A new support group, Funding & dates for your diary 11th March 2016 Dear All We’ve had a very busy week, and expect to bring you firm news of Parent Carer Needs Assessments (PCNAs) very soon...
The right to ordinary lives… SEND Family Voices free workshop with barrister Steve Broach a great success. 73 parents and 22 professionals in one room. We’ve had lots of really positive feedback… “Just to say thank you so much for organising such an informative and interesting day. It was really useful to have the SEN team there as well [at lunchtime]. I would welcome another talk next year.” "It is really great to have a whole view of a complex system. " "Fantastically useful conference brilliantly organised. Well done to the team. " We have the slides and are busy typing up our collective notes – these will be sent to all attendees and are available upon request for anyone else who would like a copy. Steve mentioned two resources, both are available on-line: Disabled children: a legal handbook “an authoritative yet accessible guide to the legal rights of disabled children and their families in England and Wales.” http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/11566 …and this Problem Solving Toolkit from Cerebra. It’s an accessible toolkit, 36 pages and well worth a look. “This toolkit aims to support disabled people and carers, as well as their families and advisers, who are encountering difficulties with the statutory agencies in relation to the provision of health, social care and education support services. This toolkit aims to unpick these problems and to develop effective strategies for resolving them.” http://w3.cerebra.org.uk/help-and-information/guides-for-parents/problem-solving-toolkit/
Funding – take part in the debate… On March 7th, this statement came from the Department for Education: "Today the Government has launched the first stage of its consultation on national funding formulae for high needs and schools, and on other high needs funding reforms.”
What does this mean? At the moment Local Authorities (in our case Achieving for Children) are funded according to how they have spent money on SEND in the past. It’s an unequal system as one authority may receive more money than another, despite having fewer children with high needs. The consultation proposes to change this using a complex formula. No changes are proposed to the balance of funding between schools and high needs; it’s not about spending more on SEND, it’s about how the money is spread so that it gets to young people who need it in a way that is fairer.
The consultation document itself is 57 pages long (attached). We haven’t had a chance to read through this, or do the online consultation (15 pages). All parents, carers and young people are invited to participate. If anyone gets to grips with this before us, please do let us know!! Thankfully, the deadline is 17th April 2016, so we still have time (over the Easter holidays?). Once we’ve got our heads around this, we’ll provide more insight. In meantime, take a look at Special Needs Jungle’s comments: http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/parent-and-carers-guide-to-the-dfes-send-fundingconsultation/ You can find both the consultation document, and the consultation itself here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/schools-national-funding-formula
A new Support Group This is a brand new support group for parents of children and young people with physical disabilities. The first ever meeting is:
Friday 22nd April - 10:00 to 12:00 The CrossWay Centre, East Twickenham, Richmond Road TW1 2PD “We are 3 local parents of children with physical disabilities who feel that there is a need for a place where we can meet and chat and support each other. Children with physical disabilities and their families have a particular range of things to deal with and we felt that a way of connecting families and sharing experiences would be useful. Among us we’ve all sorts of experience: various types of physiotherapy, equipment from standing frames to installing a lift at home, encounters with orthopaedic surgeons, experiences with hippotherapy, riding for the disabled, hydrotherapy and adapted sailing: we’ve navigated the minefields of wheelchair vehicles, cursed inaccessible public transport and toilets, deciphered the blue badge and taxi-card schemes, grappled with supporting our children in school and yet we are still learning and still have much to share. Most importantly when we get together we can laugh about some of the mad situations that we find ourselves in and we can celebrate our wonderful kids. This group is new so it can become anything we want it to. We hope you’ll come along and be part of it. Penny, Stacey & Sylvie Please contact Penny on webphb@btinternet.com to let us know whether you’d like to come so we have some idea of numbers. If you want to know more or have any questions or suggestions then do let us know via the email address also. We will provide refreshments. We are very grateful to the charity MeToo&Co for giving us a room where we can meet. They also offer a crèche service for under 5s for anyone wishing to come to the meeting. Places are limited so please contact MeToo&Co to book. info@metooandco.org.uk. 07946 646033. “
More dates for your diary Do you have a child with hearing impairment? This is open to parents in both Kingston & Richmond… TRAPHIC (Twickenham & Richmond parents of hearing impaired children) are meeting:
Wednesday 16th March at 10am Costa Coffee, Teddington “We carry forward our members’ ideas for helping our children cope with their challenges. Along the way we will share our ideas and tips as parents and members of the community.” Please contact Nicola : traphicgroup@virginmedia.com
Health and Therapies Careers Event “We are delighted to announce our annual free Careers Event for those wishing to train in a Health/Therapy field of work. This will be a fantastic opportunity for students in Year 12 or 13 with a genuine interest in pursuing a career in health, nursing or one of the therapies to gather information, meet with professionals and attend workshops. There may even be some shadowing opportunities on offer on the day.”
7th April 2016 The Moor Lane Centre, Moor Lane, Chessington, KT9 2AA Please contact Katharine Flaherty: katharine.flaherty@achievingforchildren.org.uK
SEN Conference This conference open to all parents, carers and schools in Richmond and Kingston. Would you like to know more about the SEND Ofsted/CQC inspections? And understand how Achieving for Children’s SEN Strategy affects families?
Tuesday 26th April – 1.30pm to 4.30pm Lensbury Conference Centre, Teddington More information to follow – for now, a date for your diary.
Richmond Dyslexia AGM Margaret Rooke, author of “Creative, Successful, Dyslexic - 23 high achievers share their stories” is the guest speaker
10th May 2016 at 7pm The Old Town Hall, Richmond This is open to all families and professionals in both Kingston & Richmond. Entry is free to members of Richmond Dyslexia and £10 to non-members. Please contact Sophie: info@richmonddyslexia.org.uk
What’s new on the Local Offer Friendships are crucial for developing lifelong social skills, but are an area with which autistic adolescents often struggle, especially when they are interacting with non-autistic peers. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/453-university-college-london-research-onfriendships-on-the-autism-spectrum The Mental Health Team at the Department for Education are seeking your help over publicising a call for evidence that the Department for Education has recently launched to ask children and young people what they think about peer support/mentoring for mental health and emotional wellbeing. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/448-peer-support-mentoring-for-mentalhealth-and-emotional-wellbeing
The National Deaf Children’s Society’s new survey for professionals working with deaf children and young people and their families is now live. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/447-national-deaf-children-s-society-surveyfor-professionals-working-with-deaf-children Achieving for Children’s updated organisation chart https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/pages/home/find-out-more-about-the-local-offer/workingwith-us-to-provide-our-local-offer YoungMinds is the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. They have a lot of resources on their website to support children and young people, parents, and professionals covering a wide range of subjects https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/pages/home/health/emotional-wellbeing-and-mentalhealth
Being heard… Kiatipat Tongyotha lives with cerebral palsy and doesn’t want people to underestimate his ability to think for himself and make decisions. With Fixers he created a film urging healthcare professionals to let him speak for himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTqfzvbu1bU As ever, if you have any queries at all, please ask and we'll always do our best to find an answer. With best wishes, Romany (for Richmond) and Caroline North (for Kingston) Phone: 07469 746 145 www.sendfamilyvoices.org