The Golden Binder, Links & Summer Questions 30th April 2016 Dear All The Golden Binder has taken over for last few weeks…
The Golden Binder The definitive guide to support for children and young people with SEND in Richmond and Kingston (The Golden Binder) is launched… …words from Penny Hoffmann-Becking – EHCP lead for SEND Family Voices In response to the many queries that we have received - and after 6 months of hard graft - we are delighted to launch the “Golden Binder” – a detailed guide to how the processes related to support for children and young people with SEND are managed in Kingston and Richmond. It has been a genuine collaboration between SEND Family Voices, Achieving for Children and professionals, including schools, Health and Social Care. Everyone who contributed to this project did so either as a volunteer, or in addition to their ‘day job’. The binder is “owned” by a multi-agency group, including the SEN Team, parents and school representatives; it is intended that any changes to forms or guidance will be reviewed (roughly twice a year) and agreed by this group. We hope that this will mean clearer, more stable, easier to understand processes around all aspects of support for children with SEND. While documenting the processes we have worked with AfC and the other professionals to improve and clarify practice – so the processes in the binder do differ from what has happened to date. If you would like more information on the key changes, please see the attached Summary document.
How to get a copy The binder can be found on the Local Offer website: https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/pages/home/assessment-and-education-health-and-careplanning/the-golden-binder You can also request a copy on USB stick or in some cases a hard copy from SEND Family Voices (although we have very few of these - left there may be some copies available for loan). All school SENCo’s and Specialist School heads in Kingston and Richmond will have a copy by the end of next week, as will all SEN Case Officers and most professionals that are involved with supporting children with SEND (from Early Years, Health, Social Care, ISP, SENDIASS etc.)
Equality and Empowerment We hope that by everyone (including parents) having the same clear, consistent information getting the right support will become less anxiety making and more effective. Most chapters include a section on Who does what (and why) to clarify expectations.
We hope that anyone embarking on an EHCP or transfer review - as well as those looking to better understand SEN Support in schools - will make full use of the information. Of course we are keen to receive any feedback so that future versions of the guidance are clearer and better. Email us at this address or use the Contact Us page on the Local Offer. We hope that you will find the Golden Binder useful – it has taken hundreds of hours of effort from SFV alone to produce. Attached is proof in the form of a picture of the “Collation party” – where around 15 of the SEND Family voices steering group came together to collate the hard copy binders as a way to keep costs to a minimum. It took 2 days! The last word we leave to Heather Anderson – the Therapies Manager for Kingston: “I enthusiastically welcome the launch of the Golden Binder; the result of truly collaborative, co-production work between young people, families and professionals. The SEN reforms which came into place in 2015 created a vision for very different ways of working in the future, in identification and planning to meet special educational needs. This was very welcome but there was a lot of operational detail which needed to be developed, worked through and agreed locally. The Golden Binder brings together a handbook of local guidance so that there will be consistency and clarity in managing SEN across Richmond and Kingston. I predict the binder will be a much used and invaluable resource and I welcome plans to keep up-dating it as things develop, to keep it current and dynamic.”
The Future of SEND Provision SEND Family Voices and Achieving for Children jointly launched the Golden Binder at the Future of SEN Provision conference last week. The event was very positive and very well attended by School’s, Specialist Heads and parents. Topics included: the Golden Binder the upcoming local area SEND Ofsted inspections SEN Support and Quality First Teaching Successful Transitions – using Outcomes effectively Successful identification of SEN We have the presentations for all the above – if you would like a copy of all, or any part, just ask! Linked to this is that the inspection frameworks and handbook have just been published. Inspections start, nationally, in May 2016 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-area-send-inspectionframework?mc_cid=6da0579392&mc_eid=7dbeace220 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-area-send-inspection-guidance-forinspectors?mc_cid=6da0579392&mc_eid=7dbeace220
Is it working? (the new system) “The Children and Family Act 2014 brought in a new way to support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) for local authorities, schools and support services. This website presents the findings from a small-scale qualitative study commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) to examine user satisfaction with the Education, Health and Care Assessment and Planning process (EHCP) for children and young people with SEND. The study was undertaken by ASK Research from May to December 2015 – one year into the national implementation of the new EHC process. ASK Research is an independent research organisation.” http://ehcpjourneys.com/?mc_cid=6da0579392&mc_eid=7dbeace220
Respite – a survey The Local Learning Disability Partnership Board (LLDPB)for Richmond, along with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have a consultation on respite. There are two versions attached (one being an ‘easy read’). If you are a Richmond borough resident and respite affects you and your young person, please take the time to complete and return this important survey.
Teenagers & the future of the DSA A couple of thought provoking articles from Special Needs Jungle… “Puberty with any teenager can be a tricky business and a time of immense change for everyone in the family. If your child has special needs on top of that, the flood of teenage hormones can become overwhelming to you and the young person. You may even find you that need extra support to help you to get through this time.” http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/teenage-years-and-special-needs-from-angel-to-deviland-back/ “The DSA is the Disabled Students Allowance and is a non-means tested allowance that is designed to help disabled higher education students to attend and succeed at degree and post-graduate level studies. This includes equipment, personal assistants, additional travel needs and anything they may need to help level the playing field. The cuts transfer of responsibilities would mean that funding for assistive technology, such as laptops with specialist software and digital voice recorders would be delegated to universities.” http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/disabled-students-allowance-cuts-is-it-time-to-extendthe-ehcp-to-universities/
Summer Questions A call to arms and a plea from the heart! From Karen Lowry… “As Local Offer Content Manager, I work very closely with Lena Vantol of KIDS SENDIASS around the information we hold on leisure activities. Together, with the other members of the Local Offer Development Group, we have identified ways of making this information more
useful, comprehensive and accessible and are working hard to increase the number of activities added. These plans are in development and rolling like a juggernaut. However, summer is coming and Lena wants to be able to present an array of activities to keep you and your lovely children and young people out of mischief and having fun over the holidays. Although we have a duty to provide this information in the Local Offer it is one of the most difficult to manage as it involves so many different providers, organisations and schemes.
This is where you come in…
Activity providers If you are an organisation that offers activities – please help us by registering on the Local Offer website and adding your upcoming activities to our calendar and creating an organisation record for clubs etc If you have already added activities that are term time only – please double check that they are not showing as running over the summer. If the details need correcting then please submit updates. Parents If you know an activity that your child attends is not shown on the Local Offer, then please let me know so that I can contact the provider and invite them to register. Or tell the provider to check out the website and register for themselves and I will touch base with them that way. They can register here https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/website_users/sign_up “ If you see anything of interest, please send Karen details. Contact Karen via the website here https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/enquiries/new
What’s new on the Local Offer Opportunities for Richmond young people to attend a new youth club (already open to Kingston young people) https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/522-tag-youth-club-relocates-to-ham-andopens-up-to-young-people-from-richmond Young Entrepreneurs https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/515-are-you-a-young-person-with-sen-or-adisability-in-kingston-with-a-business-idea
Wheelchair Skills! “Go Kids Go run free manual & powered wheelchair workshops and we also run practical wheelchair skills workshops for professionals and disability awareness workshops in mainstream schools. Please get in touch if you would like any further details about our training. We teach skills such as coping with slopes and rough ground, back wheel balancing, road safety and emergency evacuation techniques. We also play games like wheelchair basketball and try out wheelchair dance. We bring extra chairs so mums, dads and siblings can get involved and join in the games. Whilst the objectives are serious the workshops are good fun! The young people will need to be able to self-propel to gain fully from the workshop however we often have a mixed range of abilities and find that everyone gains
some new skills from the workshops. We have had children as young as 2 years of age on our workshops and welcome young people up to the age of 21.� For more information, please contact: Roy Wild, Training Manager at Go Kids Go T: 01482 887163 W: http://www.go-kids-go.org.uk 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