The summer has well and truly arrived, so we’ve gathered some great options for families with children and young people who have who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to enjoy together!
From active afternoons out for the whole family to educational escapades away from the summer heat, we’ve got you covered.
There are also still some spots available for the FREE Holiday Food and Fun activities that are available for families who have children who receive benefit-related free school meals.
For up-to-date information on activity resources and ideas, follow our ISEND Facebook page at @ISENDEastSussex and our @eastsussexigo page.
Transition from primary to secondary school can present various challenges for all children and young people. Luckily, we’ve collected some go-to tips from conversations with parents and carers to help other families who have children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) prepare for change, too.
The Communication, Learning and Autism Support Service (CLASS and CLASS+) held workshops and coffee and chat sessions across the county to focus on the theme of transition where parents and carers discussed tips, advice and helpful resources.
Their Top Tips and Advice included:
- First and foremost, remember that all children and young people will have mixed feelings about transition.
- Allowing your child or young person to ask questions and feel comfortable to ask many questions as they need is important.
- If you don’t know the answer to your child or young person’s questions, be honest and work together to find out the answers.
- Oftentimes, feelings around saying goodbye to primary school can be just as intense as feelings around starting a new school.
- Reassure your child or young person that it is okay and it is normal to be sad about saying goodbye to primary school.
- Identify what is staying the same and what is changing together.
- Allowing time to talk about and recognise your child or young person’s feelings around change can help identify what is causing the most anxiety.
- For many children and young people, you (the parent/carer) are your child’s biggest role model for staying positive
- Get excited about the transition together! For example, keep things positive by taking a trip to get a new pencil case or practice the new route to school together.
- Help remind your child or young person about what they do best in their current school and help them create a link to remind them that they can do the same in their new school.
There are some other great tips for transition to secondary school, including what to do over the summer to help prepare, for parents of children and young people with SEND from the Amaze SENDIASS Service on their website.
The CLASS+ team are also running a quick 1-minute survey to find out directly from parents and carers what types of advice and tips you’d find most helpful for the next school year.
Stay up-to-date on upcoming events and get regular resources on the CLASS+ Facebook page.
What is the SEND Strategy
The East Sussex Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Strategy will be a document that identifies the high-level priorities needed to support children and young people with SEND, and their families.
The Strategy will establish what priorities are needed for different partners to support children and young people with SEND to achieve the best possible outcomes in life. Everyone involved in our SEND system will be aware of our shared priorities and what we need to do to achieve them. The key partners who will be using these priorities include ISEND Services, schools, and health practitioners.
What does the SEND Strategy mean for you and your family?
For children, young people and families, the SEND Strategy is a document that incorporates how different SEND services, support and pathways are improved.
For example, the Strategy will outline different expectations about how partners will work together and be responsible for delivering improvements.
This includes how to ensure consistency and understanding about inclusion across all schools.
During the summer holidays, we will be sharing an important opportunity for the public, including families, to express their views through a survey (also known as a consultation). The survey will run until late September. The results of that consultation will be considered ahead of the final version of the Strategy which will be shared in the Autumn 2022.
Stay up-to-date on the development of the strategy, give your views in the consultation and find out more about how we are creating this important document on the Local Offer website.
Make sure to follow our ISEND Facebook page and visit our East Sussex Local Offer Website for more updates, information and resources following the engagement sessions.
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A local group of young people who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are working together to create an art mural for the wider SEND community in Eastbourne.
Together with some of our ISEND team members, a group of young people from the Amazing Futures youth group are leading a creative project to express positive messages, and interests.
The art mural will be completed over the course of two days with the young people. The first day was a great success with lots of great additions to the mural like various shapes, characters and colours.
The art mural will be designed in a garden in Eastbourne during the summer, although they hope this will be the first of many locations for this positive project for the SEND community across East Sussex.
Follow along to see how the art mural project develops on the Inspireable_es Instagram page.
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There are various opportunities, resources and information for families with children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Important Updates & Information for SEND Families:
Join i-go: The Children and Young People’s Additional Needs Register to get some great discounts for summer activities and family days out.
i-go: The Children and Young People’s Additional Needs Register, previously known as Children’s Disability Register, is a register with a list of children and young people in East Sussex who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
i-go includes a discount card to improve access to leisure activities for families across the county and wider, perfect for the summer months.
There are many great reasons to join i-go: The Children’s and Young People’s Additional Needs Register, including:
- Improved and Targeted Services
- Exclusive Access to over 100 Offers and Discounts
- Have Your Voice Heard
Make sure to find out more on the East Sussex i-go website.
Stay up-to-date on information, resources and support this summer:
Make sure to follow our Facebook pages to regularly get updates on available support, information and resources that we have in our SEND community over the summer holiday, from helpful mental health resources to activity ideas for summer to bespoke events for parents and carers:
@ISENDEastSussex
@igoEastSussex
@CLASSPlusEastSussex (for families with children with autism)
You can also follow us on our Twitter page for quick updates and resources for schools and families @ISENDEastSussex!
There’s also some great fact sheets, peer support groups, workshops and more with Amaze.
Get involved:
To get involved and share your voice, check out the East Sussex Parent Carer Forum and see the latest updates, information and news from the Forum here!
You can also follow them on Facebook at @EastSussexParentCarerForum.
There is also a Instagram project, known as @Inspireable_es, for young people who have additional needs to get involved with and contribute to for a social media community. If your young person or a young person you know would like to get involved with the Instagram project, please contact ISEND.comms@eastsussex.gov.uk.
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