EHCPs 1-6, Thank You-s, Free Tickets & Relaxation

EHCPs 1-6, Thank You-s, Free Tickets & Relaxation 6th January 2018 Dear All We start with a short reminder of who we are; for all those that are new to our newsletters (some 80 families in the last 2 months). We recommend our film!

Then‌ onto Education, Health & Care Plans‌.

Who are SEND Family Voices?

SEND Family Voices are a mix of representatives from parent-led disability specific support groups across Kingston & Richmond, plus individual parents. We are all parent/carers and all give our time on a voluntary basis.

We include representatives from groups that cover Downs Syndrome, Learning Difficulties, Dyslexia, Physical Disabilities, Hearing Impairment, Autism spectrum and its co-morbidities (eg adhd), complex and profound needs. We are pan-disability and seek to work with families whose children are on SEN Support or have Education Health & Care Plans – or who just need a bit of extra help for now.

Our stated purpose‌. We bring people together into a community to improve services, share support and strengthen our common voice. By ensuring families are heard, we aim to empower children, young people and their families to obtain the best possible care and services. We work independently from, but in partnership with the providers of children's services. ‌and we founded in June 2014. If you would like to know more, and perhaps work more closely with our steering group or Trustees, please contact sendfamilyvoices@outlook.com

And our Film: I Just Want to Be Like Everyone Else One of our projects from the last eighteen months is a film on ‘reasonable adjustments’, titled I Just Want to Be Like Everyone Else.

This is children and young people in their own words‌ on what works for them in school‌ its just under 10 minutes and well worth watching đ&#x;˜Š http://www.sendfamilyvoices.org/film

EHCPs – Help #’s 1 to 6 (some are free, some not) EHCP = Education, Health & Care Plan

#1 PfA – Parents Needed! (please contact Penny below) (PfA = Preparing for Adulthood) There has been a request by some parents to look into the design of the EHCP form used by children and young people in year 10 and above. We (SFV) have raised this with Achieving for Children and they have arranged a meeting to discuss and review the form.

We need a few parents to participate in the meeting to give their views - ideally parents who have already had some experience of using the form - however anyone who has a child around year 9/10 or above who is interested would be welcome. Linda Jordan, who is part of the “Preparing for Adulthood” pathfinder team advising the Department for Education will be attending the meeting.

(Pathfinder = testing ideas before they become law or best practice) Thursday 11th January – 2pm to 4.30pm Kingston (contact Penny for more details) Please could you let email us to let us know whether you would be able to participate. penny@sendfamilyvoices.org Your input would be very useful.

#2 EHCP Transfers – Part II (Free to attend) Are you going through or are you about to go through the process of transferring a statement to an EHCP? Can we help?

To help families to help themselves we are running a series of workshops / open meetings to help you understand the process, what you can do to ensure that it goes as smoothly as possible, and what to look out for. The workshop will be run by Penny from SEND Family Voices (the EHCP Lead and main author of the Golden Binder) and Alex Hardy of the Independent Supporters.

Thursday 18th January – 10am to 12noon Doubletree Hilton, Skerne Road, Kingston, KT2 5FJ Thursday 25th January – 7pm to 9pm York House, Richmond Road, Twickenham, TW1 3AA If you are able to register attendance that would be helpful, but feel free to just turn up.

E: events@sendfamilyvoices.org

#3 Capturing the Voice for Section A of the EHCP (Free reading) “So how ‘should’ we collect a child’s authentic voice? EHCP Part A Published with kind permission of the starlightmackenzie blog - December 2017.” https://www.afcinfo.org.uk/pages/local-offer/information-and-advice/assessment-andeducation-health-and-care-planning/education-health-and-care-plans-section-a-capturingthe-voice-of-a-child-or-young-person

#4 ISPEA Training (Free to View) IPSEA – Independent Parental Special Educational Advice These resources are produced by IPSEA, the Department for Education and Mott Macdondald (a central government partner in the SEND Reforms) The webinar following the DfE/IPSEA – SEND decision making and the law workshops is available at: http://www.sendpathfinder.co.uk/send-decision-making-and-the-law-webinar In the link above, there are 8 videos – ranging from 5 minutes to 1 minute. All worth watching – all a good introduction and/or reminder of the SEND Code of Practice and The Law. For more detail… all the resources from the day are online at: http://www.sendpathfinder.co.uk/send-decision-making-and-the-law-workshops

#5 Preparing for Secondary School - 16th January 2018 - evening

“Secondary school is about becoming an independent learner. Pupils need to be organised and use a range of skills to make friends and develop academically…

These workshops from Action-attainment aim to help parents and teachers identify what testing is available, the type of evidence provided, and how parents have used this data, alongside expert advice, to support secondary school choice and transition. Subsidised by Richmond Parish Lands and Community Learning funding. £15 contribution to costs, free places available on request. info@action-attainment.com “ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/secondary-school-planning-4-workshops-4-education-lawtickets-38281496988?aff=erelexpmlt

#6 EHCP Seminars - 20th February and 6th June - daytime “Action for Kids, together with the Advocacy and Support Partnership and leading law firm Irwin Mitchell, are delighted to present a series of flagship seminars for parents, carers and professionals on issues related to special educational needs and disabilities.

Seminars are only £15 (including lunch) for parents and carers, and £45 for Professionals” https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/send-seminars-for-parents-carers-and-professionals-tickets39849595212?mc_cid=9baf54bf8e&mc_eid=ba990ebcb1

New to autism (and it’s co-morbidities)?

These groups are funded by the Richmond Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and will offer support to families who are 'on the pathway' or have just received a diagnosis of autism for their child (irrespective of any other needs). The Educational Psychology Team will be supporting the Richmond branch of the National Autistic Society (NAS).

If you have attended a previous workshop – you are more than welcome to come again!

Friday 12th Jan. 2018 - 10.30am to 12noon at MeToo&Co, The CrossWay Centre, Twickenham, TW1 2PD * * creche available. Contact Fiona: info@metooandco.org.uk

Thank You! #1 CAMHS Survey to parents re additional support Summary analysis (pub.6th Jan.2018) Thank You to the families who took part in this survey on children mental health services.

On 18th October 2017 SEND Family Voices sent an extra newsletter to their database with a request from Richmond CCG to complete a survey. The summary report is below.

To summarise this in one sentence: ‘having a disability is difficult – our children need support and help with their mental health’. You can find the full summary here: http://www.sendfamilyvoices.org/booklets-research/

#2 Meet the Educational Psychology Service (EPS) Thank you to all those parents that came along to these focus groups; this was a real opportunity to influence a service our children need.

The EPS are putting together the notes from these groups and we will circulate these to all those that attended for final comment. The final notes will then be taken through the management levels and we'll let you know the outcomes as soon as possible.

Update: 6th January 2018. The EHCP transfer deadline of end March 2018 takes precedence for now. The EPS will be back on track with the analysis from these workshops in a couple of months.

#3 Children & Young People’s Plans 2017 – Kingston & Richmond SEND Family Voices held ten open workshops to contribute to these Plans and published a report in December 2016. Whilst both borough plans took some while to publish, we are pleased to see SEND noted in each. Our primary feedback was 'The Right to an Ordinary Life' for our families.

Thank You to all the 101 families that took part in these workshops!

You can find the plans for both Kingston and Richmond through the link below: http://www.sendfamilyvoices.org/booklets-research/

On The Local Offer There’s always something new on the Local Offer. Check their Home Page for the latest information on their ‘Carousel’. For now, here is a news item that may be of interest…

Changes to the teaching of Sex & Relationship Education and PSHE (Department for Education) “Pupils in England’s schools are currently taught about relationships, health and the wider world through sex and relationship education (SRE) and personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) lessons. This survey asks for your views on a number of topics related to these subjects. It should take around 30 minutes to complete. We will use your comments to help us further refine our thinking and proposals.” https://www.afcinfo.org.uk/local_offer/blog_articles/1683-changes-to-the-teaching-of-sexrelationship-education-and-pshe

Free Tickets for Jack & The Beanstalk The New Wimbledon Theatre is hosting a Relaxed Performance of their pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk and they would like to offer recipients of SEND Family Voices’ newsletter complimentary tickets to come and see the show.

“With a relaxed performance we look at how we can reduce some of the sensory aspects so we reduce the sound and lighting levels where needed, take out strobe or some flashing lights and any unexpected bangs/noises. If the auditorium is very dark the house lights are raised. Audience members are able to walk in out of the auditorium as they need to and there are designated quiet areas available throughout the performance.

Our relaxed performance is taking place on Thursday 11 January 2018 at 11.00am.”

If you would like to attend, please reply by midnight on Sunday 7th January with your contact details and how many tickets you would like.

E: sendfamilyvoices@outlook.com

Relaxation…

A relaxation app recommended to us by a young person (Joe – ex Youth Participation team).

“I've found some relaxation apps which I personally find very helpful for reducing anxiety and stress. You can view more details by clicking on the link below.” http://www.wildventures.nl/ 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