­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­AWARE World Autism Acceptance Day 2023

Thursday 30 March 2023 - 10am to 2pm
McCall Suite, Bradford BD8 7DY

AWARE will be holding a World Autism Acceptance Event (WAAD) at Bradford City AFC on Thursday 30 March (10am - 2pm).

The day is a drop-in event (tickets required) for families with autistic children or young people (no diagnosis needed).

This is an unmissable chance to meet a whole host of services including, but not limited to, education and health care, speech and language, social care, sports and activity clubs and much, much more!

You can attend the event any time that suits you between 10am and 1.30pm (the event closes at 2pm). You are more than welcome to bring children with you - the plan is to have a sensory/chill out room that they can access if needed.

We have Urdu and Bengali speakers available. There is free parking available on site and the surrounding roads.

More information & bookings

SEND team update

We continue to recruit to roles within our Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) services.

We are recruiting 16 additional staff over the next six months into the SEN Assessment team. The team will include a new complex and vulnerable team and eight new annual review officers.

We have recently appointed two new SEND auditors to support with our education, health and care (EHC) plan quality assurance programme to make sure the quality of plans improve.

This month we have interviewed and appointed a SEND Marketplace lead who will help us audit and identify provision in the area and improve the commissioning of new services.

We are also interviewing for a SEND children’s participation officer this month who will look to establish a district wide democracy for SEND children and young people.

To also help improve the responsiveness of our services we are strengthening the back office in the SEN assessment team, to meet the increased demand. The business support function has been designed to best support the front line services by providing a stronger management support team and creating new posts for freedom of information, SARS, tribunal support and complaints.­­­­­

Project SEARCH online information sessions

Tuesday 31 January

Please join the information event to find out about how a Project SEARCH supported internship may be the next step in you or your young persons’ career. Suitable for young people aged 18-24 with an EHCP, Project SEARCH work in partnership with BRI, Bradford College, Anchor Housing, Bradford District Care Trust, Bradford Council and Hft to provide in work training for people with learning disabilities. Rotations are available in admin, portering, retail, warehouse, ICT, catering, hospitality and more.

This is an online event and you will be contacted prior with a meeting link.

Sessions available to book at 1pm, 2pm, 5pm & 6pm. Please book a ticket for the time slot you can attend.

If you would like to find out more about the internship and how to apply, please book onto the event.

School of Rock and Media - Into Employment Group

The Into Employment Group held their first open day at the SORM Learning Hub in Little Germany on 17 January for students, parents and social workers to come have a look around. They will be holding further open days on Monday 20 March and Thursday 18 May so check and follow SORM's account on Twitter @IntoEmpBradford for further news and updates.

The Into Employment students are also supporting several Council teams with recruitment for new staff roles. Thank you to all the staff and students for raising the profile of lived experience and supporting our future work.

SEND parent/carer ambassadors

Are you a parent/carer to a child or young person with additional needs in the Bradford area? Would you like to have your say, help provide feedback to services and get involved in SEND service design delivery and reviews? We always welcome new parent/carers joining to help strengthen the voice and breadth of the group. We would particularly like to hear from any parent/carers with children and young people in special schools or with complex health needs.

The SEND parent/carer ambassadors meet monthly and you can attend either face to face or online. Please email SENDT&C@bradford.gov.uk if you are interested.

Some of our SEND parent/carer ambassadors also attend our SEND workstreams to represent the parent/carer voice.

How will I know if transport is running or has been cancelled in bad weather?

In the event of bad weather (e.g. snow, ice) minibuses and taxis may not be able to reach their destination safely.

Decisions regarding transport are always based on the safety and well-being of the children and adults that the service transports and, in the case of bad weather you can get up-to-date information by:

Bradford Council app, Facebook and Twitter, logging on to Bradford Council’s website: www.bradford.gov.uk or Bradford Schools Online: bso.bradford.gov.uk

Here are some useful phone numbers for Bradford 's Passenger Transport Services:

Minibus for children or adults: 01274 438889

Home to school taxis: 01274 436692

Adult or Looked after children: 01274 437275

SNOOP Zoom meetings 

SNOOP will be hosting five Zoom meetings between February and June around different topics which parent/carers have requested or topics that have arisen through conversations with parents/carers who are starting to, going through or been through the preparing for adulthood process.

Topics covered will be:

• housing options for people with learning disabilities and/or Autism.
• Education, Health and Care Plans and parent/carers lived experiences of the PfA process in Bradford.
• Social Care learning disability assessments and process within Bradford.
• College and what college life may be like.
• Health Facilitation and Social Prescribing.

The Zoom meetings will be in the evening at around 7-7:15pm.

Look out for further information with confirmed dates and speakers.

Please get in touch if you have got any questions -

Sophie Turnbull - sophie.turnbull@snoopcharity.org

Carol Beardmore - carol.beardmore@snoopcharity.org

EHC plans

Over the next 5 weeks, the SEN team will be making the current year 6 and Early Years children’s EHC plans final to identify their next school placement.

The final day in which you will be informed is the 15 February 2023. For post 16 placements, year 11’s will know by the 31 March 2023.

We understand that some schools have responded to your consultation stating they are ‘unable to meet needs’. Our service may have named that school even if they have provided this type of response. This is because our service may think that with our support services such as the specialist teaching services or educational psychology team your child and young person’s needs can be met.

We will always do our best to name the school of your preference; however, when we are unable to do so we will always work alongside you to find a solution such as supporting you, your child and the school named through our support services. All families will receive rights to appeal if you wish to exercise these. Appeal rights can be found on the letter attached to your child or young person’s Final Amended EHC plan.

For further support you can contact: 

Bradford SENDIASS

Phone: 01274 513300
Email: BradfordSENDIASS@barnardos.org.uk

The Local Offer: One minute guides

One Minute guides can be found at the below link and are a 1-page document that provide quick, simple and accessible information around:

• Annual reviews
• Personal Budgets
• SENDIASS… and much more.