SEND Parent Carer and Family Newsletter
September 2022
Discover all the current news and information for Parent Carers and Families about Special Educational Needs and Disability in Telford & Wrekin.
Welcome from the Service Delivery Manager
Welcome to the September edition of the SEND Parent Carer and Family Newsletter, it’s been a busy start to the term!
Firstly, I would like to encourage you to make sure that you have signed up to receive your personal copy of future newsletters directly to your email inbox, the link to sign up is below. This way you will always be able to keep up to date with all the news from the SEND Team, we do appreciate all the help from our partners in early years settings, schools and post 16 providers, PODS and IASS for their assistance in sharing this newsletter with families.
Your views do matter… We work really hard with PODS parent carer forum to ensure we are listening to families, children and young people. The team is currently working on a plan of drop in sessions, where we will be out in the community to talk to families around key themes. These sessions will provide you with the opportunity to talk to the team and ask questions, keep a lookout for more information. In the meantime, please can I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has shared their feedback with the team, either through PODS, the Short Breaks Forum, online feedback forms, at recent events or in another way.
Lastly, the SEND Local Offer redesign is in progress, we will shortly be relaunching the website and publishing some exiting new marketing posters and bookmarks. We would love to hear what you think and if there are more improvements we can make, changes have been made to make the homepage simpler and easier to navigate. If you have any suggestions, please contact us at: localoffer@telford.gov.uk.
Best wishes,
Natalie Bevan
Service Delivery Manager: SEND & Personalisation
Subscribe
To the SEND Parent Carer & Family Newsletter
Would you like to sign up to receive the SEND Parent Carer and Family Newsletter direct to your Inbox, if so please follow the link below and enter your email address.
Your Views Matter
Education Health and Care Needs Assessments
Has your child or young person recently had an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment?
Please share your feedback to help us to continue to improve our service.
Annual Review Feedback Form
We have been updating our Feedback Forms Annual Reviews, a short feedback form is now available and can be completed at the end of each Annual Review.
Do you know we have an Inclusive School Forum?
The Inclusive School Forum provides support for children and young people in mainstream schools. Its focus is to support an inclusive education system, providing support and guidance for schools to deliver the graduated approach, using the assess, plan, do and review cycle. The forum enables schools to intervene early and provide support quickly for children and young people.
More information about the forum is available on the SEND Local Offer, or you can talk to your child or young person’s school SENCo to find out more.
Children’s Speech, Language & Communication Needs Pathway
New Developments in the Children’s Speech, Language & Communication Needs Pathway Announced for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin
Speech, Language and Communication (SLC) is everyone’s business. Therefore, we need to empower everyone involved in the system (including parents, carers and educators) to support children and young people (CYP) with SLC needs in a timely way that encourages their progress with communication.
Throughout Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin we want to do this by promoting that communication is fun and ensuring the right support is available at the right time.
Over the last year we have been working in collaboration with parents, education setting staff, specialists in speech, language & communication and commissioners of services, to develop a plan to improve services for children with speech, language, and communication needs. The delivery of the ICAN Talk Boost Intervention and Training for Key Stage 1 schools funded by Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust commenced on 24th March. And we will continue the roll out of the training throughout the year ahead.
ICAN Talk Boost Intervention and Training
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2:
- Free training to increase the skills and confidence of staff working in schools
- There are two staff training places offered for every school
- Every school who takes up the offer of free training will receive a toolkit purchased for them
- Once a school is registered for the training, they will be sent information on how to collect their toolkit
- For any school not already booked, additional training dates are available over the Summer and Autumn Terms
Early Talk Boost:
- Places are available across Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin for all Early Years Settings and support is also available for Child Minders.
- The free training and resources for Early Talk Boost has been rolled out across the summer term.
- Parents will be asked to contribute to the screening process and will be able to take part in the intervention process, for example, reading the given story books at home.
- Settings and parents can continue to monitor children’s speech, language and communication once the screen and/or intervention has been completed, using the toolkit as needed.
- Further catch-up dates will be available from the Autumn.
Further information
Information about these events is being shared by the Local Authority Early Years teams.
Further consultation about resources and training for secondary schools is planned.
Link to ICAN’s parent’s information page - https://ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/parents/
Link to ICAN’s information for parents about a speech and language therapy assessment - https://ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/parents/speech-and-language-therapy-assessment/
Speech and Language Therapy Service Advice Line
The Speech and Language Therapy Advice Line is available to parents and carers of children currently on our caseloads, those referred and those not known to the speech and language therapy service. School staff or other professionals can also seek support but can only access the Advice Line regarding a specific child with explicit parental permission. New referrals and re-referrals made by families of children and young people will be directed to the Advice Line.
Advice Line number: 01743 450800 (option 4).
Further Resources
For the new Children’s speech and language therapy referral form and further information on the speech and language therapy early identification and intervention resource, including details on the new screening tool for speech sounds please visit: https://www.shropscommunityhealth.nhs.uk/childrenspeechlanguagetherapy
If you would like to comment on how our website has worked for you, there is a button at the bottom of the main page on the website that lets you do this.
You will also find tips and advice about speech, language, and communication development on this site.
This announcement has been co-produced by:
Shropshire Community NHS Trust SLT Service and Partners with PODS Parent Carer Forum and Parent and Carer Council Shropshire.
Advice Line
Partners across the system continue to work together to support children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SCLN). Schools and settings have been supported to develop their toolkit of support through the roll out of the Talk Boost Program in Early Years and KS1.
Parents and practitioners are able to access an Advice Line appointment with the SLT service if they wish to talk about a specific child or young person's SLCN or further strategies to support SLCN.
More details about SLCN support locally can be found at:
www.shropscommunityhealth.nhs.uk/childrenspeechlanguagetherapy
For children and young people who need to be referred to the SLT service for an assessment, there continues to be a significant wait (over 18 weeks) which as a system they are working to reduce.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
BEAM
Information about BEAM Drop In's is available on the SEND Local Offer - Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Drop In's are available:
Monday - Drop In’s at The Lantern, Meadow Farm Drive, Shrewsbury. SY1 4NG - From 12pm - 4pm (last session 3:15pm)
Tuesdays - Drop In’s at Wellington Beam, 9 Market Square Wellington, TF1 1BP - From 10am - 6pm (last session 5:30pm)
Thursdays - Drop In’s at Wellington Beam, 9 Market Square Wellington, TF1 1BP - From 10am - 6pm (last session 5:30pm)
Emotional wellbeing support for children and young people under 25.
SEND Local Offer
What's new...
Local Offer Redesign - News
Over the last year we have been working behind the scenes with parents, carers and young people to create a redesign of the SEND Local Offer – we are now pleased to share this with you!
Changes have been made to make the homepage simpler and easier to navigate. Further developments are still in progress so please bear with us as we complete all the changes.
In the meantime, we would love to hear your views on what should be included and how easy the new layout is for you to use.
If you have any suggestions for improvements or ideas for further developments please contact us at: localoffer@telford.gov.uk.
SEND Activities & Events
The Activities & Events page is a quick and easy place for families to see what is going on in their community. Take look at the pages below to find art, dance, drama, music, clubs & activities for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
How to add or update your activity details
Do you provide a service for children & young people with special educational needs and disabilities, please complete the form (available to download from the Activities & Events page) or contact us at localoffer@telford.gov.uk to add your service to the directory.
PODS
Free challenges at home sessions
Support sessions (for child/young person with Autism with/without diagnosis).
Open to 0-18 years from mainstream and special schools. For families to discuss home/life concerns and seek information and advice from Educational Psychologist team around emotional, behaviour, social, anxieties, routines, etc.
We use these sessions to support families to find solutions together and share experiences and offer mutual support in a safe and supportive place.
In Person Dates at 9.30am
11 October 2022
16 November 2022
To book your place on an in person session, please follow the link below:
Challenges at Home – In Person Sessions
Online Evening Dates at 6.30pm
11 October 2022
15 November 2022
To book your place on an online evening session, please follow the link below:
Challenges at Home – Online Evening Sessions
Short Breaks Forum
The forum is an opportunity for parents, children and young people that use Short Breaks services, working together with Local Authority colleagues to talk about what is working well, what isn’t and how we can make improvements to the Short Breaks offer. It is a place where we can share knowledge for the benefit of all, including inviting guest speakers on particular issues or services.
Preparing for Adulthood
Independent Living Centre
Telford and Wrekin’s Independent Living Centre (ILC) is a purpose built environment to provide a ‘showhome’ with built in features to both physically and digitally promote independent living in your own home to reduce costs of care and support needs using modern technology and Assistive Equipment.
The ILC is here to be used by the whole community, please note some drop in’s and the walk in availability may be effected by Covid Restrictions, staffing and/or busy periods, you can get further advice and information by calling the ILC on 01952 457181.
You can also access up to date information about the ILC in our Live Well directory.
The ILC can support:
- To access ideas and equipment that can be used by those with physical or sensory needs,
- Advice and support about what care may mean for you or a family member now or in the future,
- Access to advice and support regarding community support,
- Booked appointments for Occupational Therapy Assessments
Independent Living Centre 3A, Hazeldine House, Overdale Telford TF3 4JL
Telford 16-19 Website Post 16 Prospectus
The Telford 16 - 19 prospectus has information on the post 16 offer in Telford & Wrekin including almost 300 A - levels, BTECs and Apprenticeships across six schools and colleges, making Telford an inspirational hub for learning, opportunity and achievement.
For more information please contact Future Focus by email: Future.focus@telford.gov.uk or, by phone: 01952 388988.
Guidance for young People applying for Post 16 Education (with an EHC plan)
Guidance is available on the SEND Local Offer for young people with EHC plans to help them plan their Post 16 transition and consider their future career prospects. Information is included about educational settings in our local area and an explanation of how young people can express a preference for the setting they wish to attend.
Annual Health Checks
Annual health checks are for adults and young people aged 14 or over with a learning disability.
An annual health check gives people time to talk about anything that is worrying them and means they can get used to going to visit the doctor.
To help explain what is involved in an annual health check, a group of inspiring young people from Derwen College have created the following video to raise awareness of the importance of annual health checks.
The video is aimed to help young people with learning disabilities to understand the process of an annual health check in a simple, easy to understand format.
Useful resources
ERIC - The Children's Bowl & Bladder Charity
Tackling the challenges of bowel and bladder conditions together, for young lives free of shame and fear.
|
