Meetings, Consultations & the state of play for SEN 5th June 2016 Dear All SEND was certainly in the news last week, all the more reason for taking part in our meetings and consultations. Take part and be heard. Round up below…
SFV parent/carer meetings Our complete events schedule for the next few months is on our website and includes the full programme for the topics below. http://www.sendfamilyvoices.org/events Meetings start next week…
Support for Families We are running six informal meetings across both Kingston and Richmond (three in each borough). Whilst the meetings are open (so you can talk about anything you wish), there will be the opportunity to hear about support for families. Tuesday 7th June Thursday 16th June
6.30pm to 8.30pm
Committee Room 1, Guildhall 1 Kingston, KT1 1EU
7pm to 9pm
Room 7, York House Twickenham, TW1 3AA
Specialist Free Schools – Conversation & Consultation Strathmore and Clarendon Schools have started the process of forming a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT), called the Auriga Academy Trust. The Auriga Academy Trust is proposing the opening of two new free schools for Kingston and Richmond. There will be four parent/carer meetings (in total) on this subject, the first was held before half-term and generated a strong debate. Wednesday 8th June
7:00pm – 8:30pm
Committee Room 1, Kingston, KT1 1EU
AGM & fun for all We are looking forward to holding our first AGM on 24th June during Learning Disabilities Awareness (LDA) Week. More details next week, and the programme for LDA is here: http://richmondmencap.org.uk/ldaweek/ We’re planning to apply for some grass roots engagement funding which will allow us to put on a fun event in the autumn. A part of the criteria is that NHS researchers can attend and ask the attendees for their experiences. What kind of event/s would work for you?
Data, Blog and Impact We like to keep ourselves up-to-date and, at the same time, SFV work hard to be critical friends as the SEND Reforms are implemented. Here is some hard data, a blog from the Ministers and a discussion on impact – including the very real effects of limited funding. …and with thanks to Special Needs Jungle for their ongoing work. You can subscribe to their bulletins here (see left-hand-side of page): http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/
Data…
Published on 26th May from the Department for Education. The summary report (titled main text) is attached and you can read the technical data on this site as well. The summary tells you: there has been a continuous increase in Statements and EHC plans every year, since 2010 there were 24,655 new EHC plans in 2015 that nationally, 18.2% of statements have been transferred to EHC plans …and more. “Statistics and analysis on statements of special educational needs (SEN) and education, health and care (EHC) plans in England” https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2016 “Statistics on pupils with SEN, including information on educational attainment, destinations, absence, exclusions, and characteristics” https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen
Blog… May 26th, on Special Needs Jungle Edward Timpson (Minister of State for Children and Families at Department for Education) and Jane Ellison (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health at the Department of Health) “Our reforms are boosting the life chances of children with SEND” “As parent carers we often measure our successes in the little victories we achieve on a day to day basis. They may not seem significant to some, but to us they are milestones that serve to remind us that as a result of our hard work, we are taking steps forwards, however small those steps may be. The post I am going to share with you today is one of those landmark moments that could pass you by unnoticed if no one tapped you on the shoulder and pointed it out. It actually marks a very important milestone that has been many years and many meetings in the making” http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/edward-timpson-and-jane-ellison-our-reforms-areboosting-the-life-chances-of-children-with-send/ And we have to draw your attention to this statement from Jane Ellison: “Indeed, we are seeing fantastic progress in some areas, such as in Kingston & Richmond’s SEND Family Voices scheme, where parent-carers are involved in key decision-making and support Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in commissioning its community paediatrics services.” …you will find some (very) direct parent feedback in the comments boxes on the same webpage.
Impact… 2nd June – news coverage and articles As parents & carers, we are all familiar with the challenges our young people face, and the challenges we navigate to support them through the system. (and this is irrespective of the nature of the young person’s additional needs). We are all affected by the current economic climate… From Special Needs Jungle: “We'd been invited to give parents' views about a new report out today, highlighting the struggle of mainstream schools in England to support more than million pupils with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) amidst delays to
assessments, insufficient budgets and cuts to local authorities. School leaders are calling for a greater focus on SEND in ‘mainstream’ education policy-making. The report is from The Key, an organisation that provides leadership and management support to almost half of schools in England. The findings, based on the views of more than 1,100 school leaders, reveal far-reaching and systemic issues in the support currently available to children with SEND.” http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/head-teachers-warn-children-send-being-failedbudget-cuts/ Video of the interview mentioned in the above article: 16.06minutes & worth watching, hearing and seeing from young people as well as parents. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03x1df9 And another BBC article: “Cash shortage for special educational needs support” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36425290 …the BBC breakfast news held hourly interviews with different families of children and young people on 2nd June. (we haven’t been able to find these on-line to share)
EU referendum Mencap easy read guide… On Thursday 23 June the EU Referendum is taking place to decide whether Britain stays in or out of the European Union. If you are supporting someone else to vote, please see the attachment from Mencap.
What’s new on the Local Offer The Local Offer events pages are teeming… there’s a lot of support and information available to families. See here: https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/events
Some highlights… Open Evening at TAG Youth Club - ALL welcome! We will be holding an Open Evening with TAG Youth Club on Friday 10th June from 7.30 to 9.30pm, so that all young people and their families can come and get a taster of what happens at TAG Youth Club. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/events/19792-tag-youth-club-opening-night-and-welcometo-richmond-young-people?date=2016-06-10 Express CIC events If you haven't yet been to one of their parent/carer support groups, please do come along. They are all very friendly and these groups are run by and for parents. These groups are for those currently going through diagnosis, have just received a diagnosis or have valuable experience to share; they run both daytime and evening groups (and separate pub events for Dads and Mums) You can find their events listed on the Local Offer, or go straight to their website via the Local Offer. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/organisations/7764-express-cic?term=express+cic Laughs & Scarves This session is new but only one person currently attends… looks like fun! https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/events/20079-laughs-scarves?date=2016-06-06 Wheelchair Tennis sessions Looking for participants:
https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/555-new-wheelchair-tennis-sessions-lookingfor-participants
More news on the Local Offer… Survey - childcare for pre-school children “From September 2017, eligible parents will be able to access an additional 15 hours free childcare per week for children aged 3 and 4 years. If you currently have a child aged 3 or 4 years, or a 2 year old who will be 3 years old in 2017, we would be grateful if you would complete this questionnaire. The survey contains specific questions about accessibility of childcare for children with SEND so it is important that your views are captured. We estimate that this survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/546-achieving-for-children-30-hours-freechildcare-parental-demand-survey Student Finance Student Finance have released some new videos about applying for DSA and Student Finance for 2016/17. Have added one on this page and there are BSL ones on the SF site also. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/pages/home/education/university Clarendon School Clarendon School in the local paper… “SEN School makes top list A special educational needs school has been invited to appear in the Good Schools Guide for the first time, write Sophia Abadzis. Clarendon School was included in the 2016 guide for schools that have exceptional standards. They are selected on merit by the guide’s editors. Bernadette John, SEND Director for the guide, said:” We were impressed by some truly innovative approaches at this school, such as the cycle business it runs in association with the police.” The school is given about 100 bikes each term by the police. Students, who have autism and learning difficulties, restore and sell them at Kingston Market. The school has a keen focus on performing arts, holding week=long performances at Leiston Abbey in Suffolk, and all students are offered free tuition in keyboard, drumming and violin. “The students’ support of each other is striking,” praised the guide. “At a talent show the children performing lost their nerve and froze – the audience of children rose to their feet to clap and cheer tome on.” https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/organisations/8187-the-good-schools-guide …and the Good Schools Guide… https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/special-educational-needs
Fact of the Week – just for fun! Kingston tweeters are the most prolific in the country with an estimated 94.14 messages are sent per person per month. Closest to Kingston, and in second place, is the Scottish Highlands with 57 tweets a month. Get tweeting!!! 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