|
|
This newsletter is from the SEND Partnership, made up of organisations and services who provide support in Southend for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. This newsletter is to give you the latest updates and information on local services.
For information on local services and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged 0 to 25 and their families, please visit the Southend SEND Local Offer.
|
|
Message about the SEND Area inspection
The recent inspection of Southend SEND Area by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which we alerted you to in the e-newsletter on Friday 24 February 2023, finished on Friday 10 March.
Southend is the fourth area to be inspected under the new framework, which came into effect earlier this year. The outcome won’t be confirmed until the written report is published in 30 working days from 10 March, which is on or around Tuesday 26 April. We will share the joint report from Ofsted and the CQC when it is published, in this e-newsletter and on the Local Offer website.
However, in the meantime we wanted to say thank you to all of you who completed the SEND survey and contributed to the overall inspection. There were three different questionnaires that Ofsted and the CQC asked to be circulated across Southend, to children and young people, parent and carers and practitioners. Whichever group you fall into, your input matters. It helps us understand the current service we are providing, so we can work out where we want to be, and most importantly what improvements or changes need to be made to get there.
We will share any updates in our next issue.
|
|
|
Avatar Army helps children return to class
A revolutionary scheme to help more children and young people access education has been so successful, it has helped twelve local pupils back into the classroom.
The education access team at Southend city council can offer an avatar to a child who is unable to access school due to health needs- and if the avatar is deemed the most appropriate service level offer- then they are delivered and set up- free of charge.
You can read the full article here
Learn more on the Local Offer website.
|
|
|
School travel assistance applications
Any family that live in the city of Southend and who have a child or young person between the ages of 4 and 19 in full-time education can make an application to Southend Council for travel assistance. For the new school year in September, any application that has been received by Southend Council by 31 May and which is approved will be guaranteed that the travel assistance provided will be in place for the start of the autumn term. Those received after 31 May will naturally continue to be processed, and travel assistance awarded when eligible, but will not have the same guarantee.
Read about school transport and apply here.
|
|
|
Neurodivergent Safe Space
This is a community group for Neurodivergent (Autistic/PDA/ADHD) teens and young adults (aged 13-20) who are experiencing mental health difficulties.
We provide a safe space for ND teens and young adults to be themselves, make friends, take part in activities, gain support from Neurodivergent adults with lived experience of mental health difficulties, and signpost to services.
We meet every Thursday 12pm until 2.30pm at the Friends & Places Together charity, units 13 & 14 Victoria Centre, Southend on sea, Essex, SS2 5SP.
You can find out more on the Local Offer page.
For follow on Instagram (Neurodivergent_SafeSpace) or Facebook (Neurodivergent Safe Space).
|
|
|
SSIF update
SSIF have had a VERY busy month. We have attended the NNNPCF (National Network of Parent Carer Forums) and CONTACT Conference in Bristol, it was a fantastic opportunity to network with other Parent Carer forums, share good practise and experiences. The result of a poll for the Conference was that the wellbeing of Parents and Carers is the no 1 priority for the year ahead.
SSIF couldn’t agree more and were slightly ahead of the game with our Wellbeing Event for Parents and Carers on the 13 March at The Cliffs Pavilion – we had an amazing day with many parents and carers in attendance taking part in taster sessions from growth mindset strategies to yoga and meditation plus also 1-2-1 mini taster sessions of Reiki, aromatherapy and hand massages.
We want to share the news, that along with a very deserving group of people from across Southend, our Chair was nominated & received a Southend City Jubilee Award for Unsung Hero and Heroines supported by Blade Education – there was a ceremony at the Civic Centre that was attend by the Mayor & Anna Firth MP and was wonderful to see the recipients who support Southend in their own ways to be acknowledged.
As it is Neurodiversity celebration week this week we want to share the “Southend’s Guide to your Neurodevelopmental Journey” a digital copy of which can be found on the SSIF website. We are proud to have taken part in its development for the benefit of Parents and Carers.
Lastly we wanted to extend our thanks to all of you who contributed your views to Ofsted during the recent SEND Inspection, we had a great response to the survey and will let you know further details as well as the outcome as soon as we can.
|
|
|
SENDIASS update
This week members of the SENDIASS team visited the Southend SEND Independent Forum Coffee Morning and were able to provide information and advice to families about SEND topics.
It was especially helpful to advise parents on how to identify information from our website and the Local Offer on the following: exam access arrangements, preparing for meetings, EHCP Annual Review processes, and school placement. More can be read about these topics on our website linked here https://www.sendiasssouthend.co.uk/
|
|
|
Southend Educational Psychology Service (SEPS) resources web page
The Southend Educational Psychology Team have a web page full of fantastic resources and information. There's more information here.
On this page you can find lots of tips for mental health and wellbeing, links to useful guides, webinars and ways to support children and young people on a range of topics.
We especially liked the podcast featuring Sienna Castellon, a 17-year-old activist and mentor. She is autistic, has dyslexia and dyspraxia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Recorded 2 years ago but still relevant as we end Neurodiversity celebration week, she talks about her experiences as a neurodiverse young person on the How to Fail podcast https://howtofail.podbean.com/e/how-to-fail-siena-castellon/
|
|
|
We still want to hear from you
The Southend Council SEND team have 3 live surveys and are encouraging families to provide feedback about their experiences.
They want to hear from:
- Children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) about their experience of the annual review process and if they feel the support they are getting from their EHCP is helpful and makes a difference to their overall progress and development. Find out more.
- Parent carers of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plan about their experience of annual review process. Find out more.
- Parent carers that have been through the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment process. Find out more.
The surveys are anonymous and take around 10 minutes to complete. Alternative formats of the surveys are available upon request – email localoffer@southend.gov.uk or call 01702 212328
|
|
|
Final events of Neurodiversity Celebration Week
We have shared the multitude events daily on our social media and have enjoyed all the topics discussed. Events have included introductory webinars, panel discussions and more to educate and inspire conversations about neurodiversity.
If you have not had the chanced to book an event yet, you can register for free. There are four more events taking place this weekend.
Register for the event in the link below: https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/events
|
|
|
EHC hub planned maintenance
There is planned maintenance to the live EHC Hub between 6pm and 9am on Thursday, 23 March. This is to carry out important upgrades to the technology which supports the EHC Hub.
During this time, the Hub will be unavailable to users, and they will be unable to login. Thank you in advance, for your cooperation.
|
|
|
Stay and Development
The Early Years SEND Support Service offer a Play and Development Group for parent/carers and families of children with SEND aged 0 to 5 in the Southend Area.
The stay and play sessions are designed to support you and your child with a variety of play and sensory experiences. A range of different services also join the sessions to provide support and information.
See future dates and venue information
|
|
|
Holiday Activity Fund - this Easter
HAF is a free and exciting holiday programme for children and young people aged 5 to 16 who are eligible for benefits related free school meals. The programme runs over the Easter (one week), summer (four weeks) and Christmas (one week) school holidays and is funded by the Department for Education (DfE)
If your child is eligible you will receive a unique 'HAF' code from your child’s school by email or text. You will need this code to register your child and book the free activities available. The booking site is now live.
Their next programme will be delivered in the Easter holidays which run from 3 to 14 April 2023. Read more.
|
|
|
SEND surgeries
Thank you to everybody who attended our February SEND Surgery.
Our next session is on Tuesday 21 March from 9:00am to 11:00am at the new Autism Resource Base in Southend High School for Boys.
We will be joined by the Preparing for Adulthood Manager, an Advisory SENCO, an EHCP Co-Ordinator and the Local Offer Team.
No need to book, just drop-in.
|
|
|
Your Local Offer, Your Way - March sessions
Thank you to those who attended the January sessions which were focused on developing information about SEND conditions for the Local Offer website and a `route map’ for parent carers to help them navigate the system.
Based on your feedback we have some good content from which we can now start building the route map. Please join us at the next sessions to provide your input on how the routemap should be presented.
Session dates are: Tuesday 28 of March, between 9:am to 12:00 midday at the Civic Centre for the face to face session or Tuesday 28 March 7.15 to 8.15 pm for the online session (via Teams).
For more details and to book a space visit: www.southend.gov.uk/YourLocalOffer or email localoffer@southend.gov.uk
|
|
|
Important dates
17 March (today): Comic Relief / Red Nose Day
21 March: World Down Syndrome Day
28 March - 3 April: World Autism Acceptance Week
2 – 8 May: Deaf Awareness Week
15 – 21 May: Mental Health Awareness Week
For more information from the SEND Local Offer about news, events and activities for this Easter holiday, follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
|
|
|
Item 9
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin facilisis, quam vel fringilla iaculis, ex arcu sollicitudin neque, eget congue lacus quam sit amet libero.
Find out more
|
|
|
Item 6
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin facilisis, quam vel fringilla iaculis, ex arcu sollicitudin neque, eget congue lacus quam sit amet libero.
Find out more
|
|
|
|
|
|
