SEND weekly parent and carer update

Ofsted revisit. Letter to parent carers

You may be aware that we have been expecting an Ofsted/ Care Quality Commission (CQC) Special Educational Needs and Disabilities revisit of North East Lincolnshire Council following on from their initial inspection in July 2018.

This week we have been notified that the revisit will take place from Monday 21 to Wednesday 23 March 2022.

Parent carers are invited to be involved in the inspection process.

You will see that Ofsted are interested in the Written Statement of Action. This is a document that was created from their observations during their last visit.

Read the formal letter to parent carers from Ofsted inviting families to be involved in the inspection process.

Ofsted revisit Letter to parent carers. (Word Doc, 139 KB)

Read the Written Statement of Action on the ‘SEND Local Area Inspection page’. NELC SEND Local Offer | SEND Local Area Inspection (nelincs.gov.uk).

Join North East Lincolnshire Parent Participation Forum (NELPPF)

Join North East Lincolnshire Parent Participation Forum (NELPPF).

Are you a parent carer of a child aged 0-25 with additional needs that lives in North East Lincs?

Join NELPPF to meet other parent carers, talk about issues that impact you, your children and your family, work with local organisations to make positive changes, and more.

Email nelppf@carerssupportcentre.com or call 01472 322277.

Activities

Do you know where to go to find local things to do?

• Follow Families First on social media. (4) Families First | Facebook
• Check out the Community Spotlight calendar. Community Spotlight – NELC | NELC (nelincs.gov.uk)
• Look at Discover NEL for activities for the littluns, grownups, and the whole family. Discover North East Lincolnshire | The Official website for Cleethorpes, Grimsby and surrounding area

There are local activities for all, and for those with SEND.

• (4) The Trin | Facebook
• Lincs Inspire
• Disability Football – Grimsby Town Sports & Education Trust (gtset.co.uk)
• (7) Nunnys Farm | Facebook

Search Autism Hour or Quiet Hour to find places that offer an autism, and additional needs, friendly experience during specific times.

Places like Freshney Place, Parkway Cinema, and Morrisons invite you to come in in their quieter times for a relaxed experience, with no judgement, so that you and your child can be comfortable.

We need your views! Speech, language and communication needs

Have you had your chance to have your say on our speech, language and communication services?

There are only four questions to answer.

Your child doesn’t have to have been through clinical services. They may get support in school for mild to moderate speech, language and communication needs. This survey still applies to them.

Take the survey. Speech, Language and Communication Services – This survey is created by QuestionPro | QuestionPro Survey.

Find out more about why we are gathering your views and the see the bigger project to improve these services.

NELC SEND Local Offer | Speech Language and Communication engagement (nelincs.gov.uk)

Capturing the voice of the child

Parent carers asked us how we capture the voice of the child to ensure the child’s wants and needs are reflected in things like EHC Plans.

This is a great question and all professionals work hard to make sure that all children and young people are listened to, and that what they say is acted upon wherever it is possible.

We have added this guidance to the Professionals page. Parent carers might be interested to take a look to see how professionals facilitate discussion for children and young people of varying needs and abilities.

NELC SEND Local Offer | Capturing the voice of the child (nelincs.gov.uk)

Limited places for successful SEND Internship Programme

Join Project SEARCH, a world renowned, successful programme for people with a learning disability or autism.

Young adults are encouraged to learn more about the DFN Project SEARCH programme at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital.

We are at a crucial stage, needing to identify and recruit 8-10 interns for this September 2022.

The programme starts on Tuesday 6 September.

Watch this uplifting video and see the interns fulfilling and varied roles, how they help others and are supported themselves, and the brilliant effect it has had on their wellbeing, self-esteem and more.

Contact Sarah Boughen for more information and to apply.

Email: sarah.boughen@linkage.org.uk

Please note: These contact details have been updated. If you previously contacted Angie Kershaw, your request will still be picked up.

Update to SENDIAS Service

After a lengthy tendering process, we have opted to bring our SENDIAS Service in-house to provide our parents and young people with the best possible advice and support.

The specification for this service was written with families of children and young people with SEND, and we know how much this service means to them. Many of the familiar faces from SENDIASS who work tirelessly to support our families will continue to do so under this new service.

Lots of other Council’s in England provide their SENDIAS Services in this way and we have already started to learn from their experiences to build a really supportive and impartial service.

Our local SENDIAS Service will continue to have a separate database, website and email, independent of the local authority.

If you have any queries about this, please get in touch with clare.linfitt@nelincs.gov.uk.

Design the new SENDIASS Logo

We have an exciting opportunity for local students to be the creator of a new logo for SENDIASS.

All local schools have been invited to participate.

Interested? Find out more NELC SEND Local Offer | Design the new SENDIASS Logo (nelincs.gov.uk).

Need some inspiration? Watch this video to find out wat makes a great logo.

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