Welcome to the latest edition of Shropshire's 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. You can email us at Local.Offer@Shropshire.gov.uk

In their latest blog, PACC have been reflecting on the past year, and have realised that even during the challenging circumstances, there have been benefits which they can take forward as they make plans for the future.  

PACC want to reach as many parent carers as possible and to represent the views of the wider SEND community. They have been looking at how the structure of PACC can be adjusted to make this happen. You can read about their plans in their latest blog.

In the summer last year a group of parents and a group of education staff from across Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire kindly joined us to talk about their experiences of the children’s speech and language therapy service; what they like and value and what could be better.

From the feedback they shared about valuing information and knowledge and wanting more opportunities to develop skills and confidence we have begun to redesign parts of the service. For example, we have developed and launched a Facebook page   and have also invited more parents and education staff than ever before to join our redesigned training workshops. We have had some great feedback about some of the changes we have made.

The parents and education staff who joined us last summer and the speech and language therapy team would like the service to be co-designed by those who use it to support the children and young people who you know with speech, language and communication and eating drinking and swallowing needs. If you have a few minutes we would love to have your feedback. Please click on the link to complete the survey. We plan to close the survey on 24^th May. We will share the findings from the survey through the LAs and PACC/PODS SEND Newsletters and the Shropcom Children’s and Families Newsletter. Thank you for your help

Children’s SLT survey for parents and educators

The Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Learning Disability and Autism Programme has developed its overarching vision and principles. This is important as it provides focus, sets direction and unites everybody with where we want to get to as a local health and social care system. It also sets out what we want to achieve for and with people living with a learning disability and autistic people living with or without a learning disability across all ages. You can read this document here. 

An easy read version is also available.

We hear from Michelle Davies Service Manager, Commissioning and Governance, Shropshire Council Adult Social Care who updates us on a review of service provision and delivery.

Michelle shares how at Shropshire Council they want to make sure they are providing the best possible care and support for individuals using their services. They have been carefully considering how they can best meet the increased demand for their services and changing needs of individuals they support.

As a result of this review they have put some changes in place that will enable them to provide a wider range and better quality of services in future.

You can read more about how supported living care and support for individuals will be commissioned in the future.

Since the outbreak of Covid, All In providers have had to follow government guidance to reduce transmissions of the virus. From 17 May 2021, more restrictions have been lifted which enable all children’s activities, indoor parent and child groups (up to 15 parents) to resume. This includes most All In activities.

All In providers will still be required to minimise the risk of Covid transmissions. Hence, we expect that some activities will be adapted to be more Covid safe.

Other restrictions remain in place, such as guidance on hand washing, face masks and social distancing still apply.

Over the May Half-Term there are a range of activities available for children to enjoy from Horse Riding to Forest School, and more. Please book directly with the providers, and if you see an opportunity that looks great, but you have some questions, please get in touch with them to discuss this further.

The Actio All In providers are all excited to meet you and can’t wait to get to know you and your family! The full range of opportunities can be found through the Local Offer events listing.  

There are also have some activities that you can do at home as a family over the half term too. These include making a bee house, getting out and watching the butterflies and lots more. These are available on the Actio website.

If you have any questions please talk to Actio via their email info@actio.org.uk or the website chat function.

Shropshire's Information Advice and Support Service (IASS) provide information, advice and support to parents of children aged 0 to 25, to children, and to young people aged 16 to 25 who have, or may have, special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

Like most organisations this past year, IASS have had to change and adapt the way we work whist doing our best to ensure we can still deliver the same level of service to Shropshire families.

You can read more about how IASS can support your family and their latest update.

Please note that the telephone number for Autism West Midlands in Shropshire has changed. The number is now 0121 450 7575.

FREE Webinars for parents, carer’s and professionals running this term

• Autism and Visual Resources, 26^th May
• Autism & Sleep, 17^th June

For more information and to book see our events page their events page

Zoom Together Fun sessions for 12 – 17-year-olds –  2^nd June 6pm -7pm

Part of Shropshire Council's ‘All In’ Short Breaks Service. Young people must be living in the Shropshire Council Area and be registered with the council’s “All In” Short Breaks Service to take part. For more information and how to book  

Zoom Advice slots –  10^th & 24^th June

For those would like some face-to-face contact we are offering this virtually via video appointments. Zoom works well on mobile phones. To book a 45 min advice appointment with a specialist autism advisor please book via their shop. Telephone appointments are also available see below.

Virtual Support Group for Parents - Wednesday Mornings 10am-11am & Wednesday Evenings 8pm-9pm

We are running our weekly online support groups via the Zoom platform. This is an opportunity to talk with other parents, share ideas, and offer support.

If you would like to join either of the support groups, please email Gemma at gemmae@autismwestmidlands.org.uk

Advice and support

We continue to offer advice and support over the phone and via email. Parents and carers can contact our small team directly to arrange an appointment please call:

Mon, Tue, Thurs, Fri - Wendy Cowton            07900784186

Weds, Thu, Fri           - Emma Hegenbarth      07881109480

Email                          shropshire@autismwestmidlands.org.uk

Helpline                      0121 450 7575

We are delighted to tell you The Buzz website has officially launched! This is the only website for deaf young people aged 8-18 in the UK and has been co-created with deaf young people and National Deaf Children’s Society. There are two sites – one for children (8 to 12 years old) and one for teenagers (13 to 18 years old).

The Buzz  gives deaf children and young people a safe and positive online space of their own. Please encourage your child to sign up and get involved.