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Thank you for taking a moment to read our December 2025 newsletter.
We’d like to start with a big thank you from our SEND co-production officer, Jeanette Hallam, to all the parents and carers who have taken part in surveys and conversations to help us shape services so you can access the right support at the right time. The insight we have gained has been invaluable and we are so grateful to you all. We'll share updates and opportunities to take part in conversations, consultations, codesign and coproduction activities in future editions of this newsletter.
From all of us at the Nottinghamshire local area partnership, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, however you celebrate at this time of year.
Keep reading for our latest updates and information.
In this email:
- things to do during the school holidays
- our recent preparing for adulthood event
- service redesigns
- the latest update from our short breaks service
- a free introduction to Makaton session
- how speech therapy helped Charles and his family
- a pilot scheme supporting anxiety in young people
- join the national conversation on SEND reform
- increasing recognition for Acquired Brain Injury awareness
Things to do during the school holidays
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Looking for something to do during the school holidays?
Whether you want to get outdoors to go walking in a winter wonderland or indulge in a cosy craft at your local library, Notts has the perfect school holiday activity for you right on your doorstep.
Head over to the SEND Local Offer for listings and share what you get up to on social media with the hashtag #WeLoveNotts.
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We hosted our most successful preparing for adulthood information event yet!
On Saturday 22 November, 393 people (including 168 young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs)) attended our preparing for adulthood information event. There were 40 different provider stalls with information to aid their transition into adulthood. These numbers make this our biggest event yet!
Young people and their parents and carers had a chance to explore post-16 education options, employment pathways including supported internships and apprenticeships, day service and community provision, specialist support and adult social care services.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and shows us how important this work is. Please join us in saying a huge thank you to everyone involved for all the time and hard work they put in to helping make this event so successful! We’d also like to thank everyone who had a stall at the event and provided valuable information for young people and their families.
Please note, our next event is invite only for those in year 9 and above with an EHCP.
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We're redesigning services to support families better
Work is continuing on the redesign of our Integrated Children’s Disability Service (ICDS) and we'll have a big update, including the new name of the service, to share with you in January.
The changes we're making will make the service more efficient, join up local support and give you a better experience getting the right support at the right time.
Look out for more details soon.
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Read the latest update from the short breaks service
The latest edition of our short breaks newsletter is now available to read.
Get the latest information and updates about short breaks service developments, activities, and events around the county.
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Free introduction to Makaton session
Nottinghamshire Parent Carer Forum is offering a free introduction to Makaton session on Friday 27 February 2026, from 10am to 12 noon at Foxwood Academy (Derby Road, Bramcote, Nottingham NG9 3GF).
It is open to all parents and carers with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in Nottinghamshire
To request a place, email enquiries@nottspcf.org.
How early speech therapy helped Charles find his voice
At age two, Charles had limited speech and his mum was feeling concerned, but local support from Nottinghamshire Healthcare's speech and language team has made a huge difference!
Tania Wallace, a speech and language therapist, visited the family at home and gave them advice about how to support Charles. This included coaching his parents to create opportunities for him to use words rather than filling in the words for him or fetching the things he pointed to.
Charles’s mum, Amy, said, “Tania was fantastic with her support. the skills she gave us to help Charles have made such a difference. He's made fantastic progress and we now know how we can help him to continue to progress going forwards.”
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If you are a parent or carer concerned about your child's speech, visit the Nottinghamshire Healthcare website. There are videos you can watch about how you can help your child whilst you are waiting for support, plus details of drop-in clinics and the advice line.
Parents praise pilot scheme to support anxiety
Families of children and young people experiencing anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and related difficulties have praised a pilot scheme in North Nottinghamshire.
The Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) programme has supported 50 families since it began in October 2024. It is being trialled by Nottinghamshire Healthcare’s North Nottinghamshire CAMHS team.
Support is offered in group sessions, which parents have identified as a strength. Parents are given advice and ideas to empower them to support their children and young people who are experiencing anxiety. To ensure all needs are met, some sessions have been delivered one-to-one with families.
One parent said, “thank you for inviting us to the group. It was friendly and non-threatening. We realised that we were not the only ones suffering with anxiety like this and meeting others in a similar position made us feel less isolated. The techniques around accommodating were very simple even though difficult in practice. My child is much less anxious now and I realise that in the past I was enabling anxiety to thrive.”
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Join the national conversation on SEND reform
There's a national conversation happening and you can make your voice heard.
Join Schools Minister, Georgia Gould, for a series of live online discussions with a panel of experts. Building from over 100 engagement events from the past year, each discussion focuses on one of the five key principles guiding the national approach to SEND reform. Two events have already passed but there are three more opportunities to find out more.
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Recognition for Acquired Brain Injury awareness raising
The Neuron Rehab Times recently announced its 2025 Above and Beyond Award.
The National Acquired Brain Injury in Learning and Education Syndicate (N-ABLES), which includes representatives from Nottinghamshire’s cognition and learning team, was chosen in recognition for its work in raising awareness of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) across the education sector. Congratulations to all involved!
Colleagues from cognition and learning, educational psychology, health and the third sector sector have carried out significant work into ABI in recent years, including developing an ABI pathway which has attracted interest in Westminster and could form the basis for a national model.
We hope you liked this edition of the SEND newsletter.
If you know anyone else who might find this useful, please forward them this email or share the link to sign up to the newsletter.
We're keen to hear from parents, carers, professionals and young people so that we can find out what you like and find useful about the newsletter and what you'd like to see from us in future editions. Please take a moment to share your thoughts in our SEND newsletter survey.
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