Inclusion Matters Newsletter - January 2022

Inclusion Matters Newsletter January 2022

Sharing updates, exciting opportunities and events affecting children and young people with special educational needs in Newham

Inside: Pg 2 - Introduction by Jessica Juon, Head of Service 0-25 SEND

Pg 8 - Newham nursery schools praised for inclusion work

Pg 3 - 'When Santa writes to me in Braille, I feel included'

Pg 10 - Public Health COVID-19 Updates

Pg 6 - Dance Dosti - free dance classes for people with sight loss

Pg 11 - Directory of events publicised in previous newsletters Pg 15 - Events calendar

Pg 7 - Help shape our physical activity, community and leisure offer

Pg 16 - Contact us / Join the Parent Carer Forum

Introduction

BY JESSICA JUON, HEAD OF SERVICE 0-25 SEND Newham underwent a Local Area Inspection of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, led by Ofsted and the CQC, during the week commencing 6 December. The inspection incorporated a range of views including those from a number of schools and educational settings, parents, carers, children and young people. I am extremely grateful to all involved for their time and energy not just during the inspection but continually. The inspection provided valuable opportunities for people to come together to sharpen our focus and ambition for SEND. I enjoyed meeting a wide range of people during the inspection and am eager to further develop working relationships with practitioners, parents, carers, children and young people in 2022.

I look forward to sharing with you the outcome of the inspection when we receive the findings over the coming weeks. I understand that there is work to be done and am committed to collaborating with the partnership to improve outcomes. Parents, carers, children and young people have an important role to play within the improvement journey so please contact the team if you would like to be involved in co-production. You can contact the team via the following email address: local.offer@newham.gov.uk Meanwhile, the partnership continues to drive improvements at pace and our multi-agency SEND panel has been re-established to support robust decision processes around education health and care needs assessments. The panel members are working together to gather information to understand the child / young person’s needs, which includes evidence of the action taken in schools and settings.

Missing no opportunity to celebrate success, I would like to draw your attention to Raj Mistry’s commentary below. Raj writes about Aadam, who was able to correspond with Santa, using Braille, for the first time this year. Aadam receives support from a dedicated and coordinated, multi-disciplinary team. The SEND Sensory Service are delighted with Aadam’s progress and impressed by Lathom’s approach. As a result of Aadam's teacher's commitment to learn and use Braille, Aadam's confidence has grown!

'When Santa writes to me in Braille, I feel included' STORY TAKEN FROM GEM O'REILLY, BBC NEWS On 16 December, BBC News published a story about one of our service users, Aadam, who has a visual impairment.

This year, the Royal National Institute of Blind People produced letters from Santa in Braille. This means that Aadam can now correspond with Santa to share his Christmas wishes.

Aadam shared that he 'loved making the video, especially making the cake and wrapping the presents. The best part was being on national television. Santa partly delivered, but not all of it, I am still waiting for my boom box!'

Please click here to view the story and video on BBC News.

Please see the below reflections from Raj Mistry, Group Manager, Education, Inclusion and Achievement, Yolanda Musinguzi, Acting Head of Latham School, Liesel Pillay, Class Teacher at Latham School, Sabrina Wade, Teaching Assistant at Latham School.

The teachers expressed their pride and praised Aadam for his wonderful interview. All the other pupils were very impressed with Aadam’s confidence.

As a class we became more aware of Christmas for the visually impaired and debated the importance for Christmas to become more sound and sign friendly. Therefore we decorated his walking cane with tactile objects like beads and added some jingle bells on it. He loved that.

Overall, Aadam is becoming a very confident and independent learner. His support teachers are giving him the responsibilities to get himself organised independently in preparation for secondary school.

Friendship and routine in his class are very important and structured. He enjoys having his buddies on rotation and the class is very good and caring to his needs. It is such a pleasure to be Aadam’s class teacher and we admire his hard work and dedication to learning.

From the video, Aadam's confidence in wanting and expecting to be included in festive celebrations reflects what all of us want for our pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Aadam and his mother’s expectations are reflected in the effective partnership between the Sensory Service, the staff in Lathom, and the wider multi-disciplinary team.

Aadam is now in year 6 and we do hope to hear more about his achievements as he secures a place in secondary school. Aadam is developing independence and is clearly an exceptional young person who has worked with professionals in school and the Sensory Service to ensure the he can learn and grow.

Dance Dosti - free dance classes for people with sight loss Starts Wednesday 26 January, 5-6pm Newham Sixth Form College, Prince Regent Lane, London E13 8SG. Join our new, weekly classes every Wednesday in partnership with Newham Ability Camp.

Learn Bollywood, Contemporary, and other styles in our fun, inclusive sessions for all ages and abilities.

Dance Dosti is delivered by inclusive dance company Step Change Studios in partnership with Metro Blind Sport and supported by Vision Foundation.

To book onto our classes, please click here or call 07462 895461.

Help shape our physical activity, community and leisure offer Help us decide the future of leisure centres in Newham.

What do you think stops people being more active or accessing their local facilities?

What do you think about physical activity, exercise and local facilities?

How can the council help support an active, healthy Newham?

Friday 21 January 2022 – 10am – 12pm To book: https://bit.ly/3J7ubQI Wednesday 26 January 2022 - 5.30pm – 7.30pm To book: https://bit.ly/3mkHnaS Can't make the sessions? Please share your views via our online survey closing on 30 January 2022.

Newham nursery schools praised for inclusion work

BY ANDREW BROOKES. NEWHAM RECORDER This article, focusing on the borough’s early education provision, is being published in partnership with Newham Council’s Year of the Young Person, marking the achievements of young people and highlighting services and support groups aimed at them.

A number of Newham Council's nursery schools have been recognised for their high-quality work around inclusion in the community.

Nursery schools recently received annual reviews for their Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) Award flagship school status, which the council says proved a major success.

'They were flexible and responsive and understanding of what needed to happen, especially in these times.'

IQM Report

The IQM Award provides UK schools with a nationally recognised validation of their inclusive practice and ongoing commitment to developing educational inclusion, with "flagship school" the highest of three award levels.

One IQM report said: “They have been great through a very difficult time.

“Transition was brilliant and they took time and effort settling my child in.

“They were flexible and responsive and understanding of what needed to happen, especially in these times.”

Another school was praised for providing “a safe and supportive environment”.

The council says it is committed to ensuring children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) achieve the best outcomes in their early years, through nurseries, schools and beyond.

Additionally, all seven maintained nursery schools in Newham have been assessed as good or outstanding by Ofsted.

Six of these nurseries deliver the Best Start in Life (BSiL) children centre services within their local community.

The seventh provides the SEND Hub and early years resource provision for the borough from Ronald Openshaw Education Centre in Stratford.

Two area special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) are based at Newham’s BSiL SEND Hub. The team also includes a practice support practitioner and children centre development officer.

They provide support and guidance across private, voluntary and independent early education and childcare providers, childminders and children centres.

This comes after an Ofsted report praised Newham Council's children's support services for making "significant improvements".

Visit https://families.newham.gov.uk for more information on maintained nursery schools, children centres and the SEND Hub in Newham.

Become a COVID-19 Health Champion The public health team invite any parents or young people to be COVID-19 Health Champions.

We can create a special group especially for young people with SEND and their families on email and Whatsapp so you can ask your questions and share information directly to and from the public health team. To join please message Anne Bowers (anne.bowers@newham.gov.uk) or the COVID-19 Health Champions phone at +44 7929 792873

The public health team are here to answer questions about COVID-19 We know people have lots of questions about COVID-19, especially in relation to keeping their families safe and getting their children vaccinated.

The public health team and their NHS colleagues are always happy to answer your questions and reassure you. If you would like to attend an upcoming Q&A or would like to request a Q&A session specifically for SEND families please email Anne Bowers (anne.bowers@newham.gov.uk).

Join the public health distribution list for COVID-19 updates Public health run a distribution list where they share updates about COVID-19. This includes updates on restrictions, vaccinations and much more on a weekly basis.

If you would find it helpful to opt-in to these emails to ensure you have accurate information about COVID-19 to share with service users, please email Anne Bowers (anne.bowers@newham.gov.uk).to request to join the list.

Directory of events publicised in previous newsletters: The Deaf Lounge Club (The DLC) Come along to the Deaf Lounge Club's monthly meet up at Lister Community School, Community Cafe.

The club is for all deaf or hard of hearing young people and their families.

You can expect: Free hearing aid retubing Games and activities The chance to chat to other parents, young people and professionals.

Unfortunately January's meet up has been cancelled due to COVID-19 risk. Stay tuned for updates on Februrary's get together.

Please contact Keegan Hall-Browne (Keegan.Hall-browne@newham.gov.uk) for more information.

Bikeworks - inclusive drop-in cycling club (Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) Come along to the Bikeworks' weekly inclusive drop-in cycling club in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The clubs offer the chance for people of all abilities and experience levels to try out our range of adapted cycles in an off road park environment. The cycles we have include: standard two wheel cycles, tricycles, side by side cycles, recumbents, hand cycles and wheelchair platform cycles.

Who can attend?

The clubs are free to access for everyone and are drop-in, so you can simply turn up whilst a session is running to attend.

Generally we say anyone over the age of five can take part due to the size of our smallest cycles. The sessions are tailored towards people with SEND. When are the sessions?

Sessions occur between 10am-1:45pm just outside the Lee Valley VeloPark, Abercrombie Rd E20 3AB.

If a group of six people or more would like to attend they are encouraged to get in touch with us in advance so we can recommend a time for them to attend to avoid congestion and waiting too long for a turn - they can do so by emailing all.ability@bikeworks.org.uk or calling 0208 980 7998 and dialling option 3.

What should you expect?

When you arrive, an instructor will welcome you to the session and register you on our tablet.

The instructors will then help you to choose an appropriate cycle to ride around the park and on your first visit, will show you how everything works. Parents and support workers are encouraged to cycle with the person they are supporting as the instructors aren't always able to offer one-to-one riding support to individuals.

For more info: www.bikeworks.org.uk/Pages/Category/what-is-all-ability/

activeNewham's free inclusive activity programme Come join our free and inclusive activity programme running every Tuesday. Have fun, make friends and try new sports, such as Badminton, Boccia, Basketball, Tennis, Cricket, Hockey and more…

The programme runs Tuesdays, 10:30am-12:30pm at Newham Leisure Centre (281 Prince Regent Lane, E13 8SD).

Please reserve your space before attending by emailing Craig Hughes at Craig.hughes@activeNewham.org.uk

Events Calendar January 22 January - The People Meeting Learning Differently Conference - Join a multitude of speakers in a day packed full of ideas and insight for supporting people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Please click here to register to attend. Tickets are £5.95.

February 1- 7 February - Children's Mental Health Week 4 February - Time to Talk Day 8 February - International Epilepsy Day 18 February - International Asperger's Day

March 7 March - The Deaf Lounge Club at the Lister Community School, please see page 10 for more details.

16 March - Music Making Workshop for all (30 min session). The OHMI (One Handed Musical Instrument) Trust strives for full, undifferentiated, participation in musical life for disabled people of all ages through the creation and provision of adapted musical instruments and enabling apparatus. Please click here to register your interest.

28 March - The Deaf Lounge Club at the Lister Community School, please see page 10 for more details.

May 9 May - The Deaf Lounge Club at the Lister Community School, please see page 10 for more details.

Contact Us Do you have something you wish to share in our next newsletter? Contact sophie.blow@newham.gov.uk to share your content with us.

To opt-in or opt-out of our future newsletters, please click here.

Join the Newham Parent Forum Newham Parent Forum (NPF) is a voluntary group of parents and carers of children and young people (0-25) with special/additional needs and disabilities (SEND) living in Newham.

The group works closely with Newham Council and Newham NHS and Clinical Commissioning Groups and also work in partnership with other local support groups so that collectively, they can make a real difference.

The forum also provides a range of information and signposting services as well as a platform for Newham parents/carers to: Express their views Meet other parent/carers Influence current and future services.

Contact NPF at: St Marks Community Centre, Office Room 12, 218 Tollgate Road, Beckton, E6 5YA Phone: 07495021062 Email: Info@newhamparentforum.co.uk Website: www.newhamparentforum.co.uk Facebook: Newham Parent Forum Twitter: @NPF_SEND_Parent If there’s a service or subject that you would like the forum to cover in a coffee morning, please contact as above.