Dates for 2016, news & christmas recycling (& we’re still here)

Dates for 2016, News & Christmas Recycling (& we’re still here) 23rd December 2015 Dear All We’re still here over the Christmas break... we will check the SEND Family Voices telephone & e-mail account regularly, so will pick up messages and reply.

Hopefully everyone will have a quiet, relaxing, enjoyable, lively, busy, fun-filled… whatever you want your Christmas break to be… week or two!

Dates for 2016 We’ll update and publish these again in the New Year; here are few early dates for families in Kingston & Richmond…

11th to 14th January – 10am-12noon – Twickenham Meet your SEN case co-ordinator The Richmond SEN Team and Preparing for Adult Teams (PfA) are holding a series of coffee mornings for parents, carers and young people within Richmond to meet with their Statement/EHC Plan/PfA Coordinator.

(Please note - they are planning on holding coffee morning sessions for families within Kingston in April and will publish these dates early in Spring 2016.)

Hopefully all families will have received a letter by now. Please also follow the link below for more information: https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/360-coffee-mornings-meet-your-coordinator

25th January – 5pm-8pm – Teddington Transition to adult services This drop-in event is for young people with disabilities and additional needs aged 14 to 25 and their carers. All are welcome; come and speak to providers about options during transition to adulthood, including providers of education, work, housing, health, care and leisure services.

23rd February – 10am-12noon & 7pm-9pm – Twickenham What can a school do to support your child? And what can’t they do?

SEND Family Voices are hosting two meetings at Trafalgar Junior School for parents to discuss SEN Support and more. All families within this ‘locality’ will be invited however it is open to all. Please see attached flyer (will be on the Local Offer in 2016) We are also planning our first ever AGM for Spring 2016; more news to follow. What would you like us to offer in this event?

9th March – drop in through the day – Twickenham World of Work This event will include post-16 education, employment and other opportunities for all young people in Kingston & Richmond. We’re pleased to report that the team organising this are very keen to make this as useful as possible for young people, including those with SEND, and are arranging quiet visiting times. Again - more news to follow.

SEN Transport The consultations are complete, and the SEN Transport Steering Group have reviewed and ratified the final Draft policy. It has now gone to the Councils and will – we hope - soon be available on their websites for public view.

Thank you to all the parents & young people who came to the consultations, to the Steering Group who drilled down in some detail and Eamonn Gilbert (the commissioner) for such constructive diligence on drafting a new SEN Transport policy for Kingston & Richmond.

Kingston & Richmond Councils will review the draft mid-February 2016 – with the intention of ultimately making it final for September 2016.

Post-16 As we understand it, Cheam High School PEP* has a provision that is very well thought out - it incorporates work experience, college taster sessions and travel training together with all the academic and life skills that are essential to lead an independent life.

Alongside many parents, Achieving for Children is keen on this model and are working on developing something locally – this is a work in progress.

There are schools in both Kingston & Richmond who have expressed an interest in hosting a similar provision for September 2016. There are many discussions and everyone agrees that there would need to be a ‘green-light’ within the first couple of months of 2016 for this to go ahead. Equally – everyone is very keen to make this happen, but no promises can be made.

Is this something you would be interested in for your child? If yes, please contact SEND Family Voices with an illustration of what your young person would find useful on this curriculum. * PEP = Post 16 Entry Programme http://www.cheam.sutton.sch.uk/235/pep-post-16-entry-programme

Bits o’news Local (ish) “The Prime Minister visited Twickenham on 14 December to meet staff from Achieving for Children (AfC). The visit coincided with a government announcement on reforms which mean that poorly performing children’s services must improve or be taken over by highperforming authorities, experts and charities. David Cameron came to Twickenham to find out more about the innovative work we are delivering across the country. AfC is already working on behalf of the Department for Education to support other local authorities to turn around their children's services.” https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-we-will-not-stand-by-failing-childrens-services-willbe-taken-over

SEND Implemention From the government’s SEND Implementation Team (0-25 Special Educational Needs and Disability Unit): “As part of the government's commitment to improving outcomes for vulnerable children, we are pleased to confirm the following funding will continue, increasing in 2016 to 2017:  special educational needs and disability (SEND) implementation grant to support English local authorities in the transition to the new SEND system  adoption support fund that pays for the therapeutic interventions that are so vital in maintaining a loving, stable placement

staying put grant that forms part of the government's commitment to improving outcomes for care leavers to help local authorities support their young people to continue living with their foster families beyond age 18 to age 21.

We will send further details in the New Year.” 

If you would like to receive these government bulletins, please send an e-mail to subscribe: sen.implementation@education.gsi.gov.uk

Anti-Bullying “The Anti-Bullying Alliance have launched their new free Online Anti-Bullying Information Tool for parents and carers. The tool is interactive and designed to give parents and carers information about bullying. The tool will help parents if they:  are concerned that their child may be vulnerable to bullying at school.  are worried that their child might be being bullied.  are aware that their child is being bullied.  think or know that their child is bullying others.  just want to browse. “ You can access this free resource at: http://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/advice/parentscarers/anti-bullying-tool-for-parents/

Personal Independence Payment “The government has launched a consultation on how the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) takes into account aids and appliances. It looks at various options for reducing the number of adults who get PIP solely because they need to use aids and appliances.

The consultation period is very short with a deadline of 29 January 2016.” http://www.cafamily.org.uk/news-and-media/new-government-consultation-on-personalindependence-payment-rules

Post-16 “A report looking at how 16 to 19 institutions plan, spend and evaluate their funding to support students with additional needs.” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-funding-for-students-with-additionalneeds

Christmas Recycling & Chess Well… we trawled the various websites for something SEND related and linked to Christmas, we thought White Christmas was probably just a bit too clichéd, so we leave you with a recycling idea… https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/372-recycling-specialist-equipment Plus, for those of us with chess playing people, here is an article on chess and its benefits: http://autisticnotweird.com/10-reasons-for-chess/ As ever, if you have any queries at all, please ask and we'll 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