Bi-weekly newsletter in association with our Local Offer

Dear all,

I hope that you are all well. Within this newsletter please find news services and information about upcoming events.

I would like to draw your attention to the Autism Social Communication and Local Offer Roadshow. The roadshows are for both professionals, parents, and carers. 

Short Breaks are also promoting their one to one & small group support. This is available to children under 18 years old and in receipt of middle or higher disability living allowance. This project looks at developing a child's need to develop their independence, become more confident and learn new skills. View poster here.

We have also received some great feedback from a parent whose young person was offered a series of sessions with the Choice Team to develop their independent travel in their local area:

The Special Needs Officers have also launched an interactive resource for children, young people, parents, carers and professionals in regards to an Annual Review. An Annual review is a statutory requirement to review the EHCP/Statement to ensure a child/young person is making progress toward their outcomes and receiving the provision in order to meet these. Find out more here.

I hope that you continue to find this newsletter a beneficial source of information. All information shared in the newsletter can also be seen on our Local Offer. If you have any feedback please let me know by emailing charlotte.smith@westsussex.gov.uk - thank you. 

Best wishes,

Charlotte Smith 

Your Local Offer Officer

New Services added on the West Sussex Local Offer

Duke of Edinburgh's Award West Sussex (DofE)

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a well established programme of challenges open to young people aged 14 to 25 years old. The DofE is not an organisation but a programme of challenging leisure and free time activities to aid in a young person’s personal development. The DofE is flexible to meet the needs of the individual and is achievable by all young people. Find out more here

Kooth

As a fully  commissioned service, KOOTH.COM is a FREE, safe, confidential and non-stigmatised way for young people to receive counselling, advice and support on-line. This very popular service is used by large numbers of young people. Staffed by fully trained and qualified counsellors and available until 10pm each night, 365 days per year, it provides a much needed out of hours service for advice and support for young people in West Sussex. Find out more here

M8s

M8s is a support group for young people aged 13-25 with additional needs. It is provided by West Sussex Young People’s Service. The group offers an opportunity for young people with additional needs to meet, socialise, learn and develop skills together. Find out more here

Personal Budget

A Personal Budget is an amount of money identified by the Local Authority to deliver parts of the provision set out in your Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. It gives you the flexibility to choose which services and support you may need. A child or young person may be eligible for a Personal Budget when they have a learning difficulty or disability as set out in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. Find out more here

Octopus Family Centre

Octopus Family centre is a state of the arc venue fully adapted for families with additional needs. The centre has 4 rooms of various sizes available for hire and fully equipped kitchens. In recent months the centre has been used for children's parties, soft play, group activities and meetings and forums. Our facilities include: health & safety approved wet room with hoist and changing bench. Sensory room available. Find out more here

Wheelchair & Inclusive Dancing 

Wheelchair & Inclusive Dancing is a fun and engaging leisure activity. The aim of wheelchair dancing is to give participants in the community who are disabled, able-bodied, wheelchair users, with walking aids, visually or hearing impaired, learning disabled or having multiple disabilities the opportunity to dance and move to music. Find out more here

Events / Training on the Local Offer:

for children and young people;

• Branching Out Club: Westgate
• Democracy Day Take Over Challenge
• Duke of Edinburgh's Award SEND - Best Practice Forum
• Horsham Wheels for All 
• Lizzie's Craft Club
• Parents for Autism - Advice on SEN
• Opportunities to Play 
• Special Educational Needs Performance Tomfoolery presents: Beans On Toast The Tour 2016
• Social Communication Children's Groups
• Stay and Play Activity Session
• Story Magic Sessions - Various locations
• Dynamic Days and Activities at Lodge Hill
• Wheelchair & Inclusive Dance Classes
• Whizz-Kidz Worthing Ambassador Group
• Flamingoes Swimming Club

Events / Activities over half term:

• East Grinstead October Holiday Scheme
• Fishing Taster Sessions
• Flipitas Gymnastics: Free Taster Sessions
• Sensory Tent & Lunchtime Activities with Head2Head Theatre
• Pinocchio & his P.A.L.s with Head2Head Theatre
• Lodge Hill Family Activity Days
• NCS Autumn programme October Half Term
• West Sussex Wheelchair Workshop (Crawley) 
• West Sussex Wheelchair Workshop (Worthing)
• Short Breaks with Core Assets over Half Term
• New Disability Fun Day
• Time Aside Sensory Art. (Short Breaks for Children and Young People with Disabilities and their Families.)

View all events for children / young people on our Local Offer here.

for parent carers Social Communication Roadshow Coffee, Cake Info and Networking  Umbrellas Babybird's Group - session opened to all adoptive parents  St Pauls Cafe Support Group for Carers of Adults with Learning Disabilities Make Sense of Social Stories Information Day for disabled people living in West Sussex Local Offer Roadshow Coffee and Chat At Springboard (in conjunction with the WSPCF) Support Groups for Carers of Adults with Autistic Spectrum Conditions and Parent Carers 6th Form Entrance Information Day (Mary Hare School) PECS Level 1 Workshop Thinking of adoption? Free PECS Coffee Morning @ PECS UK in Brighton Bognor Support Group for Carers of Adults with learning Disabilities Crawley Parent Carer, Autistic Spectrum Conditions and Learning Disability Carers Support Group

for professionals  Social Communication Roadshow Transitioning from PECS to Speech Generating Devices interactive workshop Coffee, Cake Info and Networking Information Day for disabled people living in West Sussex Local Offer Roadshow PECS Level 1 Workshop Thinking about adoption? Crawley, Horsham & Mid Sussex Market Place

LOCAL OFFER ROADSHOW

Here is some great feedback we received from a parent who attended a session last week:

“I first glanced at the West Sussex Local Offer about 2 years ago, when I was too preoccupied by struggling to attend to my child’s needs on a day-by-day basis. Having finally got an EHCP in place, things are moving forward in a slightly less acute way, and I took the two hours necessary to attend a LO training session – it was like being given a beautifully skillfully filtered search engine (ie. takes less of my stretched time) to find out what services, events, and information are available to me as a parent, and to my son as a mainstream secondary school child with SEN. Being shown how to make an account, develop a pinboard of preferred services, and add comments to the site to communicate with other parents was invaluable – I would not have done it from home on my own, and no parent who is facilitated in the same way will regret the time they spend. I have immediately asked the LO team to run the same training session in both of the schools to which I relate, and am keen to put the support group which I am part of onto the LO as a service.” Parent Carer Feedback

You too could learn about how the Local Offer can help you when supporting parent carers and young people with SEND by coming along to a session on the Local Offer Roadshow! See below to find out where we are over the next couple of months:

Date for everyone:

• Chichester, County Hall North / Parkside - Thursday 27/10/2016 from 10am till 4pm

Dates for INTERNAL West Sussex County Council Employees only:

• Bognor - 27/11/2016
• Horsham - 23/11/2016
• Worthing - 20/10/2016

If you would like us to come out to your group

• Let us know by emailing localoffer@westsussex.gov.uk

Please forward this on to your colleagues / parents so that they are aware of this. Here is a link to the event on the Local Offer website for you to share. We are encouraging individuals to book a 1-2-1 session by emailing localoffer@westsussex.gov.uk with their preferred time.

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