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7 October 2022 Press Release from

Hello and welcome to Warwickshire County Council’s Warwickshire SEND newsletter.

This newsletter brings you news and information on special educational needs and disability (SEND) in Warwickshire.
In this month’s SEND newsletter there’s a reminder of the secondary school application process if your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan, details of two local events to support Autistic people, an invitation to community groups to join the new SEND Community Forum and advice for families struggling with the cost of living crisis. There’s also the latest update on the Written Statement of Action and we’re shining a spotlight on the Health Visiting service.
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Illustration of a parent and child and the words 'The deadline for applying for your child's secondary school place is October 31.

Secondary school preferences for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan
If your child attends a mainstream primary or junior school, and has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), they will usually be offered a Year 7 place at a mainstream secondary school.

For children currently in Year 6 with an EHCP and due to start secondary school in September 2023, parents and carers must complete this online form by Monday 31 October 2022 with their preferred secondary schools for their child. These preferences will be used by SENDAR to consult with settings and plan for the next academic year.

Letters have been sent to families and schools to explain the process and your child’s school will be organising the Year 6 Annual Review to take place early during the Autumn term to feed into this.

Please contact your child’s school or your child’s EHCP Coordinator if you need support to complete this form.
Complete the secondary school preference form here

Events to support Autistic people in Coventry and Warwickshire
Following the success of the conference held in April 2022, Act for Autism are hosting two in-person conferences launching the local Autism Strategy and providing an opportunity for people to learn more about support for autistic people in Coventry and Warwickshire.

The events are aimed at parents/carers, professionals and anyone with an interest in autism.

An exciting programme of inspirational keynote speakers includes autistic advocate, author and professional speaker, Paul Isaacs. Attendees can choose from a varied selection of workshops such as nurturing a positive autistic identity, getting the best out of school for your child or autism in adults, plus many more.

Local service providers will also be on hand to provide information and talk about the support available and there will be plenty of networking opportunities.

When and where

Saturday 19 November 2022 at the Nuneaton Campus of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College. Register for the Nuneaton conference here.

Saturday 21 January 2023 at Whitley Academy, Coventry. This is the rearranged date for the event originally scheduled for 10 September. Look out for further details in a future SEND newsletter or follow the Local Offer Facebook page.
Book your place at the Nuneaton Autism conference here
Illustration showing two adults and a young child

Community groups invited to make a difference
Community groups across Warwickshire working with families of children and young people with SEND are being invited to join a newly established SEND Community Forum.

The aim of the forum is to enable groups supporting families with SEND to come together to learn, share experiences and get involved with shaping future service provision across the county. The views of the forum will be used to inform the ongoing work across Warwickshire to help plan and develop the quality, range and accessibility of provision, creating better outcomes for families through participation and co-production.

The first forum, co-chaired by Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice, took place online in September and focused on relationship building and listening to feedback on particular needs within the community. The Forum will meet again on Wednesday 26 October and Wednesday 23 November, online at 7pm. If you would be interested in attending or would like any further information please email hello@warwickshireparentcarervoice.org or samcraven@warwickshire.gov.uk.
Photograph of young people taking part in one of the interactive sessions at the Local Offer event.

Young people share feedback to help
improve the Local Offer
Warwickshire young people aged 12-25 years with SEND were invited to share their feedback on the Local Offer in a unique event held at St Paul’s Church, Leamington, in August.

Organised by Warwickshire County Council in partnership with Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice (WPCV) and KIDS, the event aimed to highlight the importance of participation and how young people can get actively involved in matters that have an impact on their everyday lives.

Interactive sessions provided an opportunity to look at the Local Offer in detail and encouraged feedback on what works well and what could be improved. Following initial discussions, young people were encouraged to share their suggestions with senior leaders from Health and Education who agreed to take away their ideas for further discussion. Running alongside the session for young people, there was also an opportunity for parent carers to share their views and ideas.

Young people spoke about the importance of a system that works for them. They would like to see ‘flexibility, communication and collaboration’ to enable them to reach their potential and were keen to have a more strategic voice and influence through the Young Person’s Forum.

The Young Person’s Forum played an important role in planning the event and helped to ensure the needs of all attendees were met on the day. This included the provision of a quiet room, a chill out space and ensuring there was freedom to move around during the sessions.

The Young Person’s Forum meets online on the third Thursday of every month. It provides an opportunity for young people aged 13-25 years with SEND to have their say and influence support in Warwickshire. If you, or someone you know, would like to get involved please complete the online form.

KIDS will be producing a more detailed report of feedback from the Local Offer event which, along with feedback from WPCV, will be used to inform the next phase of plans to improve the Local Offer webpages.
Register interest in the Young Person’s Forum here

Share your feedback to help improve transitions for children and young people with SEND 
All those caring for, or working with children and young people with SEND are being asked to share their views in an online survey to help improve transitions at all stages of education. This includes from nursery to reception and from primary to secondary as well as in-year transitions and into post-16 provision.

The feedback shared will help to inform new guidance being developed for pupils, parents and carers and professionals to support children and young people with SEND during key transition points throughout their education.

The survey is completely anonymous. If you would like the survey in an alternative format or language please email sendchange@warwickshire.gov.uk.
Complete the Transitions online survey here
Photo of a girl holding a pencil and writing into a school workbook

Written Statement of Action (WSoA) Update
Here’s the latest news on delivering our action plan following the Ofsted and CQC SEND local area inspection last year in our ‘Written Statement of Action’.

Area 1: Autism waiting times and support for families:  

  • More assessments are being carried out and waiting times for assessments are reducing, although referrals are around 75% higher than forecast.
  • Better information and advice, with a new e-booklet for Neurodivergent people and their families published on the Dimensions website and an online information portal being developed so everything is in one place.
  • A new model is being tried out to improve the process of assessment and diagnosis for children in years 5 and 6.
  • Following the success of the event in April, further ‘Together with Autism’ conferences will be held in November 2022 and January 2023 so people can find out about support for autistic people (further details can be found in this newsletter below).
  • The all-age community support service for Neurodivergent individuals is being recommissioned and will provide a single point of referral for diagnosis to ensure individuals are supported whilst awaiting an assessment.
  • A review of Speech and Language Therapy and a skills audit of mental health staff supporting children and young people have been carried out and the findings will be used to improve services.
  • Training is being developed for schools and practitioners to support children and young people who are out of school, as part of the Emotionally Based School Avoidance project.

Area 2: Communication and engagement with parent carers:  

A wide programme of communications and events continues including:

  • Parent carer webinars – the most recent focused on Early Conversations and Speech and Language provision. Future events to include Health Visiting Service, SENDIAS, Preparing for Adulthood and RISE.
  • Young People’s Local Offer event (read more on this below) and the Young People’s Forum, a group that meets monthly to capture the voice of children and young people.
  • You Said We did update published.
  • Parent carers and young people involved in projects and recruitment activities.
  • Latest updates and news are shared on the Local Offer Facebook page and this newsletter.
  • To help improve services, anyone who would like to feedback, both positive and negative, can do so using the Live Feedback Form.

Area 3: Inclusion in schools:  

An Inclusion Framework for Schools being trialled across 17 Rugby schools continues to go well.  Training is being delivered to schools to help them support children and young people with SEND.

An Inclusion Charter for schools is being co-produced with school leads, parent carers and children and young people. The charter will outline the vision and commitments to inclusion in schools and settings. Contact, the charity for families with disabled children, are facilitating this work based on the Four Cornerstones approach to co-production.

Area 4: Workforce development:  

Following a review of the current offer, an exciting free training programme is being offered by Warwickshire County Council to schools including mental health first aid, restorative practice, and autism awareness training. The training will help to provide a better understanding of how to meet the needs of children and young people including those with SEND. All the courses offered are accredited and free to professionals working within a Warwickshire school.

The Lost at School pilot is going well, with 35 schools now on board to help change how we support young people with challenging behaviour. Feedback so far is positive:
“The lens has shifted, we don’t see ‘naughty children’ any more, we see children with unmet needs…”
“The work that we are doing is absolutely fascinating. It has opened our eyes about developing children’s skills.”

Area 5: SEND Local Offer webpages:  

The SEND Local Offer webpages provide information about local services and support for families with children and young people aged 0 to 25 with SEND. There has been a 60% increase in visitors to the webpages and flyers shared with GPs, schools and other community venues.

If you know of a group who would be interested in hearing more about the local offer, please email the Family Information Service on fis@warwickshire@gov.uk.

For more information about any areas of the Written Statement of Action please email Rachel Barnes, Change Delivery Manager at WCC at sendchange@warwickshire.gov.uk.  
3 pairs of hands on top f each other, palms facing upwards, holding a paper cut out of a family with wording that says 'Team Focus: Health Visiting Service' and the South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust logo.

Team Focus: Health Visiting
This month we asked the Health Visiting Team to tell us about the work that they do to support families. Thank you to Sarah Foster, Deputy General Manager for Warwickshire 0-5 from South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust for answering our questions.

What is the role of the Health Visiting team?

The Health Visiting team works with families from 28 weeks of pregnancy right through to the child starting school, or age 5 if not starting in the September of reception year, helping to improve outcomes for children and families by promoting good health, reducing health inequalities and safeguarding. 
Our team is made up of health visitors who are qualified nurses and/or midwives who have completed additional training to become specialist community public health nurses. We also have community staff nurses and nursery nurses and clerical assistants. 
We provide three levels of service – Universal, which is offered to all families; Targeted, where families may need short programmes of support or review; and Specialist, where families may have multiple agencies involved with them.

Describe a typical day

No day is ever the same! We have the privilege of providing a universal service and therefore work within a diverse community with individuals and families with varying needs. However, a typical day for a Health Visitor often consists of:

  • direct contact with families in homes and clinics to identify needs and agree course of action;
  • liaising with other services;
  • offering support and advice over the telephone;
  • making single or multi-agency referrals where required;
  • attending safeguarding meetings and multi-agency meetings – we work closely with GPs and midwives and provide reports from our contact with families to discuss progress and plan how we can meet identified needs.

How do you work with parents, carers and young people?

We work together with parents and carers to identify children’s health and development needs as early as possible, offering support and advice for any parenting needs and concerns identified.Taking a holistic approach, we consider the needs of the whole family when making our assessments. As well as addressing any health or development needs of the child, we also consider support for parents and carers’ mental health, housing and financial needs, all of which can have an impact on parenting. We work closely with other agencies and can signpost and refer families to appropriate support if needed.

Restorative practice is fundamental to the support we offer. This is an approach being adopted widely across services working with families in Warwickshire, which focuses on developing respectful and trusting relationships, working WITH people, rather than just “doing to” or “doing for”.Our team takes pride in building positive relationships with families to help improve outcomes for children and young people.

Can you share any upcoming plans/events?

We recently presented a SEND webinar in partnership with Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice to help parents and carers understand more about the Health Visiting Service and the support available for families.Currently, we are evaluating our Self Weigh sessions. Facilities have been provided at certain locations across the county so parents themselves can check their child’s weight. If the outcome is positive, we will look to roll this out to additional venues.

This year we have offered virtual school readiness sessions and following a review of these, we hope to be able to offer these again for January 2023.

Can you share something people wouldn’t expect about your role?

Most health visitors are also nurse prescribers which enables them to prescribe from a small list of medications for conditions such as eczema and thrush.

All members of our Health Visiting team have skills and experience which enable them to support and advise on a huge range of issues, from feeding, toilet training, special needs, to healthy lifestyles, play skills and local groups and peer support.

As a team what would your super power be?

Sometimes we need more information to get the bigger picture to enable us to support families to the best of our ability so telepathy would come in useful!

Where can I find more information?

Visit the Health for Under 5s website for further information including contact phone numbers for our teams.

You can also find us on Facebook:
Health Visiting North Warwickshire Facebook 
Health Visiting South Warwickshire Facebook
Rugby Health Visiting Facebook

Parents and carers of school age children aged 5 – 16 can also text a school nurse anytime using the free ChatHealth service available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm on 07520 619 376.
Graphic illustrating the Integrated Care Board

Move to an Integrated Care System for Coventry and Warwickshire
From 1 July 2022 all Clinical Commissioning Groups were abolished and have now been replaced with Integrated Care Systems. The Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System (ICS) is a way for the NHS and local councils in Coventry and Warwickshire to join up health and care.

Working together will enable local leaders to plan around the needs of communities, rather than those of individual organisations. The vision of the Integrated Care System is: “To enable people across Coventry and Warwickshire to start well, live well and age well, promote independence, and put people at the heart of everything that we do.”

For anyone interested in learning more, The Kings Fund has produced a video providing an overview of the changes to the NHS, the roles of various organisations and how they are working together. The Council for Disabled Children has also developed a helpful resource explaining what the transition means for SEND.

For more information visit the ICS webpages.

Support for families struggling with
rising living costs
As the costs of necessities such as food and heating continues to increase, many people are struggling to keep up with their rising household costs and this is also having an impact on people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Warwickshire County Council is committed to ensuring that residents have access to the support and assistance they need to help with these steep costs of living and to look after their mental and physical health.

Visit the Cost of Living webpages for information, advice and guidance on a range of topics including childcare costs, money and benefits, energy advice, food support and housing.

Visit the Living Well webpages for more information and support on health and wellbeing, staying safe and community support.

Read more about the Council’s commitment to supporting residents with the cost of living pressures.

Contact, the charity for families with disabled children, has a webpage dedicated to cost of living advice including a helpful Money Matters guide for parents and carers, a guide to seeking additional support with household bills, an online grants search and energy saving tips.

Engage – free weekly support programme for young people aged 17 – 25
Blue, pink and purple background with the wording 'Engage. Educate. Evolve. Excel.
A free programme aimed at supporting young adults with additional needs as they move into adulthood is open for new applications from October.

The programme is funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire and is now in its fifth year. It aims to support young people aged 17 – 25 to move successfully into work, education and independent living.

Sessions will run twice weekly at Hill Street Community Centre, Rugby and will involve participants working in small groups and taking an active role in their own development and growth.
Find out more about the Engage programme

Warwickshire special school’s plan for music classroom on a bus
A close up photograph of two people - one playing an electric guitar and the other the drums.
Evergreen School in Warwick, an all-through (4-19) special school, has been in the news this week with their imaginative plans to turn a former public service bus into a music classroom for students.

The bus, donated by Johnson’s Coaches, carried 70 passengers when full and clocked up 600,000 miles during service but will now be converted into a designated space so students can continue to enjoy music lessons.

The idea was the brainwave of Evergeen School teacher Dawn Sauvage, who was eager to find an alternative space when the old music classroom became unavailable.

The school is planning to transform the bus with the help of local tradespeople to provide a safe space for students to play their instruments with added lighting, speakers and a disco ball!
Read BBC’s news article – Evergreen School music bus
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Share your experiences of SEND services in Warwickshire
using our Live Feedback Form.

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