Dudley SEND improvement programme bulletin October, 2023

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council sent this bulletin at 09-10-2023 02:54 PM BST

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Latest Issue: October 2023

Improving the lives of children with special educational needs and disabilities in the Dudley borough.

Keeping stakeholders, parents and carers informed about Dudley’s
SEND Improvement Programme.

Sal Thirlway, Service Director of Education, SEND & Family Solutions

I am delighted that we have moved another positive step forward in establishing 5 Early Year Inclusion Hubs in the borough. (See article below)

In other news we held our SEND Away Day last Thursday at Himley Hall with staff and partners coming together to discuss the SEND strategy and our performance against our priorities that were set in 2021.

The event was a great opportunity for colleagues to get together and discuss SEND in Dudley as a whole and consider our SEND Strategy refresh that we are looking to publish later in the year.

Sal Thirlway Service Director of Education, SEND & Family Solutions

Dudley Parent Carer Forum Survey

Dudley Parent Carer Forum are currently running their annual survey of SEND services. This is a completely independent survey, designed for parent carers of children or young people aged 0-25, looking at a range of education, health and social care services across the borough. Parent Carers are invited to share their views, letting us know about the services that are doing well, and those that may need to improve. We had a fantastic response last year and the results of this provided us with some very important data which has enabled us to push for change where this is needed.

The survey takes around 10-15 minutes to complete.

Take survey

Events and Workshops

SEND post-16 event

Dudley SENDIASS hosts Post-16 event for Young People with SEND with the aim of supporting them to make the transition into Post-16 settings/training and adulthood.

On Wednesday 22rd November 2023, Dudley SENDIASS will host it's market-place event to support young people with SEND into post-16 transition. This is designed with young people in mind from Year 9 onwards, aged 14 to 25 with SEND, with or without an EHCP.

The event will be held at Dudley College, with timed sessions throughout the day starting at 9.30am.

More information

Dudley are delighted to announce that the 5 successful providers for the Early Year Inclusion Hubs have been announced. The Local authority are working with providers at pace to enable the successful providers to be ready to deliver the highest quality early intervention provision for Dudley’s’ youngest children. The Early Years Inclusion Hubs will offer a separate dedicated early intervention space where children will be offered a balance of targeted and specialist support in response to their needs with staffing models that deliver best practice to ensure they are responsive to the individual needs of each child.

The 5 Early Years Inclusion Hubs are :

Dudley Central : Netherton Park Nursery School

Dudley North : Wrens Nest Primary School

Brierley Hill : Mind The Monkeys

Halesowen : Caslon Primary School

Stourbridge : Hob Green Primary School

All of the Hubs will be in operation after Autumn half term and will offer a total of 40 places across the borough.

We have been experiencing some technical issues with our system we would like to apologise to any young people/parents and carers who have been affected. We believe the issue has now been resolved however should you wish to discuss the details of your child’s application or have an issue about current transport arrangements please contact the team by :

telephoning 01384816972 (lines are open between 8:00 and 16:30 Monday to Friday or
emailing home2school.cs@dudley.gov.uk

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service: workshops for parents and carers

Parents and cares are invited to attend a series of workshops hosted by Black Country Healthcare foundation MHS Trust. The workshops will explore a range of difficulties that children/young people may experience that can impact their emotional wellbeing

More information

Dudley Carers Hub & Wellbeing Service

The Dudley Carers Newsletter

The Dudley carers hub and wellbeing service newsletter for Autumn is available

Read here

A helping hand - 'Slow and Low' Slow Cooker Scheme

Carers who are struggling with increased energy and food costs may e eligible for a free cooker to help cope with these increased costs, while also learning new recipes, through our A Helping Hand - Slow and Low

Learn more

Spread the word about the SEND bulletin!

If someone you know is interested in receiving this communication, please share the following link so as they can sign up to receive the latest SEND-related news and events:

https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDUDLEYMBC/signup/31736

More information:

Visit the Local Offer website to learn more about the services available in the borough. To find out more about the SEND Improvement Programme, please visit Dudley's Health and Wellbeing Board.

Useful contacts:

Acting Head of SEND –Sue Powell susan.powell@dudley.gov.uk
Interim Head of CDT – Claire Joyce claire.joyce@dudley.gov.uk
Interim SEND Manager - Samantha Edwards samantha.edwards@dudley.gov.uk

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