Welcome from SEND Family Voice Torbay
We’re delighted to announce that we have a new home! We’re now based in an office at Parkfield House in Paignton.
Having this base is really important to us.
From Parkfield, we’ll be able to welcome parents and carers and offer support as they navigate their way through their family’s SEND journey. We’ll also be listening to them and their experiences.
Our new premises have access to a fabulous conference/meeting room which will be an incredible asset for events and forums.
We’re looking forward to meeting our new neighbours – the many organisations who already operate from Parkfield – and working with them.
Part of our plans include setting up regular Tuesday morning community forums (beginning in April), meeting with colleagues from across the SEND partnership and creating our Parent and Carer Network, with representatives from organisations across Torbay. Our first network meeting is scheduled for May.
We hope that network members will include existing support groups, charities and SEND representatives of the Family Hubs parent and carer panels. We’ll be sending invitations soon.
Below are some upcoming events you might want to take note of.
Have a wonderful Easter break.
Rebecca Box and Karen Roofe, Co-chairs of SEND Family Voice Torbay
Dates for your diary
Tuesday 23 April – Parent / Carer Forum, Parkfield House, Paignton
Tuesday 30 April – Parent / Carer Forum, Parkfield House, Paignton
Tuesday 7 May – SEND Network Meeting
Supported Internships (SIs)
Young people with SEND who took part in Supported Internships have been saying what they thought of their experiences.
A supported internship is an education programme in a workplace setting designed to help young people with disabilities transition from school to employment.
In the past year, Torbay Council has supported 36 young people to gain practical work experience.
They’ve worked at organisations as varied as Tesco, Torbay Hospital, McKinlay Martyn, Fermoy’s, TTS Tyre Services and Me and Mrs Jones Food and Drink Deli.
Their roles have included chefs, cleaners, sales assistants, mechanics, waiters and ward clerks.
Here’s what they had to say:
“The team are very supportive; they understand the different needs of everyone. I even get help with interviews.”
“It has helped my social skills, after COVID I found it difficult to get out.”
“I like the team I work with and the role, it makes me want a job.”
“A child with SEND can learn a lot from the workplace so give them the opportunity.”
Today, 27 March, is National Supported Internship Day. To mark the day, we’ve busted some of the most common myths about SIs.
If my son/daughter does an SI our benefits are affected.
FALSE
To take part in an SI a young person needs to have an EHCP, so they remain enrolled in education as a student.
An SI means my son/daughter will need to work full-time when it finishes.
FALSE
The aim of a SI is to get the young person more ‘work ready.’ The SI could lead to full-time work, but it could also lead to part-time work, volunteering or an apprenticeship.
The EHCP will be withdrawn if my son/daughter enrols on an SI.
FALSE
The EHCP must be maintained during the SI.
To enrol on an SI my son/daughter needs to know what they would like to do for a job.
TRUE
There is more chance of a successful outcome from the SI if the young person knows what job role interests them. To support this, the year before the SI starts, they will experience different work environments through employer visits and work experiences.
My son/daughter won’t be able to work as they will always need support in the workplace.
FALSE
Many young people will be able to find a role with an employer if they are given the correct support. During the SI, a member of education staff will support them to learn their role and the rules of the workplace. If they are offered a job after their SI, they can still access support that wouldn’t involve them costing any more to the employer.
An SI is no good for my son/daughter because they would struggle to fulfil a full job role with an employer.
FALSE
Roles can be ‘job carved.’ This means that new roles are established for a member of staff who cannot complete a whole job role but has skills in specific areas.
Written Statement of Action update
Our Written Statement of Action is our plan for everything we do to improve SEND services.
We've recently reorganised our SEND improvement work so it aligns with our SEND strategy for the area.
We’ve now got five priorities:
- SEND Is Everyone’s Business
- Early Intervention and Lived Experience
- Needs and Joint Commissioning
- Inclusion
- Transition and Preparation for Adulthood – Becoming an Adult
You may remember last year we asked young people, parents and carers to take part in our SEND survey. More than 160 of you did so.
We’ve been using that feedback to improve our services and progress with our five priorities. How have we done that?
YOU SAID…
SENCos needed more training.
WE DID…
The team leading on Priority 4 – Inclusion – worked on a training plan for them. Specialist training has started with SENCos receiving training in assessing needs early. More termly training is planned for the rest of the year.
The Inclusion team has also been creating a training plan to support upskilling the whole local area in SEND.
Watch this space for the first wave of this training to embed our Graduated Response toolkits in our forthcoming webinars, which will be free and available on demand for parents, carers and professionals.
Over the next few months, we’ll be giving you more updates on how we’re progressing in these five priority areas and we’ll soon be feeding back more about last year’s SEND survey.
World Autism Acceptance Week (2 – 8 April)
This is also known as World Autism Awareness Week and aims to raise people’s understanding of the condition.
In Torbay, supporting children and young people with Autism is a key priority in our SEND improvement journey.
Seeing the national statistic below is why this week is so important.
What else are we doing? We’re:
- Listening to the voices of our young people more than ever before. Are you Autistic and have something to say? Email our young people’s feedback service: pointofyou@torbay.gov.uk
- Creating an additional and unique Graduated Response toolkit to support Neurodiversity in our mainstream schools
- Training our Secondary school leaders to support Autism in our Autism Education Trust training project.
- Running an Autism and Us programme in the coming weeks including training on PDA and Autism and Girls. Keep an eye on the SEND Family Voice website for details.
- Working on reducing the wait for access to health services across all providers, running ‘Bridging the Gap’ sessions to support you to wait well and remodelling our referral process.
If you’d like to speak to someone about Autism and the challenges you face, why not come along to our residents’ engagement event on 26 April? Read the article below to find out more.
|
