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We have lots of exciting opportunities and news
to share this spring! It’s been an especially long hard winter hasn’t it, with the extra restrictions covid brought. Alongside the challenges that less light and unpredictable weather can add to our days. But together we have managed, and now with the lifting of restrictions and the lighter evenings coming, we can definitely feel the spring energy boosting us forward at SGPC. In this issue of the newsletter we have:
1.
Exciting things are happening at SGPC Support expansion for our community!
2.
Peer Supporters- Outreach
3.
SEN Support survey results
4.
SEND review Change of how Top Up funding is carried out in South Gloucestershire
5.
Workshops for our community
You Said We Did
6.
Message from Hugh Disley
7.
Message from the EHCP Team
8.
You Said. We Did. Social Care
9.
You Said. We Did. Education
10.
Become a Parent Rep
11.
Our Community Base
12.
Dates for your diary
13.
Information from other Local Services
14.
SGPC team contact details
SGPC Latest News
Exciting things
are happening at SGPC As life opens up again after the turbulent last few years, exciting new beginnings are happening within our community. Having listened to what you have told us you need, we have several exciting projects underway whilst we continue to make your voices and experiences heard. Since January we have been busy recruiting and have some amazing new team members. We can now share with you what we have been planning and developing.
Support expansion
for our community! We are really excited to be expanding our Early Years support offer that we have available to families of pre-school children with additional needs. As part of this development, we are delighted to welcome Nic (Early Years Coordinator) and Kirsty and Rachel our Early Years Peer Supporters to the team. We have an additional Little Treasures session that opened in Yate in March in addition to running our Little Treasures session in Warmley Park. You will also see our Peer Supporters out and about more in the community. We understand the particular challenges of having a young child with additional needs present. Having access to support and information during this stage is crucial and has a beneficial impact on well-being, reducing stress and isolation. Combine this with an inclusive, fun and stimulating environment and activities for your child, and you have a recipe for a supportive, understanding community sharing many joys amongst the difficult times. This offer to expand Little Treasures is one part of a number of Early Years pilot initiatives that are being introduced by the council to help support children and their families at their earliest age. To find out more you can contact us by email little.treasures@sglospc.org.uk
Peer Supporters
Outreach
We welcome Alex and Jo our Peer Supporters, they will be out in the community visiting some schools after Easter. We want to be reaching families at the earliest opportunity to be that listening ear and offer support whilst also being able to hear their views. Follow what our peer supporters are up to on our social media and website. This pilot was made possible thanks to funding from the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group.
Workshops
for our community
We are delighted to be using our own workshops that we wrote back in 2018. We are sharing them with Bristol Parent Carer Forum (BPCF) and North Somerset Parent Carers Working Together (NSPCWT) in a joint project to help local families. As we all share the same health services it made perfect sense to join together to offer more! Through working together, we fed back to health commissioners just how difficult it is for families waiting for an autism assessment. We wrote a business case to health commissioners to deliver our workshops and were successful in receiving 3 years of funding. This will enable us to offer more choices and opportunities to access workshops and information sessions that address the issues you tell us you need the most help with managing or understanding. We will be running both online and face-to-face workshops across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Our face-to-face workshops will focus on introductions to four common themes, Anxiety, Behaviour, Sensory Differences and Communication. Our online sessions will cover a variety of themes based on feedback we receive from families. We are delighted to welcome to our team Sarah, our new Training Coordinator and Caz, our Lead Trainer, who both joined us in January 2022. Caz and Sarah are looking forward to getting started with the organising and delivery of our workshops and meeting families. Please sign up to our database on our website www.sglospc.org.uk
SEN support survey results
are out now
The South Glos Way Inclusion Toolkit was set up to improve support in education settings for children without an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP); this support is called SEN Support (also known as the graduated approach). Schools have been grouped into 5 clusters to help them to improve their inclusive practice. Further information is available on our website. We have parent reps who attend these meetings to ensure your voice is heard, and your views are shared. As part of gathering your feedback we ran an SEN Support survey in October 2020 and October 2021 to find out how well you felt your child was being supported and if this has changed during the last year. The report is now available on our website and is being used by the clusters to help inform what their priorities will be for the next 12 months. Thank you for feeding back to us.
SEND review Department for Education has launched the SEND and alternative provision green paper consultation – seeking views on a system that offers children and young people access to the right support, in the right place, and at the right time. To read more visit: sendreview.campaign.gov.uk We will be collecting your thoughts about this to help us feedback directly to the DFE
Change of how top up funding is carried out
in South Gloucestershire The Local Authority (LA) are introducing a new way in which funding is allocated to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) from September 2022 for mainstream schools and for special schools from April 2023. We have written a position statement about this which is available on our website. All Parents will be receiving a letter from the LA through their local school explaining in more detail. We will also have those communications available on our website for you to access. If you have any questions you want to ask please get in touch by completing your questions on our feedback form. These questions will be collected into common themes. The Forum will be meeting with the Local Authority to share those questions. We are also looking to arrange some engagement sessions in June where you will be able to hear more from the Local Authority.
You Said! We Did! You
said “ I don’t know who my child’s EHCP coordinator is and I can’t get any reply from our EHCP case coordinator after numerous emails and phone calls.” We’ve been hearing from families who have been unable to contact the Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) Coordination team working within the Local Authority or just want to understand who their EHCP coordinator is.
We
did We have been consistently feeding back how you feel, and the difficulties you have faced in trying to speak to the team. We are pleased to tell you we have contact details and additional information for you to share wider and will be working with the EHCP team to ensure this continues to improve. We hope this helps! Details are available on pages 8 and 9.
Message from Hugh Disley
Strategic Lead Inclusion & SEND As you will know from the Parent Carer Forum there is a lot going on and I really appreciate the huge effort the PCF is making to represent parents and carers across the whole of the Local Authority and lifting our co-production to a new level. The Inclusion and SEND Team really appreciate our monthly meetings with PCF and the input into improving our EHCP’s and Annual Reviews by the PCF is invaluable. As I write this note to you we are waiting for the publication of the Education White Paper and the updating of the SEND Code of Practice. The reforms are long overdue but I know that we will work through the issues together. Best wishes
Hugh Disley
Strategic Lead Inclusion & SEND
Message from the Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
Coordination Team The EHCP Coordination Team is extremely short-staffed at the moment; like many employers we have had difficulty recruiting to vacant posts over the past 6 months. We also have staff who have been absent long term for health reasons. We continue to do our best to spread our resources across the clusters, but acknowledge that Cluster 6 has been short-staffed for a particularly long time. Please accept our apologies if the level of service you’ve received has been impacted by these challenges; we very much appreciate you bearing with us, and hope to permanently improve staffing levels by the end of Term 5.
How to Contact the EHCP Co-ordination Team You can call the duty line on 01454 865137 or email the duty inbox 0-25ServiceEducationDuty@southglos.gov.uk
Cluster list of schools
These are staffed 9am-5pm Mon-Thurs and 9-4.30pm on Fridays.
What Cluster do you belong to? All South Glos maintained/academy mainstream primary and secondary schools are grouped into clusters; for the purposes of the EHCP team other providers have been added to the clusters to ensure that there is a point of contact for each educational setting. Click the yellow hexagon for cluster list, this is subject to change. However, please note that schools that are not South Glos mainstream may not know/see themselves as being in a cluster. Each cluster has an email address. The inboxes are monitored daily by the senior and case coordinators of the cluster.
EHCPC1@southglos.gov.uk EHCPC2@southglos.gov.uk EHCPC3@southglos.gov.uk EHCPC4or5@southglos.gov.uk EHCPC6@southglos.gov.uk EHCPCPost16@southglos.gov.uk
You Said! We Did!
Social Care You
said You want to hear more about the services provided by Social Care.
We
did We have planned a meeting with the disability social care team to look at children in need reviews. We are running a focus group to run on the 24th May to start these discussions.. We are actively looking for Parents who have experience with Social Care to join our group. If this, is you, please get in touch via the email below! Without parents attending our sessions or our wonderful Parent Representatives, we couldn’t be the voice of our community. Come and join us. Details will be available on how to book after Easter. Why not have your say and get involved. Email: participation@sglospc.org.uk
You Said! We Did!
Education You
said Help, I just can’t get my child into school.
We
did During the many meetings our parent reps attend we have raised how we are hearing about rising numbers of children experiencing difficulty in attending school. Our voices have been listened to and a working group was set up to look at this issue which is referred to as Emotional Based School Avoidance (EBSA). This working group will focus on providing better information, advice and guidance for parent carers, children and young people, schools and the local authority to ensure that there is improved consistent support for families. Look out for more information in our next newsletter and a ‘services uncovered’ feature about the Education Welfare Service. We have also applied for funding to run some onlineworkshops to help families find out more about this, and we are planning further sessions over the next 12 months. Ensure you are signed up to our database or you can check out our website for latest events. www.sglospc.org.uk
Parent participation opportunities
Become a Parent Rep
We need you!
Parent Representatives are key to what we do at South Glos Parent Carers. Without them, we couldn’t do all the things we do. Such as gathering feedback from families and Parent Carers about the services they are receiving (or cannot access). Parent Representatives give power to our families’ voices, to help improve services and access to them, going forward. Being part of our team can be very rewarding; Giving back can have a positive impact on your emotional wellbeing and sometimes the small act of feeling heard makes a big difference. By being a Parent Representative, you are supported throughout, whilst developing new skills, knowledge, and experience. By enhancing your skills and learning new ones, you will grow in confidence and help to support the families with SEND. If you feel you would like to become a Parent Rep please get in touch via: participation@sglospc.org.uk
SGPC community support Our Community Base Our sensory room is now open Our Community Base is located at the Kingswood Centre on New Cheltenham Road, and it’s a haven for Parent Carers to take time for themselves, gain information and chat with others on similar journeys. We have welcomed lots of families since January and have been busy offering support and a friendly face. We will be increasing the Thursdays we are open from April and you can now access our sensory room, which is a fantastic and fully accessible space. It is free to attend The Base and the sensory room, but booking is essential. Details of how to book these sessions will be available on our Eventbrite page. We had a lovely time catching up with some of our Parent Carers at Our Community Base in March. We welcomed Brick Project for an art session. The finished piece will be on show from June at The Library of Things in Kingswood.
Dates for your Diary Throughout next term we have lots of other topics and information sessions planned.
and are open to parents and carers and to local schools in South Glos.
We are pleased to announce our good friend, International Speaker Dean Beadle is joining us for four online sessions. These will be delivered from an autistic perspective, with broader messages about neurodivergence
Tues May 3rd 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Weds May 11th 10:00 am -11:30 am Tues Jun 14th 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Mon Jun 20th 10:00am - 11:30 am
You
said It’s so hard to find out what’s available for my child when they leave school.
We
did We have engaged with a variety of organisations to arrange a series of Post 16 information Sessions throughout May 2022. We have booked several organisations who want to tell us and our community about the services they offer to Young People, ranging from Pauls Place, SGS College, Hft, Work4Youth, the Preparing for Adulthood team plus so many more.
Wednesday 4th May 10.30 - 11.30 Paul’s Place
POST 16 SESSIONS South Glos Parent Carers are pleased to offer a variety of sessions to help Parent Carers consider options for your young person with special educational needs or disabilities post 16.
We are working with some brilliant organisations to bring you lots of information about work, education, social and housing options are available in South Glos.
Details of how to book these sessions will be available on our Eventbrite page. Make sure you are signed up to our receive our emails. Join us.
This charity enhances life for physically disabled adults (18 to 60), this session will cover the services offered and improvement for younger adults.
Tuesday 10th May 10.30 - 11.30 Preparing for Adulthood Team
The team works from year 9 up (ages 14 to 25), offering assistance and advice on education, employment, independent living and staying safe.
Tuesday 17th May 10.30 - 11.30 SGS College
The College offer a variety of post 16 courses; this session will cover what the foundation department can offer students with SEND.
Wednesday 18th May 13.00 - 14.00 Brandon Trust
They offer individualised support for adults and young people with a learning disability and/or autism including supported living, job opportunities and farm and café placements
Tuesday 24th May 10.30 - 11.30 Works 4 Youth
Employment support project supporting ages 16-25 who are Not in Employment Full-time Education or Training with advice, mentoring and workshops.
These sessions are free, and you can attend as many as you like. For more information email events@sglospc.org.uk or book through our Eventbrite page https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/south-glos-parent-carers-33451038563
Wednesday 25th May 10.30 - 11.30 We Work for Everyone This project supports those who are currently unemployed 16+ with learning difficulties/disabilities/autism into paid employment using Navigators.
Information from other services These are a few things some local groups have asked us to share. SAY-SEND and YOU will be running some really helpful information sessions.. Click this link for their event list. For further information visit their website: https://www.sendandyou.org.uk/
Cost of Living We’ve been hearing from SEND families about the increasing costs of living. Contact have put together a handy checklist. Cost of living crisis: 6 things all families with disabled children can do now | Contact
Local Information SEND Local Offer: Website with information about special educational needs in South Gloucestershire SAY- SEND and YOU: Delivers Special Educational Needs & Disability Information Advice & Support service for three local authorities; Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Support for Children’s Mental Health: Various groups that support children’s mental health One You: Wellbeing hub South Gloucestershire. One You contains everything from links to group walks to photography and chat. Looking after yourself is vital.
Helplines Papyrus HopeLine - suicide prevention under 35’s Call: 0800 068 4141 Text: 07860 039967 Contact Listening Ear Service - parenting support 0808 808 3555 Avon Wiltshire Partnership 24/7 Mental Health Response Line 0800 953 1919
As ever, we send our warmest wishes to you all!
Your SGPC Team x
Click to go to our Facebook page
Click to go to our Evenbrite page
SGPC TEAM E: team@sglospc.org.uk T: 01454 501 009 W: www.sglospc.org.uk