Lancashire SEND Partnership

Lancashire SEND Partnership is hosting three more events in the north and west of the county for parent carers to talk about SEND issues with local professionals.

So far this year, 12 events have been held across Lancashire where parents have met designated clinical officers, SEN co-ordinators, senior managers from the inclusion service and members of the information advice and support team.

Book your place in St Anne's 

We will post upcoming events at different locations when they become available.

Head teachers, SEN co-ordinators, SEND officers and early years' managers will be attending a series of workshops in July to discuss important SEND issues with the inclusion service from Lancashire County Council.

Eighteen events will be held in the north, south and east of Lancashire and they follow on from the successful meetings hosted in the autumn term.

Educators wishing to attend can email SENDPartnerhsip@lancashire.gov.uk for more information.

Newly appointed SEN co-ordinators (SENCOs) from Lancashire primary and secondary schools recently attended a one-day workshop to improve their knowledge about supporting children with additional needs. The event was hosted by the school improvement service from Lancashire County Council.

Part of their meeting involved sharing examples of good practice they have supported within their school. This included:

• SENCo led drop-ins for parents before the end of school allowing families to meet each other, share experiences and offer support.
• Stay and play sessions for parents to meet SENCOs and teaching assistants to learn about phonics and other teaching aids which will help their child at home.
• After school workshops to share advice with parents about online safety, useful web resources and other general SEN matters.

In all cases, parents reported how useful it was to meet other parents in similar situations and that the meetings helped build stronger relationships between the families and school.

The course attendees had many useful examples and the SEND Partnership will collate these cases and share more details over the next few months. More examples will also be gathered during the SENCO cluster meetings in June.

Pictured above is David Bird (left) SEN inclusion advisor for Lancashire County Council and Gareth Jenkins (3^rd from right) Engagement lead for Lancashire SEND Partnership, alongside SENCO delegates at the Farington Hotel, Leyland.

POWAR the council for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities have created a survey for young people with SEND to share what they think is the top issue for them. Once the results are in, POWAR will create a campaign to raise awareness of and tackle the issue.

POWAR would like to hear the voices of children and young people through this survey and ask that you share it with your child/young person so POWAR can collate as many views as possible.

www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/EmPOWAR

If your child or young person would like to join POWAR, or you would like more information about the group, please email Mia Leyland on mia.leyland@barnardos.org.uk.  

Theo Bishop, 16, from Fallbarn Crescent, Rawtenstall, is beginning his training in the hopes to compete in Paralympian table tennis at the 2020 Paralympics.

The teenager, who currently attends Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 14 months old. Theo used a frame to walk and was restricted from taking part in physical activity. Theo's passion grew for table tennis when a coach came to school and began talking about the sport. From that moment onwards, his passion grew, says his mother Mandy Bishop. "Theo raised money for a life changing operation in 2012. We raised £48,000 to take him to America for a treatment which would allow him to stand without a frame. He has never looked back since and walks with a seat flap when he gets tired after walking long distances."

Later this year, Theo will attend a specialist table tennis college (Grantham College in Lincolnshire) to pursue his ambitions. He will train for two years away from home. Theo studies PE as one of his GCSE options and is expected 8 and 9's in his GCSE's. He hopes to study A-levels at the training academy. Mandy said "Theo has had to train really hard for this alongside balancing his school work. He had to have physio 16 hours a week to help him with his mobility after his operation, but he did not let it stop him from achieving his goals. He has already said that he wants to learn how to drive and has booked lessons in advance. Nothing can stop him and he is really passionate about this."

Theo has already represented Great Britain in the British Para Table Tennis competitions in Spain and Sweden.

Picture: Theo at British Para Table Tennis Competition 2018 – He won 2 bronze medals and 'player of the year' trophy.

The Local Area Partnerships (LAPs) provide two-way communication between families and senior practitioners. Each monthly meeting is hosted by the Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) who enables families to identify and address SEND issues at a local level. The LAPs meet in schools in the north, east and south of Lancashire and have representatives from health, education and the local authority who talk with parent carers and young people about their needs and identify any gaps in services.

To raise a question or concern in your area please contact your DCO before the next meeting:

Each LAP meeting is attended by at least one parent carer representative who will help ensure your voice is heard.

So far, nearly 2,000 people have contributed to the Personal Outcomes Evaluation Tool (POET) survey from In-Control.

Children, young people, families and practitioners across Lancashire can take part in the survey which is part of a national pilot to help local areas understand the impact of the SEND reforms.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete online using one of these links:

• Survey for parents or carers
• Survey for children and young people
• Survey for practitioners

The findings are being used to inform improvements and will enable the SEND Partnership to understand more about what is working well and where more improvement in needed. 

Read the 2017/18 report.

Lancashire SEND Partnership has published its new improvement plan which identifies the key priorities, actions, measures and targets for 2019 to 2020.

The updated plan follows last year's written statement of action (WSoA) which was required by Ofsted to detail Lancashire's response to the significant areas of concern identified in the 2017 inspection.

The actions set out in the plan will help deliver the Partnerships vision and strategy, jointly developed with families, education, health and local authority partners across Lancashire.

The improvement plan has four important priorities based on its future vision:

Priority 1: Plan for and meet the needs of children and young people
Priority 2: Become equal partners who understand and listen to each other
Priority 3: Develop services that are child centred, accessible and responsive
Priority 4: Ensure children and young people achieve their potential and ambitions