Welcome to this mini newsletter which aims to bring together the main information, support and resources for SEND families published over the last few weeks since we all went into lockdown.
There has been so much information flying about that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and confused. Here in Devon the local authority, specialist services, community organisations and DiAS have all written and created new information to try and help families understand what is going on, and know what to do if things start to get more difficult at home.
We know that it has not been easy and as we move into the next stage where things are less certain, we hope that some of these sources of help and support will come in useful. DiAS is still open and we are running our usual service to support families, apart from face to face meetings. All DiAS Officers give telephone and email information and support, and all are learning how to support parents and young people virtually, including taking part in meetings, tribunals and mediation that way.
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New online information
Since nursery, school and college buildings closed to all but a few children, and families took on the task of helping their children learn at home, we’ve published new information to help answer your queries. The information is updated as often as there are changes and as soon as we know what the facts are. The webpages cover these topics
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Questions and Answers about coronavirus, education, schools and SEND – this includes Q and As about children with EHC plans, support for young people in further education and training, transport, social care support and what’s available children under 5.
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Managing at home – Q and As about home learning, managing stress and what to do if life at home starts to get more challenging.
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Changes to the law around EHC plans – information about the temporary changes to the law around timescales for EHC needs assessments and plans and how the support in an EHC plan is given.
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Useful resources – links to home learning resources, resources to support children and young people and help to manage at home.
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Support for young people
Jane and Amy, DiAS children and young people’s workers, have made a couple of short films aimed at young people. They explain the direct support we can offer young people around any issue at school or college, including the move to college in September, moving schools and worries about getting back into learning and school when lockdown ends. You can watch the films on our YouTube channel.
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Contacting us
We have had a few technical issues lately, first with our phones and then with our online contact form. We’re pleased to be able to say that they have now been fixed. We’ve contacted everyone who sent a form to check that they had a reply, but if you’ve been in touch with us and you haven’t heard back, please try again. We are open our usual hours – 10am-3pm Monday to Friday on our enquiry line - and outside those hours, by email or by sending in our contact form.
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The Ambassador Volunteer Project is growing!
Ambassador Volunteers are connecting families in their community network with information and support and feeding back themes and trends from their own network to the Parent Carer Forum and DiAS.
There are Ambassador Volunteers actively connected and supporting parent/carers of children with SEND in North Devon, Honiton, East Devon, Okehampton and Holsworthy. If you would like to get connected to their networks please get in touch with Ambassador Volunteer Coordinator Megan - megankenneallystone@devon.gov.uk – she can put you in touch with an Ambassador Volunteer network near you!
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Devon County Council information and support around coronavirus
Devon County Council have several online sources of information for families with a child with SEND. All of these are updated regularly and give extra contact details for services and support.
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Babcock specialist services and resources
Babcock run and deliver specialist education services that support families with a child with SEND. They have been working as creatively as possible to make sure that as much support as possible can continue. They have also collected, made and published resources to support parents.
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Useful resources for children, young people and families about managing anxiety, understanding coronavirus and supporting your children at home with learning.
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Managing communication issues – some great resources for parents from the communication and interaction team, including tips to support anxiety, supporting staying at home worries and what do we mean by visuals?
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Health information and support
Some of the health services in Devon which support children with SEND have changed the way they deliver their services and produced some ways to support families. Here are some of the main things on offer:
- The Speech and Language Therapy Advice Line has been extended and is available Monday – Friday from 9am until 4pm. Call 0333 321 9448 for advice about typical speech and language development and how to support your child’s speech, language and communication.
- The Children and Family Health Devon website has some resources to help parents support their children with speech and language difficulties, including video clips that talk through supporting speech sounds and advice and activities for developing speech and language at home.
- Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have published web information aimed at families with a child with health issues and SEND. It aims to answer questions about clinic appointments, health advice for EHC plans, services and continuing health care funding.
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are offering additional crisis support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. If your child or young person is having a mental health crisis, you can now access CAMHS 24/7. Contact 03300 245 321 during normal hours (8am-5pm, Mon to Fri) or 0300 555 5000 outside these hours.
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National list of home education resources
The Department for Education has produced a list of free online educational resources to help children to learn at home. These websites have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts and offer a wide range of support and resources for pupils of all ages. The list includes subject-specific resources for English, maths, science, PE, wellbeing and SEND .
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DiAS Information during Coronavirus
If you read and used our recent web information about SEND and coronavirus, please help us improve our service by letting us know what you thought about it. Tell us if we are producing the information you want, in the way that you want by taking our very short survey. Thank you!
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