West Sussex County Council sent this bulletin at 19-03-2020 10:30 AM GMT
Please disseminate this newsletter to parent carers, professionals and those who are interested in reading more. Haven't received a copy directly or know someone who hasn't? Email sarah.dimmock@westsussex.gov.uk
Postponement of SENCO Conference
In light of the current on-going situation with regards to COVID-19, we have taken the decision to postpone the SENCO Conference until October 2020.
Our plan is to run the same programme and we will send out further information once the new date has been confirmed.
The guide has been positively received, “The guide gives a brilliant summary of what is currently understood about anxiety in autism. One of the key and significant findings is that “anxiety disorder is not simply a part of autism, but an independent co-occurring disorder that can be addressed and treated in its own right”.
The SEND and Inclusion Strategy has been published and can be found on the Local Offer. For further information please contact Bella Cobby.
Introducing Rachel McDonald-Taylor...
"I’d like to thank you for being so welcoming and forthcoming - I’ve been in touch with many of you and have arranged to meet you at most of the locality networks either this term or next term. I’m enjoying hearing about the work you’re doing, the priorities and concerns you have in your family of schools and your plans for the future.
I’ve started working with SENCOs in one locality to create a more streamlined and consistent approach to provision mapping and with another group of SENCOs who have been inspired by the work of Ange Wadham and are embedding Therapeutic Thinking Approach into their classrooms. I’m also enjoying working with our special schools as their Link Adviser and can already see some ways of sharing good practice formally and informally across mainstream and special settings.
I’m looking forward to sharing the WS tools Bella, Maryanne and the team are currently creating- for example the Ordinarily Available Provision document, the Inclusion Framework and the SEND Toolkit and getting your feedback on them. In future, when the three other SEND Link Advisers are in post, we’d like to draw together and share good practice from across the authority and use these tools with you to improve outcomes for pupils with SEND. I feel privileged to be in post and am excited to be working with you. For more information, email Rachel McDonald-Taylor."
Introducing Kathy Lockyear...
"Recently appointed as the Manager of the Learning and Behaviour Advisory Team (LBAT) and Autism and Social Communication Advisory team (ASCT), I am really enjoying getting to know the teams and their roles. Since taking up the post, I have visited schools alongside the advisory teachers as they deliver training, offer advice and support through Consultation and Review Meetings (CARMs) and carry out other activities such as working with schools gaining the Autism Awareness Award (AAA.) I am impressed with the teams’ knowledge of the schools and children, their expertise and dedication to the role.
Having worked in schools for 31 years (including time as SENCO, Deputy Head and Headteacher), I am acutely aware of how valuable this service is to schools and am looking forward to working with them and the teams to ensure that we provide the children in our schools the most appropriate provision possible to enable them to succeed. For more information, email Kathy Lockyear."
AAA Awards
We are delighted to say that the following schools have achieved their Autism Awareness Award (6 achieved bronze and 2 achieved gold):
Halsford Park Primary Academy, East Grinstead – Bronze
Poundhill Infant Academy, Crawley – Bronze
Our Lady Queen of Heaven Primary School, Crawley – Bronze
St Peter’s Primary School, Cowfold – Bronze
Rudgwick Primary School, Horsham – Bronze
Bohunt Secondary School, Worthing – Bronze
Georgian Gardens Primary School, Rustington– Gold
Northlands Wood Primary Academy – Gold
Please note, the awards celebration (planned for 1 April 2020) has been postponed. Please contact Jane Crawford for further information.
A message from the Early Help Team
Following feedback from staff, partners and the children and families who use our services, we have taken stock of our brand, listened to the feedback and feel the timing is right to change the name of ‘Integrated Prevention and Early Help’ (IPEH) to ‘Early Help’ services. We consider this change will make it much easier for us to explain the work that we do in this area.
It’s important to stress that this change is in name only. It does not alter the support the teams in Early Help provide, nor the strong local partnerships we have with you and rely on to deliver these services.
Claire Hayes - Assistant Director, Early Help
Would you like your students’ voices to be heard in our Inclusion Framework?
At West Sussex County Council we want our new Inclusion framework to put children at the heart; to achieve this we need their help to develop and test it.
You might not know about WSCC's Young Voices group and the work of our SEND participation Lead, Rachel Sadler. Rachel is based in the SEND Commissioning Team. Her role is to ensure the voice of children and young people (with additional needs) has a seat at the table alongside commissioners and leaders across a range of children’s services. The Young Voices youth ambassadors have been involved in gathering the views of children and young people, to feed into the West Sussex SEND and Inclusion Strategy. We’d love this work to continue, to develop an Inclusion Framework that is truly child-centred.
Rachel and the Youth Ambassadors would love to come and visit your students and gather their ideas for the Framework. It is especially important that we hear from students on SEN support and those with EHCPs, although of course ‘Inclusion’ is much wider than this, so all views are helpful to guide the development of the Framework.
We are happy to be guided by your school as to how to engage best with your students; A lunch-time drop-in? A PSHE or Citizenship lesson? An after-school session? A youth conference for student reps from different schools to attend? Please do tell us what you think would work best, to get as many students involved as we can. We know schools are busy places, with a huge number of competing demands on staff and students’ time, so we want to make this easy and simple for children and young people to take part.
We are also recruiting new youth ambassadors. Our youth ambassadors say that their role has helped them to build their confidence and communication skills, be heard by adults and feel part of what goes on in the county. Perhaps you have some student council members who would love to take their role further? Or you know a student who enjoys helping others and would love to take on a role outside school? The Young Voices ambassadors meet monthly outside of the school day at local libraries. We also hold social events during school holidays.
If you would like to arrange a visit to your school or find out more, please contact Rachel Sadler / 07734000401.
SEND IAS Blog
Since September 2019, the SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIAS) have been using their SENDIAS blog!
Their blog updates relate to what the law and national guidance says about a specific subject, relating it to those who have SEND (special educational needs and/or disabilities). They will include any current news on new legislation or guidance. Some blog updates will also provide tips and advice that may be useful to families who have a child or young person with SEND and any professionals working with them. View the SENDIAS Blog updates
Schools and settings are co-developing a common set of expectations for all mainstream schools which describe the provision that should be available in every classroom to enable the individual needs of a child and young person to be effectively met. This will prove a helpful guidance document to remind practitioners of practical support strategies that can be put in place to enable parent carers to have confidence that all mainstream schools have a consistent approach in practice. The guidance document will be joined by a more detailed online resource bank of special educational needs and disability strategies. The guidance document and resource bank will available for pilot by all schools and settings from September 2020.
For further information, please contact Bella Cobby.
SEND and Inclusion Project Report
The first SEND and Inclusion Project Report has been published which contains further updates on work that has been undertaken to date. January 2020 Documents:
The West Sussex Local Offer website helps you find information about local services, support and events for children and young people aged 0-25 years who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) as well as find things for those who care for them.
On the Local Offer website is the SEND Alternative Provision College Survey. This survey is for Alternative Provision providers. Please take part to ensure your view is heard.
If you have any questions, suggestions, feedback or would like to know more about how the Local Offer can help, contact localoffer@westsussex.gov.uk or phone 0330 222 5064.
Inclusion Video *NEW*
We would like to thank Wisborough Green Primary School and The Weald Secondary Schools for their support in creating our inclusion video. Please click here to hear staff, pupils and students talking about their take on inclusion and the strategies that they find most effective.
For further information, please contact Bella Cobby.
Specialist Support Centres
An extensive data analysis has highlighted that a proportionately high number of pupils with social communication needs currently attended independent non-maintained schools from specific geographical areas of West Sussex. To ensure we have sufficient specialist places available within West Sussex for our children and young people, capital investment for specialist support centres has been agreed. Discussions are currently underway with various schools so that all statutory requirements are followed to enable new centres to operate from September 2021. Once the required processes have been completed and the location of the centres finally agreed we will share further details.
The co-production of the Inclusion Framework, a self-evaluation tool for schools and education settings, is progressing well. Headteachers and senior leaders, SENCo’s, governors, parent carers and local authority officers are meeting regularly to agree key charachteristics of an inclusive school along with examples of good practice to include within the framework along with the suggested methodology for framework use. Feedback on the draft Inclusion Framework will be sought from all West Sussex Schools and partners as part of the pilot phase of the project. This will begin in September 2020.
For further information, please contact Bella Cobby.
Would you or someone you know like to volunteer for Fun and Breaks?
The Fun and Break (FAB) Service is looking for volunteers (over 18) to make a difference to families with disabled children. FAB volunteers offer a couple of hours per week to enable a child to have a short break. This might include taking the child or young person out to an activity, to a club, swimming or the park, staying with them in the child’s home, playing together, baking, reading, doing arts and crafts or simply relaxing. This enables parents, carers and siblings to have a rest, catch up on day-to-day activities or spend time with each other. To find out more:
Some
of the services listed in this newsletter or on the Local Offer site are
provided by private service providers and not by West Sussex County
Council. These do not have a recommendation or endorsement from the local
authority. If you decide to use a service / provision, you should be aware that
you are responsible for doing your own checks to ensure they are suitable and
fit for purpose. West Sussex County Council will not be liable for any
damages or losses suffered by anyone who relies on the information in this
newsletter.