Meet the EPs, the Labyrinth & EHC Plan Transfers

Meet the EPs, the Labyrinth & EHC Plans 12th September 2017 Dear All Our autumn term events (more on our website under Events), plus news EHC Plan transfers and a couple of positive thoughts…

What can an Educational Psychologist (EP) do for you?

First off… What is an Educational Psychologist?

Here’s a short definition…

“Educational Psychologists (EPs)help children or young people who are experiencing problems that hinder their successful learning and participation in school and other activities.

These problems can include a range of emotional and social problems or learning difficulties.” https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/educational-psychologist Typically, in the UK, it takes 7 years to become an EP. That’s because trainees have to complete teacher training first, then convert this to EP practice, then have completed a number of work experiences. (we’ve been very brief in our description!)

What are these meetings about?

The local Educational Psychology Service (EPS) want to improve their partnership working with parents and carers. To help them achieve this goal, they (the EP's) are holding a series of focus groups with SEND Family Voices where they will listen to what you (parents and carers) have to tell them about your experiences of their service…

"SEND Family Voices have kindly agreed to host these events in the autumn term. We hope that by listening to your views we will be able to identify key themes that will tell us what works and what needs to improve. We can then draw upon your experiences to inform our service delivery. More about the focus groups is listed below. We very much looking forward to hearing your views!

• Each focus group will be facilitated by 1-2 members of the Educational Psychology Service and will involve a number of questions to facilitate group discussion.

• Your views will be treated confidentially.

• Once information from the focus groups has been analysed this will be discussed within the EPS leadership team in order to inform service development.

• You will receive written feedback, via SEND Family Voices, that details what you told us and what we will do as a result."

Dates for your diaries 1. Wednesday 27th September - 10.30am to 12.30pm at The Strada, Griffin Centre, Kingston, KT1 1JT 2. Tuesday 3rd October - 7pm to 9pm at York House, Richmond Rd, TW1 3AA 3. Friday 6th October - 10.30am to 12noon at MeToo&Co, The CrossWay Centre, Twickenham, TW1 2PD * 4. Monday 16th October - 7pm to 9pm at The Strada, Griffin Centre, Kingston, KT1 1JT * creche available. Contact Fiona: info@metooandco.org.uk

Please reply to this e-mail to book a place (it helps us with catering!). With thanks.

The Key to the Labyrinth…

CAMHS = Children & Adolescent Mental Health Services Today, in Richmond borough, the Clinical Commissioning Group held a very positive multidisciplinary meeting – where approx. 40% of attendees were also parents – to discuss what would improve the current system.

One thing, from a parents’ view is clear… support should not start at the point of diagnosis, it starts at the point of referral. The point of referral is when things are ‘not working’. This is when support (pre-diagnosis) should kick in.

One review of the morning is here: https://starlightmckenzie.wordpress.com/2017/09/12/the-key-to-the-door-of-the-labyrinth/ There are meetings between the commissioners and the service providers during September. After this... are follow ups with families...

There will be a follow on from today’s meeting (date tbc), and there are already more informal meetings planned. Dates below: 1. Tuesday 3rd October - 1.30pm to 3pm at MeToo&Co, The CrossWay Centre, Twickenham, TW1 2PD To book e-mail: info@metooandco.org.uk 2. Monday 9th October - 1pm to 2.30pm at Express CIC, 452 Ewell Road, Surbiton, KT6 7EL To book e-mail: info@expresscic.org.uk 3. Tuesday 10th October - 7pm to 8.30pm at Langdon Down Ctr, Normansfield, 2A Langdon Park. Teddington. TW11 9PS To book e-mail: richmond@nas.org.uk (Early November multi-disciplinary mtg planned for early November, starting at 10am)

Meet the specialist Social Workers & Family Support Workers We have arranged these meetings for families to understand how the Achieving for Children' specialist support teams work - and to answer your questions. Exact details will be confirmed over the half term, we expect a team manager from Children with Disabilities, plus a senior family support worker.

1. Thursday 23rd November - 10am to 12.30pm at King Charles Centre, 22 Hollyfield Rd, Surbiton, KT5 9AL 2. Thursday 7th December - 10am to 12.30pm at York House, Richmond Rd, Twickenham, TW1 3AA As before… please reply to this e-mail to book a place (it helps us with catering!). With thanks.

Transfers of Statements to EHC Plans…

“Achieving for Children communication regarding the transfer of Statements of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) Following our initial communication on 28 June 2017, Achieving for Children (AfC) can confirm that we have now appointed the dedicated Transfer Team to oversee the statutory requirement to transfer all existing Statements of SEND to Education, Health and Care Plans by the end of March 2018.

The Transfer Team consists of four Education Health Plan Co-ordinators and five Assistant Psychologists. The team is led by Laura Martin, a senior colleague in the SEND team, with Dr Tom Connor, Senior Educational Psychologist, supervising the Assistant Psychologists. The team is co-located with the SEND and Educational Psychology Teams.

The Transfer Team’s core purpose is to complete the remaining transfers, working to the timeline below. Our key partners, including speech and language therapy services, are also fully engaged in the process and appreciate that working to this deadline is an AfC and Council priority.

To begin with, we will prioritise the children and young people at key transition points at the end of this academic year (see below). We know the process is complex and intricate, and must be compliant with statutory timelines. We have provided additional administration for these cases.

1. From 11 September 2017 - Year groups 5, 7, 9 and 10 ● Special Schools – managed by G. Bryce, external consultant ● Year 11 and above – managed by the ‘Preparing for Adulthood Team’ Trigger letters will be sent from 4 September 2017 over a six week period. The ‘Transfer Meeting’ will be held two weeks after the receipt of the trigger letter.

2. From 2 October 2017 - Year Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8 Trigger letters will be sent from the end of October to mid- November and the ‘Transfer Meeting’ will follow.

Please note that Year 6 transfers will be completed as part of the transition process supported by the pre-16 SEND team.

We know that this process needs appropriate time and investment so that the new plans are relevant and purposeful. Our Educational Psychology Services and SEND Team will also be working with the Transfer Team over the next seven months so that we do all we can to meet our statutory deadline.

We recognise the challenge ahead and do not underestimate the task we have to do.

Achieving for Children remains committed to working collaboratively with its partners to secure an effective and consistent assessment process for children, young people and their families. “ If you have any questions please contact: E: Richmond sen-lbr@achievingforchildren.org.uk E: Kingston sen-rbk@achievingforhildren.org.uk

A reminder of our humanity Sometimes, we meet someone with profound, non-verbal autism – and whilst there is no speech – we can see they are intelligent and thoughtful people. But, they have no common method to communicate. These articles and books, are wonderful and empowering reading. ”Naoki Higashida is a 24-year-old man with severe, largely non-verbal autism. Though he cannot hold a conversation, he uses an alphabet grid to build up sentences, which are taken down by a transcriber. By this method he produced his first book, The Reason I Jump, when he was only 13. It quickly became an autism classic”

An extract: “A meltdown follows: “I want to take control of the situation, but my brain won’t let me… My rage is directed at my brain, so… I start punching my own head.” Headpunching and other forms of self-harm are common autistic traits, much more so among the non-verbal. Higashida’s explanation makes perfect sense.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/16/fall-down-7-times-get-up-8-naokihigashida-review-autism

When people hear for the first time…

No more to say than the title says. Follow the link below, the film is just under 2 minutes. The toddlers are the most fun!! https://www.facebook.com/BlackDoctor.org/videos/10213767052079994/?hc_ref=ARQHm1A d7f470dHC0eNHxiH_zdcfx9P2wLTa-vrxFIDbWbncypGGrD0YH37CVu4v5O4 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