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May 2025
A new programme introduced at Petroc is helping young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) who suffer from extreme anxiety, to stay engaged with their education. It’s working so well that Devon County Council wants other colleges in Devon to introduce similar programmes.
Devon County Council is working with Special Partnership Trust to help year six pupils with Special Educational Needs move to year seven. It’s part of the council's county-wide Special School Outreach programme to help year six pupils with Special Educational Needs move to year seven.
Children and Family Health Devon's (CFHD) Mental Health Support Team in Schools (MHST) team will be running a free online transition workshop in June for parents and carers whose children will be moving up to year 7 in September 2025.
Supported internships help young people aged 16 to 24 years old with an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) to achieve paid employment. The programme gives young people the skills they need for work by learning in the workplace. Watch this video, which Devon County Council has worked with learning providers, interns, job coaches and employers to produce, to find out more. Or you can visit their website.
Devon County Council has developed a new tool to help bring quality career advice for pupils up to the same high standard across the county. The council had found that although lots of schools and colleges work hard to raise aspirations and provide impartial careers education, it's not always consistent. They have been looking at this issue specifically in relation to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, and the tool they've developed is to help inform and lead conversations with pupils about their future aspirations and needs.
Young people from the SEND recently took part in focus groups to discuss their experience of .
The Four Cornerstones will underpin Devon’s SEND Strategy going forward, so it is important that young people's views play a central role in this process right from the start.
So, working with practitioners from , a not-for-profit community interest company, young people discussed their positive and negative experiences of the Cornerstones, to help us better understand what does and doesn't work for them.
Following on from the focus groups, the young people have been invited to an event in June, which will further inform how we embed the Cornerstones into our work and here in Devon.
Earlier this month, our met with a manager working on the short breaks programme to talk about creating accessible opportunities for all. The young people discussed their own experiences, and we explored how they could be involved with the Disabled Children's Service on an ongoing basis to help improve accessibility.
What's more, this ties in with top priority for the year, '', which is centred on the belief that all young people in Devon should be able to access “affordable activities and places in our local areas; somewhere to go with friends for fun, relaxation and to try new things.”
We are therefore looking forward to working with the Youth Council to ensure that the Champions' project becomes a key part of this wider aim.
Devon, Plymouth and Torbay (DPT) Careers Hub is holding a free, virtual webinar on Tuesday 3 June designed to help parents and carers discover how apprenticeships are opening doors to exciting careers. Whether your child is in Year 10 or finishing school this year, this session will give you the tools and knowledge to support them on their journey.
Devon Information, Advice and Support (DiAS) is offering new Education, Health and Care Plan reviews training in June. The free session gives lots of tips and practical information to help you get to grips with the review process and meeting. The focus is on answering the questions parents often ask about EHC plan reviews and helping you feel more confident about the contents of the EHC plan and your role in the review process.
Devon Information, Advice and Support (DiAS) has Ambassador Volunteers to help parents and carers access information they can trust and support from other parents who understand what they're going through. They connect parents within their own communities and more widely into a network across Devon. Some are mums and dads of children with SEND and some are professionals and support staff who work with them.
Devon County Council is running a series of free online support sessions for young people and their parents about preparing for adulthood. The next one is on Tuesday 17 June at 1pm and is about mental capacity and decision-making.
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