|
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, 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, and what articles you'd like to see in future editions. You can email us your thoughts at Local.Offer@Shropshire.gov.uk
|
|
|
PACC update us on their involvement in work that is taking place around SEND systems in Shropshire. This includes a co-production development day to ensure that any service uses co-production to inform and influence decision making across their service, and that parent carers and young people’s experiences and feedback are being used to influence decisions which affect our families lives.
They also update us on the In Touch course, a jointly hosted update to the Neurodevelopmental Pathway with Autism West Midlands and their ‘Sense of purpose, and a home of my own’ discussions about the transition from children’s to adults’ services. It’s far to say It’s been a busy start to the school year!
|
The brand-new Keystone Academy is due to open its doors in Shrewsbury in September 2022. The Keystone Academy will be a Special Educational Needs school for 120 children with Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCPs) who experience Social, Emotional & Mental Health (SEMH) challenges. The school will provide an education to children from reception right up to Year 11 (in classes of maximum 10 pupils). Find out more about this new development here.
|
The NHS Long Term Plan sets out the government’s intention for every part of England to have an Integrated Care System.
Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) are partnerships that bring together commissioners and service providers of health services with local authorities and other local partners to plan and design health and care services for their communities.
The aim of an ICS is to improve outcomes in population health, tackle inequalities, provide better value for money, and support social and economic development.
Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin started operating as an ICS on the 1st April 2021 to plan and work towards becoming a statutory organisation from 1st April next year.
But what does all this mean for our children and young people with SEND?
Find out more here.
|
|
|
Read an update on the developments and improvements that have been taking shape around the neurodevelopmental pathway, including the support available, how the pathway will be resourced with staff and the decision making process following assessments. There’s also an update on the next steps as far as the work on the pathway is concerned. You can find out more here.
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” is a phrase that is frequently used over the Christmas festive period. However, large celebrations (e.g Christmas, Eid, Diwali) may mean different things for different people and for lots of young people (and adults) large celebrations might bring up different feelings and emotions. For people with mental health and/or SEN this can be even more difficult. We have some top tips to consider over festive periods
|
|
|
Often festivities bring with them lots of celebrations, decorations and changes to the physical environment, which for the most part are enjoyable. However, for young people with SEN there may be differences in their sensory profiles which mean that they are over-sensitive to all this additional stimuli. We’ve put together some tips with regards to managing sensory sensitives and overload at Christmas. |
Healthwatch Shropshire want to know about the experiences of children and young people who have received care and/or treatment either in hospital or in the community because they were in ‘crisis’ with their mental health. As well as asking for feedback from young people, they also want to hear from the people who are supporting them, family, carers, health care professionals, social workers, school/college staff or volunteers, who might have ideas about improvements that could be made where things haven’t gone so well. Have your say on the Healthwatch website.
|
Shropshire’s Information Advice and Support Service (IASS) support parent carers of children aged 0- 25 years who may, or may not, have a special educational need or disability.
They update us on their service, especially their work to engage and support young people directly. They are lucky enough to have a qualified youth worker on the team, Lynne, and her role within IASS is to work with young people directly. You can read more here.
|
The Vaccine Data Resolution Service (VDRS) aims to resolve missing or incorrect vaccination records for people vaccinated in England who have a current NHS number and are registered with a GP practice in England.
The service has been established by NHS England and NHS Improvement, in partnership with NHS Digital, and is delivered by both the South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW CSU) and by South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS).
The service consists of two main elements:
- Outbound service: A pilot of outbound calls was launched on 3 August to patients identified as having a second dose but where no first dose is showing on the national immunisation database (NIMS). This service continues to operate.
- Inbound service accessed via 119: Referrals to the VDRS can be made via any of the services accessed via 119.
Please note: 119 and VDRS call agents will not provide clinical advice and cannot assist at this time with queries related to vaccinations received overseas. If the query relates to personal information that is incorrect on the patient record (e.g. name, address), these will still need to be resolved by their GP practice.
If a member of the public believes they have missing or incorrect COVID-19 vaccination data, please advise them to call 119 and ask the call agent to make a referral to the VDRS team on their behalf. The VDRS team will then call the person back within 5 working days
Cross-Border Issues:
Vaccination data from Wales and Scotland now flows through to the NHS COVID Pass service, so you would be able to use the Pass if one of your vaccinations was in either of those countries. However, this is not yet the case for Northern Ireland.
The citizen now needs to call 119 to go through to Covid Pass Service and ask for referral to the Vaccination Data Resolution Service (VDRS) to have their records investigated.
|
Children and families Minister Will Quince has written an open letter to all parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities to talk about his ambitions for them and their children. You can read more about his commitment to the SEND Review and working to improve the life chances of all children, ensuring those who need additional support get help quickly so they can realise their potential. You can read this open letter here.
|
|
A special educational dance school based in Shrewsbury Shropshire called Identity school of dance entered their first ever external dance competition on Sunday 7th November at Audacity events, in Wolverhampton since opening in September 2020.
Identity students competed in a range of categories including the following; over 18 contemporary team, over 18 street crew, with a mixture of both solos and duets across both styles, contemporary and street dance.
Identity students performed brilliantly in their over-18s street dance and contemporary solos, placing 1st place in their street dance crew and 1st place in their contemporary team. If this wasn't already such a success already, Identity school of dance were then awarded highest scoring team of the competition qualifying for Audacity championships in May 2022.
Opal Trevor owner and dance teacher of Identity School of Dance said: “It was so exciting to see Identity perform at their first ever dance competition, the students show so much dedication and resilience attending weekly dance rehearsals and their hard work clearly paid off with the overall results, everyone did so well, I’m extremely proud of them all. We have another competition on Sunday 5th December and I am excited to see what we can achieve next”
Identity school of dance results:
1st place - Contemporary team
1st place- street dance crew
Street dance solos:
1st place- Adam Hartley
3rd place- Beth Gardiner
4th place - Amy Roach
6th place- Thomas Newton French
Contemporary solos:
1st place - Eve Washington
2nd place- Beth Gardiner
3rd place - Hannah Morrell
5th Place- Cerys George
Identity school of dance offers weekly dance classes for children and young adults with special educational needs and disabilities. Identity school of Dance is currently enrolling new students and for more information please contact Opal at enquiries.isod@outlook.com
Thank you to parent carers for permission to share these photos.
This winter Arts Alive bring their show ‘Glisten’, produced by half moon, to Shropshire. As part of the All In Short Breaks offer they are hosting a special SEND sensitive performance. This is an interactive sensory experience where younger children with SEND can explore sparkly immersive play with soft sounds and music creating a sensory landscape for you and your child to enjoy. You can find out more on our website - Arts Alive | Actio (wixsite.com)
|
|
The Shropshire SEND Local Offer is a single place for information, services, and resources for children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and / or disabilities, their families, and the practitioners who support them. It's been designed with a family’s needs at the heart of the process. We'd be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to complete an online survey to provide us with feedback on the SEND Local Offer.
The survey results will help us to understand if the information is accessible, what you like/dislike, and if there are any gaps that need addressing. We value all comments and will share with you feedback we have received, and how we have responded to the comments made to improve your Local Offer. Click here to complete the survey Thank you for your time
|
|
Follow Us
|
Tweet Us
|
|
|
|
|