UPDATE: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Weekly Newsletter

Updated on 19/01/2021
The Education, Health and Care Hub details have been updated.

This week in North East Lincolnshire.

Have your say!

Visit the annual SEND Survey. Tell us what you think of our local services in the SEND Annual Survey. It only takes about five minutes. Every year is different so please share your views.

I am a parent or carer
I am a child or young person

You can also find these on the SEND Local Offer, ‘Have your say’ section.

This week on the Local Offer

Free school meals Favourite the SEND Local Offer on your browser!

See some updates from this week below.
• We added news relating to new Government guidance and learning from home
• Added the Barnardo’s SEND Hub under the ‘Education’ tab on the Parent and Carer page.
• Updated the simplified Local Offer feedback form.

Free school meals

Read the guidance on the Local Offer news page.
For pupils who are in school, including vulnerable children and the children of critical workers, meals should be available free of charge to:
• all infant pupils
• pupils who meet the benefits-related free school meals eligibility criteria Schools have the option to decide upon the best approach for pupils – this includes lunch parcels, local vouchers or DfE national voucher scheme which reopens on 18 January.

Remote Learning Top Tips and Guidance

Parents, carers and pupils cannot apply for laptops, tablets or internet access.

You should contact your school for help accessing remote education.

Disadvantaged children can get support to temporarily increase their data allowances for mobile phone users on certain networks.

This is so that children and young people can access remote education if their face-to-face education is disrupted.

Our team have added lots more home learning under the ‘Education’ tab on the Local Offer, your main hub for local SEND.

Parents can use these simple online safety guides to better understand the technology their children are using and help keep them safe online.

Xbox and PlayStation can be used to access the internet and online learning.
Watch this tutorial to see how to connect an Xbox to the Internet.
Watch this tutorial to see how to connect an Xbox and PlayStation to Google Classroom.
Watch this tutorial to see how to connect an Xbox to Microsoft Teams.

School attendance

Read the Gov.uk guidance on education.
Last week attendance to school by children with an EHCP was 51% locally compared to 35.6% nationally. All NE Lincs educational settings are communicating with our Public Health team about new or suspected cases of COVID and the local position is being carefully monitored. Local Authority Education Link Officers contact settings regularly during the week to offer support or guidance.

Up next!

1. The SEND Local Offer is officially launching on 25 January. Why not set it as your homepage or favourite it on your browser to revisit?
2. You can be a part of it too! Share your story as a child or young person with SEND or as a family on our ‘Celebrating our children and young people‘ section! Email lauren.thompson2@nelincs.gov.uk to take part.
3. Coproduction! The Local Offer is coproduced with SEND children and young people and their parents/carers. We’ve had some great ideas so far like more video content, and simpler content. Check back to see the plans come alive online. In the meantime, why not give your feedback on the Local Offer feedback form?

Health

If parents and have any queries or have any health queries, please email designatedclinicalofficer@nelincs.gov.uk.

EHCP

The government now says an EHCP should not determine if a child is in school and that the whole provision made for them should be considered.

Education, Health and Care Plan online Hub

The EHC Hub is a software enables all professionals, parents, and carers to submit their updates, assessments, and advice onto a secure system, using their own user ID and password.
You will be able to sign up for a training session to use the hub.
Dates to be confirmed.
If you have any questions about this project or wish to discuss it further please contact, Rebecca Taylor, SEND Strategic Lead: Rebecca.taylor@nelincs.gov.uk.

EHCP Assessments

14 EHCP’s received in December This was the highest number of requests since July. 16 EHCP’s assessed in December The team were still receiving requests from the first and second lockdown and EP’s have been limited by the Government COVID restrictions. COVID measures like social distancing and the time factor affected when working with parents who had other obligations and increased responsibilities meant that we slipped out of our target goal to complete 90% of assessments in a 20 week timescale. For more information on general EHCP education and support calls please contact sen@nelincs.gov.uk

Useful numbers

The Sector Support ‘Community Service Fact Sheet’ has an extensive list of community support available for money, food, wellbeing, welfare and more.
See the Voluntary Sector Alliance COVID-19 updates page for more on financial support, health and wellbeing, local updates, COVID updates, community safety, volunteering and more.
• Report a concern online or call 01472 326292 (opt. 2)
• Support for those isolating without anyone to support them for supplies and more call the Council (01472) 313131
• Health – if you are struggling to manage your symptoms, call 111. If you are in urgent need of medical assistance, call 999
• Domestic Abuse (women and men). NEL Women’s Aid (01472) 575757, and Men’s Helpline, 0808 8010327
• Wellbeing – if you are struggling with your mental health, call (01472) 256256
• Carers’ Support Service (support for informal carers). Go online or call (01472) 242277
• NELPPF offers guidance and support for families of children and young people aged 0-25 years with SEND. Their General Advice Line is: 07583474892

Alcohol

Parents/carers are aware that at this anxious time some families have reported struggles with mental health and sought support for the overuse of alcohol.
Alcohol change UK offers COVID tips on alcohol and mental health.
We Are With You provides support for drugs and alcohol. You can also get in touch if you are worried about someone else’s drinking or drug use. Chat online or call- 01472 806890. Local charges apply. They also have information on their Facebook, @wearewithyoucharity.

SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs Disability Information Advice Support Service)

SENDIASS provides free impartial information, advice and support to disabled children and young people aged 0-25, and those with SEN. Hours Monday-Thursday, 8.30am- 4.30pm. Friday 8:30am- 4pm. Leave a message and we’ll get back to you within three days.
Email: nelincs@barnardos.org.uk
Facebook: @NELSENDIASS

SEND in North East Lincolnshire

We always try to ensure that parents/carers, children and young people’s voices are being heard. If parents have questions, please email, Clare Linfitt at clare.linfitt@nelincs.gov.uk or Jennifer Steel at Jennifer.steel@nelincs.gov.uk.

Specialist Advisory Service

The Specialist Advisory Service have continued to work hard throughout COVID.
The service has:
• Met with every SENCO about how children and young people with SEND are learning
• Met on Microsoft Teams for parents and children, SENCO’s, teachers, and other agency staff where needed. Without travel times we’ve met with more parents, children and professionals
• Contacted the parents and carers of children with an EHCP, as a courtesy, to check how their child(ren) are coping during lockdown, and attending Annual Reviews where needed
• Prepared Learning Packages for children who have newly arrived to NEL and are not yet on a school roll
• As well as this, the team has been working on Lockdown-related activities to support children, parents, and school staff.
These resources can all be found on the Local Offer
There’s more. Read the full update on the news page.

Read the latest COVID guidance

All NE Lincs educational setting are working with our Public Health team to communicate information regarding new or suspected cases of COVID and the local position is being carefully monitored. Local Authority Education Link Officers contact settings regularly during the week to offer support or guidance. If parents/carers have any questions about COVID and their child’s education, they can email school@nelincs.gov.uk and an education officer will directly respond to your communication. Emails can be sent at any time and will be responded to between 9am and 5pm, Monday-Friday.

These Weekly SEND parent/carer newsletters are shared with teams within education, health and social care as well as parents/carers SENCOs, the DfE and local charities. If you would like to be in the weekly meetings, you are most welcome and can contact clare.linfitt@nelincs.gov.uk for more information.

An accessible version of this newsletter can be found on the Local Offer news page. If parents/carers or young people over 16 do not have access to the internet or if they prefer to receive paper copies only please contact sen@nelincs.gov.uk.