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Latest Issue: April 2024

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 Welcome to our latest Stakeholder SEND Bulletin. Our improvement programme continues on with pace and I am pleased to announce that we have made a number of appointments to key roles across SEND and Children’s Disabilities’ Team (CDT) in Social Care. Sue Powell has been appointed as permanent Head of SEND and CDT following a period of acting up into the role.  We will also be welcoming Nigel Patterson at the beginning of May as our new Head of Family Solutions.  Nigel comes to us from Coventry with a wide range of experience in leading early intervention and prevention services and will be a welcome addition to the team. Our Children with Disabilities Team has also completed recruitment to the leadership team with Andy Hyde being appointed as our Service Manager and Samuel Mehaffy as the CDT Team Manager.  Two great appointments to lead the team through our continuing improvement journey. In other news, and as part of our delivering better value programme (DBV) we have concluded our consultation on the redesign of our Specialist Support Services, which will now be known as the CIPS Advisory Service (Communication, Interaction, Physical and Sensory). We are currently moving to the new structural arrangements and are on target to be operational from September in this new guise. You can read more about this programme in the update below.

SEND NEWS

Delivering Better Value Programme – Update

In March’s bulletin we provided an update on the Delivering Better Value Programme (DBV) which has been commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) to support Dudley and 54 other local authorities across England to identify and implement changes that we can make to better support our local children and young people with SEND. 

For this month’s bulletin we are focussing on

• Ordinarily Available Inclusion Provision (within education settings)
• Redesigning the council’s specialist inclusion services
• Developing a Health SEND early notification pathway
• Quarry Bank Primary School named as the 5^th Early Years Inclusion Hub
• Preparing for adulthood

Parent Carers Forum Update:  Sign up for free to become a member of the Dudley Parent Carer Forum! Dudley Parent carer Forum welcome registrations for membership from parent/carers and also offer associate memberships to wider family members or practitioners working within Dudley. Joining up means you will be kept up to date on all the latest news, information and events doing on in Dudley. Parents/Carers will also receive a FREE gift when they sign up!  Please click the link to complete the short form and sign up

Carers Leave Act is now law

Starting from this month, 2.3 million workers in Great Britain with unpaid caring responsibilities have the right to take up to five days of unpaid Carer’s Leave each year.

To find out how these new rights will affect you, read our Carer’s Leave Act Q&A

The Area SEND inspection framework – information for parents and carers

The new SEND inspection framework was published last year. Each local area will be jointly inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission at least once every 5 years. For more information on how the inspection will work, as well as you will be able to provide feedback please view 

EVENTS

WeLoveCarers: Extreme Chaos for young people aged 13+ WeLoveCarers is organising an event for young people for every first and third Tuesday of every month at the Mary Stevens Centre, in Stourbridge.

Brierley Hill baby bank event for singles moms Are you a single mom with a child under two, plus you are a bit tight on money? Join other single moms at the event hosted by Brierley Hill baby bank, would be where you can find support on how to navigate the challenges of motherhood.

Free Dudley Fatherhood Institute sessions Fathers have the chance to participate in online training sessions to enhance their parenting skills and understand their role in their children's lives.

Sleep and mealtime workshops to parents to help their children  Dudley Parenting Team is hosting a series of workshops for help parents with developing good bedtime routines and hassle-free mealtimes for their children and wards.  If your child struggles with sleeping on their own bed, or have trouble eating well, then plan to attend this workshop. Find details of event schedules, venues, and session booking below.

SENDIASS Dudley SENDIASS will be hosting a range of workshops and event this coming Spring term for parents of children with SEND and Young People with SEND (Special Educational Needs and/or Disability).

These workshops cover a range of topics and aim to provide information to enable you as a parent/carer or Young Person to be involved in.

For more: https://dudleyci.co.uk/workshops-and-events

SEND News & Events for Education Settings

Change to Halesowen SEN soft play sessions

From 1 May 2024, the time of the SEN Planet Play session at Halesowen Leisure Centre will change from Monday 4.30pm-6pm to Monday 3-4pm.

For more information on soft play visit the Dudley borough leisure centres.

Other News

Measles Update

Measles is an infection that spreads very easily and can cause serious problems in some people. Having the MMR vaccine is the best way to prevent it🛡️

Watch below to find out how to check your, and your child’s, MMR vaccine status using the NHS App📲

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VU78TJEdiPk

Click link if you are yet to take your measles vaccine jab or you know someone who needs

Eden Project: The Big Lunch

Join millions and get involved with the national celebration of neighbours and communities.

If they could tell you

Building a strong bond with your baby makes them feel loved and secure, laying the foundations for their future mental health and happiness. Visit Start for Life for more tips and advice.

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:

• 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
• Designated Clinical Officer for SEND - Sarah George s.george9@nhs.net