Welcome to our July e-bulletin

Another end of school year and, we know, that for families of children with additional needs, this year has again highlighted immense challenges. You can read the latest reports from Ofsted and the Council for Disabled Children survey on lessons learnt from Lockdown and next steps. 

In Wolverhampton, there have been a few new faces to the world of SEND.  We hope to introduce you to them in future e-bulletins and in our next magazine. 

A fond farewell with our very best wishes to Jill Wellings, Head of SEN Early Identification and Support.  Jill has embodied everything we know works well for families about Team Around the Child (TAC). She has been a great colleague to the IASS and has made a difference to so many families. 

Children and Young People update

The IASS Young People Advisory Board members have been busy over the past few weeks. They attended the Children and Young People’s Conference “Youth Voice Matters”, last month and found out more about participation in health care. There were lots of fun activities for young people to get involved in to help break the ice, and start interacting with each other to share  experiences.

In the health workshop NHS Forums were discussed and why it is important for young people to have their say in the care they receive.

One of our young people shared that they had had a positive experience with the care and support they receive. This is because everyone is working together and meetings are well attended so they no longer feel like they are repeating themselves. They shared that they have seen positive results.

Our Advisory Board met in June too. We discussed our partnership working with the City of Wolverhampton College and training sessions for annual reviews and more in the Autumn term. Preparation is underway and we will bring you more news in the coming months.

Congratulations to Jude Aston, from our Young People's Advisory Board for having his first published article for the Express and Star newspaper.

Read Jude's article.

If you are a young person or know a young person who would like to get involved with the IASS advisory board, please get in touch with Lisa Colton ias.service@wolverhampton.gov.uk

National Co-production week 5-9 July

This week is National Co-production week. Co-production is about working together in equal partnership with people who use services and offers the chance to transform provision offering real choice and control.  The Co-production and Youth Engagement Team is working with Joe Perry from City of Wolverhampton Council who will be running a social media campaign throughout the week to share some of the fantastic work that has been taking place in Wolverhampton. Keep an eye on social media.

Have your say on improving Wolverhampton's Local Offer website

People are being invited to share their feedback to help improve Wolverhampton’s Local Offer website, which details the help and support available for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. 

Wolverhampton's SEND Partnership Board is looking to revamp the website and would like to hear from families and other stakeholders. Feedback can be left via Wolverhampton Information Network. 

SEND: old issues, new issues, next steps.

Last month Ofsted published its research and analysis on the effects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), their families and those who work with them.  It highlights the many long standing issues with the SEND system which have been intensified by teh pandemic.

Read the Ofsted report

Read a commentary on the report by Amanda Spielman

Area SEND inspections, which Ofsted carry out jointly with the Care Quality Commission, resumed last month.  Wolverhampton is one of the local areas that has not been inspected yet and is awaiting inspection.  Watch this space for more information, how you can participate and give your views when the inspection dates are announced. 

Lessons learnt from Lockdown:

The highs and lows of the pandemic's impact on disabled children and young people.

Between February and March 2021, as part of the Making Participation Work programme, the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) commissioned the largest consultation to date with children and young people with SEND. The consultation is based on the feedback of children and young people participating in CDC and KIDS led youth groups.

Read the two reports on the CDC website – a full detailed version and a children and young people’s summary.

Transition to employment toolkit

Ambitious about Autism and The Autism Education Trust have launched a new employment toolkit to support autistic young people into the job market. The Transition to employment toolkit is free to download and aims to prevent autistic young people falling out of education, employment or training when they leave school.  The toolkit is not just for young autistic people to use, but also for careers professionals and employers, to help them better understand the needs and skills of young autistic people and support them into further education or work. Sections of the toolkit can be easily downloaded and edited and are designed to be used flexibly.

Support for families to access specialist equipment

Children Today is a charity based in Telford helping children and young people to be more independent. It offers families a chance to apply for specialist equipment for example electric wheelchairs and wheelchair power packs, adapted trikes and car seats, and sensory equipment such as bubble tubes.

Visit the Children Today website for more information.

Support group for parents and carers of children with autism

Virtual sessions using Microsoft teams to talk to someone about autism, meet other parents and carers, discuss challenges and find out what support is available.

Thursday 8th July

See flyer for further information or if you wish to attend, please email EmbraceAutismWV@outlook.com

Zippy's friends for pupils with SEND

The University of Birmingham is recruiting special schools in London, Surrey or The Midlands to take part in an evaluation of Partnership for Children’s Zippy’s Friends for SEND mental health promotion programme. Schools allocated to the intervention group will receive free training and resources in order to run the programme with a small group of pupils from September 2021.

For more information or to sign up to be involved, please contact Mariam from the research team m.sahle@bham.ac.uk

Wildside Summer Activities

Wildside offers adventurous and environmental activities, promoting wellbeing and an underlying appreciation of the natural world for all ages and abilities. The activity centre is based in a green oasis on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. 

Click the links below to find out what exciting adventures you can have at Wildside during the summer holidays.

Summer programme calendar

Summer programme activity details 

Share your news

We are always happy to share information on our e-bulletins which help to promote a relevant and appropriate service which will be informative and of interest to our readers.  

We aim to add short and punchy stories, facts and information.  Please add web-links wherever possible & any necessary documents in PDF.

Please e-mail your information to ias.service@wolverhampton.gov.uk

We send out the e-bulletin monthly around the first Monday of the month, so we would appreciate this being sent to us by the middle of the previous week.

Our next e-bulletin will be sent out around Monday 2nd August so please send any inserts by Monday 26th July.