Local news, National news and Useful bits 2nd October 2016 Dear All This is the first time we’ve sent this by MailChimp. If you have trouble reading this version, please let us know (and you can also find this newsletter on our website)
What are SFV for? Why are we here…? As we (SEND Family Voices steering group) begin to discuss our priorities for the next few years, we thought is worthwhile to reiterate why we’re here. We are all volunteers and parents; we have a cross-borough, pan-disability representation via a ‘spoke and hub’ model and individual parents. We work in partnership and to help families and be critical friends to the statutory services; whether that be the various parts of Achieving for Children, Health, CAMHS, the Councils and any other service provider.
That partnership and critical friendship includes:
to encourage and facilitate family’s participation in the development of services to represent family’s views and experiences to critique and challenge in the best interests of families to do so fairly and without bias to signpost families to help and support to do this with professionalism and integrity (as per our published policies)
We are working on our priorities now. If you would like to contribute to any part of this discussion, please reply to this e-mail.
“I cannot walk Daddy…” From Rob Dembrey, Early Years at Achieving for Children… “A gang of us are cycling from Land's End to Dulwich College. Freddie [my son] is joining me and others in raising funds by cycling with us on the last leg- 2nd October. We want to raise as much money as possible to help researchers cure Duchenne MD.” Freddie’s page is here:” https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Freddie-Dembrey “British novelist and film producer. Founding partner of Salon Pictures and author of, most recently, The Distinguished Assassin. Also father of two boys, Theo and Oskar, both of whom have Duchenne muscular dystrophy” Read Nick’s blog here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/nick-taussig http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/nick-taussig/duchenne_b_12075094.html? There is still time to donate!
Achieving for Children – new DCS From 1st October 2016, Rob Henderson takes the post as Director of Children’s Services (DCS) for Achieving for Children. The role of DCS is statutory which means that Rob is employed by the two councils (Kingston & Richmond); it is a legal requirement that the Director of Children’s Services (DCS) report directly to the chief executive/s, and are legally accountable via this mechanism for the council’s delivery of its statutory duties in relation to children’s services. In this case, via Achieving for Children. Nick Whitfield is easing into retirement, and holds his post as Chief Executive for Achieving for Children with a business development focus (rather than delivery of services). Windsor & Maidenhead council have approved the move to having their children’s services delivered by Achieving for Children from April 2017. Rob Henderson’s role will encompass DCS for this borough also. Press Release below.
Windsor & Maidenhead children’s services from April 2017 https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/press/article/187/cabinet_approves_changes_to_children_s_servi ces
Richmond Upon Thames school “Parents and the local community are now invited to attend an event on: Monday 3rd October at Stoop Rugby ground from 6.30pm …where they can find out more about the newest secondary school in Richmond upon Thames. A new Headteacher has been appointed to lead The Richmond upon Thames School on the Egerton Road site in Twickenham. The school will welcome year 7 pupils in its new buildings and grounds from September 2017” SEND Family Voices will have a stand, shared with the Local Offer. More details here: http://www.reec.org.uk/education/new-secondary-school/ and the school’s brand new website http://www.richmonduponthamesschool.org.uk/
SEND – a Newsletter & a Digest – national news There is some repetition between the Dept for Education (DfE) newsletter, and the Council for Disabled Children’s (CDC) Digest. However, there is variation in content and overall the scope of the DfE newsletter is wider (ie aimed at SENCo’s too).
DfE SEND Implementation Newsletter – Sept.2016 The newsletter is attached, and the content includes: A message from the Minister: Implementation of the SEND Reforms, 2 years on Data update Local authority and Parent Carer Forum implementation surveys from summer 2016 Learning Difficulty Assessments (LDAs) and high needs funding – a reminder An update on the SEND Tribunal Pilot Announcements New resources available now Annexes
The SEND Review “The SEND Review Guide, part funded by the Department for Education and produced by teachers and school leaders, is now available to download. The SEND Review Guide was created in partnership with over forty outstanding special and mainstream schools, as well as organisations such as Contact a Family, Ofsted, Council for Disabled Children, the Institute of Education and Teaching Schools Council. It is powered by the London Leadership Strategy (LLS), a not for profit organisation created by school leaders for school leaders to transform schools and improve outcomes for children and young people.” If you struggle to download this, please let us know and we can send you a pdf. http://www.thesendreview.com/
Exclusion statistics from July 2016 In July 2016, the Department for Education published its latest data on permanent and fixed period exclusions at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixedperiod-exclusions-in-england-2014-to-2015 The data showed that: Pupils with identified special educational needs (SEN) accounted for just over half of all permanent exclusions and fixed period exclusions Pupils with SEN support had the highest permanent exclusion rate and were over 7 times more likely to receive a permanent exclusion than pupils with no SEN …and more detail in the newsletter
Tribunals Data The latest data release on SEND tribunal cases was published by the Ministry of Justice on 8 September 16 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificatestatistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2016
An update on the SEND Tribunal Pilot “Under our SEND reforms, the Secretary of State and the Lord Chancellor are required to carry out a review of how effectively disagreements are being resolved in the new SEND system.”
Council for Disabled Children - digest “This is a bumper issue which includes many perspectives on the SEND reforms, marking two years since their introduction. Included in the Digest you have: an open letter from Minister for Vulnerable Children and Families, Edward Timpson a blog from Hannah, a member of FLARE, the new young people's advisory group on participation the latest case law updates from barrister Steve Broach (see FAQ below) NHS England updates on care and treatment reviews and the overmedication of people with a learning disability” http://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/field/attachemnt/CDC%20Digest% 20autumn%202016_0.pdf
FAQs on social care and the SEND reforms “It sets out a number of frequently asked questions that have arisen through the Council for Disabled Children’s transforming culture and practice in children’s social care assessment programme as well as feedback from our social care training.” http://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/help-resources/resources/faqs-social-care-andsend-reforms
A new service from Metoo&Co and Ruils Sian Austin from Ruils Family Matters will be offering 1:1 appointments at MeToo&Co… “My aim is to work holistically with families to help them find the tools to enable and strengthen their ability to cope with the considerable difficulties they face which could be challenging behaviour, insomnia, isolation, grief, getting respite, being a lone parent, dealing with the system if English is your second language or simply the endless paperwork.” Appointments will be available on: Friday 7th October – 9.30am, 10.20am, 11.15am Friday 14th October - 9.30am, 10.20am, 11.15am To make an appointment, please contact info@metooandco.org.uk
Young People’s film about mental health “Please see below the film made by Kingston and Richmond Youth Council summarising the results of the survey carried out amongst 1580 young people around the issue of mental health over summer 2016. The film also includes their recommendations on how to improve services.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Mz-wThmC4dWUNBTXJSdmZ4QkU/view?ts=57ec5dc3
SENDIASS film request - choosing a school Would you be willing to be interviewed about choosing a school for your child? In particular the transition between primary and secondary schools. “At KIDS SENDIASS our job is to make the information parents, children and young people need to navigate the SEN system as accessible as possible. We find that there is a huge amount of written information which can be difficult to understand. Whether moving from primary to secondary, or making the difficult decision about special school are all quite complicated processes, and we know there are some important things that can help to make the decision: this can be turned into a movie We would like to create a short information movie to answer parents questions about “Choosing a school”. We’ve found a film maker, know of a few schools and key local authority people that are happy to be interviewed. We’re now looking for a few parents that are happy to be interviewed as part of this. This would involve a few hours of filming, at a time convenient to you, between now and Christmas time. So if you have experience of choosing a school as part of the EHC process and are happy to share your experience, please contact Cecile Remy on: T: 02088316179 E: Cecile.Remy@kids.org.uk “
What’s new on the Local Offer Since June 2016 Kingston Centre for Independent Living (KCIL) has self-funded its own disability-related equipment grants scheme. We recognise that purchasing daily living equipment, which is not supplied by the NHS, can be beyond the expense of many disabled people. In order to support our members and users, we have set aside an amount from our reserves. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/690-disability-related-equipment-grants
Bits and pieces… The Colour Blind Awareness organisation has been founded to raise awareness of colour blindness (colour vision deficiency) and aims to be the first point of reference in the UK for people seeking information on colour blindness. http://www.colourblindawareness.org/ A world without Down’s Syndrome…? This is an interview with a local parent and questions the issues raised by ever improving antenatal testing http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37500189 Please see link for KIDS SENDIASS carers e-bulletin regarding half-term activities. http://eepurl.com/chJYLX Tying shoelaces… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/millions-of-people-have-watched-this-moms-shoetying-tutorial_us_57d1862be4b06a74c9f32628?ir=UK%20Parents 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 If you wish to unsubscribe from this e-mail list, please reply to this e-mail with Unsubscribe in the subject line.