ISCD Services news, Mobility forum & A Question 11th September 2015 Dear All We wouldn’t normally send bulletins so close together, but you can tell the new term has started (and this is only two pages of A4!). A Word version of this bulletin is also attached.
SEND Family Voices After extensive consultation, we are bringing the two DfE funded parent forums together under the identity SEND Family Voices. We held a meeting for Kingston families on 10th September at which 8 Kingston parents, plus the 3 signatories for the Kingston DfE funding answered questions. We identified that the word “merge” needed clarifying. To confirm: the two DfE funded groups (Kingston & Richmond) will come together we will receive two sets of funding (one for each borough) we will have to account, separately, for each amount of funding in two monitoring documents (hence, we cannot favour one borough over another) we will benefit from economies of scale and shared expertise we believe that operating within a professional, ethical framework is critical for our community and are currently working on our governance. We will this share before finalising. Our current programme of joint working was appreciated and we took an overwhelmingly positive ‘vote of confidence’ to continue along this path. If you have any queries at all about this, please reply to this e-mail address by Friday 18th September. We expect to move to the e-mail address SENDFamilyVoices@outlook.com in the near future. It is a live address now – and we will let you know when we formally transfer.
(ISCD) Integrated Services for Children with Disabilities - news Below is the latest letter from the Head of ISCD which outlines the challenges and actions over the past year. This service provides Short Breaks and support during the Transition from children’s services to adult services. Their brand new – hot of the press – Guide to ISCD Services is also attached (available upon request). As the attached letter says, please do refer to SEND Family Voices with any query – and we will always do our best to find an answer.
Richmond Mobility Forum & Transport Action Group “The Mobility and Transport Action Group is a forum for anyone in the borough of Richmond with mobility needs. The Forum acts as an advisory body on accessible transport issues in the borough. Through our actions, services in Richmond can be improved to increase the independence and social inclusion of disabled and older people and children and young people with additional needs.” Details of their next meeting & agenda (attached) have just been finalised: The Hyde Room, York House Twickenham Monday 14th September 2015 - 2pm to 4pm Please note: this is separate from the formal consultations on SEN Transport, with families, that we are arranging for October and November.
A message from Ruils: “Attached is the agenda for a meeting on Monday 14 September about changes to SEN transport provision, issues around that and information about the taxicard scheme. The meeting has been organised by the Mobility Forum and Transport Action Group and will run until 4pm but you are welcome to come to part of it if that works for you. SEN Transport is something a lot of our young people use and how it is organised is important! So, if you have the time to come along for the start of the meeting that would be great – it would be really helpful to have parents there to hear about these changes and to have the opportunity to express their views.”
SEND news – Transition On 4th September the Department for Education (DfE) held a workshop on “Transitions” ...specifically the transition from a Statement to an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHC Plan). We covered the highlights in the last bulletin – and we can now attach the slides, or you can reach them via this link (go to the “What’s New” section): www.london1champion.co.uk
Attitudes “While there is increased education in schools on learning disabilities more work still needs to be done to reduce stigma; as suggested by a new analysis into public attitudes towards people with learning disabilities. The report by Mencap and University College London (UCL) found that a number of methods have been successful in improving attitudes and these should be introduced for people with learning disabilities. https://www.learningdisabilitytoday.co.uk/ucl-and-mencap-publish-review-of-attitudestowards-people-with-learning-disabilities/ These include: An increase in direct contact with people with learning disabilities Greater indirect contact via the positive media portrayals of learning disabilities Fighting for the rights of people with learning disabilities to have equal participation in education, employment, social and leisure pursuits Education at an early age in schools on learning disabilities.”
A Question What would be the single most helpful public example for your child / young person with SEND? What message would you send to the rest of the world about SEND? OK, that’s two questions. But we’re pondering what would make a difference to the future for your child? For some, it’s an example of celebrities that have overcome the odds. For others, it’s the example of a normal life (having a job, going out with friends). So the final questions are: What matters for your child or young person? What would inspire them? Please reply and let us know and we’ll do some work on making this happen. 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.richmondsendfamilyvoice.org