10:59 am, Monday, 20th December 2021
SEND weekly parent and carer update
This is the final SEND newsletter before Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you in 2022.
This week:
SEND Awards
The SEND Award Ceremony was an idea from local children and young people with SEND who thought that an award ceremony would be a lively, empowering, uplifting, and positive way to bring people together and put SEND at centre stage showing all the great things we all can achieve.
There were over 100 nominations. Read the nominations. NELC SEND Local Offer | SEND Award winners and nominations (nelincs.gov.uk).
And the winners are…
The other contributors from the community who are supporting the initiative with donations and prizes are:
- Lincs Inspire
- The Waste Team Charity
- Candiland
- Eclipse Gymnastics
- Daniella Draper
Thank you
We really appreciate all the local businesses, charities, and organisations and the people behind them who have generously donated to our ceremony to make it extra special for the children and young people and their families. Your generosity is going towards some exciting prizes, as well as food and decorations at the event to bring the children’s idea of ‘a night at the movies’ to life.
We would also like to thank everyone who nominated a friend, colleague, education setting, teacher or anyone who they think deserves to be recognised. There have been many grateful messages from people who are delighted and surprised to be recognised. It’s inspiring to see so much pride and gratitude shared by everyone.
Attending the ceremony
The panel was made up of the YPAG group and four special guests, Councillor Ian Lindley, Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Skills, Rob Walsh, Chief Executive at North East Lincolnshire Council and NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG, local teacher and lunchbox hero Zane Powles, and Debra Gray, Principal at Grimsby Institute.
These special guests will also be presenting awards at the Ceremony alongside The Worshipful the Mayor of the Borough of North East Lincolnshire Cllr David Hasthorpe.
There were a total of 141 nominations. The whole panel were very impressed by the quality of the nominees and said that “everyone deserves to win.”
The SEND Award Ceremony will take place on Friday, 21 January from 5pm-7pm in the Assembly Room at the Grimsby Town Hall, Town Hall Square, DN31 1HU.
Because there are a limited number of tickets for the event, they are by invite only and have been reserved for winners and their family to attend.
The ceremony will be recorded and shared publicly. This way anyone who cannot attend can still enjoy the event. There will be a separate area at the event for anyone who cannot be filmed.
New EHCP Co-ordinators
Meet our new EHCP Co-ordinators.
Emily-Rose James
Hi everyone,
I have worked within the local authority for almost 9 years now. I began as a Community play development worker and stayed within that role throughout various transitions into a Families first practitioner. Within my previous role I worked directly with children, young people and their families offering support for various reasons including supporting children with SEN and their parents.
Throughout the COVID pandemic my work became primarily involved with providing parenting support to families of children with SEN and supporting them with behaviour management, supporting through the Access Pathway process and helping them to access the support they need. I am really looking forward to working within this team as an Education, Health and Care plan co-ordinator as this is an area of my role that I have always been passionate about.
Outside of work I like to spend my time with my little boy and my husband. We also have a crazy 2 year old springador, so we spend lots of time arranging play dates with his doggy friends to try and tire him out!
Stacey H
I have been a part of team NELC for over 11 years now. In this time, I have worked for various departments such as environmental services, Education transport and most recently, Education Welfare. Having worked in education within children’s services for the past 6 years, it is somewhere I wanted to stay but progress and enhance my knowledge further therefore I felt the move to the SEND service was an exciting opportunity to enable me to do this. I am looking forward to starting my new role as an Education, Health & Care plan Co-ordinator and meeting new people/colleagues along the way.
In my spare time I enjoy playing netball, eating out and spending time with friends and family.
Jo Eggleston
I started work with NELC around 5 years ago as a sessional worker for the youth offending service while I was at university completing my health and social care degree. I moved over to the Willows project a year later on a more permanent basis to support unaccompanied asylum seeking children (USAC) aged 16-18 to live semi independently.
I am always looking to progress my knowledge and skills and taking the step to become an EHCP Coordinator is a welcome challenge, whilst concentrating on post 16 utilises some of my current skills.
I have a 9 year old son and we both have a love of all things space and astronomy so we spend a lot of time looking through our telescope.
Parent representatives needed
Parent representatives are needed to get involved in our work across education, health and social care preparing young people for an adult life that enables them to live the lives they want to in their communities, including employment, being independence, friends and social activities.
The preparing for adulthood group meets monthly at 1.30pm on the first Thursday of the month. If you would like to join to drive and shape our developments to improve outcomes for young people with SEND aged 14-25 so they have full and fulfilling lives.
Please contact Angie Kershaw to learn more and get involved, Angie.Kershaw@nelincs.gov.uk.
The first in the series of preparing for adulthood Q&A’s for professionals was a success.
Professionals can see this recording on the ‘Professionals’ page of the Local Offer. NELC SEND Local Offer | Professionals (nelincs.gov.uk)
Autism in Schools
One of the themed areas of the autism in schools project is around promoting a better understanding of neurodiversity by providing training or continued professional development to increase knowledge and awareness of parents/carers and professionals. This programme of support will be rolled out into the 10 pilot schools which are:
Primary Schools
- Bursar Primary Academy
- Littlecoates Primary Academy
- Queen Mary Avenue Infants
- Signhills infants Academy
- St Joseph’s Catholic Primary
- Weelsby Academy
- Woodlands Academy
- Wybers Wood Academy
Secondary Schools
- Havelock Academy
- Ormiston Maritime Academy
What have we done so far?
- Undertaken a training needs analysis of SEND in ALL schools in NEL
- Reviewed with our highly specialist clinicians most common presenting needs
- Asked some of our parents/carers and ex-service users what training would be useful
- Developed a draft training framework for the project – outlined below
Training Framework – Parents/ Carers Autism in schools project.
- Making Sense of Autism
- Autism and Girls
- What is ADHD?
- Intellectual Disability Vs Learning Disability
- Awareness and understanding of Sensory Processing difficulties (introduction)
- Anxiety
- Selective Mutism
- Trauma and attachment
- Positive Behavioural Support/ how to regulate emotions
- Bereavement and loss
- Transitions
The list above is only the start for the project and as we start to have more conversations, with children, young people, parents, carers and professionals I’m sure more suggestions will follow. We would also like to say that although this training will be targeted to the 10 pilot schools initially, we are looking to expand this opportunity to all parents in NEL once we have evaluated the programme, so please take a look and let us know if there is anything missing and help us shape the offer further!
Please email us at fmld@nelccg.nhs.net with your suggestions or if your child attends one of the 10 pilot schools, register your interest to find out more about these workshops.
Did you know?
We have bitesize training available totally free of charge, online and able to be taken at a time that suits you? To find out more visit Parent/Carer workshops
Topics include; ADHD, Anxiety, Autism, Health Anxiety, what is mental health, low mood-depression, self-harm and social anxiety.
Christmas tips for autism
“Christmas can be an exciting and fun time. But new activity can be overwhelming for some of us, particularly when we’re also dealing with the impact of coronavirus. We might have to adapt some of our usual plans but that shouldn’t stand in the way of an autism-friendly Christmas.”
Read the Christmas Tips from National Autistic Society. Tips (autism.org.uk).
Vaccinations
For up-to-date information regarding eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations and booster doses please visit the NHS Website COVID-19 Vaccination page.
Book or manage a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
If your child aged 12 and over missed their vaccination at school they may be able to be vaccinated at a drop-in clinic.
COVID Vaccine Drop In Clinics • NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG
If you have any queries about boosters please contact Sarah Harding, Designated Clinical Officer, designatedclinicalofficer@nelincs.gov.uk.
Support for children and young people to be vaccinated
We appreciate that for some children and young people attending a vaccination appointment can be daunting and they may require additional support to prepare in advance for this.
If you require any adjustments to be made such as centre access arrangements, specific appointment times at quieter times of the day, photographs of centre facilities and staff to support with preparation for an appointment please do not hesitate to contact our vaccination sites directly or contact Sarah Harding the Designated Clinical Officer (SEND) who will be happy to support with this.
Issues with the EHC Hub
Following Thursday’s upgrade to live EHC Hub, our service desk has received several recurring queries about users not being able to progress a case, save changes, and similar issues.
In these instances, the most likely cause is the user’s own web browser having cached the previous view of the hub. This means that the web browser remembers the make-up of a web page from a previous visit.
The resolution should be for the user to clear the cache and cookies in their web browser. Clearing the web browser’s history should not be necessary.
Find out how: NELC SEND Local Offer | Issues with the EHC Hub (nelincs.gov.uk)
Support for people who are struggling this winter
Lots of support is available to help people with everything from financial problems to homelessness and mental health.
Learn about some of the main services out there for you. Support available for people who are struggling this winter – NELC | NELC (nelincs.gov.uk)
The Household Support Grant scheme, funded by the Department of Work and Pensions, is now open to North East Lincolnshire residents over 16 years of age to provide support to households in most need this winter as the economy recovers from the impact of COVID. The maximum grant available is £250.
The grants are specifically for those who are struggling to afford food, energy and water bills, and other related essentials. To be eligible the household will need to provide evidence that they have an income of less than £20,000 and have savings of less than £500.
Useful contacts
- 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 website for North East Lincolnshire.
- 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
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. Get in touch 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
Web chat
We’re pleased to announce that in the New Year we will have more availability to be contacted through our webchat facility.
Simply visit the SENDIASS website between the hours of 9.30am and 1.30pm, from Monday to Friday, and a project worker will be available to chat to online.
If you have questions about SEND we are always here to help. Please don’t hesitate to email sen@nelincs.gov.uk. We always try to make sure that children and parents/ carers voices are heard.
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 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.