All-Age Disability (0 to 25) Newsletter
This will provide parents and carers of young people with SEND with news and updates within the service.
Welcome to the April All-Age (0-25) Disability Newsletter
Hello and welcome to the April edition of the All-Age Disability (0-25 years) Newsletter.
This month’s edition contains Mel Barnett’s update which is about our SEND Area Inspection which is happening now. You will also find updates from Early Years Inclusion and the Educational Psychologist Service as well as from Short Breaks and Activities.
The evidence of spring is all around us now (except perhaps for the weather!) and for those wanting to spend time outside we’ve included an article about different websites with information about outdoor spaces in Worcestershire.
Update from Mel Barnett
You are probably aware that Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will be visiting Worcestershire to inspect our local area arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Inspectors will be on site from 22 April to 26 April 2024.
The inspection will evaluate how well members of a local area partnership work together to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND.
During this inspection, the inspectors will collect information about children and young people in the area. They will be looking at local area records, speaking to area officers and leaders at settings, and speaking to children, young people and parents or carers. Ofsted and CQC will use this information to prepare the inspection report, and for the purposes set out in their privacy notices. No information will be published in the inspection report that identifies any individual.
Since our last inspection we have been working hard as a partnership to deliver improvements in SEND services for children and young people in Worcestershire and we are looking forward to being able to show the progress we have made and how experiences for children and young people with SEND have changed.
Groups, Activities and Short Breaks update
The Worcestershire Groups, Activities and Short Breaks have been commissioned up to June 2024; and this year we have joined this up with our Worcestershire Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. Through this work we have ensured that we have commissioned a diverse range of provisions that are able to meet children and young people’s needs both in terms of complexity and geographical locations. We are committed to continuing to develop this offer to Worcestershire children and we will be seeking feedback shortly from parent/carers and children and young people who have accessed these services over the Easter holidays to inform the summer holiday provision.
We are aware that some providers costs have increased significantly this year, this has resulted in them having to review the number of places they can offer. Both HAF, Groups, Activities and Short breaks are open to SEND children and young people; we ask that parents /carers to always check with providers that they are suitable for their child’s needs before booking a place.
For more information about groups and activities for children and young people with SEND is via this link Short break groups and activities.
To find out more about HAF Ready Steady Worcestershire - Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme.
Parent/carer feedback regarding Joint Assessment Meetings
Following the use of Joint Assessment Meetings (JAMs) with pre-school children for statutory assessment, the Educational Psychology Team have started to use this approach with school-aged children. To gather views of parent/carers who have been part of this process, we contacted a sample of 14 parent/carers, and were able to gain feedback from 2 to inform our next steps.
Please see the “You Said, We Did” overview for the findings from this work.
You Said We Did Parent/carer feedback for school age JAMs (PDF)
Survey asking for your views on the way services work together for young people moving into adulthood
Worcestershire County Council Adult Social Care Commissioning team are trying to improve their understanding of current services for 14–25-year-olds who may be moving from children’s social care to adult social care. This is to identify future commissioning needs across education, health and social care and improve pathways through services for young people and their families as they journey into adulthood and improve experience and outcomes.
The survey, which is open to all stakeholders, closes on April 22nd, 2024, and can be found by following this link: 14-25 commissioning needs assessment survey.
Early Years Inclusion Team Universal Offer
Worcestershire have Area SENCOs, who are teachers and SENCo Support Advisors (SSAs) who are specialists in SEN and disabilities. They work together and are part of the Inclusion Support Service. The principle focus of the Area SENCo strategic role is to support all Early Year’s providers and schools in the early identification and intervention for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities.
The Area SENCOs for each area will offer strategic setting support to all Early Years Providers. This includes:
- sharing high quality, inclusive practice across providers and schools
- providing day to day support to practitioners and early years SENCos put in place the Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs
- providing support to every provider in Worcestershire to monitor SEND provision
- planning and delivering high quality training to teachers, practitioners, and childminders to support children with SEN or disabilities
- providing continuous SENCo training programme ensuring a fully qualified SENCo in every early year’s provision
- having an overview of all the providers who claim SEND funding to support and provide guidance
- recommending training that is available to further providers skills and knowledge
- recommending appropriate funding to claim, with advice on how to spend it to best impact on the child’s development
More information on the inclusion funding available to early years providers can be found on the following link: Online inclusion funding application process.
Alongside the SENCo Support Advisors (SSAs), they may also be allocated individual children and offer specific support through the Early Years Inclusion Process as part of the Inclusion Support Services.
You can contact the Area SENCos directly on the details below:
- Sharon Andrews: Area SENCO (Redditch and Bromsgrove)
Email: SAndrews@worcschildrenfirst.org.uk
Telephone: 01905 843881 - Caroline Britton: Area SENCO (Wyre Forest)
Email: CBritton2@worcschildrenfirst.org.uk
Telephone: 01905 846942 - Amy Rowley: Area SENCO (South Worcestershire)
Email: ARowley@worcschildrenfirst.org.uk
Telephone: 01905 643962 - Annette Murray: Area SENCO (Droitwich, Wychavon and Redditch)
Email: AMurray@worcschildrenfirst.org.uk
Telephone: 01905 643643
Where to look for information about outside spaces to visit in Worcestershire
As the days get longer and the weather improves, getting out and about can help with our mental health. We’ve listed some websites below which have information about the outside spaces you can visit in beautiful Worcestershire. Hopefully the amount of rain we’ve been getting will slow down (or even stop!) and give the ground a chance to dry out, in the meantime, wellies might be in order when you visit!
Country parks, picnic places and nature reserves where you can search for country parks, picnic sites and nature reserves.
Walks in Worcestershire - Find out about walks in Worcestershire by using the directory of walks. You can also view walks on a map.
The Malvern Hills Trust site which contains information about walks and cycling routes.
Visit Worcestershire: Official Tourism Website, which includes Explore - Visit Worcestershire containing information about Worcester City and the different towns in the county.
National Trust Clent Hills information (they are part of the National Trust.)
Forestry England has sections on ‘Things to do’ and a ‘Find a forest or woodland’ search facility.
Walking & Exploring - Cotswolds National Landscape Search for walks in the Cotswolds.