SENDIASS Spotlight - Jan 25 | Norfolk SENDIASS

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SENDIASS Update

Happy New Year, we hope everyone had a happy, healthy Christmas break.

We have had a few staffing updates since our last newsletter, in December we said goodbye to one of our SENDIAS Advisors Hannah who we wish well in her future endeavours. In January our new Helpline Advisor Imogen started, we are all very excited to welcome her to the Service and she is already whizzing through her IPSEA training! Find out more about Imogen in this month's staff spotlight.

We are currently very 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.

Whilst we are so busy on our helpline, please look at other ways you can get information, advice and support from us. We have a vast range of resources, booklets and bitesize training videos on our website:

Video's, Information and links | Norfolk SENDIASS

Equally our Engagement and Advice Workers are out and about across Norfolk doing drop ins, in Libraries. Have a look at our website for more information:

Engagement and Advice Library drop in sessions | Norfolk SENDIASS

Free online training for parent/carers

FREE ONLINE TRAINING FOR PARENT/CARERS

Norfolk SENDIASS and Kids Mediation and Disagreement Resolution Service are joining forces to present free parent/carer online training on:

· Who is Norfolk SENDIASS?
· Who are Kids?
· What is Mediation?
· What is Disagreement Resolution?
· What is the purpose/point of attending Mediation and how can it be worthwhile

This virtual training is for parent/carers and will include a Q&A at the end. This online training will be recorded (not the Q&A session). The training coincides with Norfolk SENDIASS’s ‘Focus Week’ on Phase Transfer with an EHCP.

Wednesday 29th January 12pm-13:30pm

BOOK NOW

Focus week - Phase transfer

Our next focus week will run from the 27th of January to the 2nd February focussing on Phase transfer. Across the week we will be sharing information, resources and useful links relating to Phase transfer on all of our social media channels.

Facebook

X (formerly Twitter)

Instagram

Phase transfer update

We are edging closer and closer to the phase transfer deadline for those children and young people with an EHCP that are moving from one phase of education to another.

A new phase of education is defined in regulation 2 of the SEN and Disability Regulations 2014 (the “SEN Regs”) as a transfer from:

(a) early years education to school
(b) infant school to junior school
(c) primary school to middle school
(d) primary school to secondary school
(e) middle school to secondary school
(f) secondary school to a post-16 institution.

The process should start no later than the Autumn term of the year before the child or young person is due to move from one phase of education to another.

The process starts with the Local Authority (LA) reviewing the EHCP.

Following the review LA sends proposed amendments and a copy of the plan (with section I left blank) to the parent or young person.

The parent/carer or young person has 15 calendar days to have their say about the content of the plan and to request that a particular place of learning is named.

The local authority then issues a final amended plan with a letter giving parents or the young person the right of appeal by the statutory deadlines which are:

31st March if the transfer is from secondary school to a post 16 placement
or 15th February in all other cases

If the parent/carer or young person is unhappy with the placement named for September they will then have a right to appeal this decision, but they will only have two months in which to lodge an appeal following the final EHCP.

For more information please have a look at the resources on our website or book a helpline call with us.

Staff spotlight

Hello, my name is Imogen Pagendam - I am excited to share that I have recently joined the Norfolk SENDIASS team as the new helpline adviser. Within my new role I will be supporting families and young people with confidential and impartial information on matters related to SEND.

Before my time with Norfolk SENDIASS began, I completed a BA Education degree, followed by teacher training in General Primary. I worked as a primary school teacher and maths lead, with experience primarily in Early Years and Key stage 1. I was fortunate enough to work with and support many wonderful students and their families, and I look back on this time as a real privilege. During my time as a teacher, I supported many students with SEND and I worked hard to ensure that my classroom environment was inclusive, accessible and welcoming for all.

I am passionate about advocating for others and I am very excited to see where my new role takes me. I am really looking forward to continuing to contribute meaningfully and support those who need it most within the community.

Norfolk SEND Youth Forum update

We had 7 young people attend our meeting this month, with two members sending their apologies. We were delighted to hear about Christmas highlights, news and updates from everyone.

This month we had a guest speaker attend, called Rebecca Crossley, NHS, who came along to share information about a new pilot project; in summary this addresses children and young people who are identified as having Global Development Delay, but where this is recognised not as a diagnosis, but as something which can change and therefore needs to be reviewed by health professionals.

We also shared a video made by the NCC Participation Team, promoting the SEND Survey, and uses direct quotes from Forum members, and the voice over was spoken by one of our members too!! We are encouraging and supporting our young people and their families to complete this survey, as this provides a genuine insight and understanding of peoples lived experiences of living in Norfolk, with SEND, and provides the evidence and data to improve SEND services.

If you are a child or young person with SEND, or a parent/carer, or a professional working within SEND services, the SEND survey provides you with an opportunity for your voice to be heard. There are a wide range of support and formats to help you complete the survey. Please click on the link below to get more information, and access the survey.

https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/40969/Norfolk-SEND-survey

If you are a young person and would like to join this brilliant group, or you are a professional seeking to consult with our experts, by experience, please complete an online registration form by clicking on the link below.

https://www.norfolksendiass.org.uk/young-people/youth-forum

Bridget Robinson, Engagement and Advice Worker

Engagement and Outreach update

Well, what a cold and frosty start to the year we’ve had but still a busy one for everyone.

We finished off 2024 with a few of the drop-ins but by also making an appearance at the South Norfolk Family Winter Event in Long Stratton hosted by South Norfolk Family Hub Team. We went along to meet families and talk to young people but they didn’t tell us our stand would be outside!!! Luckily, they kept supplying us with hot tea and seeing Santa helped!

Library Drop-in Sessions

We have been busy organising library drop-in sessions for the new year and already have lots in our diary planned. Check out where we will be by scanning the QR code below. They are a good chance to chat with one of our Engagement and Advice workers in a friendly, relaxed and local place. We can give parent carers and young people next step advice around all SEND processes including SEN Support, EHCP’s, Mediation, Tribunals, Disability Discrimination and much more.

The QR code also tells you when and where we will make appearances at community events too, as well as any outreach opportunities – we really are trying to get out and about.

If you know of any outreach events or if you know of a group of young people with SEND who want support with their education and rights then please get in touch with us on: nsendiassengagement@norfolk.gov.uk.

Schools and Communities Team - Have you heard of them?

We’re also working closely with these teams all over the county. They are working in all schools to support families of young people with emerging SEND needs.

We have joined them at school events, including SEND cafes, Parent surgeries and staff workshops. We can add an impartial view to the discussion as well as give next steps advice to individual situations. And it’s proving a hit!

One school said ‘I didn’t realise how helpful SENDIASS are. I learnt loads and will definitely be inviting them along to support our parents again’.

Hamlet Centre Youth Forum

We’ve been supporting the new youth forum group at Hamlet Centre to have their voices heard.

The young people decided they wanted to do something about a small play area close to their centre so they could use it more often. They said ‘it needs to be more inclusive’. We got thinking about who needs to hear what they’ve got to say and brought in the Norwich City Council Parks Development Officer, Richard Green, to listen to their thoughts and he really is listening! The group is keen to add signage, improve benches and add new, accessible equipment so conversations are well under way to make some of the changes the young people think are important and will make a difference to the community. They are also going to be involved in the Council’s Play Strategy and will be consulted on the developments of other nearby open spaces.

Have a look at the issue one youngster raised – He really does have a point!

It’s very exciting that changes may happen due to this group so we’ll keep you informed of how the group are impacting their community.

Have your say! Message from Norfolk County Council

Message from Norfolk County Council:

Our special educational needs and disability (SEND) survey 2025 is open Monday 13 January - Sunday 23 February 2025. We really need your views on SEND services and support in Norfolk.

Our survey is for parents, carers, professionals who work with children and young people with SEND and their families, and young people with SEND who are aged 25 or younger.

There is a wide range of support and alternative formats to help you complete the survey.

Complete the SEND Survey 2025 on our Consultation Hub

Why we want people to complete the SEND survey
The more feedback we get the more accurate picture we have of:

How people in Norfolk are experiencing SEND services and support
What we need to improve

Places of learning are encouraged to make time for children and young people with SEND to complete the survey.
If your child does not attend a place of learning, please encourage and support your child to complete the SEND survey.

How we use the survey feedback
We read all SEND survey feedback and act on it.
Our last SEND survey was in 2023. We analysed the 2023 survey feedback and produced a 2023 survey summary and three reports.
Senior leaders used the reports' findings to act on what needs to happen to improve the lives of children and young people with SEND, and their families.
The survey feedback helped us to shape our Norfolk Area SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy (NASPAS).
The feedback also led to different teams taking actions which you can read about in our 'You said, We did' SEND in Norfolk report 2023-2024.
Other activity is still happening as part of our Local Area Inclusion Plan.
After the 2025 survey, we will publish feedback reports. We will publish these on the SEND Local Offer for everyone to read.
We will use the results to help us update our Local Area Inclusion Plan for 2025-2027. We will also publish a yearly progress update on actions every July.

Law Commission Consultation

Have your say – Law commission consultation on disabled children’s social care law

The Law Commission is reviewing the legal framework governing social care for disabled children in England to ensure that the law is fair, modern and accessible, allowing children with disabilities to access the support they need.

We have published a consultation paper asking people to tell us about their experiences of the current system and setting out our provisional proposals on how it could be improved. We invite views on these proposals. The consultation is open until 20 January 2025.

We recommend that consultees read the full consultation paper, available here, before responding to the consultation. A shorter summary is available here and an Easy Read version here. Large print and audio versions of the summary are also available on the project web page. If you need any of the documents in an alternative format which is not available above please email us at: dcsc@lawcommission.gov.uk.

We invite responses from anyone with experience of, or interest in, social care for disabled children. We particularly encourage responses from children and young people, parents and carers, and social workers and local authorities. Responses can be provided using the online form that is available here.

Green Futures: Youth Project

North Norfolk District Council are delighted to introduce Green Futures: Youth Project, a new initiative funded and designed with the North Norfolk Youth Advisory Board which aims to inspire and empower young people in North Norfolk to take an active role in tackling environmental challenges.

The NNDC Leisure team will be delivering a suite of FREE activities for young people between the ages of 11-19 (or up to 25 with additional needs) which provide hands on learning opportunities with a focus on environment, conservation, climate change & the importance of green spaces.

Activities include eco workshops, habitat building, and a chance to ‘get to know’ the local wildlife with our ranger team -including reptiles, minibeasts and birds, among others, plus some fun sessions including axe throwing & caricature drawing.

To be eligible for a free space attendees must live, or be educated in North Norfolk. If you need any further information please click here: Home | Council launches Green Futures: Youth Project

SENDIASS Spotlight - Jan 25