SENDIASS Spotlight - Sept 24 | Norfolk SENDIASS

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SENDIASS Update

Welcome back to a new term, everyone at SENDIASS hopes you all had a lovely Summer Holidays.

Over the Summer we’ve been working hard to increase the resources on our website including bitesize training videos, frequently asked questions and information resources that parent/carers and professionals can use to help with their understanding.

We’ve also spent the summer re-doing our website so that it is easier to navigate, access and is organised better to showcase our new resources. We have included a selection of what is available in this newsletter.

We’ve been busy over the summer holidays, and we continue to be busy on our helpline so if you no longer need your appointment, please cancel with at least 24 hours’ notice so that the appointment can be booked by other parent/carers that need to speak with us.

New SENDIASS Website Resources

New SENDIASS resources

New Local Authority phoneline

On Monday 23rd September the Local Authority launched their new SEND Inclusion Phone line. This phone line is intended for parent/carers and professionals to support with discussions around those considering an EHC Needs Assessment application and also support with preventing exclusions.

The SEND Inclusion Phone line and SENDIASS Helpline are two separate lines, SENDIASS are still here to help in providing impartial, confidential, legally based information, advice and support to parent/carers and professionals on a wide range of things.

For more information on what we can help with CLICK HERE

Staff spotlight

STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Leah Sloman, Senior SENDIASS Advisor

My name is Leah Sloman, I am the Senior Advisor at Norfolk SENDIASS.
I have worked for Norfolk SENDIASS since 2022. Before working for Norfolk SENDIASS, I worked in complex needs schools and mainstream schools as a teaching assistant. I completed a foundation degree in primary teaching and learning and my focus throughout my assignments was children and young people with SEND and how their needs could best be met.

Supporting children and young people with SEND and their families has been a passion for me since I was very young, I provided respite care for several wonderful children and young people with SEND for many years before having my own children.

In my role as Senior Advisor, I hold a small caseload representing parent/carers with processes such as tribunal as well as writing and presenting legally based training to parent/carers and professionals. I also write and create booklets and resources for the service website.

I love being part of this team and contributing to delivering a invaluable service to parent/carers children and young people in Norfolk.

Headlines from our Annual Report

We have now published our September 2023 to August 2024 Annual Report, the whole report can be seen on our website along with previous years reports:
But here are some headlines from this year’s report:

Totals (from Sept - August)

2022-2023 – 1545
2023-2024 – 1888
There has been a 22.2% increase from 22/23 to 23/24 in parent/carers booking appointments with us.

Totals (from Sept – August)

2021-2022 - 1537
2022-2023 1646
2023 -2024– 2185
32.7% increase from 22/23 to 23/24 in helpline referrals being completed.

In February 2024 we started to take ‘one-off’ support this is supporting some parent/carers who need more support with things such as reading through paperwork, filling in forms and attendance at ‘one-off meetings’ with school or mediation.
Over the last 7 months we have supported 65 families.

Due to a restructure in the service we have been able to offer more casework support to parent/carers who, due to their own needs, need advocacy or representation.
This has been a 108% increase in cases taken during this period.

Norfolk SENDIASS Annual Report 2023-2024

Norfolk SEND Youth Forum update

We held our first on-line meeting since the summer break on 18^th September and were thrilled to have eight young people attend.

September is an important time of transition for many young people, and our members were keen to share their news relating to starting new courses, new year groups, and places of learning, and both the new opportunities this brings and the challenges of starting something new. Our members tell us that coming together and sharing these experiences supports them moving forward.

We were also able to review our Terms of Reference and update the ground-rules for our meetings. The group maintains a respectful and supportive ethos, but we are always keen to ensure all members feel safe and included, as well as their voices heard. One new ground-rule we were pleased to embrace was the understanding NOT to put people on the spot!

We also shared some discussions around the planning of the coming year, not least the Christmas outing…and members will be voting for the personal preference from a shortlist of their suggestions.

We are also always keen to offer new opportunities for our members, and we are thrilled that six members have volunteered to share a presentation during Children’s Services Practice week, in November, on the theme of opportunity. The group are keen to share their experiences and identify some of the barriers they have encountered.

“Why is it so hard to make progress in the real world and we still get judged before people know us? “– From YP who is a member of Norfolk SEND Youth Forum (June 2024)

We constantly seek ways to recognise the work of the Youth Forum, and we can confirm that some of our members will be supported to achieve the Flourish Youth Awards for Volunteering and Participation certificate and will be helped to achieve this in the coming months.

Finally, we are eagerly waiting for the outcome of this year’s Flourish Awards, where the Norfolk SEND Youth Forum are Finalists for the Individual award. In our summer meet up the group nominated two members to attend the ceremony on 25^th September, along with their parent/carer, and supported by Dawn from SEND & Inclusion Team, and who co-facilitates the Forum. We are keeping everything crossed and wish our Forum representatives a great evening at the Norfolk Showground. We will share the outcome of the awards with you next month.

Bridget Robinson, Engagement and Advice Worker

Engagement and Advice update

With September being the start to the new term, this is often a time when families start to think about transitions and the support that their child or young person will be receiving in their new classroom. If you are concerned about SEND support or have any questions around this there are lots of ways that you can contact our team. We are currently trialling face-to-face appointments at Family Hubs across Norfolk. These appointments will be for 20 minutes and allow us to provide next steps advice to parents, carers and young people. You can book an appointment at your nearest family hub by following this link: Face to face appointment (norfolksendiass.org.uk). Here you will find more information about what we can support you with. But remember, our website has a wealth of information and you can still book a helpline appointment too!

We are also signed up for lots of community events coming up over the next few weeks, follow us on social media to keep in touch with where we are going to be so you can pop along for a chat. Some of these opportunities are listed at the bottom of this email.

We have been to our usual mix of community events this month, including family fun days, library SEND cafes and stay and play sessions.

With summer came lots of family fun days and we were pleased to attend the very successful family fun day in Thetford (organised by the Breckland Family Hub team). We spoke to lots of children and families about all areas of SEND. It was wonderful to see the children enjoying a variety of hands-on activities and Jo had great fun taking part in the silent disco! If you are organising a community event that you would like us to attend, please get in touch via our Engagement and Advice Team email: nsendiassengagement@norfolk.gov.uk.

Also, thanks to Dereham Library for letting us join in with the kids at their SEND Messy Play session. We were on hand to give advice to parents too. A great chance for the children to play and explore different textures and sensations, and of course, make a massive mess!

We were pleased to be invited to the Positive Minds Wellbeing Event at the Forum which was run by MAP. Each stall holder was asked to create an interactive activity to engage with the young people. It was great fun to play lots of 1 v 1 games of Jenga with the young people, who proved to have much better skills than us!! We loved talking to the young people about their feelings around education, family, friends and support.

Remember to keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages for where you can find us over the next few weeks.

If you know of an opportunity that you think we should be involved in then please email nsendiassengagement@norfolk.gov.uk

You can catch us on:

30th Sept- Back to school event - Poringland Library - 2pm-3pm

1st October - SEND Cafe Attleborough Library - 2:30-4:30pm

3rd October - SEND Drop in - Fakenham Library - 1-3pm

8th October - Outreach Session - Poringland Library - 10-12

10th October - Messy Tots, Gorleston Methodist Church - 10-12

Have your say

Dear Family,

A full time course at a FE College is usually delivered over three days; this is because of different funding, independent study and the opportunity for students to take on work.

However, the change from five days a week at school to three days a week at college can be a challenge for young people and their families.  Norfolk County Council would appreciate your views and personal experience where you (as a young person) and/or you (as a parent or carer) felt the need for five days provision but this was not, or could not, be met.

Whether this has affected you in the past or whether you are facing it now or sometime in the future – your contribution, via this form, is much appreciated.  Please add the current age of the young person concerned.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire – all responses will contribute to informing support for young people with SEND in Norfolk.  We will publish the learning and outcomes from this work.

COMPLETE THE SURVEY

SENDIASS Spotlight - Sept 24