On 6 November SSIF and the SEND Local Offer Team co-hosted our first ever Southend SEND Information Day.

The event was a great success, attended by over 150 parent carers and professionals. Over 50 teams and services showcased their support offer, and there were 3 informative presentations.

Southend SEND Information Forum (SSIF) and the Local Offer Team extend a huge thank you to those who attended, and to the teams, organisations, services and colleagues who gave their time, shared their knowledge and supported the day, it was a real community endeavour.

Read about the event, view details of the teams and services who attended, and see details of the information sessions.

We’re pleased to introduce the Southend Vocational Profile. This tool enables young people aged 14 to 25 to identify and articulate their aspirations for employment and the future. It is intended to be a working document that follows the young person throughout their journey, rather than being stored within isolated service files.

We’re pleased to share an update on the second year of delivering the Area’s Strategic Action Plan. This summary report highlights key activities undertaken and the impact achieved so far.

Our evaluations show strong progress in some areas, while others still need further work. As a Partnership we remain committed to improving services, support, and information for all families through our collaborative efforts.

We’re continuing to strengthen the SEND Team’s capacity to deliver Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments and plan reviews. This week, we welcomed Cindy Chilvers as Southend City Council’s new Statutory Lead for SEN Services. Cindy brings extensive experience and is committed to building on the progress made so far.

Matt Small, Interim Consultant for SEND Transformation, has shared an update on improvements achieved during 2024–25 and outlined priorities for the year ahead as Cindy takes the lead.

Big Sparks is providing a £40,000 fund to the 'West Central' locality, which includes Blenheim Park, Chalkwell, Milton, Prittlewell, St Laurence and Westborough wards.

If you've got an idea to make your community a safer, happier and healthier place to live, and would like to apply for funding, we would love to hear from you!

Have you been wondering about our Cubbie and how it can help with sensory regulation?

Come to our drop-in morning and experience it for yourself! Our Occupational Therapist and Speech and Language Therapist will be here to show you how it works, personalise your experience, and chat about how it can support both children and adults in everyday life.

Everyone is welcome - families, community groups, and curious minds alike!

It’s that wonderful time of year again when the RNIB and Santa team up to send children a special, accessible letter from the North Pole!

All you need to do is request one using the link below.

Please note that the deadline for requests is 30 November, so Santa has plenty of time to write and send all his letters.

In Mummy’s Magic Walking Stick, young readers join Eddie and his mum on a heart warming journey filled with dragons, cowboys, jungles, and one very magical walking stick. But this isn’t just any stick… it’s the one that helps Eddie’s mummy stand tall, sparkle with confidence, and take on the world.

Lynsey Garrick is a children’s author, Mum & disability advocate, based in Essex.

This year marks five years of our Parent Carer Forum! Since we began, our focus has been to make sure the voices of families with children and young people with SEND are heard and used to shape local services and support.

As we celebrate this milestone, we’ll be posting more on our social media channels about who we are, what we do, and how we do it. Keep an eye out and join the conversation, your views and experiences really do make a difference.

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended our recent SEND Information Day - parent carers, stall holders, and professionals. The event was a real success, full of great discussions, networking, and information sharing.

Here’s to continuing our work and strengthening the voice of parent carers across our community.

Finally, as always we appreciate your feedback on your lived experiences of SEND in Southend-on-Sea - the positives, the negatives and everything in-between! Please complete our family feedback form.

The Outreach Team can help families to find out about:

- free childcare for working parents with children aged 9 months to 4 years

- Best Start for Twos: free childcare for 2-year-old children whose children are receiving additional forms of support.

- free early learning for 2-year-old children whose parents have no recourse to public funds

- free 15 hours universal childcare for all 3 and 4-year old children.

- other ways to help with childcare costs

We can help families who experience difficulties finding childcare and accessing other support services to access childcare that meets their needs through our brokerage service. 

Contact us via email earlyyears@southend.gov.uk or text CHILDCARE to 88440 (charged at your standard network rate).

Our next drop-in Surgery for parent carers of children and young people with SEND takes place on Monday 17 November 2025.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School, Manchester Drive, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 3HS. Please use Manchester Drive entrance only.

If you have any questions or need some advice and guidance, please come along. Surgeries are very friendly and welcoming. Every parent/carer living in Southend is welcome to this event, regardless of their child’s school.

Services that will be in attendance at this surgery include representatives from the Specialist Teaching Service, EHCP team, Preparing for Adulthood team, Supporting Families team, School Nursing Service, Occupational Therapy, Bladder and Bowel Service, Southend SEND Independent Forum (SSIF) and the Local Offer team.

Southend’s Educational Psychology Service is pleased to share that S-Well continues to support schools across the city through a range of free wellbeing initiatives.

Over the past term, the S-Well team has been busy delivering resilience-focused training to staff and pupils, as well as hosting parent coffee mornings to strengthen community connections and promote emotional wellbeing.

Looking ahead, we are excited to be rolling out whole-class approaches in schools, with bookings filling up fast. These sessions are designed to embed wellbeing strategies into everyday classroom practice, supporting a whole-school approach to emotional wellbeing.

We encourage schools to connect with S-Well, via the Southend Learning Network (SLN), if they haven’t done so already. This is a free service, and we’d love to explore how we can support your school’s wellbeing priorities.

Are you a parent carer of a young child with SEND?

Join the Local Offer team, and other parent carers on Monday 24 November 10am to 12pm in Committee Room 2, Southend Civic Centre to tell us what information you need on the SEND Local Offer, or how we can improve the quality or range of information for you.

Can’t make it in person? No problem, we’re running an online session on Teams on Wednesday 3 December 7pm to 8pm.

HAF is a free and exciting holiday programme for children and young people aged 5 to 16 who get benefits related free school meals. It is funded by the Department of Education, who have confirmed that the programme will continue for the next 3 years.

Our next HAF programme will run in December 2025, where families can access up to 4 funded days. Eligible families will be able to book their HAF places from 19 November 2025.

The Southend SEND Network is a dedicated space for organisations and groups supporting children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and their families in Southend-on-Sea.

Below is a list of sessions, activities and events from the network:

Jack and the Beanstalk performance, and Additional Needs Christmas Party organised by The IronWorks, SNAP Charity online information network on Facebook, Bouldering Club with IndiRock and Disability Benefit Support organised by SEND The Right Message, K-Pop Day and Elf Day by Mushroom Theatre Company, Phoebe’s Green Christmas: a free digital sensory show, free yoga and mental wellbeing course for 17 to 25 year olds, YMCA Southend Youth Network, and SUFC PL Kicks (SEND) at Garon Park.

If you are an organisation supporting children and young people with SEND and their families in Southend-on-Sea, please consider joining the SEND network.

Open to all aged 13 to 16 years with no experience required, just an interest in exploring creativity!

‘Pop & Politics’ with artist Elleanna Chapman on Friday, 21 November, 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

Participants will experiment with collage as a way to reclaim and reshape the stories around us. Spaces are limited. 

Families are reminded that there are still a few sixth form and college open evenings taking place this year.

It’s important to find out what is available in the local area and consider options in advance. Young people from years 9 to 11 are encouraged to attend and plan early.

Find out about open evenings and key transition dates for those with Education, Health and Care Plans.