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The new SEND Short Breaks Activity service began on 1st February 2022. A big change for this new service is that families need to register each year in order to access the activities. The registration window was in October 2021.
This is a new approach for Cumbria and we know that some families missed out because they didn’t know about the registration or didn’t complete the registration in time. There are also families whose children have become eligible for short breaks since October.
Therefore, there will be another opportunity for these families to register for the new short breaks activity service throughout April 2022.
Parents and carers not already registered should register now to secure a place for their child with additional needs and/or disabilities. You must register your child by midnight on 29th April 2022.
Families already registered with the service do not need to register again at this time.
Which children are eligible to access the service?
To be eligible for the short breaks service, all of the following must apply:
- The child is resident in Cumbria
- The child has a disability (as defined by the Equalities Act 2010)
- The child has a current final Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP)
- The child is in academic year groups 1 to 13 (or equivalent)
+ REGISTER NOW FOR THE SHORT BREAKS ACTIVITY SERVICE
+ FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SHORT BREAKS ACTIVITY SERVICE
The latest regular Q&A sessions with SEND senior leaders are coming up.
The sessions will be held using Microsoft Teams on 17th May.
Parents and carers can choose from
- a morning session at 10.00am or
- an evening session at 6.30pm
Although not a platform to resolve individual issues, the SEND leaders will be able to provide advice and information on services, procedures and systems, and signpost to other services and sources of information.
Dan Barton, Assistant Director for Education and Skills and Sally Senejko, senior manager for SEND and inclusion at Cumbria County Council will be joined by colleagues from the clinical commissioning groups within the NHS.
SENDAC, Cumbria's parent carer forum, will also be available at both sessions to provide advice and support from a parental perspective.
To book a place at either Q&A session, parents and carers are asked to email Hayley Stewart, stating whether you would like to attend the morning or evening session.
+ EMAIL HAYLEY STEWART TO BOOK YOUR Q&A PLACE
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SEND Alliance Cumbria are working with partners in health and the local authority to create a new on-line autism resource in response to what parents, carers and young people have told them they need.
Families say it is difficult to find information about autism in Cumbria because the information isn't all in one place. The new resource being developed aims to remedy that by bringing everything together to make it easier to find.
SENDAC are asking parents, carers and young people what this new resource should be called, and have created a survey to gather views. The survey only has two questions and takes less than a minute to complete.
+ TAKE THE 'NAME THE NEW AUTISM RESOURCE' SURVEY
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 Short break activities are fun or educational opportunities for children and young people with SEND, allowing parents and carers of children and young people with SEND to take a ‘short break’ from caring. Children and young people who meet the eligibility criteria will be automatically accepted into the service and will be able to access a range of free activities.
The new service provides daytime/evening activities and activities during the holidays. There are some new providers to Cumbria, in additional to familiar organisations. One of the new providers is Endorphins, who provide inclusive children and youth groups nationwide. They provide safe and supportive inclusive sessions for SEND children and young people with additional needs to have fun, make friends and flourish.
Providing sessions at locations around the county in Carlisle, Allerdale, Barrow, South Lakes and Copeland, Endorphins provide a 3:1 staff ratio for their Endorphins Superstars sessions.
Kimberley, leader of the Barrow sessions says:
"I believe providing children and young people with the space to express their creativity and imagination is important to help them explore their identity and promote their development. I believe in providing them with the opportunity to connect with others to enhance their social skills, and develop their self-esteem and confidence. I am passionate about providing young people with a non-judgmental and open space which supports each person's individual needs, facilitating these important processes in the most fun way possible.
During our sessions at Barrow every week is different. We always plan a range of activities, get active playing games, get messy and creative with arts and crafts, do science experiments or run around and act like animals! It is our priority to provide young people with a fun and welcoming environment which allows them to freely explore their identity, creativity and interests whilst making friends and valuable connections with others. We aim to structure the sessions around what the young people enjoy most as we learn more about their individual interests. We are always excited for new people to come along and get involved in our brilliant groups."
Feedback from parents about Endorphins Superstars illustrates how valuable the sessions can be for some young people with SEND:
“My daughter finds it hard to make friends and is not very confident. She comes home every day saying how much she’s enjoyed the group and how nice the group leaders are. Each club she has attended she has given me the same positive reaction. She even asks randomly now when she can go back! I just wanted to say a big thank you and keep up the good work."
"This is 'A's' only interaction outside of school. The leaders at Endorphins have always made me feel confident and comfortable. They go above and beyond, you can tell they really care. It's somewhere for 'A' to go as he can't go to scouts and mainstream clubs. So to have this group that is a safe space to see and make friends is great for him and he feels accepted."
+ FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SHORT BREAKS ACTIVITY SERVICE AND ELIGIBILITY
Packed with information and resources, you can read the latest SEND news from Lancashire and South Cumbria, and from the North West region in their newsletters below.
+ READ LANCASHIRE AND SOUTH CUMBRIA SEND NEWS
+ READ NORTH WEST SEND REGIONAL NETWORK NEWSLETTER
 Image description: an artist's impression of the new school, showing the south east elevation. In the foreground there are trees and two children on bikes in front of the building
Cumbria County Council took another important step in building an alternative provision school in Carlisle, with groundworks commencing on the Edgehill Road school site in Harraby.
The new alternative provision school will provide specialist support to the growing number of young people who are unable to access mainstream education due to social, emotional, and mental health issues.
The contractor Roland Hill Ltd have started their initial phase of work on the site which include ground and external works.
The school will cater for up to 40 pupils and is due to be complete in the winter of 2022.
+ READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE ABOUT THE ALTERNATIVE PROVISION SCHOOL IN CARLISLE
Cumbria County Council Cabinet has agreed a £5m investment into the expansion of Sandgate Special Educational Needs and Disabilities School in Kendal.
Sandgate SEND School is a special school for children and young people between the ages of three and nineteen years, which operates a satellite campus at The Queen Katherine School (Academy), where key stage 4 and key stage 5 pupils are educated in order to foster integration between mainstream and special needs pupils.
The funding will expand the Sandgate School satellite campus at The Queen Katherine School to also accommodate pupils in Key Stage 3, meaning all secondary age pupils will be educated on the same site. The development will also increase the overall capacity of Sandgate School to 120 (40 nursery/primary and 80 secondary).
F Parkinson Ltd will deliver the building works which are anticipated to be completed by early summer 2022.
Dr Ruth Ilman, Principal Educational Psychologist at Cumbria County Council
In February we asked if you had any questions for Dr Ruth Illman, Principal Educational Psychologist about the services she manages. Here she answers your questions...
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My child has been diagnosed with ADHD, and I feel his school would benefit from some support to help him with his studies. How do referrals into the educational psychology teams work? Is this something school should/could do? Or do I need to make a referral myself, and if so how do I do that?
We usually receive requests for involvement through school, through the Early Help process. The SENCO and/or pastoral lead, and the Educational Psychologist attached to the school have up to three planning meetings a year where they plan the work they are going to do. This may include training and/or casework. The SENCO and Educational Psychologist will discuss cases which the SENCO feels need to be prioritised. These cases will have already been identified at school support and interventions will already be in place as part of the Graduated Approach. You would be involved through the Early Help process. Your first step is to talk to the SENCO.
What is the difference between educational psychologists and the specialist teachers in schools?
Educational Psychologists are psychologists who practice within educational settings. Other psychologists may be clinically based, involved in forensic psychology, occupational psychology or sports psychology. Many Educational Psychologists have been teachers as, at one time this was an essential stepping stone to being an Educational Psychologist. Educational Psychologists all have a degree in psychology and have worked with children and young people before going on to complete a professional doctoral course in order to qualify to practice. They are registered under the Health Care Professional Council. Educational Psychologists focus on all aspects of the development of children and young people 0-25. Many also have specialisms. Education Psychologists take a holistic approach to resolving arising issues through consultation, assessment and advising on interventions. They are interested in the child or young person both within and outside their learning environments. They work with children and young people 0-25 and across all areas of need. Each Educational Psychologist in Cumbria works on average with about 20 schools including special schools.
Specialist Advisory Teachers are all fully qualified teachers who have additional qualifications in their area of specialism. Specialist Advisory teachers advise schools on teaching and learning for children within their specialist area. Some deliver direct teaching to children/ young people, for example to children with vision or hearing needs, while others provide advice and support. In Cumbria we have specialist advisory teachers for developmental language delays, autistic spectrum disorders, sensory needs (vision and hearing) and physical/medical needs. We also have specialist advisory teachers for children who have severe learning difficulties attending mainstream schools and children where English is an additional language.
Does every child with SEND have a named educational psychologist and special advisory teacher?
No. The local authority has a service of Educational Psychologists and Specialist Advisory Teachers who support SENCOs in meeting the needs of children and young people in Cumbria. Each school has an attached Educational Psychologist but sometimes we change schools for a range of reasons. Likewise Specialist Advisory Teachers change the areas they work in. Each child going through the EHCP process will have named staff for the duration of the process unless that member of staff leaves or the child/ young person changes their nursery, school or college. Over a year we can work with up to 3,000 children between Educational Psychology and Specialist Advisory Teachers so we are not able to dedicate staff to individual cases. Every child will have its own teacher and SENCO to support them in their setting.
Cumbria's SEND Local Offer website is the 'one stop shop' for information and advice for all things SEND related.
We have a continuous improvement group of parents, carers and SEND practitioners from across education, health and social care, who meet regularly to develop new content and improve accessibility to the site. If you would like to join the group, please contact Hayley Stewart for more information.
What's new on the Local Offer?
- A new Children's Occupational Therapy page has been developed by the service to provide advice, information and support to families of children and young people with SEND. The service would welcome feedback from parents, carers and young people on the page.
+ VISIT THE CHILDREN'S OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PAGE
+ GIVE FEEDBACK ON THE CHILDREN'S OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PAGE
- Cumbria's Local Offer website has worked with partners, parents and carers to develop a Crisis page for the Local Offer. The page provides advice and support to families who are experiencing extremely challenging situations.
+ VISIT THE CRISIS SUPPORT PAGE
- The Cumbria Autism Family Support Project has a new page on the Local Offer website. The countywide project is delivered by Carlisle Mencap, and provides advice and support to families with autistic children aged up to 18 years.
+ VISIT THE AUTISM FAMILY SUPPORT PROJECT PAGE
Image description: White signpost with three direction arms in different colours on a green background. Text reads education, health, social care, Cumbria's local offer.
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Developed by Buckinghamshire Council, the game called 'SEN Stay Safe - Bao: It's a Jungle out there' has been praised internationally as one of the best education projects of the last year.
The game aims to help children and young people with additional needs understand the risks and challenges of being online and how to stay safe, as well as the implications of technology in their everyday lives. The game's developers have also released supporting guidance for teachers and parents.
Players follow the adventures of Bao the panda as they help him navigate his way safely through the jungle which, like the internet, poses risks and challenges along the way.
Bao means 'to protect' in the Chinese language, and also stands for 'be aware online'
+ READ MORE ABOUT HOW THE GAME WAS DEVELOPED
+ ACCESS THE LINK TO PLAY BAO: IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE
+ READ THE GAME GUIDANCE FOR PARENTS, CARERS AND EDUCATORS
The game is best accessed using google Chrome browser.
Image description: Cartoon panda sitting in leaves with the text BAO. Text reads It's a jungle out there! Internet safety game.
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Developed by clinical partners in Lancashire and South Cumbria, the new online resource is available to the whole of Cumbria.
Parents and carers are invited to join the Hub for free support on a range of issues, as are autistic young people and autistic adults.
The Hub will create a space for autistic people to share their experiences of everyday challenges, offer free clinical advice from experienced clinicians and host live online discussions and Q&A sessions.
There will also be monthly email updates with advice, information and tips to help manage everyday challenges.
Parents, carers, autistic young people and autistic adults are encouraged to join the Autism Support Hub, which is free and confidential.
+ FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE AUTISM SUPPORT HUB AND REGISTER TO JOIN
Image Description: overlapping head silhouettes in pastel colours. In the foreground is the word autism in blue block lettering.
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Parents and carers can now access their child or young person's Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) online using Cumbria's Citizen Portal. The Citizen Portal is safe and secure, and is the same portal that is used to register for a school place and free school meals.
New EHC plans have been available to parents and carers via the portal for a few months, but now the system is being rolled out more widely to include those with an existing EHCP.
Easy to use, the portal requires parents to register only once to be able to use it for a variety of things, including accessing their child or young person's EHCP and associated documents, as well as enabling parents and children to complete their All About Me Section A online.
The Local Offer website has an information page, as well as a handy 'how to' video to show parents, carers and young people aged 16+ how to access their EHCP using the Citizen Portal.
+ VISIT THE CITIZEN PORTAL INFORMATION ON THE LOCAL OFFER WEBSITE
a message from the whole SEND Partnership to families of children and young people with SEND in Cumbria:
We hope that you are finding these newsletters useful. If you would like us to cover any specific SEND related topics, or would like to see introductions or Q&A articles from specific people or services, please do let us know.
+ GET IN TOUCH WITH THE SEND NEWSLETTER.
We want to assure you that we remain committed to delivering the improvements which we know are vital to ensure Cumbria does it's very best for children and young people with SEND and their families.
You can find information and support on the Ways to Welfare page.
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