Welcome to the latest edition of Shropshire's SEND newsletter, co-produced by Shropshire Council's SEND Local Offer and PACC (Parent Carer Council). 

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 have published their Mad, Sad, Glad report 2022, which explores how parent carers feel about being a parent of a SEND child or young person in Shropshire, to mark Mental Health Awareness Week. The Mad, Sad, Glad report can be accessed here.

This year’s Mental Health Awareness week is focused on loneliness, and this is a theme that is clearly present in the Mad, Sad, Glad report, with parent carers sharing their sense of disconnect and isolation from wider society due to their different family experiences.  This sense of disconnect is exacerbated by the challenges they report in working with the support system, with parent carers often feeling not valued or understood when asking for help.

PACC has discussed the findings in the Mad, Sad, Glad report with senior leads in Shropshire and have highlighted the current lack of parent carer support, especially those with children and young people under the age of 18. Following these discussions, PACC has been asked to gather thoughts on what support for parent carers should look like in Shropshire and it would be really helpful if you could spare some time to complete this short survey  to help them with this. 

PACC want Shropshire parent carers to know that while your experiences of family life might be different to many, you are not alone.   There is a strong SEND community in Shropshire that is growing stronger all of the time and PACC will continue to work to support this community to support each other, to have a voice and to effect change. 

The All In Programme is part of our Early Help service for children aged up to the age of 18 who live in Shropshire and have a disability that prevents them accessing universal services without additional support.

All In short breaks are available to families when universal services aren't able to meet the needs of their disabled child and provide a range of opportunities from horse riding, football, swimming, cycling, arts and music.

The activities are managed and commissioned by Actio and you can see the latest activity offer on the Actio website. Activities | Actio (actioconsortium.wixsite.com)

The activities are provided as a 'targeted provision offer', this means that if your child requires personal care support, dedicated one to one, or has complex care or health needs, you will need to speak to Shropshire Councils Disabled Childrens Team about accessing additional support to be able to access these activities safely and appropriately. Many activity providers are happy for PA's, parent carers, or other trusted adults to support a child to access an activity but please check with them as they may need to undertake some risk assessments for your child's safety and wellbeing. Please contact First Point of Contact at Shropshire Council on 0345 678 9021 to discuss how to access any additional support.

If your child isn’t already an All In member you can apply through the SEND Local Offer.  

Shropshire parent carers have told us that there are a number of issues that impact on their wellbeing, these include:

• Loneliness
• A lack of understanding by services of their lives
• A lack of a break from caring responsibilities
• A lack of mental health support for parent carers
• The difficulty in accessing services
• The difficulty in understanding and navigating the system

PACC are currently collecting information on what support you would find helpful, and feedback on your wellbeing. They have put together a survey and would appreciate your feedback. You can complete this survey here.

Back by popular demand! – Attingham Park, family walk – Monday 30th May 10am-12

Join us and other families by exploring the grounds and play areas together, bring a picnic if you wish too, more information and how to book below please visit the Autism West Midlands website. This is a very popular event so book early to make sure you get your places!

Teens All In Short Breaks – Walk and Tile Decoration at Jackfield – Wednesday 1st June 10.15am – 3.15pm

Autistic youngsters aged 12+ are invited to come along for a walk through the historic Severn Gorge from Ironbridge along a former railway to Jackfield Tile Works where they will decorate their very own tile ready for firing.  All children must be registered with All In Short Breaks.  Further details are on the Autism West Midlands website.

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

We will be having our next virtual meet up for parents of children with SEND on Thursday 9^th June at 10am. We really value the benefit of being able to actually meet and speak to people ‘face to face,’ as well as providing a safe, and non-judgemental space for parents to meet other parents. Although we would love to meet in person, sadly our small team would not be able to reach all corners of our large County Shropshire and so do not feel it is fair to only offer this opportunity in Shrewsbury where we are based. So, we do believe a virtual meet up is the next best thing and we would love to see some new faces at our next one! These sessions are an informal way to meet some of the IASS Team, and other parents. You are welcome to come along, listen, ask questions or share experiences.

We are also pleased to be running another virtual IASS Advice Session on Tuesday 14^th June, So if you feel you might benefit from speaking 1:1 via video chat to an IASS officer regarding your child’s SEND, please book on and select your time slot. Be quick before they disappear. Tickets will be available until the 13^th June. If you do book a time slot and are unable to make it, please do let IASS know via telephone or email so that we can offer the session to someone else.

If you would like to sign up for either of these events please drop us an email and we will send you a link to register.

To find out more about our service and keep up to date with all our events, please visit our website  and find us on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube!

Tel: 01743 280019 Please leave a message on Shropshire’s Citizen’s Advice answerphone and someone will get back to you

Email: iass@cabshropshire.org.uk

Young people can contact Lynne - call or text: 07706069739

Email: lynnetaylor@cabshropshire.org.uk

In this article  the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) steering group present their initial response to the SEND Review Green Paper and analyse where it delivers what parent carer forums have asked for, where it doesn’t go far enough and where they have serious concerns.

The SEND review green paper is open for consultation until 1st July 2022. “The government is committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those in alternative provision. To achieve this ambition, we want to work with and hear from: children and young people parents and carers those who advocate and work with the SEND sector local and national system leaders We encourage you to consider the proposals set out in this green paper and respond to our consultation. Together, we can ensure every child and young person with SEND and those in alternative provision can thrive and be well prepared for adult life.”

You can find out more about the SEND Green Paper and have your say on it here.

Applications for school transport from September 2022 onwards need to be made by 30^th June 2022. You can find information on how to apply, plus the application forms on the SEND Local Offer.  Applications received after this date will still be processed but transport may not be set up for the start of the academic year, and parent carers will need to make their own transport arrangements in the interim, so don’t delay your application.  

If you have any questions or queries, please mail special.transport.team@shropshire.gov.uk

Parenthood can be extremely rewarding and enjoyable. It can also be demanding, frustrating and exhausting. Shropshire Council’s Parenting Team is here to support parent carers to raise healthy, well-rounded children in a loving and stable environment.

Do you have any questions around child development and parenting?

Why not call our Parenting Helpline where one of our trained Parenting Practitioners will be ready to listen?

Parenting Helpline Call 01743 250950 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 12.30pm

If you would like to find out about other services the Parenting Team offers please email Parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk

Our Family Information Service (FIS) has been providing free information, support and guidance to families of children and young people aged 0-19 years in Shropshire since 2000. It provides information on all aspects of family life, from childcare and things to do through to the sort of family support matters which many families face.

The FIS is always keen to make sure that the information it provides, and the way in which it's provided, meets the ever-changing needs of families in Shropshire.

We'd like to know more about the sort of information you may want now or what you think would be useful in the future, and would be grateful if you could please complete our short survey  which covers some of the many issues affecting families.

To find out more about the FIS please take a look at our webpages.

You can also follow the FIS on Facebook.

Would you like to find out more about how the person you support uses their vision? Would you like to gather more information to give to eye care professionals?

Shockingly research from SeeAbility suggests that people with learning disabilities in the UK are fare more likely to have serious sight problems and less likely to have a sight test or receive support they need.

Their Functional Vision Assessment (FVA) tool is an ideal resource to help find out information about a person’s vision. The tool is easy to use and can be used with adults or children.

It is intended to be used by supporters of people with learning disabilities who know that person well, such as family carers and support staff.

The FVA is an observational tool that can be used to recognise how a person with learning disabilities or autism might be using their sight.

It can give an indication of what a person might not see, or night have difficulty seeing. A FVA can be very useful before someone attends an eye test or eye clinic appointment to identify problems that may or may not be treatable.

You can access the tool on the SeeAbility’s website  and there is a useful video to watch beforehand to help you carry out the assessment.

Parents and carers of five to 11-year olds living in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are being reminded that their child can now get a 1st and 2nd dose of the Covid-19 vaccination, following recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

Children of this age are given the doses 12 weeks apart, or 8 weeks if they are at high risk from Covid-19 or if they live with someone with a weakened immune system.

The vaccine is safe and has been tested and trialled around the world, it will boost your child’s immunity and increase protection against any future waves of Covid-19. 

To find out more please visit the SEND Local Offer.  

This is a question that PACC is being repeatedly asked at the moment and we believe is something that needs to be address as a matter of urgency.  Disabled young people in Shropshire are missing out on opportunities to participate in community-based clubs and activities which could offer them the chance to develop key skills and support their physical and mental wellbeing. A Parent Carer of one of these young people, Lucy Smith contacted PACC recently and asked if we could support her in her work role, to start to address this issue. Lucy is an Equality and Diversity Lead for British Gymnastics. She has a son Benjamin, who has complex physical and learning needs and attends Severndale Academy and she want him to have similar opportunities as other young people to build his confidence outside of school and the home, to make friends, and to be active. 

We know that children and young people with SEND, have less chances to be active in their local community and therefore to benefit from the improved health and wellbeing this can bring.  PACC is working with British Gymnastics and Lucy to understand what the key barriers to this participation are, and while we are initially thinking about how to make Gymnastics more accessible, we believe that the learning from this work will help us to increase access to a range of community activities.

A conference is being held on May 25^th at Shrewsbury Town Football Club to look at this further.  We will hear about the benefit of activities, such as Gymnastics for children and young people with SEND and consider barriers and solutions to increasing access.

Please support PACC and Lucy to improve the lives of children and young people with SEND in Shropshire. If you have any comments or suggestions, please email jessica.bailey@british-gymnastics.org or ring Lucy on 07715 081403