CAMHS, PLSAs, Summer & Data 27th May 2017 Dear All Lots of news this week….
SWLStG CAMHS – BBC News South West London St. Georges, Children & Adolescent Mental Health Service Of the 2000+ children and young people with identified needs in Kingston and Richmond, nearly half are somewhere on the autistic spectrum. This news affects a lot of families. The BBC have run a news item during their breakfast programme this morning, and the written article can be seen in the link below. Published today. SEND Family Voices are quoted. The article is a fair reflection of the situation as it stands: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40058482 Here is the news article which has appeared in the local papers at the end of last week (essentially, the same story in many local papers): http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/15306391.NHS_could_stop_diagnosing_child_autism_in_ south_west_London/
SWLStG CAMHS – National Autistic Society “As you are no doubt aware, there has been quite a bit in the local news concerning proposed changes to the eligibility criteria for children being referred to South West London St. George's Mental Health Trust (SWLSG) for assessments of autism and ADHD. Basically, the proposition is that a diagnostic assessment service would only be offered to those children who already have significant mental health issues, so those seeking a diagnosis without these issues would not be eligible. Should this proposal go ahead, children living in the boroughs of Kingston, Richmond, Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth would be affected. NAS Richmond, SEND Family Voices, Express CIC and ADHD Richmond are all working together to challenge such changes, and NAS Chief Executive Mark Lever has also written to the South West London Collaborative Commissioning Group plus the individual Clinical Commissioning Group in each borough. The following statement has been issued by Kingston's lead Children's Commissioner about these proposed changes: "No decision has been made by the Trust or by the clinical commissioning groups. Any changes would require detailed engagement with stakeholders and Kingston CCG will talk to local people before reaching any final conclusions on how best to go forward.We recognise the concerns of families of children with a neurodevelopmental condition and the groups who support them and that these must be addressed in any proposal brought forward for consideration. The Trust and South West London CCG commissioners are committed to working together to ensure young people access the most appropriate service for their needs. We need to get the model of service and service capacity right for the range of needs across SW London".
NAS Head Office has drafted a Template Letter to send to your local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), plus a list of the CCG's addresses if you would like to voice your concerns as well. SWLSG would be instructed to carry out this proposal (if it goes ahead), but are not the ones who have proposed this. Head Office asks that you aim your letter at those who have proposed this - the Clinical Commissioning Groups. This letter is just a template, so please do amend and personalise it. Letters that describe your own situation are so much more powerful, so just use bits of it, add your own words as and where you wish, or use it as inspiration to write your own letter.” Follow this link to find the template and letters: http://www.richmondnas.org/our-branch-news.html
Update on the changes to the support provided by the PLSA team (PLSA = peripatetic learning support assistant) Details have begun to emerge this week of the jobs within schools, the pay scales and the way that the children currently supported by the PLSA team will be supported from September. There are a number of conflicting pieces of information and parents are concerned that it would appear that many of the current PLSA team will not be applying for the roles in the schools. Some parents are therefore concerned about how the support will be provided from September and also how the transition will be effectively managed, given the short timescales before the end of the summer term. On behalf of some of the parents impacted by the changes Penny Hoffmann-Becking requested a meeting with Cllr Paul Hodgins which led to a meeting with Rob Henderson of AfC and Cllr Hodgins on Friday of this week. At the meeting, the concerns from the parent community were raised and a request was made for much greater clarity on how the support will be provided from September to be shared as a matter of urgency, if many of the current PLSA team will not continue in role from September. For more details of the meeting please contact Penny on Penny@sendfamilyvoices.org. We will keep you updated if we hear any more.
Half-term & Summer activities For a list of some of the activities available this half-term, please follow the link below to SENDIASS newsletter… http://mailchi.mp/d0dd104caa87/oregl0dvbn-1003065 You can also look to the Events pages on the Local Offer https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/events And… please let the Local Offer of any events or good ideas for the summer, through the Contact Us page: https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/enquiries/new
Musical Portraits - for children age 10-14 with autism – FREE to all participants Here’s a special opportunity and, this year, they are taking only those who’ve never attended before: “The participants will use the portraits at the National Portrait Gallery as a stimulus to create their own music. They will work with an artist from the gallery and The Ignite Ensemble of Musicians from Wigmore Hall Learning. This is a chance to create original music with
professional practitioners. The project will culminate in a sharing for family and friends at Wigmore Hall.” Monday 24th – Thursday 27th July 2017 from 11am – 3.30pm. National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Pl, London WC2H 0HE Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore St, London W1U 2BP If you would like to take part please fill in and submit the on-line application form, and they will get in touch with you soon to discuss further. T: 020 8964 5060 E: ceri@turtlekeyarts.org.uk W: http://www.turtlekeyarts.org.uk/mp
Charities and Grants to support families This is a list of organisations that offer grants or funding that can be used towards short breaks, equipment and other things. If you have any suggestions to add, please let us know using our Contact Us form. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/pages/home/leisure-activities-and-short-breaks/otherfunding-and-grant-sources W: www.afclocaloffer.org.uk E: sendlocaloffer@achievingforchildren.org.uk
Autism Spectrum Disorder across the lifespan: practical outcomes “This workshop aims to equip those who work alongside individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, including parents and professionals, with knowledge and understanding of the approaches that they could adopt in order to work effectively with children, adolescents, and adults with ASD in a variety of settings. There will be a special focus on education, employability and mental health outcomes in ASD and this will facilitate a discussion about future research priorities.” Wednesday 28 June 2017 - 2.00pm to 5.30pm Kingston University London. For further information and to register for the event: http://www.kingston.ac.uk/events/item/2643/28-jun-2017-autism-spectrum-disorder-acrossthe-lifespan-practical-outcomes/ or please contact Dr Elisa Back: e.back@kingston.ac.uk
SEND data, analysis etc etc etc Special educational needs: analysis and summary of data sources “This document provides a combination of analysis and links to the key data sources on children and young people with special educational needs (SEN). This is the fourth release in this format and follows on from the initial publication in November 2015.” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sen-analysis-and-summary-of-datasources?mc_cid=3efaa4894d&mc_eid=7dbeace220
Statements of SEN and EHC plans: England, 2017 “ This statistical first release (SFR) provides data from the annual SEN2 data return, which is mandatory for local authorities to complete. The return is the only source of data to report on all statements of SEN and EHC plans maintained by individual local authorities
Between January 2016 and January 2017, there were 59,545 children and young people transferred from statements to EHC plans. This is equivalent to 32.7% of the children and young people with statements that were in place as at January 2016. The period for local authorities to transfer children and young people with statements to EHC plans began in September 2014 and is due to end by April 2018.” https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/615689/SFR 22-2017_Main_Text.pdf
Commentary from Special Needs Jungle https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/send-2017-state-special-educational-needs-systemrevealed/ …and their infographic https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SEN-Figs-2016-x.pdf
Ten Years on from Bercow “I CAN, in partnership with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, will undertake an independent review of the state of provision for children’s speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), entitled Bercow: Ten Years On, which will be published in early 2018.” http://www.ican.org.uk/Bercow?mc_cid=3efaa4894d&mc_eid=7dbeace220
@SENDFamilyVoice @SENDFamilyVoice 100+ tweets this week – today’s highlight is obvious…
Changing Faces Changing Faces is 25 years old… their special day was Friday 26th May. Read more here… https://www.changingfaces.org.uk/campaigns/face-equality/face-equality-day
‌and more food for thought: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/this-22-year-old-woman-with-down-syndrome-ischanging-the-face-of-beauty-pageants-a7699001.html 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, Caroline North (for Kingston) and Romany (for Richmond) Phone: 07469 746 145 www.sendfamilyvoices.org