Important Date: 24th March & Important (local) Surveys 17th March 2017 Dear All All local – and all important…
24th March #1 Overnight Respite – Parent Meeting hosted by Me Too & Co and SEND Family Voices Friday 24th March, 10am to 12 noon The CrossWay Centre, Richmond Road, Twickenham, TW1 2PD
What does ‘overnight respite’ mean to you – and for you? Does your child have complex health needs, severe or complex learning difficulties, a life limiting diagnosis or other complex additional needs? Does your child receive ‘overnight respite’ (that’s an overnight break for you and them!). If not, would you like them to? We all have our own experiences and we’d like to hear yours. So, together SEND Family Voices with MeToo&Co will be exploring five questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
What does overnight respite mean to, and for, you? What works? What doesn’t work? What respite is available locally and what are the criteria to access it? Is there anything else you would like us to know or to ask?
We will be inviting staff from the various local providers and organisations involved in respite care, from all local boroughs, confirmed attendees so far include Shooting Star Hospice and Westbrook Respite Centre, Hounslow. The outcome of this meeting will be a good understanding of parent’s views on the 5 questions above, which can then be presented to the people who make commissioning decisions around respite. A few places will be available in the crèche. Bookings for the meeting and the crèche will open soon, so please wait until the next email to book your place.
Short Breaks Survey – Enter draw to win a £50 voucher Short breaks are a hugely important service for families with disabled children, and one which all local authorities are legally obliged to provide. A short break is any activity that your child does, out of school time, that provides a positive experience for the child or young person, and a break for you. Examples of short break activities include: • holiday clubs • after-school clubs
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individual activities such as horse-riding or swimming overnight stays away holidays
SEND Family Voices is consulting parents to inform the current short breaks commissioning process. Local Government spends over £800K on providing short breaks for children with SEND in Kingston and Richmond every year. Contracts for service providers are typically reviewed every 3 years. For the first time, we can have a real say as the spend for 2018-2021 is allocated. Following the SEND Reforms, the views of parents need to be actively sought.
NOW is your moment to influence the services that your child could receive from next year. Please take a few moments to fill out our online survey (this is the same as the paper version from the meetings so no need to do both!). All questions are of course optional. All answers will be confidential and any data given to Achieving for Children will be entirely anonymised. The survey takes approximately ten minutes to complete… https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NQZZC3R If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please don't hesitate to contact: Richmond - Rachel Derrick rachelsfv@outlook.com Kingston - Sam Rospigliosi sam_rospigliosi@hotmail.com
24th March #2 SEND Education Review Education has been in the news today… “Every state school in England will see budget cuts before 2020, even after new funding plans are put into place, research suggests.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39292344 …and we know this is a difficult financial climate. The survey and review below is not directly related to the news story above. Happily, the law protects our children’s right to support and makes funding this a duty on local authorities. SEND Family Voices are contributing honestly and directly to the discussions on this review; our understanding is that the survey is exploratory in terms of making recommendations and decisions. The survey is anonymous and takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete (depending on how much you write in the free text boxes). “Achieving for Children are currently conducting a review of education provision for children and young people from Richmond and Kingston with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will make recommendations for the future. If you would like to contribute to the review (and we'd encourage you to), please do so via completing the survey contained in the attached link. The survey closes on 24th March “ https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/967-review-of-education-provision-forchildren-and-young-people-from-richmond-and-kingston-with-special-educational-needsand-disabilities-parents-survey
Peripatetic Learning Support Assistants (PLSAs) In Richmond… “The PLSA service provides peripatetic support to pupils on a one-to-one basis, from 5 to 16 years of age in mainstream schools, who have a physical disability or visual impairment.” One of our parents has just been told today by their child’s PLSA that they (the PLSAs) have been informed the PLSA team will be disbanding. We’re not sure yet what this means for pupils – but we will find out. In the meantime, please reply and let us know your thoughts.
Lenehan Review - our response Last week we covered the Lenehan Review’s Call for Evidence. You can read SEND Family Voices’ response here: http://www.sendfamilyvoices.org/documents-research/ And a reminder that the full review is here: https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/943-these-are-our-children-a-review-bydame-christine-lenehan-director-council-for-disabled-children
Useful links, products and ideas Grants “Some 40,000 people a year receive a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to adapt their home, make it safe and accessible.” For more information, follow this link: http://www.independentliving.co.uk/advice/home-adaptations/
Equipment This exhibition is especially helpful should you be looking at equipment. Lots of wheelchairs, chairs, beds etc for all ages… “Welcome to the ‘Kidz to Adultz’ events organised by Disabled Living. Disabled Living holds five of the largest FREE UK exhibitions totally dedicated to children and young adults up to 25 years with disabilities and additional needs, their parents, carers and all the professionals who support and work with them.” http://www.kidzexhibitions.co.uk/kidz-south/visit-kidz-to-adultz-south/
Bedrooms “Safespaces supply custom-made safe rooms and sleep areas for use at home, in schools, and for respite care or holidays. Safespaces equipment is designed for adults and children who may be unsafe in an ordinary room or bed. Typically, we supply products for people with special, sometimes very complex needs including autism, epilepsy and behaviours that challenge.” http://www.safespaces.co.uk/
Reading “Our free library has tactile and audio books for blind and partially sighted people of all ages” (tactile books might also work children with sensory needs too…) http://www.livingpaintings.org/our-library-for-children
Apps “Special iApps, we develop educational apps for children with special educational needs, including autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, hearing impairment and other learning disabilities.” https://www.specialiapps.org/en-gb/
Down’s presenter heralds winds of change A young Frenchwoman with Down's syndrome has fulfilled her dream of presenting the weather on television after a Facebook campaign that was supported by more than 200,000 people. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39269808 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