Money Matters in SEND, Mental Health & Social Stories

Money Matters in SEND, Mental Health & Social Stories 28th April 2018 Dear All There’s a lot of consultations – it can seem a bit much - but they are important. In these financially constrained times it’s vital that our voices are heard as money becomes tighter…

The serious stuff 1. Consultation – national SEND inquiry 2. Consultations – local on the ‘new SEND World’ 3. Consultations – local on post-16 and feedback on new SEND places 4. Continued Independent Support in Richmond and Kingston The practical stuff 5. Engaging Children with Complex Needs 6. Mental Health Services for children and young people 7. Social Stories – have you seen this great resource?!

In brief 8. Short and sweet articles on the CDC Digest, EHCPs (are we there yet?), SWANs and the Royal Wedding

1. Consultations - National Tell the Government what you think: National SEND Inquiry - House of Commons Education Committee calls for evidence The House of Commons Education Select Committee is seeking evidence from parents by 14th June on progress with the SEND reforms and SEND provision.

This is very significant, and we feel strongly that it is vital that as much evidence from parents as possible is submitted to the inquiry. Over the coming days we are meeting with other local groups to see how we can best cooperate to amplify our parent voices. We will shortly let you know how we will be supporting parents to make their voices and views heard in this inquiry.

If you would like to read more: …here is the government statement https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commonsselect/education-committee/news-parliament-2017/special-educational-needs-anddisability-launch-17-19 …here is an article on Special Needs Jungle https://specialneedsjungle.com/national-send-inquiry-house-commons-educationcommittee-evidence Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Committee: “It has been four years since major SEND reforms were introduced and it’s important we examine whether the Government’s stated ambitions for simpler, improved and consistent help for children and young people with SEND have been met. There are rising concerns about the quality and access to SEN provision which the Committee we will want to explore in this inquiry. The

Committee’s current inquiry into alternative provision has heard considerable evidence that children with special educational needs are disproportionately excluded from school and over-represented in alternative provision. During the course of our ‘quality of apprenticeships and skills training inquiry’, we’ve also heard that young people with SEN have faced significant barriers in accessing apprenticeships.

“All children deserve to access good quality education that meets their needs and supports them to learn to ensure that they are able to thrive and climb the ladder of opportunity. The 2014 Act extended provision to young people up to the age of 25 and the Committee is particularly keen to hear evidence about whether there is the right support available to enable young people to access appropriate post-18 opportunities such as studying at FE colleges and undertaking apprenticeships.”

2. Consultations – “the new SEND world” Tell AfC what you think: Local consultation on “the new SEND world” Achieving for Children (AfC) are conducting a consultation with schools and parents to talk about their SEND transformation plans. AfC states: “the challenge is clear – every child should achieve the best possible outcomes. This requires high quality provision... all with a balanced budget.” Parents should note that this consultation refers to provision in mainstream schools, NOT special schools.

You may well be aware that there is a very significant overspend within SEN both in Kingston and Richmond, so to achieve a “new SEND world” with a balanced budget will almost certainly mean finding significant savings (millions). The theory appears to be that by investing in “early intervention” (meaning providing professional input – such as educational psychology – at the first sign of difficulties, which may be at any age) children’s progress will be supported early and they should need less intensive intervention later.

We would urge as many parents as possible to get involved in providing feedback to this consultation. There are two ways of doing this.

1) attend the meeting on Tuesday 1st May in Twickenham (details below) 2) complete the online survey We at SFV have concerns about the consultation survey. We were sent a draft of this to review (three days before it was launched). We fed back a long list of concerns to which we have had no response. It is our view that the survey is inaccessible and not fit for purpose.

However, because of the scope of this consultation, it is important that parent voices are heard. If you experience problems with the survey … a) either record this fact, and your comments, on the Local Offer Enquiry page - AfC are obliged to respond to these.

W: https://www.afcinfo.org.uk/enquiry_forms/local_offer_enquiry/enquiries/new b) or let us at SFV know by emailing us at our usual address and we will feed back your comments to AfC. E: sendfamilyvoices@outlook.com

Consultation Meeting Tuesday 1st May – 10am to 12noon Twickenham Training Centre, Grimwood Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BY (easiest parking is in the Waitrose car park in London Road; it’s a 10 minute walk from Waitrose and 7 minutes from Twickenham Station).

Please email Julia Hunt at Achieving for Children to confirm your attendance.

E: julia.hunt@achievingforchildren.org.uk

Online consultation survey https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/NewSENDWorld AFC have already undertaken an initial consultation with families in Kingston and you can view information about this and comments from those who attended on the SEND Consultation Hub using the weblink provided below https://www.afcinfo.org.uk/pages/local-offer/information-and-advice/find-out-more-aboutthe-local-offer/send-consultation-hub-and-resource-bank/kingston-rbk-specific-consultations

3. Consultations – local - more Post 16 Threshold Guidance – Parental input required You may have seen the link in the last newsletter to the threshold guidance document. AfC are working on a document that is specific to the post 16 community and are looking for parental input.

If you would be willing to review the document and provide feedback via a short survey please could you contact us at SENDfamilyvoices@outlook.com and we will send you a copy of the document to review.

The consultation will close on Friday 18 May. “The guidance is intended to be used by schools, AfC officers, health professionals, social care professionals and families. It is a guide to the difficulties and challenges that pupils are likely to be experiencing when identified as needing special educational needs (SEN) support or statutory action (that may lead to an education, health and care plan (EHCP)).

The aim is to ensure transparency and parity between schools in terms of identification and ensuring clear expectations regarding the support provided at each step. Any specific interventions or assessments named in the guidance are intended as examples rather than as endorsements or requirements. Needs and strategies included in this document are not intended as checklists, but as guidance that can be interpreted flexibly according to the needs of the pupil.”

New SEN School Places: Invitation to the Feedback Meeting …from Consultation on Additional SEN Places in Kingston and Richmond SEND Family Voices welcome all parents and carers to a feedback meeting, where Achieving for Children will present how they have responded to the information received from parents and others during the consultation process. Please do come along and find out how / if your feedback has been taken on board. We hope to see you there.

Thursday May 10th - 10:00 to 12:00 The Winter Garden, York House, Twickenham, TW1 3AA We will, of course, publish a summary of the meeting afterwards for anyone unable to attend. Please could you email us at SENDFamilyvoices@outlook.com to confirm your attendance.

4. Continued Independent Support in Richmond and Kingston Richmond AID and Ruils have been providing an Independent Support service to families and young people in the borough for the last 4 years. The Independent Supporters are Alex Hardy and Jonathan Rourke

The programme was funded by the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) initially for the period of the transfer of Statements to Educational Health and Care plans and was therefore due to end in March.

However central government have provided some additional funding to the CDC that means in the short term (until July for now) that the project will continue to be available to support families with; • Issues relating to the transfer between Statement and EHCP. • New requests for an EHCP • Annual review processes Part of the remit of the new funding is that CDC need to identify ways that support to families will be delivered in the future and how the current IAS service (Provided by Kids in Richmond and Kingston) and Independent Support will work together in future.

If you have any questions or need support with an Education, Health or Care Plan please contact the team and they will contact you to arrange a visit or meeting.

T: 020 8831 6076 E: independent.support@richmondaid.org.uk

5. Engaging Children with Complex Needs Conference with a keynote speech from Professor Barry Carpenter (CBE, OBE, Phd): Topics include: These are the children; new generation teaching, learning and assessment case study, Implications of the Rochford Review Pilot and Developing Engagement case studies Friday 8th June – 10am to 4pm Bedelsford School, Grande Road, Kingston KT1 2QZ Costs = Professionals, £70. Parents, free of charge.

To book your place, please contact Lisette Julio-Quinn T: 020 8546 9838 E: ljulio-quinn@bedelsfordschool.org

6. Mental Health Services for Children and Young People Being young is hard work! Having an additional need, special educational need or disability only makes that harder. Being a sibling can also come with pressures. Here is a short summary of some local services. Some are free, some are subsidised.

Your guide to CAMHS A beginner's guide from Young Minds to the NHS's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for young people and parents. https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/your-guide-to-support/guide-to-camhs

Emotional Health Service (EHS) “The EHS is a team of therapists that work with young people and their families who have mild to moderate mental health difficulties.” https://www.afcinfo.org.uk/pages/young-people/information-and-advice/looking-afteryourself/emotional-health-service

Real Talk “Young people hate being talked down to. As a young person’s counsellor you have to be open and honest and give your clients time to open up.” https://www.real-talk.org.uk

Off The Record (OTR) “If you are a young person aged 11 to 24 who lives, studies, or works in Richmond borough, then you can use these confidential services. Everything is free, however we may ask for a donation for counselling if you are over 18 and in work.” http://otrtwickenham.com

Re-Root “It’s common for young people to feel they need to live up to someone else’s expectations, feel judged by others, feel different or lack self-confidence. The likelihood is that you’ll feel happier if you learn to express what you think and feel and what you want and have an influence on what affects you.” https://www.re-root.com/what-we-do/young-people.html

MiD “Parents and counsellor will meet before their child starts counselling. Parents can meet with the counsellor separately or together. The meeting is approx 1 hour. The service is subsidised by charitable funding. We ask for a parental donation of £25 per session to support our costs.” http://www.midmediation.org.uk/counselling-children-young-people

7. Social Stories… a great (editable) resource Social Stories are short descriptions of a particular situation, event or activity, which include specific information about what to expect in that situation and why.

Social stories present information in a literal, 'concrete' way, which may improve a person's understanding of a situation or activity. The presentation and content can be adapted to meet different people's needs.

This excellent wiki has 93 free, downloadable, social stories (in Word) that cover topics from Asking to Play to My Nose to Using the Bathroom. The format (of those we’ve looked at) uses simple language and visual prompts. http://spedvisualsupports.sfinstructionalresources.wikispaces.net/Social+Stories

8. In brief…

Council for Disabled Chidlren The Council for Disabled Children (CDC) have just published their spring digest, link below.

Articles include: FLARE blog: surviving loneliness, Case Law update from Steve Broach, SEND inquiry launched by the Education Committee, New films from the Young Research Advisors https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/help-resources/resources/cdc-digest-spring2018?mc_cid=6cd6324831&mc_eid=60f4a5767d

EHCPs – are we there yet?

Roehampton Research paper published We are “pleased to announce that our paper on "Capturing the Voices of Children in the Education Health and Care Plans: Are We There Yet?" has been published in Frontiers in Education and is now accessible online. You can download it for free using this link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2018.00024/full?&utm_source=Email_to_aut hors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publicati

on&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Education&id=331350 We would also like to thank you on behalf of our research team for your ongoing help and support that made our study possible.”

SWAN (syndromes without a name) A reminder of this far-reaching support network…

“It can be really hard for families when they have no answer to the question ‘what is wrong with my child?’ or ‘why is my child always ill?’

SWAN UK (syndromes without a name) is the only dedicated support network available for families of children and young adults with undiagnosed genetic conditions in the UK. It is run by the charity Genetic Alliance UK. It is estimated that around 6,000 children are born every year with a syndrome without a name. Our Big Ambition is that every family affected by a syndrome without a name has the support they need, when they need it, regardless of whether they have a diagnosis or not.” https://www.undiagnosed.org.uk/

Royal Wedding + MeToo&Co HRH Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle have invited Jennifer Peters and her daughter Paloma to attend part of the Royal Wedding on the 19th of May at Windsor Castle Jennifer is the mother of two daughters, one of whom has autism. She has been volunteering as MeToo&Co’s Chair of the Board since June 2016 and was previously a trustee.

Nominations were selected from across the Boroughs of London for people who undertake inspiring work and act as leaders in their communities. Gillian Norton OBE DL, the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for London Borough of Richmond nominated Jennifer for her outstanding contribution to the voluntary sector, in particular, Chairing the Board of Me too & Co.

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) T: 07469 746 145 E: sendfamilyvoices@outlook.com W: www.sendfamilyvoices.org