to the spring edition of the Stoke-on-Trent Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) Families' Newsletter. We hope our regular publication will help to keep you updated on what is going on in the city for children and young people with SEND.
A message from Simon White our Interim Director for Children and Family Services
It is great timing to be asked to write this introduction just after our SEND Inspection. I have just joined Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and I got the chance to see how the partnership between statutory agencies, the voluntary sector and families is really working. As stress tests go, an inspection is a good one. We don’t know the result yet, but I was very impressed by the way we worked together.
I hope you find this newsletter interesting – it is a way of putting updates about service developments and information about what we are all doing in one place, and in in a convenient, accessible format.
One of the important issues is the consultation on our new SEND Strategy – we have co-created this with children and their families, and we think it covers the right issues. I hope you agree. Do send us any feedback, and if you would like your service to feature, or have some news that you want to share – get in touch!
SEND Strategy consultation
Have you got 5 minutes to complete our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) strategy consultation?
We're looking for your thoughts on our draft SEND Strategy.
We want to ensure that children with SEND have:
- The right support
- At the right time
- Delivered by the right people
The consultation closes at11.59pm Friday 5 April. Click the link below to have your say - an Easy Read version of the survey is available on the website.
|
 ... on Health
Speech and Language Therapy
- Communication is everybody's business- look on stokespeaksout.org website for updates and ideas
- let us know if there are specific topics you would like to see on our website
- training for practitioners available via stokespeaks.org/training
- Join our Facebook page to keep in touch
- Contact details for the team are also on the local offer
Community Paediatrics:
When signposting to the GP for referral to community paediatrics around Learning Disability or Developmental Coordination Disorder please ensure the information provided is clear around the level of delay e.g. a child in year 6 is working at an expected level for a year 1 child, give a reading age or if available recent EP report with WISC, paediatricians do not have a test for cognitive level. Please note this does not mean paediatricians will only see with an up-to-date EP report.
PINS Project:
If your school made an expression of interest, we will be in touch very shortly with details of the next stages.
Asthma friendly schools:
We still have opportunities for more schools to sign up!
Sensory toolkit:
We are about to pilot this in schools and so will have our own local version launched later in the year. This will have information, audit checklists and our local position on sensory differences in one place to use as part of the graduated response.
Autism pathway:
We continue to experience an exceptionally high volume of referrals currently, please be assured it is an area of focus for NSCHT and the ICB currently, to look reducing the wait, ensuring children and young people get care to meet their needs whilst waiting and a post diagnostic support offer to educate on the adjustments that might be required for a child or young person with Autism.
 SENMAS implemented a group called SENCO Champions back in 2022. The purpose for this was to highlight experienced SENCO’s and use them as a point of contact for other SENCOs to answer queries and upskill other SENCOs within our city. We also meet on a half termly basis to discuss any outstanding queries and to consult with them on any changes the LA are looking to implement to gain their feedback. For instance changes in paperwork or processes which in turn helps to ensure the changes being made make the desired improvements that they were set out to do. It also helps with working relationships between the LA and schools by having open communication links via meetings and email correspondence. If anyone would like any more information around the SENCO Champions group please contact Adam.Clarke@stoke.gov.uk
Early Years CoPATH
The Early Years CoPATH assessment meetings have been piloted in Stoke-on-Trent in the past year. CoPATH stands for ‘Collaborative Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope’. It is an alternative approach to the current EHC Needs Assessment process bringing together parents and professionals who know the child in a collaborative meeting.
The CoPATH assessment meeting approach
-
CoPATH assessment meetings are collaborative and person-centred; everyone involved in the meeting (parents and professionals) works together to jointly produce a description of the child’s strengths and areas of need.
-
Person-centred approaches are about discovering and acting on what is important to the child and for the child and planning future outcomes based on these.
- Each meeting uses a visual framework broken down into a series of steps, this is used to guide the group towards developing a shared vision towards a desirable future.
Impact of the CoPATH assessment meeting
The CoPATH meetings have been well-received by the parents/carers who have participated in the process so far:
|
We look forward to the continued development of this assessment process and we would like to say a huge thank you to the families who have taken part so far.
EHC plan information for Year 11 students
A reminder that for Year 11 students moving to a post-16 college or training provider, the review and any changes to the EHC plan - including specifying the post-16 provision and naming the institution - must be completed by 31 March.
The process should already be underway. The Local Authority delegate the responsibility of ensuring that this is completed on time to the school.
As Year 11 students move into Post 16 education or training, it is important that young people and families realise that funded transport may not be automatically available. It may be possible to apply to the college’s bursary fund to cover this cost. More infomation is available at the link below:
The Willows’ Resource Base celebrates Science Day
The Resource Base for children with Hearing Impairment had a great time on Science Day. The theme this year was ‘Save the Planet’ which helped them to learn about the different ways that they can help in keeping our seas clean and the sea life happy. They had loads of fun designing their own turtle or fish as well as learning new BSL signs for animal creatures.
SENDCO Professional Network Meeting
This term’s SENDCO Professional Network Meeting took place on Tuesday 20th February at Hazel Trees. The main focus of the session was meeting high levels of need within mainstream schools. SENDCOs worked in groups along with colleagues from Educational Psychology, SEND ILS and Health to look at real-life scenarios and share possible strategies and solutions that may be helpful in supporting the child. Topics ranged from non-verbal pupils within early years classes to secondary school students experiencing social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
Engagement within the sessions was fabulous and colleagues from all areas reported that their discussions had been positive and informative. All groups produced a written summary of their collaborative discussions including a list of suggested strategies to address the different areas of need. These summary sheets will be shared with SENDCOs across the city so that they have a bank of strategies to draw upon in the future.
Feedback from SENDCOs was positive, with participants sharing comments such as:
“A true collaborative approach with all services represented to work through and identify useful strategies to take back to school”
“The small group was beneficial, particularly having health services present”
“Group discussion was really useful and insightful. Great to get time to talk with fellow SENDCOs”
“Sharing of strategies, analysing a case study and having access to an EP and SPLD specialist was particularly helpful”
“Good to have time to speak about relevant issues and share good practice. Information about referral criteria from health services was also useful.”
Port Vale Foundation
Established in April 2015, Port Vale Foundation has grown and developed from an operation with a handful of delivery staff into a modern and well-developed organisation. We sit at the heart of the local community, meeting the real localised needs that are much bigger than football supporting initiatives in sport, health, education and community engagement.
We use the power of sport and the reputation and brand of Port Vale Football Club to engage, inspire and motivate individuals of all ages and backgrounds, helping them to fulfil their potential. We collaborate with many fantastic partner organisations from the public, private and community sectors to enhance the opportunities we provide.
We engage with thousands of young people each year supporting some of the most vulnerable in our city via a range of positive interventions, providing tailored and meaningful engagement activities, which in turn positively transform people lives.
We support our community by providing a one stop shop and service, helping them to gain the support they need, whilst retaining a core focus on our values and being people led. We place the people of our community at the heart of our work, listening to them, consulting with them, bonding and building trust.
To find out more about what we offer, go to our webpage
|
|
