Dear all,

I would like to say a big thank you to all of those who have been sharing information about the Local Offer on Social Media. Last month 17% of people came to find information from the Local Offer using Facebook and Twitter.

Within this e-newsletter please find:

1. An update on the SEND Strategy Consultation;
2. Pinboard - buddy services from our Local Offer;
3. Information Pages on our Local Offer update;
4. Sharing Good Practice Case Studies; and
5. New Services

Other news:

The SEND Information, Advice and Support Termly Newsletter is being distributed. Find an electronic of the newsletter on our Local Offer to share with your contacts.

Kind regards,

Charlotte Smith (Your Local Offer Officer)

I would like to share with you the opportunity to create 'Pinboards'. From services on the Local Offer you can personalise and book mark services you frequently use / refer to. You may also support families in which you frequently refer them to the same services. Why not create a Pinboard of services to then send out to families? View a video tutorial here. 

From recent emails, talking with colleagues and looking at what people have searched 'buddies' has come up as being a frequent topic. View a pinboard I have put together of services on our Local Offer who have said they offer a buddying opportunity here. 

First ever PACE SETTER Award goes to Worthing GP surgery for its care of young patients with additional needs

To a child with a disability or an additional need such as autism or a learning disability, the commonplace event of going to see the doctor can be confusing, upsetting, over-stimulating or even frightening. As well as causing obvious distress to the young person, these reactions often present a considerable challenge to the parent carers accompanying them - and sometimes to GPs and other practice staff too.

St Lawrence Surgery in Worthing has worked hard to improve the experience for their young patients with special needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or life-limiting conditions. The excellent support offered by the surgery has won them the first ever PACE SETTER Award - an NHS-sponsored initiative to celebrate, reward and promote high quality practice for children and young peoples’ services. 

Read the full article here.

Developing a Person Centred Approach for a young person’s Education Health and Care Plan Annual Review (April 2016)

To support schools, parent carers and professionals in the development of person centred approaches the Local Authority arranged for a 2 day training session in Person Centred Planning. During this training attendees learnt how to use various person centred planning tools such as a PATH. A PATH is a creative person centred planning tool that use graphic facilitation to collect information and develop positive future plans with the young person and the ‘team’ around them. The SENCO from The Littlehampton Academy, a large mainstream 11-19 Academy on the South Coast of West Sussex, attended this training and has actively embraced the use of the PATH tool for Education Health and Care Plan (or Statements of SEN) Annual Reviews. This is in line with key principles of the SEND Code of Practice 2014.

This article shares a view of the SENCO’s journey to date in using the PATH. 

Parent Involvement in the Local Offer Case Study Camelsdale Primary School

Camelsdale Primary School is a small semi-rural school serving 220 4-11 year olds and 140 families in the Rother Valley. 10% of the children are on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Register. This is below the National Average. The school decided to focus on working closer with parents and carers in response to the new Local Offer. A variety of activities have been introduced to develop closer relationships between parents and carers of pupils with SEND additional needs at the school.

Read the article to find out what these activities include.