Wokingham Borough Connect
Alongside our SEND Local Offer webpages and our Local Offer Directory, this half-termly newsletter brings news and updates about what's on offer locally for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), directly to your inbox.
This issue includes:
- An update from Jamie Conran, Head of SEND
- News about our new Local Offer logo
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Details of SEND Voices Wokingham's upcoming Local Offer Live event
- An opportunity for young people to shape our council's Youth Offer
 Update from Jamie, Head of SEND
I hope you have had a good September so far (despite the wet weather we are having!).
Our SEND Service has been busy working as we continue our journey of improving services to support fantastic outcomes and experiences for children and young people.
There isn’t enough space in this newsletter to detail all the development work we are doing as a local area (SEND, education, health and social care together), so I have included an update that I hope will be relevant to you as a subscriber.
SEND Team
In recent months, we have experienced significant turnover with our interim staff and are also saying goodbye to two of our permanent staff members. Thank you to Becky and Ayanda for all your work to support children and young people in our borough.
I realise how important it is to have a permanent, stable team that can get to know you, your children and the schools they attend. Over the summer break, we were in consultation with our SEND Team to reorganise the team and introduce some new roles and ways of working. The feedback we receive from families about what works well and the challenges experienced, has helped to shape these changes.
By the time you read this, some of the new roles will be advertised already, and I hope that as we recruit and embed new staff over the coming months, you will start to feel the impact of these changes.
We are in the process of updating our SEND Service page on the Local Offer to explain the latest structure, roles and responsibilities of our SEND Team.
Contacting us
We have also heard from families about the number of email addresses to contact the SEND Team and the confusion (and sometimes lack of response) from these. We took action to close the following email addresses on Friday 13 September:
All general correspondence should be sent to SEN@wokingham.gov.uk
The team are working through all emails that were sent to the above addresses before Friday 13 September. Anything sent to those inboxes after that date will need to be redirected to SEN@wokingham.gov.uk.
More information about contacting our SEND Team will be included on the updated SEND Service page on the Local Offer.
We have a number of in person events planned over the next academic year, but for now I look forward to seeing and meeting you at SEND Voices Wokingham's Local Offer Live event (more details below!)
 New SEND Local Offer logo!
We recently held a Local Offer logo competition, open to all children and young people aged up to 25, who live or go to school in Wokingham Borough.
We received lots of fantastic entries and from those, Wokingham's SEND Youth Forum Say YES voted for the winning design.
Congratulations to Freya from Gorse Ride Junior School who won first prize! She received a £25 Amazon voucher and certificate, and her colourful drawing of hands showing teamwork has been turned into a digital logo.
Well done also to our runners up Billy from Addington School and Megan from The Hawthorns Primary School, who also received a voucher and certificate.
Look out for our new logo as we start to use it across our SEND Local Offer information.
If you are a local charity or organisation and would like a copy of our new logo for your website, get in touch at localoffer@wokingham.gov.uk
 Pictures by Steve Smyth
Local Offer Live event
Wokingham Borough's parent carer forum SEND Voices Wokingham are hosting their annual Local Offer Live Family Information and Fun Day.
It will take place at St Crispin's Leisure Centre, Wokingham, on Saturday 12 October and there is a choice of two sessions: 10.30 am to 12.30pm or 1 to 3pm.
This free event is open anyone living in Wokingham Borough who has a child or young person aged up to 25 years with SEND, including those waiting for a diagnosis.
There will be information stalls for parents and carers to find out more about support, services and activities that are available locally. There will also be activities for children including Berkshire Reptile Encounters, face painting, circus skills with Circus Scene, as well as free refreshments and cake!
More details and the link to book can be found on Ticket Source.
 Help shape our Youth Offer
All councils provide a Youth Offer for young people aged 13 to 19 and up to 24 with SEND. This involves making sure there are enough activities, volunteering and enrichment opportunities for young people.
We have partnered with Berkshire Youth to run a survey, so that we can hear straight from young people. Their responses will influence the Youth Offer as well as future work, strategies and plans.
The survey will be live until Friday 25 October 2024 and is aimed at anyone aged 11 to 19, who lives or goes to school in Wokingham Borough.
It should only take 5 to 10 minutes to complete and is made up of 30 questions.
If you need an easy read version or have any questions, please email sarah.desson@wokingham.gov.uk
 New inclusive cricket sessions
Super 1s are free, inclusive cricket sessions for young people aged 12 to 25 with disabilities, run by Berkshire Cricket.
All disabilities are welcome, and the sessions give young people the chance to play regular competitive cricket while improving confidence and independence.
Berkshire Cricket are launching a new Super 1s group at Wokingham Leisure Centre, with sessions taking place every Monday from 5 to 6pm, starting from Monday 7 October.
There is also an established Super 1s group at Bulmershe Leisure Centre, which runs every Wednesday from 5 to 6pm.
For more information about joining either group, contact chris.baker@berkshirecricketfoundation.org
 New family fun club
ASD Family Help have launched a new club for autistic and neurodiverse families.
The club is free and offers a supportive and relaxed environment for families to connect and play together through crafts, games, LEGO and books.
It meets monthly on a Wednesday, from 4:15 to 5:15pm at Radstock Community Centre, Earley.
The club is aimed at families and their children, but over 18s who are autistic and want a safe and calm space to chill or chat to a member of staff are also welcome to join.
More details can be found on the ASD Family Help website.
 Course to support with challenging behaviour
Berkshire charity Parenting Special Children is offering an eight week online course for parents and carers with a child or young person aged 8 to 18, who displays challenging behaviour such as aggression and violence.
The course aims to provide a therapeutic approach, and will offer ideas to help families develop individual strategies for managing their child or young person's behaviour.
The course will run on Monday evenings over the autumn term. More information and booking details can be found on the Parenting Special Children website.
 Online safety tips for parents and carers
The NSPCC have partnered with Ambitious about Autism to produce online safety tips, advice and activities specifically for parents and carers of children with SEND.
More information can be found on the NSPCC's website.
 Supporting you to find what you need
Did you know that you can contact our Local Offer service if you need help to find what you're looking for?
If you'd like information, advice, or you have feedback about the Local Offer, get in touch with us using the email address below:
localoffer@wokingham.gov.uk
Upcoming events to look out for
As part of our commitment to making information more accessible to families, we are planning to run in-person information sessions and events this academic year.
This will include repeating our market stall event on the theme of preparing for adulthood, as well as running drop ins and Q and A sessions for families on different topics.
We will send out more information via our Local Offer newsletter when we have confirmed the dates and details.
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