Welcome! We know the summer break can be challenging for many of our families, we hope you find some activities or local groups below that might be of interest to your children and you have an enjoyable summer. Take care and we will be in touch again next month. For any newsletter feedback or content to include, get in touch, email: LocalOffer.News@bradford.gov.uk
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Quick links to helpful info
🔴 Airedale and Wharfedale Autism Resource (AWARE) summer guide.
🟠 Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) holiday clubs - free SEND places.
🟡 SEND events are in orange on the Bradford district family hubs – latest timetables.
🟢 2025 Summer Reading Challenge from Bradford Libraries.
🔵 Darley Street Market (12 & 13 July) opening weekend.
🟣 New designated social care officer & assessors team for Bradford district, read more.
🟠 Preparing For Adulthood (from the age of 14) Prospectus and One Minute Guide.
🟡 Local Offer webpage with all the service responses to the PFBA survey. Read here.
🟢 New inclusive Mixed Ability Sports, email: contact@mixedabilitysports.org
🔵Find out the latest from Bradford Disability Sport and Leisure on Facebook
🟣 Find out what's on with Bradford 2025 events.
🔴The FYI (Families and Young Person's Information) website has a What's On guide.
🟠The Beacon will be touring some of Bradford district's parks! Read more here.
🟡National Play Day 2025 will take place in Lister Park - Weds, 6 August (10am to 3pm).
Please spread the word with friends and family - sign up to this newsletter and join us on the Bradford Local Offer Facebook page.
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Parent/carer support groups
Many of the fantastic local parent/carer support groups run activities during the summer holidays - please get in touch to check - you can see all the local groups here.
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Free online course ‘moving up to secondary school for children with additional needs’
If your child is in Year 5 or Year 6, this course could help you and your child to get ready for starting secondary school. To access the course for free, go to the In Our Place courses all you need is your Bradford District post code and the access code BDPARENTS.
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Nell Bank discovery days 2025
(10am to 3pm) on 31 July, 1, 7 and 8 August
These discovery days are for children both with and without SEND, and include use of Nell Bank's fantastic play areas as well as a brand new insect themed activity trail! The site at Nell Bank is very accessible for all. There is a cost for the discovery days and you can book here.
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Services respond to parent/carer survey feedback
The parent/carer annual survey provided lots of really valuable insight into your experiences. The SEND Transformation and Compliance Team (SEND T&C Team) are now working closely with services to respond to the feedback you have provided - you can read more here.
To help delve deeper into some of the issues that the survey has raised around service satisfaction, the SEND T&C Team will be working with parents and carers to run some two-way engagement sessions involving services.
The first of these took place on 25 June with the Early Help and Prevention Service, with more planned in the September term.
To get involved in any of the upcoming engagement sessions with Early Help and health providers, email SENDT&C@bradford.gov.uk
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Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) holiday clubs
HAF holiday clubs run during the school holidays and provide free fun activities and a healthy meal for children who receive benefits-related free school meals and/or if they have a Special Educational Need or disability (SEND).
If your child is not on benefits-related free school meals but has SEND you can arrange your child's free space directly with the clubs who are running the HAF holiday club. You can check directly if they have places available and book. Check the clubs available here.
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Chellow Heights Special School - Stay and Play days 2025
Chellow Heights West, Thorn Lane, Bingley Road, Bradford BD9 6AL
These sessions are for children up to the age of 11 and will run from 10am - 2pm on:
👉🏼Tuesday 22 July 👉🏼 Thursday 24 July
👉🏼Tuesday 29 July 👉🏼Thursday 31 July 👉🏼Tuesday 5 August
Please bring packed lunches! Booking is essential, email: chsoffice@chellowheightsschool.co.uk or phone: 01274 484242.
Beckfoot Phoenix Special School - Stay and Play days 2025
Beckfoot Phoenix Special School, Braithwaite Ave, Braithwaite, Keighley BD22 6HZ
These sessions are for children up to the age of 11and will run from 9.30am to 2pm on:
👉🏼Wednesday 23 July 👉🏼Friday 25 July 👉🏼Monday 28 July 👉🏼 Weds 30 July
👉🏼Monday 4 August 👉🏼Weds 6 August 👉🏼Monday 11 August 👉🏼Tues 12 August
Booking is recommended! Contact Jason, email: jason.patefield@phoenixschool.org.uk or phone: 01535 607038
I'm Me Festival - A look at using Art to share young people's voice
The picture shows the result from a 'small world' workshop the group took part in. They were invited to create a space that felt safe to them inside a box.
This month our Bradford district's Brad Starz group were invited by Mind the Gap to take part in the 'I'm Me Festival' in York. For the past two years learning disabled and autistic artists have been working with the I'm Me project to explore identity, representation and voice.
At the festival artists show cased the work they've created taking control of their stories to change the world and have fun doing it! This was a great opportunity for the Brad Starz to experience something new and explore different ways in which they can share their voice.
Brad Starz member Billie, said:
Resources for children and young people who are neurodivergent
The West Yorkshire Neurodiversity Programme and All Star, have developed resources to support neurodivergent children, young people and their families.
Through consultation and research, the community was asked about the resource gaps in self-help and support for neurodivergent children and young people. The following key areas were identified:
✅ School transitions ✅ Sleep ✅ Food
You can read more and find the resources here - including videos, booklets, and audio formats, available in plain text, with or without subtitles, and with or without sound.
An update from the SEND Auditors
The SEND Transformation Programme identified a need for internal SEND Auditors as part of the review of the current services. The team provide independent monitoring and scrutiny of Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs) for children, ensuring appropriate and sufficient plans are developed that meet the needs of children and young people.
The SEND Audit team routinely audit 20% of EHCPs that have been issued in the previous month using Invision 360, an online Quality Assurance tool. As part of this process, any plans that are identified as having ‘significant gaps’ are fed back to the services involved across Education, Health and Social Care so they can explore any issues and rectify these. In June, the SEND Audit team audited 21 plans out of the104 EHCP's issued in May. There were no plans identified as having ‘significant gaps’ within the May sample.
You can read more about the SEND audit team on the Local Offer website.
Have Your Say on Bradford’s Health Visiting and School Nursing Services
The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), in partnership with Bradford Council, is carrying out an insights project to better understand the experiences of families, staff, and partners involved with Bradford’s Health Visiting and School Nursing Services.
Your views will help identify what’s working well, where there may be gaps, and how the service can be improved to better support babies, children, and families across Bradford.
If you’ve had experience with Bradford’s Health Visiting or School Nursing Services, please take some time to complete our survey and share your thoughts.
>>> Take part in the families survey <<<
Your feedback is vital in shaping the future of these services. Thank you for your support!
Bradford 2025's fantastic touring venue, The Beacon!
The Beacon is a movable space and will be touring some of Bradford district's parks! From 10 July to 10 August, the moveable venue will be installed at Cliffe Castle Park in Keighley, bringing a range of free and ticketed events for people of all ages. Read more about The Beacon here.
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