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Welcome to our February newsletter and our first newsletter of 2025!
Although February is now well underway, we sincerely hope you had a peaceful and joyful end to 2024, however that looks for you!
In this edition we have our News section, which has a reminder about the Cumberland SEND Partnership Annual Survey. We would really like to encourage as many parents/ carers and children/ young people to complete this survey as possible - your views are vital to the Partnership to understanding experiences, knowing where we need to develop, and how you want services to look and operate. In this section we also have news of our 'Chat with Emma' sessions; Emma Hamer, Assistant Director for Education, SEND, and Inclusion would love to meet families to discuss EHCPs in more detail, and in-person. Also in our news section, we include our new 'Moving On' document, which has been written to support with children/ young people transitioning to adult services.
In Events and Things to Do section we include further Autism Pathway Navigator drop-in session dates, which are taking place county-wide. We also have the details on SENDAC's Introduction to Volunteering sessions, a great opportunity to learn more about our fabulous parent-carer forum, and how you can get involved! We also have a few half-term ideas from Cumberland Council!
Finally, we have SENDAC's Annual Survey report - a huge thank you to SENDAC for putting out this survey and producing such a detailed report.
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Cumberland SEND Partnership Survey
A reminder that our Cumberland SEND Partnership Survey is open until March 7, and that by responding you have the opportunity to win a £50 One 4 All Voucher!
This survey is vital for the Cumberland SEND Parnership to gather your views as parents and carers on a range of services in the area. This includes education, health and social care, as well as EHCPs and support.
The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete. There is also a survey for children and young people.
The results of this survey will be presented to our Cumberland SEND and AP Partnership Board with key outcomes and recommended actions. A full report will be made publicly available by the end of April 2025.
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Chat with Emma Hamer, Assistant Director for Education, SEND and Inclusion
Emma Hamer is running a number of sessions across Cumberland to meet with parents and carers to discuss their experiences with SEND.
The first two of these sessions will be on EHCPs.
"Hi, I'm Emma Hamer, Assistant Director for Education, SEND and Inclusion at Cumberland Council.
I've been reading the results so far of our Cumberland SEND Partnership Annual Survey and would love to talk to parents and carers in-person, to learn more about their experiences with EHCPs. I want to have an open and honest conversation with parents and carers about their experiences, how we do things, and what we can do better."
📆 Tuesday, February 25
🏠 Bowman Room, Harraby Community Centre CA1 3SN
⏰ 1 - 2.30pm
📆 Thursday, March 13
🏠 Cumrew Room, Workington Library, CA14 2ND
⏰ 10 - 11.30am
The sessions are free to attend, but we would ask parents/ carers please let us know if they are planning to attend the session ahead of time by filling in this form, so we can tell our venues about approximate number of attendees. You can also use this to ask questions anonymously, or suggest any topics related to EHCPs you'd like Emma to speak on.
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Transition to Adulthood 'Moving On' Guide
Cumberland Council has developed a Transitions Guidance document, called Moving On.
The Moving On document aims to provide a comprehensive guide to support young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families as they navigate through various services during their transition from being a child to becoming an adult.
The document has been developed in close collaboration with young people and parents and in partnership with health and social care teams. It provides information as to what services are available and how to access them. This is broken down into a year-by-year format which explains what should be happening at each yearly milestone.
It aims to provide a clear, coordinated information to make transitions, smooth, well-informed, and to ensure support is accessed at the correct point.
We hope that by joining up information from education, health, and social care services, in one document we can support young people and their families access the right support at the right time, promoting positive outcomes and empowering them to achieve their full potential.
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Westmorland and Furness Local Area SEND Ofsted Inspection
As some parents and carers will be aware, Westmorland and Furness recently had their Local Area SEND Ofsted Inspection take place.
The report of this inspection is due to be published at the end of March. The Cumberland Local Area SEND Ofsted Inspection is due to take place before April 2026. We will inform parents and carers as soon as we receive notice of our inspection, and let you know the next steps and how you can get involved.
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Autism Pathway Navigator Sessions
The Autism Pathway Navigators have more sessions running county-wide throughout Spring.
These sessions are for parents/ carers who are exploring an autism assessment for their child and would appreciate some support and advice.
The sessions are attended by:
- Autism Pathway Navigators
- A Speech and Language Therapist
- An Occupational Therapist
- A Health Visitor
Sessions are for parents/ carers who may be considering an autism assessment for their child, or whose child is at any stage of the assessment process. Children and their siblings are welcome.
 Thursday 6 March, Penrith Library, 11am - 1pm
Monday 17 March, Kendal Library, 10am - 12 noon
Tuesday 1 April, Barrow Library, 12 noon - 2pm
Thursday 3 April, Sands Centre Carlisle, 10am - 12 noon
Friday 16 May, Kendal Library, 10am - 12 noon
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 Introduction to Volunteering at SENDAC
Our brilliant parent-carer forum, SENDAC, are running sessions on who they are and what it means to volunteer with them!
"If you have a couple of hours spare a month - we would love for you to come and find out about volunteering at SENDAC to help you decide whether it’s something that you want to do! All of our work is mostly online, so driving etc isnt essential at all!
"We understand that trying something new can be absolutely terrifying! Which is why we want to offer a some free open sessions for anyone interested in volunteering with us!
"These informal sessions are designed to give you a clear understanding of what volunteering with us entails and help you decide if it's the right fit for you or not!
"There will only be other parent carers in the session, it’s an informal and safe way to find out if it’s for you or not and ask any questions that you have!"
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During the session, SENDAC will cover:
- What it means to volunteer with SENDAC
- The benefits of joining our team
- The current roles and areas where we need support- all our volunteers choose exactly what they want to do and don’t want to do
- Who are current volunteers are and a bit about them
- The importance of volunteers to SENDAC
📆 Monday, February 24th from 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM
📆 Thursday, February 27th from 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM
Sessions are free to attend and will be held on Microsoft Teams:
A reminder of our Unique Voices Group!
A reminder that the Unique Voices group, a participation and engagement group for young people with SEND in Cumberland, are continuing to meet regularly.
The group use their voices to action change, and so far have helped us develop our SEND survey for children and young people, attended the Annual SEND Conference. They have also met with a police officer from the Youth Justice Team, and are working on a project around understanding and inclusion.
If your child/ young person would be interested in more information or joining sessions, please email youth.voice@cumberland.gov.uk.
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What's happening in Half Term?
10p Swims for Children in Cumberland
All schoolchildren aged up to 16 years old from the Cumberland area can go for a swim for only 10p over the February half term school holidays.
The discounted scheme will be available between Saturday 15 and Sunday 23 February and has been put in place by Cumberland Council, with the support of GLL and Wigton Baths Trust.
The council scheme will offer discounted swimming opportunities throughout the week and some locations will also offer free sessions on a weekend.
It will be available at the following leisure sites at allocated times during the school holidays:
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 Cockermouth Leisure Centre: 1pm - 1.50pm, Monday to Friday.
Copeland Pool and Fitness Centre (Whitehaven): 1pm - 1.50pm, Monday 17 February, Tuesday 18 February, Thursday 20 February and Friday 21 February. 9am - 9.50am on Sunday 16 and Sunday 23 February.
The Sands Centre (Carlisle): 10am - 10.50am, Monday to Friday.
Wigton Baths: Monday 17 February, 3pm - 4pm, Tuesday 18 February, 3.15pm - 4.15pm, Wednesday 19 February, 3pm - 4pm, Thursday 20 February, 10am - 11am, Friday 21 February, 10am – 11am and Saturday 22 February, 10am - 11.30am.
Workington Leisure Centre: 2pm - 2.50pm, Monday 17 - Friday 21 February. 11am - 11.50am on Saturday 22 February
The swimming initiative is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Hub2U Launch event
Join Cumberland Family Hubs to celebrate the launch of “Hub2U”.
They will have FREE activities for all to get involved with and lots of support on offer from local organisations!
 Tuesday 18th February
 1-4pm
 The Family Hub on The Harbour, Swingpump Lane, Whitehaven, CA28 7LZ
A reminder that our Cumberland Family Hubs will have Sensory Rooms available to book via email over half-term, as well as a number of coffee mornings and various support sessions. You can view their half-term timetable on their Facebook page here.
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SENDAC Survey Report
SENDAC's Annual Survey report has now been published and is available to view.
The survey was open for responses from September - October 2024, and received an overwhelming 513 responses. The survey report has now been presented to the Cumberland SEND Partnership and AP Board, along with key recommended actions based on the results. Workstreams are now being scheduled to develop these actions.
You can view the report on SENDACs website below. SENDAC and the wider Cumberland SEND Partnership will keep parents and carers updated on the recommendations of both surveys, and how the Partnership actioning these.
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EHCP Guidance - Completing Section A
A reminder that our Local Offer website has a huge amount of information and resources on SEND and services in the Local Area.
This includes our information on EHCPs, a sample letter to request an EHCP assessment, and a guide to completing Section A for parents and carers. It also has information on how to contact the SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) if you are struggling to complete Section A for your child/ young person.
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Do you have any news stories for our Cumberland SEND Partnership newsletter? Please pass them on to our Communications Officer, Steph, who will happily have a look!
And you know any other parent/ carers or children/ young people who you think would appreciate our newsletter? If so, please do encourage them to subscribe. This can be done by clicking the link below, entering an email address, then selecting 'Children, families and schools' and then 'Cumberland SEND Partnership.'
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