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SEND News

Welcome to your update on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Sheffield.  For parents, carers, professionals, and everyone interested in SEND.

This issue covers:

• Accelerated Progress Plan for Multi-agency Transitions
• Preparing for Adulthood Year 9+: Information drop-in event
• Business Brunch: Providing Supported Internships
• Special Free School Bid
• SEND Youth Clubs
• Join the SEND Advisory Group (for ages 13 to 25)
• This May Help – Children’s Mental Health Advice
• Sheffield Children’s Foundation Trust Information Resource Library
• Sheffield Childrens Hospital Youth Forum – Recruitment
• Language of Autism short film
• ADHD Parent Carer Drop in
• Parents information sessions
• Latest news from Sheffield Parent Carer Forum
  
  • SEND Provision in Nurseries Survey
  • Latest Newsletter
• Training, support and resources for professionals and practitioners

Accelerated Progress Plan for Multi-agency Transitions

What do we mean when we talk about transitions for children and young people? It means we are talking about when they move from one stage of their life to another. This could be moving from infant to junior school. It could be when they leave college to go into a job.

Services in Sheffield are working to a 12 month Accelerated Progress Plan to improve transitions for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.  This has now been running for 5 months.

The improvement plan is multi-agency.  This means teams across education, health, and care are working together. This plan was developed after the Local Area SEND inspection revisit found Education, Health and Care providers had not made "sufficient progress" in this area.

Our progress is being monitored by the Department for Education (DfE) and NHS England.

The Accelerated Progress Plan links to the Sheffield Inclusion Strategy.  This involves all services working together. It focusses on preparation for adulthood which covers all transitions, linked to the 4 areas of:

1. Education, Employment and Training
2. Independence
3. Community and friendships
4. Health

(You may see these phrased differently.  The areas can expand to be age and stage appropriate.)

Some of the things we have done

• Setting up a new SEND engagement young people’s group. Contact Emma Hinchliffe on how young people aged 13-25 can join.
• Social Care are setting up two new teams to support young people with the transition from children’s to adult social care services. Read more here.
• Developing multi-agency training plans to educate the workforce:
  • 24/7 Grid to support person-centred planning and better preparation for adulthood. If you are a professional, you can BOOK HERE for the training.
  • ‘SEND - the basics’ training (4 sessions).
  • Good practice around Preparation for Adulthood (PfA) and the four outcome areas.
  • Extended Support Plan - a reduced version of the My Plan for better planning of support.
  • Annual Review guidance.  Is linked to best practice of PfA discussion.  This is from the earliest opportunity.
• Holding Post 16 drop-in surgery events. More details further down in the newsletter.
• Starting to develop new information for the Local Offer website and beyond.

There is still a huge amount to do.  Change takes time but we are starting to see some positive impacts. We are committed to improving things for young people and families.

Get involved

Please get involved and:

• Read more about the Accelerated Progress Plan and the work we are doing.
• Read Sheffield’s Transition Principles to understand our commitment to supporting children and young people in times of change.
• Find out more about Preparation for Adulthood and how we can support children and young people with educational needs (SEN) and disabilities – at all ages and stages.
• See what to consider when supporting children and young people preparing for adulthood. 

Please get in touch if you would like to know more and get involved. 

Preparing for Adulthood Year 9+: Information drop-in event  

Do you have a young person with SEND in Year 9 (Y9) or above?  Do you or your young person have questions to ask about the next stage in their lives?  If you do, then this event is for you!

Attend the next “Preparing for Adulthood: Year 9+ Pop-Up Surgery” at Red Tape Central.  This is taking place on Wednesday 30th November. Drop by any time between 9:30am - 12noon.

Come and talk to officers from education, health, social care, transport, and other services.  You can discuss options for young people going into adulthood. This will be a chance to:

• ask questions
• get support
• seek advice for any individual situation.

If you cannot attend this event, don't worry! More “Pop-Up Surgery” events will be running across Sheffield in the coming months. The next event takes place on Wednesday 18th January 2023 (venue to be confirmed). How to get there:

Red Tape Central

50 Shoreham Street

Sheffield

S1 4SP

T: +44 (0) 114 2761151

E: info@redtape.org

Click here for public transport timetables and information

Business Brunch: Providing Supported Internships

Do you own a business?  Do you want to learn about the benefits of providing Supported Internships for young people with SEND?  Do you want to know about the amazing talent that is on offer to support your business?

If the answer to those questions is “Yes” then this is for you! A “business brunch” is being held at Sheaf Training on Tuesday 29th November from 10am – 12noon and you are invited!

The event will:

• show how businesses can create opportunities for young people with SEND.
• explain how to tap into an underused talent pool to meet recruitment needs.
• lay out how you can meet your corporate social agendas.

There will be a talk from two guest speakers.  The talk will focus on employing people with SEND.  They will:

• offer practical solutions to the barriers employers face.
• share the life-changing benefits of taking part in supported internships for young people.

Lifelong Learning & Skills wants to support you and your local business in becoming a more inclusive employer.

Attendees will be invited to join the SEND Employment Forum.  This will give access to resources to help broaden your workforce.  

Special Free School Bid

Sheffield City Council has submitted a joint bid with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council for a new special free school. This is part of the national free school programme which is run by the Department for Education (DfE).  You can find out more about free schools by clicking here.

The bid is for a 200 place special school. This is for key stages 2-4 (age 7 to 16). The school places will be split 50/50 between the two local authorities. This means each local authority will have 100 places each. The school will focus on supporting needs related to complex autism spectrum condition. 

The bid is part of a competitive national process, so we may or may not be successful. The Local Authority will know the outcome around Christmas 2022. A public announcement made by the DfE in the summer of 2023.

SEND Youth Clubs

Sheffield City Council Community Youth Services run the following youth clubs for young people aged 13 to 25 years with special educational needs and/or disabilities:

Leo’s SEND club: Monday 6-8pm, Centre in the Park, Guildford Avenue, Norfolk Park, Sheffield S2 2PL

S Club 5 SEND club: Tuesday 6-8pm, Milan Youth Centre, Longley Lane, Sheffield S5 7JS

Just turn up to your chosen club and a Youth Worker will help you to complete the registration form. For further information contact Community Youth Services on 0114 2057450 or e-mail youth.services@sheffield.gov.uk  

Join the SEND Advisory Group

Are you or your young person aged 13 – 25?

Do you or they have a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND)?

Want to help make things better for young people with SEND?

Then join our SEND Advisory Group!

What does it involve?

• Attend a meeting once a month – meetings will be in an accessible venue in Sheffield City Centre or online
• Talk about experiences of being a young person with SEND
• Work on issues important for young people with SEND
• Work together with other young people and adults to help make things better

What will you get out of it?

• Have a voice
• Share ideas and experiences with decision makers
• Help to make SEND services better for young people in Sheffield
• Meet new people and make new friends
• Learn new skills
• Be able to include this on your CV and get a reference for future jobs or college applications

Come along to our virtual information session on

*30^th November 5.30pm-7pm

*(parents and carers are welcome to join for the first half hour of the session. The last hour will be the young people and youth workers getting to know each other).

This May Help – Children’s Mental Health Advice

NHS England have launched This May Help. It provides mental health advice to parents and carers.

The website gives easy-to-follow advice.  This is to help families manage their child’s mental health. Parents and carers have shared advice that helped them and that may also help other families.

The advice covered on This May Help includes:

• self-harm
• gaming and online activity
• eating disorders
• school avoidance
• understanding mental health
• managing in a crisis
• preparing for a children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) appointment.

If you are a Professionals working with children, then please check it out too.

Sheffield Children’s Foundation Trust Information Resource Library

Sheffield Children’s Information Resource Library has lots of health information for you to look at and read.  There is advice on autism, epilepsy, hearing and sleep to name but a few. 

Sheffield Childrens Hospital Youth Forum – Recruitment

The Sheffield Children's Hospital have a young person group called the ‘Youth Forum’.

The group recruit young people age 12-19 years old.  These are patients, ex patients, siblings and carers of patients. 

The Youth Forum meets every month to talk about the issues that matter most to them. The members in the past year have given their ideas to:

• CAMHS patient engagement projects
• ED wellbeing resources
• Child Health Technology
• The trusts Clinical Strategy

While helping make a difference, members also get to learn new skills.  They have support in CV writing, to build their confidence and make new friends.

The young people get to see behind the scenes at a specialist children’s trust.  This can help to meet their own career aspirations.

Contact Natalie Parkin to find out how to join:

E-mail: scn-tr.transitionteam@nhs.net  

Telephone: 0114 305 3768.

Language of Autism short film

County Durham SEND have created a film showing the findings of a "Language of Autism Survey". 

It has been created with autistic young people and their families.  It is about the words used to describe autism.

Parents information sessions

SSENDIAS (Sheffield SEND Information and Advice Service) are running information sessions looking at:

• SEN Support,
• How to apply for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan
• Checking a draft EHC Plan 

These sessions are running weekly throughout the year on Zoom for parents, carers and young people.  They are free to attend. You can book your place by ringing SSENDIAS on 0114 2736009 or visiting their website.

Or you can click on the buttons below for more information on the specific session and to book your place.

Latest news from Sheffield Parent Carer Forum

SEND Provision in Nurseries Survey

Do you have a child or young person with SEND? Do they attend a nursery, school or college in Sheffield?

If you have answered yes then please complete this survey! 

The survey will help us understand:

• how well the setting supports your child.
• how welcoming settings are towards learners with SEND.

Your answers will be used to help with SEND training and support in these settings.

Scan this QR code to open the survey.  Or click on the button below.

Latest Sheffield Parent Carer Forum newsletter

24/7 Grid – Full Training Opportunities

Sheffield City Council has purchased the training for the 247 Grid. This tool will be used across Education, Health and Care.  It will help support young people with SEND when they are preparing for adulthood.

The 247 grid was developed by Rachel Mason, a family carer.  It helped manage the services around her two sons with Autism and Learning disabilities.

The grid:

• Is designed to encourage young people and their families to get more involved in preparing for adult life. It helps young people and families visually map their day-to-day life skills.
• Helps families and professionals around a young person. It identifies areas where more focused support is needed. This will help the young person achieve the adult life they want.
• Helps to coordinate the services around a young person (through the EHC Plan). This makes the referrals and pathways more meaningful to them and their families.

There are lots of possible slots for full training on the 247 grid up until December. We encourage school SENCOs/Pastoral Staff to sign up for a session. The 247 grid resource will then be available to use, at no cost

The Extended Support Plan – updated My Plan document

Feedback gathered on the My Plan document has been used to update the forms we use around SEND in Sheffield.

This training session will cover:

• the updated document ‘The Extended Support Plan’.
• making changes to the document
• advice on how to complete this document with the aim of reducing SENCo work load in this area.

There are sessions for school staff and also separate shorter sessions for supporting professionals.

Unpicking a Complex Learner – How, What and When?

This is a new training that has been developed.  It captures lots of ideas and suggestions about how education settings:

• understand a learner
• best support a learner
• record this within school systems/SEND paperwork.

Early Years Sheffield Support Grid (SSG) – Updated Document Now Available

The updated SSG document for Early Years children has now been released and there are training sessions ongoing. This training is available for all settings supporting Early Years children.

Sensory Service Training

This training will introduce you to theories around sensory processing.  It will help you to understand more about where challenges can occur for children and young people in school who have sensory processing difficulties.

ADHD and Autism activity books for primary school children

Dr Lauren Powell is a Lecturer in Psychology and Education at the University of Sheffield. She has been working with young people with ADHD, their families, clinicians and charities to develop an activity book for 7-11 year olds with ADHD. The activity book aims to help them understand and manage their ADHD.

Sheffield Children's Hospital are currently giving it to all 7-11 year olds diagnosed with ADHD who come into their service at the point of diagnosis. This is a free to use resource. Please share this with any young people at your schools.

Useful links

Parenting support

Sheffield’s Parent Hub runs seminars, discussion groups and programmes to give parents practical help and advice. Some have been specifically developed for families of children and young people with SEND.

Find out more and book places. 

Support groups

Find details of support groups on Sheffield’s Local Offer.

 Useful links

1. Learn Sheffield. Information and guidance for SENCOs in Sheffield.
2. Local Offer. COMING SOON! Information about support and services for children and young people with SEND.  The look and feel of the website is about to change - watch this space!
3. Sheffield Parent Carer Forum. A parent-led charity that provides support, shares information and influences policy and practice.
4. SSENDIAS. Impartial, confidential information, advice and support to families.
5. Sheffield Children’s Hospital – patients and parents information.