ensure that we can fully support the devices our users use.

5.  We use our server logs to solve problems

If you report a problem with the web site to us (for example by contacting our helpdesk), we will often look at the logs to follow the trail of what you have done so that we can identify and fix the problem as quickly as possible

 

Membership

NatSIP offers membership of NatSIP to individuals and organsiations, with the aim of ensuring that the work of NatSIP can continue and develop.  Membership offers exceptional value for SI CPD opportunities and training compared to other offers in the SI sector.

Why not get your your organisation to become a member?

Details of membership, including a membership application form can be found pdf here .

If you need more information, please contact contact the NatSIP administrator at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you need information to help you get NatSIP set up as a supplier on your purchasing system, you can find our address and bank details here.

 

Becoming a Sponsor Stakeholder

In April 2020, NatSIP created a new group of Sponsor Stakeholder funders to underpin the continuation of the valuable work that NatSIP does.

Becoming a NatSIP Sponsor Stakeholder is open to any member organisation working and involved in the SI sector.  Contributions from stakeholders will be at a more significant level than membership per annum.  More detail can be provided by Lindsey Rousseau, the NatSIP Facilitator..

As well as opportunities for additional publicity and recognition as NatSIP sponsors, sponsor stakeholder organisations will receive enhanced benefits, (3 free places at each NatSIP working day and 1 free place at any NatSIP training event).

Sponsor stakeholder group members will be represented on the NatSIP Steering Group.  The Steering Group drives NatSIP policy for the future and the NatSIP Facilitator reports to its members.

The role of the NatSIP Steering Group is to offer guidance and act as a critical friend to the members of the NatSIP workstreams and to support and promote their objectives and outcomes by working collaboratively as a strategic group.

Terms of Reference include:

1.   The NatSIP Steering Group will oversee the development of the NatSIP activity groups through reporting at least once each term (three times a year).
2.   In addition members of the Steering Group will engage in the work of:
    a)  future strategic planning for the NatSIP
    b)  reporting to DFE and, other commissioning contractors, on progress towards agreed objectives
3.   Alongside these work activity groups the Steering Group will consider and approve the progression and development of other SI projects and associated initiatives supporting the SI sector and improved outcomes for children and young people with SI.
4.   Steering Group representation comes from NatSIP member organisations in the major SI voluntary organisations, LA SI support services, specialist schools,and the professional bodies BATOD and VIEW who will all agree to work together to improve outcomes for children, young people with sensory impairment and their families.

 

Group Membership:

There have been changes to the Steering Group membership over the years.  The present list of Steering Group members (and other NatSIP contacts) can be found here.

NatSIP, the National Sensory Impairment Partnership is a partnership of organisations working together to improve outcomes for children and young people with sensory impairment. 

The agreed purpose of NatSIP is:

  • to improve educational outcomes for children and young people with sensory impairment, closing the gap with their peers, through joint working with all who have an interest in the success of these young people.
  • to help children achieve more and fulfil the potential of children and young people who have SI.
  • to promote a national model for the benchmarking of clear progress and impact criteria for children and young people who have SI.
  • to support a well-trained SI workforce responsive to the Government agenda for education.
  • to inform and advise the DfE and other national agencies on the education of children and young people with SI.
  • to promote collaboration between services, schools, professional bodies and voluntary bodies working with children and young people who have SI.
  • to promote collaborative working between education, health and social care professionals in the interest of children and young people who have SI.

To these ends NatSIP activity is agreed, planned and monitored by the working partners and offers strong and effective support, providing tangible progress and impact for children and young people who have sensory impairment.

The greatest assets of NatSIP are the members of the workstreams who have driven forward an agenda for change in the SI field. Members of LA SI services and school provision, specialist schools (in the maintained and non-maintained sectors) and SI voluntary and professional organisations have worked together to produce guidelines and frameworks which address current national issues specific to outcomes for SI children and young people.

The economy of scale which can be achieved through services for low-incidence disability working together has been demonstrated through the many consultations, communications and publications, available to download from this website.

In the particular times of the Covid19 pandemic NatSIP has been actively supprting the SI sector through publications and interpretation of guidance for SI colleagues to follow. We welcome and are appreciative of the contributions to this from NatSIP partrner organisations.

 

How NatSIP is funded:

The Government recognises the value and influence of NatSIP and has given assurance in Parliament that it is committed to young people with Sensory Impairment receiving the services they require, through working with organisations including NatSIP.

Since April 2013, NatSIP worked with the Department for Education for the provision of  specialist information, advice, support and training to improve outcomes for children and young people with sensory impairments in the context of the wider SEND reforms. The impact of the NatSIP work undertaken and completed during the DfE contracts and the position of the partnership as strategic partners for SI resulted in NatSIP becoming  part of the SEND schools' workforce contract, delivered for DfE through Whole School SEND since 2018.

NatSIP will continue to support the workforce (sensory impairment and wider workforce) to implement the SEND reforms through improving understanding about how to deliver better outcomes for children and young people with sensory impairment.

 Additional funding to NatSIP is secured through membership of the partnership and, since 2020, sponsor stakeholder support, and grants from other organisations.

The History of NatSIP:

NatSIP's predecessor groups date back to around the year 2000, when the UK Government implemented strategies to create Regional Partnerships for children with low-incidence disability.

In the South East Partnership (SERSEN), a working group for Sensory Impairment was formed and the benefits of joint working across 19 Local Authority (LA) specialist services and schools became apparent. This was recognised by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

In 2008, when the Regional Partnerships came to an end, the DCSF funded the South East Sensory Impairment Partnership (SESIP) to take forward the joint working agenda for children with SI at a national level.

Renamed as the National Sensory Impairment Partnership to reflect the greatly increased reach of the activity the partnership was further resourced by the DCSF in 2009 with an objective to improve outcomes for children and young people with sensory impairment.