Making sure we hear the voices of our SEND children and young people
A new SEND Youth Forum for young people aged between 11 and 25 years has been set up by Matthew, our new SEND children and young people's participation officer.
The first catch up will be on Wednesday 5 July, 6pm until 7pm online on Microsoft Teams. If you know a young person who would like to join in, please help them to get involved:
Meet new people and make new friends.
Develop confidence skills.
Gain badges recognising skills which can be shared with schools, colleges and employers.
Discuss topics that you really care about.
Make a positive change across the local area.
Contact Matthew Elliott, email sendyouthvoice@bradford.gov.uk or phone Matthew on 07890 642146 to register interest or to find out more.
Please share this opportunity with any groups/services that would be interested in joining our SEND Youth Forum in Bradford.
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Quality Assurance Framework
In 2022 we launched a Quality Assurance Framework for our Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP's). Since then we have also appointed two SEND Auditors to help us review the quality of our EHCP's.
 Hello everyone! Our names are Chelsea Freeman & Lucy Skirrow and we have recently joined the SEND Transformation and Compliance Team here at Bradford Council as SEND Auditors. Our role focuses on the quality of Education, Health and Care Plans using the Quality Assurance Framework. We will be providing regular updates on our audit findings over on the local offer website. We look forward to including you in our improvement journey!
Regular updates on the audit findings can be found on the SEND Auditors Local Offer webpage.
A big thank you
Thank you to all who attended our Local Offer co-production event this month.
Even if you couldn't attend, you can still give us your feedback which we always appreciate. It won't take long on our online feedback form.
We also have new A5 Local Offer leaflets available, you can preview the new leaflets here. These are available for distribution in settings, centres or support groups. Please email: localoffer@bradford.gov.uk with your full contact details and how many you would like and we will post them to you.
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Local Offer Annual Report
The 2022/2023 Local Offer Annual Report has been published and is now live on the Local Offer website.
This past year has seen significant changes to Bradford's Local Offer with the refresh project now well underway and due to be completed before the end of 2023.
The report outlines engagement and co-production with parental support groups, charities, statutory and third sectors partners. This is followed by an overview of how the Local Offer has been accessed with key service user data. Finally the report shares news about the Local Offer refresh and next steps.
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Bradford SEND young people's participation workshop
Thanks to our School of Rock and Media 'Into Employment' students, and our Healthy Mind apprentices for helping support a work participation event on Monday 12 June at Margaret McMillian Towers.
The young people gave an insightful view of their lived experience and what they feel could help the district engage more children and young people in our SEND work. The day was a great success and a full report will be produced later this summer and shared with you.
The event was attended by over 40 partners from health, social care, education, the national charity KIDS, support groups and parent and carers.
Well done to all the young people involved! What a big success!
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Family Hubs welcome families across the Bradford District
A Family Hub is a place where families, along with their children and young people, can enjoy the facilities and activities on offer, attend courses and groups, and receive any other help and support they may need.
Did you know? Most of our family hubs are now running SEND specific groups for parent/carers and children and young people.
Please click below to find out about your closest family hub and What's On.
You can read the latest Family Hubs and Start for Life newsletter here.
Find out more about Family Hubs and Start for Life on the Bradford Families and Young Persons Information website.
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Celebrating our interns during Learning Disability Week
During learning disability week (19-25 June) Airedale NHS Foundation Trust is celebrating the success story of its internship programme for students with learning disabilities.
A supported internship is a type of study programme for young people aged 16–24 that have an Education, Health and Care Plan. The internship lasts for between six months and a year and is flexible to suit the young person and the employer. The students spend up to two days at work and have a job coach who liaises with staff, students and their parents and college and carries out regular reviews on their progress.
Read more about several interns experiences at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.
For more information on the programme contact Emma Rich on 01535 685095 or email emma.rich@keighleycollege.ac.uk
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Transitions for children and young people with physical needs - join the online webinar
A planned webinar for parents and carers will take place on Thursday 6 July 2023 (12.30 - 1pm) on Microsoft Teams.
This will focus on how to make transitions as successful as possible for children with physical needs. It is open to all parents of children who have physical or medical needs who attend mainstream schools or nurseries.
The session is free to attend and your child does not have to be on the Physical Needs Team’s caseload. Please email Deborah.craig@bradford.gov.uk to book your place and receive the Teams link. We hope to see you there!
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Thinking Big activities
We have a number of sessions running for friends and family members of children and
young people with additional needs to connect, share information and learn new skills.
11, 12, 13 July
Navigating the Health System
This workshop will be delivered by Katie Clark, who has over 25 years of experience working with families of people with disabilities. This session and activities aims to give you a greater understanding of the health system, and increase your confidence at navigating the ‘system’ in relation to your children and young people with disabilities.
Friday 4 August
The giant family picnic (12-2pm)
Every year we have a summer celebration event for our members and their families to celebrate the journey they have been on. This year we will be holding a giant family picnic at The Bandstand, Lister Park, Bradford where we will have some food, music and entertainment including a creative bubble show!
12, 13 and 14 September
Cerebra sleep workshop
This free workshop will be delivered by the National charity Cerebra, it will give you the knowledge, skills and confidence to deal with sleep issues so the whole family can get a good night’s sleep. They will address what impacts and improves sleep, issues of settling, night waking, early rising and sleeping alone. The aim is to increase your confidence to apply the information to your own situation. Booking in advance is essential for this workshop.
Please get in touch with friendsandfamily@thinkingbiguk.org to book a space.
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CBeebies Superstar George Webster comes to Bradford!
The Down Syndrome Training and Support Service are are delighted to invite you to a charity fundraising day on
Saturday 8 July (2pm to 8pm)
The amazing George Webster, superstar from cBeebies will open the event!
There will be local bands, bouncy castles, children's' games, a magician, outdoor catering, fire engine, tombola, raffle and much more.
Entry tickets are available from the Down Syndrome Support Service website here.
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