Welcome to the latest edition of Shropshire’s Covid-19 SEND newsletter, co-produced by Shropshire Council, Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group and PACC. 

The newsletter aims to provide easy access to key information for SEND families during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as an opportunity for parent carers to hear from each other about their experiences.

Please do continue to provide feedback on this newsletter, we want this to work for you and we are keen to hear what you think of it. 

We would be grateful if you could please complete this short survey, which should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

In the latest blog from PACC they acknowledge how adjusting to the changes over the last year have been difficult for many of us, but we now face the new challenge of returning to normal. For some families this will be welcomed, but for many there will be worry and dread at the idea of yet more change to come.

They explore how we reintroduce good experiences that support our children and young people to be healthy, make friends, and try new things, as we return to some sort of normality.

Parent carers told us they wanted to know more about the Disabled Children's Team, part of Children's Social Care at Shropshire Council. 

This update includes who's in the disabled children's team, what the team do and how they work with parent carers and children and young people to improve their life chances. Click below to find out more about the team and how they might be able to support you and your family. 

Autism West Midlands currently have vacancies in their outreach service which supports young autistic adults (aged 18+) to access the community and become more independent. They support with travel training, development of daily living skills, community interests and voluntary work.

Individuals will have assessed support needs that are managed by a direct payment, although they can also support Shropshire Council ISF packages. Their service is particularly suitable for individuals with small care packages, for example one or two days per week. They are unable to support people who require personal care or medication support. Support is offered Monday to Friday and they cover both Shropshire and Telford.

For more information contact Gemma Evans on email gemmae@autismwestmidlands.org.uk or telephone 07881 109512

Following the SEND inspection in January 2020, a Written Statement of Action (WSoA) has been developed which details how improvements are going to be made to SEND services in Shropshire which were identified as having areas of weakness.

It’s important that the areas of work identified in the WSoA have parent carer representation. More information on how to get involved can be found on the PACC website.

Parents and carers are often key to making sure that a child or young person has a good transition to school.

Schools and education settings need to make sure plans are in place to support pupils with additional needs to negotiate the upcoming changes.

This can be done by planning well in advance of the transition to address any potential barriers to learning or thriving.  These plans should involve:

• Sharing information with the new setting about the child or young person’s needs well in advance, with the agreement of parents and carers. This would involve formal liaison, review and handover meetings, and in some instances transitional joint working between additional learning needs staff at each setting.
• putting in place a plan to address barriers before the transition starts (e.g. equipment, resources, training exchanges and support)
• identifying a keyworker in the new setting who will monitor the effectiveness of strategies and work closely with the pupil and their parents or carers to gauge how well they are settling in providing opportunities for parents and carers and staff to link up.
• If the child will be following a different pathway into school than the rest of the cohort (eg, a period of part-time or a gradual transition) a transition plan should be drawn up with a clear time frame and a target date for the child to be attending full-time.

Teachers should find out as much as they can about the children who are coming in.

Talk to local early years’ staff.  A lot of primaries do great work in this area, so it’s worth also talking to colleagues in other schools to find out what they are doing. Create a list of things that children will need to be able to do or know before starting school; make sure this is easily accessible to parents. Post it on the website with links to other helpful sites. This year taking into account the national experiences children have live over the last 12 months.

Going back to college or 6^th form after lockdown or planning to leave school and attend a college for the first time in September will be an exciting time, but for some young people and their families this may be a time of apprehension of not knowing what to expect.  

Education, Health and Care Plan annual reviews have continued to take place during lockdown with schools and colleges supporting pupils’ transition into post 16 education in September 2021. Colleges will also continue to support students preparing to leave education, as expected, in July 2021 and move into other adulthood opportunities.

During lockdown vulnerable students and students with Education, Health and Care plans may have continued to attend their educational setting in person or accessed their education via on-line platforms such as Zoom, Moodle and Microsoft teams.  The Department for Education (DfE) now expects all students to attend their college or 6^th form in person from 8 March 2021. 

Post 16 institutions will have communicated to student and their families: -

• The arrangements for bubble groups, any adjustment to timetables including staggered start and finish times. Lunch and breaks will also be at different time for different bubble groups.
• Measures for keeping safe including regular handwashing and the use of face covering for adults and students where social distancing cannot easily be maintained is recommended.
• Arrangements for A level and GCSE examinations which have been replaced with Teacher assessment grades. Post 16 institutions will be working under the guidance of Ofqual (England’s examination regulator).

Post 16 institutions will also be able to test students initially on-site moving towards home testing. Institutions will continue to update their risk assessments and implement systems of controls to provide a safer environment for students.

Please note: Clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) students who are shielding will be advised by their health service when they are expected to return to college. Students will still be supported through remote learning arrangements.  

Vicky Ford MP wrote a letter  to parents, carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) on 5 March 2021 highlighting the key information and support for SEND children and young people returning to schools and colleges.

Please find below weblinks to further information: -

Further education Covid operational guidance for post 16 institutions

Guidance on shielding

Special schools and other specialist settings guidance

PACC will be hosting its annual conference and AGM virtually this year on the 11th May.  Put this date in your diary to join us for a morning of discussion and chat about all things SEND. 

Our particular focus this year will be planning for the future and we will be joined by Caroline Tomlinson, the parent carer who established the My Life Centre in Wigan.  We will also be talking about how PACC may develop in the future so that your voice can continue to be heard.

More details coming soon.

If your child has overnight stays away from home in a residential care or a residential educational setting, some of the benefits you receive may be affected. The rules are complicated and vary from benefit to benefit. Some may stop altogether, some may be reduced, while others may continue to be paid as usual. To help parents in this situation Contact have produced a new factsheet, Benefits if your child is in residential accommodation, it explains how most of the main benefits paid to families with a disabled child are affected by a stay in residential care or being in a residential school or college. This includes information about DLA, PIP, Carer's Allowance, tax credits and Universal Credit. 

You might also be interested to read their information on all the benefits and tax credits for families with disabled children that you may be entitled to.  

We know that children and young people with learning disabilities or autism might be feeling unsure about getting the covid vaccination and might need some support in understanding what it means. Colleagues in the NHS have written the following information to help them to understand a little bit better…

The coronavirus vaccine is a medicine that helps to keep people safe from coronavirus. Scientists have tested the vaccines to make sure they are safe and work well.

People who are most likely to get very unwell from coronavirus are getting the vaccine first. This includes many people with a learning disability and those in an at risk group.

If you have a learning disability and are on the learning disability register (a list kept by your GP), you will be contacted to make an appointment to have your vaccine.

Our local councils are also checking their records to identify other people who aren’t on the learning disability register but might be eligible for the vaccine so that their GP can get in touch with them. 

If you know any relatives, friends or neighbours with a learning disability, please make sure they are on the learning disability register through their GP.

As well as you being able to have the COVID19 vaccination, anybody who cares for you as your main carer is also eligible for a vaccination.

You need to get two lots of the vaccine to be as safe as possible.

After you’ve had the vaccine, you might feel unwell for a short time. This is called having side effects. Side effects don’t usually make you feel very poorly, and not everyone gets them.

The main side effects are:

• feeling achy or like you have a mild flu,
• having a headache,
• you might feel hot for 1 or 2 days,
• feeling tired,
• your arm feeling heavy or sore where you got the vaccine for 1 or 2 days

You should carry on following the coronavirus guidance even when you have had the vaccine. This includes:

• Staying a safe distance from other people
• Washing your hands often and carefully
• Wearing a face covering if you can

You can find out more about the rules at www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Shropshire Council, the Parent and Carer Council (PACC) and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have been issuing this SEND newsletter for parent carers since May 2020.

The newsletter aims to provide easy access to key information for SEND families during the Covid-19 pandemic. We would like your feedback on the newsletter so that we can make sure it meets your needs and provides you with information to help and support you and your family.

We would be grateful if you could please complete this short survey, which should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.