News, Good News & Videos 11th December 2015 Dear All There always seems to be so much! Co-production Rocks! (see Accessibility Strategy)
SEND Ofsted Readiness Once upon a time, there was a Government Green Paper (= a set of proposals published to provoke discussion) intent on becoming the Children’s and Families Act – the idea being to overhaul the SEND law and make it more useful, purposeful and friendly. This goes by the name of the SEND Reforms. In Richmond, from October 2012, there was a SEND Action Group, steered by Simon James; a mix of education, health, social care and families who worked together to develop templates for Education, Health & Care Plans, principles for the Local Offer and practical trials for Personal Budgets and more. At some point in 2013, this began concurrently in Kingston (still steered by Simon James). From September 2014, this group became the SEND Implementation Group; the Bill had become an Act and was now Law. This group had merged across Kingston and Richmond (alongside Achieving for Children operating across Kingston & Richmond) and was now coming to terms with the implications and challenges of such a huge change in culture and process. There’s still a lot to be done (reference our “399 & counting” entry in the Dear All dated 1st Dec.) This week… the group has changed its name again. Still steered by Simon James and still including families. Most of the faces are still familiar and it’s called the SEND Ofsted Readiness group. The SEND Ofsted is the ‘accountability framework’ around the SEND Reforms – meaning “How are Local Areas measuring up? What are they doing well and what are the challenges?” There’s nothing like an inspection at short notice to cheer the statutory services… hence the need to be Ready!! The first inspections will start in May 2016. The inspections will be five days and will involve the usual scrutiny of data and processes. Plus working with the local parent/carer forums to hear the views of families; locally this is SEND Family Voices. So… parents, carers, children and young people are ‘still in the room’, working on this project (to our ears, this is another opportunity to make things better!). There are AfC leads focussing on particular elements – parents, carers, children & young people will play a part in these (not specified how yet – but ‘engagement’ is one of the aspects the Local Area will be measured upon). These elements are: Early Years Special Educational Needs Schools Health Social Care Preparing for Adulthood - which includes how children’s services prepare for young people to enter Adult Services. Adult services (post-18) are operated by the local Councils, not Achieving for Children (AfC).
One of the major challenges is ‘identifying additional needs’. Questions include ‘how can we be sure that all schools are identifying needs in the same way?’ and ‘How can we be sure that all school are measuring progress in the same way?’ Plus if it is true that “all children should be in a mainstream school if they can be” how do we collectively influence a school’s leadership to welcome children & young people with SEND? [when it may impact upon the school’s attainment statistics upon which they are also measured] More news to follow… plus any questions, please ask.
Co-operation enhances change We have mentioned before a joint developmental workshop on participation. In this workshop and as a collective group of service providers, parents, schools and commissioners, we sought to answer the question: “How will we work together to maximise positive consequences, and minimise negative consequences, for the child or young person & their family?” This could be the SEN Team, or ISCD, or the CCG or SFV This could be the school, or college, or hospital, or short breaks provider.
This could be the immediate family, the wider family and/or even the community.
Our solutions: Co-operation enhances change Commissioning via genuine co-production: Work collaboratively with mutual respect (to co-create when we have different priorities); Equal partnership; we’re working with a system that is too complicated & confusing (that we have little control over). Our principles Mutual respect borne from an Open approach, Transparency & Trust Co-creation and partnership; joint responsibility. Be brave. Keep focus on Outcomes & Destinations (for the young person) A more detailed summary is attached (3 pages).
“I just want to be like everyone else” The consultations on the Accessibility Strategy are complete and a plan is (almost) finalised ready for publication next year. Thank you to all the families who took part in the six open consultations.
We’ve previously mentioned the Strategy, the Plan, the School Trips policy and Reasonable Adjustments. All of these will be available on the Local Offer and will be subject to review once a term. Based upon this work, and to continue the partnership with schools, AfC and SEND Family Voices – we will produce a Reasonable Adjustments booklet, complete with Frequently Asked Questions. Here are a few immediate good news stories, all as a result of this project: Playgrounds are now included within the Accessibility Strategy The School Trips policy for SEND exists (publication January 2016) The buildings’ specification for lifts within schools (in Richmond), now include a mechanism that is not pressure controlled (pressure controlled is not great for those with limited upper body strength) – but instead the specifications require that a lift is operated via a lever, or a once-only push button. You can find exam access requirements on the Local Offer (see Local Offer entry below) Collectively, we will run a competition for School’s Pupil Councils on publicising accessibility within schools. The primary audience for this is children, young people and their families.
Deaf Awareness Training …from Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust (HRCH) with London Borough Richmond upon Thames (LBRuT): Understanding deafness Communication tips Implications of hearing loss for all age groups Social inclusion Tuesday 15th Dec 2015 - 9.30am to 1pm Thames House, Conference room 1, 180 High Street, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 8HU General public, parents, all HRCH/LBR staff and CHSWG members are welcome. Please contact HRCH.Audiology@nhs.net to book your place
Wii & Pizza – from Mencap This is open to young people aged over 18 who will enjoy being in a pub environment socialising with their peers. Please contact Laura to discuss if someone requires 1:1 support and would like to attend. Please note NO-ONE will be allowed to attend if we are unaware they are coming; you MUST let Laura know in advance. Laura: laura@richmondmencap.org.uk Sunday 20th December - 1pm to 5pm. Cabbage patch, Twickenham (Billy Williams Suite in the left hand side/sports bar side of the pub.) Price: £20, including food and drink (which includes soft drinks and pizza). To reiterate: All young people must book a place or they will not be allowed to attend. Please rsvp by Wednesday 16th December.
…from Integrated Services for Children with Disabilites (ISCD) “Young People and Parents are a key element of the recruitment process within the service. Our ultimate aim is that no individual will be employed to the service without involvement and agreement from these two groups. The Participation Team for Young People with Disabilities run training sessions for the young people’s Recruits Crew and Caroline Baxter leads on sessions for parents. The next session for parents will be held at the Guildhall in Kingston on the 25th January at 10am until 1pm. We will cover topics such as short-listing, question preparation and interviewing. The sessions have been well received in the past and the parents who have attended have subsequently provided invaluable support and insight to professionals during the recruitment process. Should you wish to attend the training please contact Sarah Moore: sarah.moore@achievingforchildren.org.uk “
New from the Local Offer Access arrangements, including modified question papers, enable students with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to take tests, exams and assessments. Guidance is issued by the Government and examination boards. The guidance is updated each year, usually in the autumn term. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/pages/home/education/exam-access-arrangements-forpupils-with-send SeeAbility is a specialist registered charity enriching the lives of people who have sight loss and other disabilities, including learning and physical disabilities, mental health difficulties, acquired brain injury and life limiting conditions. We believe that everyone has ability. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/348-take-part-in-a-new-national-survey-onexperiences-of-eye-care-by-people-with-learning-disabilities The Government is seeking the views of parents as part of a new consultation on wraparound and holiday childcare. https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/352-wraparound-and-holiday-childcareparent-and-childcare-provider-rights-to-request-government-consultation If there is anything you would like to see in the Local Offer, please contact Karen Lowry, the SEND Local Offer Content Manager on sendlocaloffer@achievingforchildren.org.uk If you have any queries about suitable events and activities over the holidays, please check the Local Offer and/or ask Lena Vantol at SENDIASS: lena.vantol@kids.org.uk
From the Health and Wellbeing Board’s Children and Young People’s Listening Event in September... “The Richmond Health and Wellbeing Board have worked with a range of local stakeholders and the public to develop the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for 2016-2021. The strategy outlines the board’s plans for the future of health and social care in the borough and your feedback has been valuable in developing the strategy to this point. We would now like to hear your views on this draft strategy. We are keen to get your opinion on:
The role of the Health and Wellbeing Board and the purpose of the strategy The proposed direction of the Board’s work for the next five years The style and format of the strategy document
Have your say now and help the board develop their final Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. To take part in the consultation, go to: https://consultation.richmond.gov.uk/publichealth/hwb16 The consultation closes on Thursday 7th January 2016. “
A couple from Special Needs Jungle (SNJ) 10th December…. http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/what-parent-carers-told-the-minister-at-his-send-reformstock-taking-session/ 7th December http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/disabled-students-allowance-cuts-is-it-time-to-extendthe-ehcp-to-universities/
Videos Fun with wheelchairs… “Une superbe invention! Bravo à ceux qui ont imaginé ce concept! C'est fou que personne n'y ait pensé avant!!” (the site is French) A wonderful invention! Congratulations to those who have imagined this concept! It's crazy that nobody has thought of it before!! https://www.facebook.com/minutebuzz/videos/10152943215189284/?fref=nf
Our favourite is the nail bar…. “They say the customer is always right... what happens when they are wrong? Here's what not to do if the person serving you is disabled.” This film is part of Scope's… #EndTheAwkward Here is the main page: http://www.scope.org.uk/awkward Here is the nail bar video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz8eoYNAn5E&list=PLEJWI99Hx3tFnI0CSFuALpdXiVqJVYoW&index=2
Fantastic hairdressers for people with disabilities: https://www.facebook.com/Ouch.BBC/videos/1219320718084776/
Christmas is coming! Some of the BBC's best known faces sign a Christmas message in British Sign Language https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU9WAls8JkM Mali Phoenix Williams-Cody, aged 3, has visited the Cleveland Centre's special event days several times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPcTB86aT0Y 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.sendfamilyvoices.org