Ice cream, inclusion & let’s keep talking…

Ice Cream, Inclusion & let’s keep talking…

18th June 2016 Dear All There’s lots of opportunities for meeting other families, see all our events below. Plus, please take the time to complete Express CIC’s short survey…

Ice creams & Inclusion for all the family Our Annual Meeting is open to all the family and is a part of Learning Disabilities Awareness Week. There are plenty of activities during the day, plus…. …Free Ice Cream & Sorbets (or gelato) provided & a disco or creative workshops for those children and young people that don’t want to sit through our meeting at 4.30pm!

Please come along and hear what we’ve been up to over the year. There are lots of activities during the day. More: http://richmondmencap.org.uk/ldaweek/ We hope you’ll enjoy our guest presenters - who will also answer your questions on disability rights and inclusion. At the end of the workshop, we’ll have short bookable slots where you will be able to ask Richard & Linda for their professional advice on your own circumstances (ie free professional advice) Just reply to this e-mail to let us who will be coming so that we can cater to your needs.

Venue: The Langdon Down Centre 2A Langdon Park, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 9PS Overview:

4.30pm

SEND Family Voices report We will present our Annual Report from 4.30 to 4.45 (copies available to take away), then we’ll welcome our two nationally renowned Inclusionist speakers…

4.45pm

presentation/workshop on Friendships…

Richard Rieser is the managing director of World of Inclusion Ltd, and is an expert disabled international equality trainer, consultant, film maker, writer and teacher. http://worldofinclusion.com/resources Linda Jordan from the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi). NDTi is a not-forprofit organisation which works to promote inclusive lives for people who are most at risk of exclusion and who may need support to lead a full life. NDTi exists to make change happen - change that leads to people having better lives. http://www.ndti.org.uk

5.45pm 6.30pm

questions from the floor & 1:1 advice ends

Places are limited. Please reply to this e-mail to let us know if you are planning to attend.

Meeting other parents Our programme of open meetings continues; open to all families in both boroughs. Below is a bit more information about who will be facilitating these meetings.

Penny is a parent and is our SFV lead on EHCPs; the lead author of the Golden Binder and is a founder of Phyz.

Clive works for Achieving for Children and is responsible for the SPA (Single Point of Access and Family Support) and has worked with us on the Parent Carer Needs Assessments (PCNAs).

Plus there will always be at least one other SFV member how has a specialism…

Monday 20th June

Wed. 22nd June

Friday 24th June

Wed. 29th June

10.30am to 12.30pm

7pm to 9pm

10am to 12noon

10-30am to 12.30

The Moor Lane Centre Moor Lane, Chessington, KY9 2AA Express CIC offices 452 Ewell Road, Surbiton, KT6 7EL MeToo&Co*, Crossways, St. Stephen’s, Twickenham, TW1 2PD

Barnes Sports Club, 261 Lonsdale Road, SW13 9QL

Penny & Sam & Clive

Phyz Autism PCNAs

Penny & Caroline & Clive

Phyz Autism PCNAs

Penny & Rachel & Clive Penny & Lisa & Clive

Phyz Downs Syndrome PCNAs Phyz Multiple Learning Diff.

PCNAs

* 24th June - crèche available at meeting hosted by MeToo&Co. Please contact Tel: 07946 646033 or e-mail: info@metooandco.org.uk to book place.

New Special Free Schools The first four meetings exploring and debating the Auriga Academy Trust’s proposals for opening of two new free schools for Kingston and Richmond have come to an end.

In total 51 parents/carers attended, and 6 from other organisations. These were robust debates and a lot of good ideas came from then. John Kipps (Headteacher, Clarendon) and Ivan Pryce (Headteacher, Strathmore) impressed many of the parent attendees with their evident passion and care in providing excellent new provision. We shall talk some more – details to follow soon.

Whilst there are many themes emerging from these debates, there are two that continue to stand out more than any other are: 1. Quality of provision 2. Staff retention (therefore consistency of care & therapies) As promised during the meetings, full notes (including raw data) will be circulated to all parent/carer attendees for comment and additions. If, as a parent or carer, you would like to be included, please reply to this e-mail.

Express CIC Many of you will know of Express CIC and their stated mission: 'creating a hub in the heart of the community, supporting young people with autism and their families, a place for everyone' SFV refer a lot of families to Express; they offer more autism focussed support groups and advice than anyone else locally. To help them achieve this goal, please take part in their survey (it took only four minutes when we did it).

“A Survey from Express CIC - Supporting People with Autism & Their Families We urgently need your help!

We have been asked to provide further evidence of need to take our project forward.

Please complete this survey even if you have completed an Express survey before.

This will also ensure our database is up to date with the correct information, ensuring we both evidence need and provide relevant support to our families.

The survey should take no more than a few minutes to complete.

Please be assured your details will not be passed on to any other organisation. Thank you.” https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ExpressEvidenceNeed

Autism Awards …from the National Autistic Society “Public spaces can be overwhelming for autistic people trying to deal with too much information. Many autistic people give up using these shops and businesses.

We want to encourage as many places as possible to be marked as autism-friendly, whether that's displaying a little bit of understanding or creating an environment which feels less overwhelming. We want to recognise and champion the good work some places are already doing. Your personal story will help the business to understand why making their public space autism-friendly is so important.

Tell us somewhere you want to take on the Autism Friendly Award, and just as importantly, why?” https://act.autism.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=10&ea.campaign.id=51665

Baker Small…

There is no way of ignoring the offensive nature of the tweet from Baker Small earlier in the week. Below is a brief update…

An article on the original tweet... http://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/jun/13/baker-small-law-firm-parents-tweets-childrenspecial-educational-needs

Here’s the Achieving for Children (providers of children’s services across Kingston & Richmond boroughs) official tweet…

“AchievingForChildren @AforChildren Jun 16 We have not commissioned Baker Small for any legal cases and have no plans to do so in future.”

Let’s go with how this could work better… http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/call-to-action-lets-work-together-stop-send-tribunalnightmares/

Short Breaks – 8th July application deadline Deadline for applying for summer holiday short breaks funding is 8th July… https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/394-aiming-high-short-break-funding-summerfunding-deadline

Medical seat belt covers Thank you to the family that sent this link in – looks like a really good idea! (UK based) “These are great for informing the first person on the scene of an accident that there needs to be more care taken or that this person may not be able to talk to for example to a police officer if being stopped for questioning. Not only for a child with any condition but also for adults. Allergies, non-verbal or any health information that will help the first person on the scene.” http://doedoe.co/product/medical-seat-belt-covers/ 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