West Sussex County Council sent this bulletin at 25-01-2019 10:03 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.
SEND and Inclusion Practices in our West Sussex Schools
The final reports from the SEND Partnership activities are now on The Local Offer.
These reports highlight inclusive ‘Transition’ and ‘Annual Review meeting’ practices within West Sussex Schools and settings. The reports aim to provide schools, parents and professionals with examples of strategies that can be used to effectively support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. Feedback on the work and subsequent reports have been valued by parents and schools.
“In the vast majority of cases, the strategies suggested have made a real difference to these children’s lives and their behaviour. Please take time to read what the schools experiences were and consider trialing” - Parent
“A real celebratory and user friendly document that I feel will have a far reaching impact. Lends itself to a basket of tools/non prescriptive way of thinking which is right for our SEN learners as there is no 'one size fits all' for assessment” - Special School Head
“It is so user friendly and accessible for all. I really hope it is a useful document for many to refer to in the future” - Mainstream Primary Head
Advance Notice of SENCO Conference
The next SENCO Conference will be on 20 March 2019, between 8:45am-3:30pm at the Avisford Park Hotel.
There will be two keynote speakers in the morning: Professor Robin Banerjee from the University of Sussex and Dr Shoshanah Lyons from Beacon House, followed after lunch by two pre-booked workshops from a choice of five, covering topics such as:
Index for Inclusion: the whole school perspective
Costed provision maps
Whole school approach to behaviour policy
Measuring, monitoring and reporting on progress and learning outcomes for children who are not yet reaching age related expectations
Supporting children and young people at risk of exclusion
The Intensive Planning Team has been in operation since June 2017, with their vision being that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in West Sussex are able to attend and achieve in their local education provision from early years through to further education.
The small team seeks to achieve this by working with the networks around children and young people with complicated needs who are at risk of their education placement breaking down. They work alongside current professionals to look for genuinely positive and person centered solutions to enable the young person to have their educational needs met in their local community.
As part of the Intensive Planning Team’s offer, they have begun piloting “Team Around the School” sessions with local special schools. They have operated a couple of different models of delivery so far:
The first where teaching staff and Teaching Assistant’s were invited to 1:1 surgeries with the most relevant professional to discuss a particular child of concern that they are working with to discuss strategies (this was done on an inset day to minimise classroom disruption and cover issues)
The second where the whole team of professionals met with the senior leadership team and discussed the ‘top 6’ children that they had most concern about.
"What can I say about EPIC 2018! What a triumph and testament to the incredible children and young people of West Sussex. I feel proud to have played a part in ensuring the unique talent of children in care is showcased and applauded. The resilience, creativity and joy in the room celebrating each child, young person and adult who provides care and support was completely overwhelming and inspirational.” - Hayley Connor, Head of Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help (IPEH)
“Big thanks to staff for supporting an amazing EPIC event. Great to see film clips of Social Workers sharing nomination stories, and see the results of their hard work with those they work with. It was a real pleasure to be a part of this and to meet so many of the children whose names I have seen on emails and reports!” - Sarah Daly, Head of Children's Social Care
Over 600 guests gathered in Butlins, Bognor, for the largest ever, star-spangled Exceptional People in Care (EPIC) Awards on 9 December.
The Children in Care Council and EPIC Reference Group are praised for organising the spectacular Harry Potter themed event, supported by a vast team of volunteers. Thanks to all the social workers, Independent Reviewing Officers, Independent Visitors, Looked After Children Nurses, Foster Carers and other special adults out there – you know who you are! Another massive thank you to those parent carers and family members who took the time to bring their nominated children with SEND. We always appreciate that this may take a little more time and planning to arrange this, and so thank you for your efforts in this.
We would like to acknowledge all our sponsors and supporters:
PWC, Butlins, Virtual School, SEND Commissioning Team, Worthing Rotary Club, Hays Travel, MOMO One, Summersdale Publishing, West Sussex Safeguarding Children Board IPEH, Fiona Linfield, Sid Sloane, Matt Lucas, Good Morning Britain, BBC Breakfast, Brighton and Hove Albion and Chichester Ladies Football Club.
SEND Champions- Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help (IPEH) Service
We are pleased to confirm that we have just completed the implementation of the SEND Champion role within the IPEH service. The Champions will:
Work as part of Community of Practice with the IPEH SEND Participation Lead, SEND Portfolio lead, Early Years Consultant Inclusion Lead, Advanced Practitioner working with Intensive Planning Team, and SEND Commissioning Manager for Family Support.
Be the first point of contact for colleagues within their IPEH Hub who are working with children and young people who have SEND and have questions they have not been able to find the answer to themselves. The will keep abreast of provision, services and support available for children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 across the county, and particularly within their local area. The champions are located in the following teams below. This is led by Julie Tidbury, SEND Portfolio Lead, IPEH.
Putting Accessibility into the heart of your Organisation
Over 30 voluntary and community organisations in Crawley attended the first in a series of place-based events promoting “Putting Accessibility into the heart of your Organisation”. The event was facilitated by the WSCC Partnerships and Community team, in partnership with Crawley CVS, Employ Crawley, WSCC Short Breaks for Disabled Children, The Local Offer and WSCC subject matter experts on participation for those with additional needs.
Cllr Richard Barrett, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills spoke about the Pathways to Adulthood Strategy, and explained that this event was key in raising awareness of the community strand, supporting young people with additional needs to take part fully in their communities.
Cake was provided by Jubylee Bakes, a social enterprise with the brownies and flapjacks made by young people with disabilities.
The next event will be in Mid Sussex in 2019, dates to follow.
Helping babies and young children when they're poorly
The Little Orange Book contains advice and tips on how to manage common illnesses and problems that babies and young children often experience in the first 5 years of their lives. It also has information on more serious conditions and, what to look out for and how to get help. Read more information here
The Market Development Team
The Market Development Team is an exciting, newly created service whose purpose is to ensure that the education and social care markets across West Sussex are vibrant, responsive and sustainable. It also delivers quality services that represent value for money. One of the areas the team support in, involves developing the Dynamic Placement System (DPS) for placements within independent and non-maintained special schools, which will be used to ensure the placement process is managed effectively by the local authority in terms of ensuring pupil outcomes, service quality and value for money.
WSCC would like to invite independent and non-maintained schools and colleges who aren’t on the DPS to sign up here. In order to log your application for the DPS, please ‘express interest’ within the DPS application portal page.
The Challengers Chichester Youthscheme is in full swing and gearing up for a busy 2019 with lots of fun in store! Challengers are a charity who are passionate about removing the barriers to play for disabled children and young people, and that’s exactly what they are doing in Chichester with their youthscheme for disabled young people aged between 13-18.
Running every Saturday, Easter & Summer Holidays from the Westgate Leisure Centre, this youthscheme is full of fun for everybody. This term they will be trampolining, swimming, rock climbing aquarium trips and loads more. As well as the fun that this provides for disabled young people, it also gives a vital short-break to families. Challengers is celebrating their 40th Birthday in 2019 and have lots of fun things planned, so if you are interested in getting involved, or finding out more about the Chichester Youthscheme, please contact hannahwoollven@disability-challengers.org / 01483 230060.
Local Offer
Want to know what is on in your area for children, young people and families with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND)?
The Compass Team at Amaze want more 0-25 year olds with additional needs in West Sussex to have a Compass Card, so they’re launching a new ‘Recommend a Friend’ scheme with a prize draw on Monday 8 April 2019. All of need to do is:
Fill in a Recommend a Friend flyer and give it to a friend
When the Compass Team receives your friend’s Compass Registration Form, they’ll enter you both in a prize draw for a meal for two @polpobrighton worth up to £100 and a £50 Love2Shop voucher
See the Recommend a Friend flyer or the team can send as many as you need in the post (email compass@amazesussex.org.uk and provide your name and address). The more friends you recommend, the more chance you have of winning the prize draw! Good Luck!
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.
