Another busy fortnight for SEND! This newsletter will be covering:
SEND Summit
Last week, Hertfordshire County Council held a special “SEND Summit” that brought together parent carer groups, SEND services (including health), councillors, and staff from schools, colleges, and nurseries. It followed listening sessions councillors held in July. All the feedback will help shape the next 5-year SEND Strategy.
The morning included speeches from senior leaders, plus a Q&A panel that included me, as the HPCI representative on behalf of parent carers. Speakers talked about the progress made so far but also acknowledged the work still to do. We were pleased to hear HPCI described as “constructive, collaborative and not afraid of challenging”. The morning session was live streamed, and you can now watch the recording (with transcript for the poor sound parts) on the Local Offer website.
In the afternoon, there were workshops on topics like getting SEND support earlier, improving communication with families, and helping children through transitions. These sessions were for small group in-depth conversations and generated lots of practical ideas for improvement. It was good to see service leaders listening carefully to HPCI and other community or voluntary group representatives. We’re looking forward to seeing how these suggestions are taken forward as the new SEND Strategy develops, and we’ll keep you updated as things progress.
Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner Workshops
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust’s Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner are running a series of free workshops for parents and carers this term. Click here to see further information about the topics covered and how to book a place.
Sports activities for children and young people with SEND in Herts
There are lots of sports activities available for kids with SEND in Hertfordshire, for example inclusive hockey training at St. Albans Hockey Club and Hertfordshire Super 1s, which offers free SEND cricket across the county. Lots more sessions, including yoga, tennis and rugby can be found on the Local Offer events page.
SEND day of action
Over 700 families took part in a rally in parliament square on Monday 15th September. Later that day was a government debate about assessment and support in education for children with SEND (prompted by a parent petition). 90 MPs attended, which is a huge amount for this type of debate and there have been suggestions in the press that SEND reform could create pressure within the government, even from members of their own party.
Education Select Committee report
Also last week, the Government’s Education Select Committee published its report on “Solving the SEND Crisis”. The report draws on written evidence (including HPCI’s submission), as well in-person evidence sessions where MPs heard from parents, schools, councils and Ministers.
The report is very clear about how the current system is not meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND, and is leaving families exhausted. It is a very long document, but there is a useful summary.
The report includes findings and recommendations about a huge range of topics, and we were pleased to see that they agreed with us on the need to deliver inclusive and accountable mainstream education, a whole school approach to SEND, improved teacher training, more robust workforce planning and a more sustainable funding model.
Crucially, there is also a focus on the importance of improved relationships between councils and parent carers and the need for parents to be considered genuine partners in their child’s education.
The report’s recommendations are not binding but the government is expected to reply within two months. We may also see the impact of the recommendations in the Government’s Schools White Paper, which is expected later this term.
Paracetamol and Autism
We know that recent headlines about President Trump’s claims linking paracetamol and autism have caused worry and anger for many. We believe that it is important to look to trusted sources of information and want to reassure members that the UK government’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has confirmed that taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe and there is no evidence it causes autism in children.
