The Local Offer, Football & a Guide (to equipment and aids) 22nd March 2015
Dear All Please could I encourage as many parents as possible to participate in the development of the Local Offer. Read on... The Local Offer (wot's that then?) The short answer is: "really useful". The longer answer is: "information about provision ...available across education, health and social care for children and young people ...who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have an Education, Health & Care plan." The purpose is "to provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available provision and how to access it" and "to make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involved disabled children and those with SEN and their parents, and disabled young people and those with SEN, and service providers in it development and review" Section 4, p 59 onwards... Special Needs & Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 years - July 2014 The Local Offer - needs your help The Local Offer must be developed with families - parents, children and young people. Primarily, the Local Offer will be a website - and in theory it will be the best tool we and our young people - have in finding support, activities, education and in fact anything related to SEND. Achieving for Children have appointed 'This is Focus' to develop the Local Offer for Kingston & Richmond and need a Local Offer Participation group to 'co-produce' the Local Offer and offer ongoing feedback during it's development. Are you interested in being a part of this group? Your commitment would include: - responding promptly to e-mail queries about the specification, design and content - testing aspects of the Local Offer (a website) as it develops and offer feedback - attending drop in workshops to do the same (dates tbc, but with sensible notice) Please reply to this e-mail to register your interest. This is Focus - reference sites and more information This is Focus were selected based upon their bid for the work, their presentation (including reference sites) and research into their customer base; they have an excellent reputation for being flexible and a pleasure to work with! Of particular note is that their other projects allow for anonymous searches (families remain anonymous as they search the website), the family friendly approach to websites and their commitment to co-production and participation.
This is Focus' reference sites are: Rainbow Resource http://www.rainbowresource.org.uk Local Offer - Created for Bath and North East Somerset Council Findability http://www.findability.org.uk Local Offer - Created for Bristol City Council and here are their homepages: http://www.thisisfocus.co.uk/ http://www.focusgov.co.uk/ Aids, Equipment and Adaptations - a Guide Contact a Family have published a guide on how to get equipment your child may be legally entitled to, and where to go for further advice. The link is: http://www.cafamily.org.uk/know-your-rights/disabled-childrens-services/aids-andequipment/ The Guide also includes information on equipment for play and leisure, borrowing equipment, buying second-hand equipment, financial help, VAT relief, help adapting your home, and useful contacts for specialist support and information. Football Finally, a brief article from the BBC on how a Manchester school uses Match of the Day to develop pupil's communication skills... http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/31907242 As ever, should you have any questions at all, please ask and I'll do my best to find an answer. With best wishes, Romany www.richmondsendfamilyvoice@outlook.com RSFV phone: 07469 746 145