SENDIASS Spotlight - September 2023

Sections

1. SENDIASS UPDATE
2. Advice Clinics
3. Staff Spotlight
4. Professional referrals
5. Important booking appointment information
6. Case Law Update
7. A successful transition for children with SEND – what does this look like:
8. Norfolk SEND Youth Forum Update
9. Making Sense of SEND
10. Just diagnosed
11. Help us develop a "Norfolk Commitment"

SENDIASS UPDATE

Over the last few months SENDIASS has been going through a restructure within the service, this is to increase our current capacity so that we can offer more casework, training and reduce our helpline wait times. This has been a big change for us and includes new roles and a new structure within the team.

We will now have dedicated SENDIASS Advisors whose role will be to hold large caseloads and provide advocacy, we will have a dedicated Helpline Advisor whose role will be to provide information and advice via our telephone helpline, we will have Engagement and Advice Workers whose role will be working primarily with children and young people providing them with advocacy, training around their rights and increasing the reach of our SEND Youth Forum and lastly we will have a Senior Advisor who will have a varied role that includes supporting with casework representation.

Please bear with us during this transition period whilst we are moving from our old ways of working to our new ways. We will hopefully be able to give more information around the restructure in next month’s newsletter including any vacant posts.

Advice Clinics

Book an hour face to face appointment with one of our SEND Advisors to discuss or review paperwork related to special educational needs in education.
 

The advice clinic appointments are strictly to review or discuss paperwork so please make sure to bring this with you.

For example, we can support with:

• EHC Needs Assessment paperwork
• SENDIST (First Tier Tribunal) paperwork
• Draft Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

Staff Spotlight

Belinda Coxall - Business Support Officer
 

I am Belinda and I have worked for Norfolk SENDIASS as a business support officer since 2017 and it is one of the best jobs I have had in my career within customer services.

I work on a Wednesday to Friday and I am one of the main contacts so when you call in I will be at the other end of the phone to help you. I can advise you on how to book an appointment or signpost you to information on our website or give you details on who you need to contact.

I also monitor the on-line booking system on our website where you can book a call back. The sending out and chasing of the consultation form is part of my job and it would help me a lot if the consultation forms could be completed and returned as soon as you can.

I also do the administration work for the Youth Forum and the group meets on-line once a month via TEAMS. The monthly meeting is one of the highlights of my role and I look forward to seeing and hearing what the members have to say. If there are any Young People who would like to know more about the Forum you can visit our website or you can get in touch with me.

Professional referrals

If you are a professional and looking for some information, advice or support you can complete an online Professional Referral From and one of our advisors will contact you.

Professional Referral Form

Important booking appointment information

If you book an appointment with us you will be sent by email, a short online consultation form. This must be completed to avoid your appointment being cancelled. You can manage your booking and make any changes through your booking confirmation email.

Case Law Update

High Courts and Upper Tier Tribunals can make rulings on parts of the law that need clarifying (the grey areas), those rulings are called ‘Case Law’.

Following a Case Law ruling all other Courts and Tribunals then have to follow this and it takes precedent over what the law says.

R (L, M, and P), v Devon County Council [2022]

The above ruling has been classed as a ‘landmark case’ to come through the High Court, it finally provides clarity in relation to Annual Review deadlines when amending an EHCP.

Before the ruling, the law stated that following an Annual Review meeting the Local Authority (LA) must send a decision letter within four weeks to the parent/carer or young person on what they propose to do; maintain, amend, or cease the EHCP. If the LA chose to amend the EHCP they would then have to issue an amended draft ‘as soon as is practicable’ but as there was no defined time frame this phrase would be open to interpretation and could result in lengthy delays.

The High Court in this ruling found that there is a timeframe in which LA’s must complete the Annual Review. Following the ruling, if the LA decide to amend the EHCP following the Annual Review meeting they must send the decision letter and the draft EHCP to the parent/carer or young person within four weeks of the meeting. Parent/carers and young people will then have 15 days to provide comments on the draft EHCP.

The ruling made clear that LA’s must send the parent or young person the final amended EHCP within a maximum of 12 weeks of the annual review meeting.

A successful transition for children with SEND – what does this look like:

As part of the transition in the previous school there should have been meetings between yourself, the current SENCo and the new SENCo to discuss your child or young person’s needs, how the current educational placement is meeting them and how the new educational placement will meet them. All documentation related to your child or young person (for example SEN Support plans, EHCPs) should be shared with the new educational placement so they know how to support them.

Once your child or young person has started at their new educational placement, we would advise that you speak with the class teacher and/or the SENCo to reinforce the previous discussion regarding your child or young person’s needs and to ensure there is a robust SEN Support Plan in place and that provision from either the SEN Support plan or EHCP is happening.

Having regular contact with the school will enable you and the setting to address any emerging problems that may have arisen during the first few weeks and ensure that the plan puts in the right level of support and where appropriate, reasonable adjustments to meet your child or young person’s special educational needs.

A “successful transition” is where your child or young person’s needs are being met by the education setting through a SEN Support Plan or EHCP and your child is enjoying and thriving at school.

If things are not going well then request a meeting with the teacher/SENCO to express your concerns and to ensure that the correct level of SEN Support is in place/ the provision detailed in the EHCP is still relevant and being provided. If changes need to be made to the EHCP then you and the school will need to have a conversation with the EHCP Co-ordinator. If the educational placement is struggling to find the correct SEN Support then you can request that they seek outside support from professionals such as an educational psychologist.

If you need further advice or information on this subject, please book an appointment to speak with us.

Here are some useful links: -
SEN Support in an educational setting | Norfolk SENDIASS
SEN Support Guidance Provision Expected at SEN Support (PEaSS) (norfolk.gov.uk)
NEW-SEN-support-plan-template.pdf (norfolksendiass.org.uk)
Transition (justonenorfolk.nhs.uk)
An overview of Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCP’s) | Norfolk SENDIASS
Reviewing an Education, Health & Care Plan (Annual Review) | Norfolk SENDIASS
Reading and understanding an Education Health & Care Plan (EHCP) | Norfolk SENDIASS

Norfolk SEND Youth Forum Update

On July 15^th we met face to face with our members at County Hall, with their parents/carers to review the work undertaken by the group, to celebrate their achievements, and also to identify the priorities for the group for the coming year.  It was a great day, (and a great lunch), and it was an ideal opportunity for the children and young people to collaborate with us in planning future activities, and to identify our priorities for the Forum for the coming year.

We were also able to reward our members hard work and contributions and they were each awarded a certificate and a gift voucher, as a small token of our appreciation for their continued commitment to improving SEND services for children and young people in Norfolk.

It is now the beginning of a new academic year, and we are looking forward to our first on-line meeting since the summer break, which is next week, on Wednesday 20^th September, 6.30 – 7.30pm.  Now is an ideal time for potential new members to consider joining this amazing group of young people!  We will continue to have monthly on-line meetings but we can now offer more opportunities to meet in person for Youth Forum business as well as some  social activities which members have told us they want more of!! 

If you are interested in joining then please complete the on-line Registration form and we will invite you along!!

Please remember that we appreciate that not all children and young people want to attend meetings, but do still want to share their experiences and be part of a community which celebrates diversity.  We are always keen to hear from any young person, where they might want to share their experiences but in a different way, and if this is you please do get in contact, and we will work with you to also have your voice heard!

Please find below, a poem written by one of our members; who uses the creative arts in a variety of ways to have her voice heard, and has granted us permission to share this with you.

Bridget Robinson, Children and Young People Supporter

Making Sense of SEND

This is a free information fair that is for parent & carers, and gives them the opportunity to find out information from lots of different services and ask them questions.

An engagement session will also be delivered by Dawn Jones & Anna Harvey (Inclusion Advisers) who will be asking parent carers to share their experiences of SEN Support.

BOOK YOUR PLACE

Just diagnosed

Free 4 -week course for parent/caters whose children are suspected of having Autism Spectrum Disorders or have just been diagnosed with ASD.  Book your place by emailing the below link or calling 07780 887348

BOOK YOUR PLACE

Help us develop a "Norfolk Commitment"

Norfolk County Council SEND and Inclusion Team are looking to hear from parents/carers about what they feel would make school more inclusive, welcoming and safe for children and young people with SEND.

Have your say 
Deadline has been extended to the 29th September