Our Achievements – in light of the SEND Reforms 31st May 2018 We would like to list the ways in which we as dedicated volunteers have tried hard over the last 4 years to make the reforms work. All of this work (except writing the regular newsletter) has been done without remuneration. •
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Building a steering group of 22 parents of children with special needs, covering most types of SEN and disability, from pre-schoolers to adults and further comprising representatives from most disability specific charities in Richmond and Kingston Building a membership database of 730 families across 2 London boroughs, of which 20% are SEN Support vs EHCPs. o We reach families where parents themselves have learning disabilities, single parents, BME, EaSL, and parents who have complex family situations. Our newsletters are forwarded and read by a further 50% (thus increasing the reach to nearly 1000 families). o Our Professionals database numbers 125 and is mix of Education, Health and Social Care professionals, including Schools and Councillors. In addition, our newsletters are also sent to every SENCo within the 2 boroughs. o We have 1655 Twitter followers, and a weekly reach of 1000s o Our annual Music & Magic event (co-funded by NHSWL Grassroots) in particular enabled us to reach a number of families that are seldom heard. Helping to design and publicise the local offer and providing content and input on an on-going basis Organising the local offer launch event Hosting several series of open meetings, where parents could meet professionals from AfC and other service providers, including SEN team, social workers and Educational Psychologists Running and mediating a (heated) parent consultation process to inform the rewriting the SEN Transport policy Providing a parental perspective in the commissioning of SENDIASS service Writing, producing and distributing the Golden Binder - a nationally recognised best practice resource containing detailed guidelines for parents, professionals, schools and the local authority on all aspects of the SEND reforms and how they have been implemented locally. On a pro-bono consultancy basis, running multi-disciplinary workshops to help AfC and associated professionals articulate their processes for implementing the SEND reforms, which became the basis for the Golden Binder Designing and supporting the establishment of a multi-service, multi-disciplinary process governance group to own this guidance and drive better practice across all services. SFV still co-chair this group Highlighting the need for, and co-producing, a Parent Carer Needs Assessment process and form Running a consultation process on accessibility which led to the creation of an information booklet and a film relating to Reasonable Adjustments which we provide to parents and schools
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