Home / HPCI Parent network update – 23rd April
Welcome to this week’s HPCI network update.
This week there are two local and two national items.
New Contact Details for CYP Therapy Service
The administrative team for the CYP Therapy Service has now been integrated, to form a single hub to support the Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech & Language Therapy services run by Herts Community NHS Trust (HCT). They now have a new single telephone number and address for any query relating to the CYP Therapy Service. They hope that this will make it easier for parents and professionals to contact them with any queries they have, especially when these may relate to more than one of the therapy professions.
The new telephone number is 01923 470680 – select Option 3 for the CYP Therapy Service. Callers then choose to use the service Advice Line (select 1) or to speak to an administrator (select 2).
All post should be sent to Howard Court, 14 Tewin Road, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1BW with the exception of referrals which are emailed to hct.CYPSpecialistServices@nhs.net
The service’s email address continues to be hct.cyptherapies1@nhs.net.
HCT has a range of information, including referral forms, therapy support resources, details of training sessions and a range of advice sheets on our webpages https://www.hct.nhs.uk/our-services/children-young-peoples-therapies-service/
You can also follow the service on Twitter @Herts_CYPT where they share updates on training and service delivery.
HCC Survey for parents and carers of children/young people who have visual impairment, hearing loss/deaf or physical and neurological needs and whose children receive support from HCC’s specialist advisory service.
HCC is directly contacting those families who are currently on their case load so if you receive an email or letter from them about this survey then HPCI encourages you to take part.
HCC is conducting a review of the equipment provided to support children and young people in schools/education settings by HCC’s SEND Specialist Advisory Service (NOT by the Equipment Service run by the NHS and Adult Care Services). As part of the review they really want to hear from parents and carers of children and young people with sensory (Vision impaired, Hearing loss/Deaf), physical and neurological needs. Your feedback will help shape the first part of the review and identifying what the recommendations might be.
SENDSAS Equipment Review – Parent Carers Survey – https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/VLWWKA/
There is also a survey for CYP which you might want to encourage or support your child to complete.
Children and Young People survey: https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/T3KPPS/
The Children’s Commissioner – The Big Ask – national survey for children and young people
Let’s make sure that children and young people with SEND are well represented in this survey.
Rachel de Souza the new Children’s Commissioner for England. Her job is to speak up for children in England, stand up for their rights, and make sure that the people in power listen to what children need and want. This is the largest ever survey of children and young people in England. She will use what they find out to show the government what children and young people think, and what children need to live happier lives. The survey takes 5-10 minutes and is broken down into ages groups from 4 to 17 years and has 2 age related easy read versions. There is also a survey for adults (18 plus) who are care leavers, parents or people who work with children. Find the links and further information here: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/thebigask/
Whole School SEND Resources
Whole School SEND is a national organisation, funded by the Department for Education that focuses on SEND in mainstream settings.
They produce lots of resources, mostly for schools, to ensure that every school Leader is a leader of SEND and that every teacher is a teach of SEND.
The two most recently released resources are:
A. Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)– guide for teachers
https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/resources/dld-guide
B. The Autism Resource Suite
Whole School SEND consortium (including the Autism Education Trust and the University of Birmingham Autism Centre for Education and Research has developed the Autism Resource Suite, to build capacity in the system, to improve the experience of learners with autism and their families in schools, and to help prevent the drift out of mainstream schools and into specialist settings, particularly at primary/secondary transition.
There are 4 resources included:
1.A SENCO’s guide to supporting learners on the autism spectrum
2.Supporting autistic learners during transition
3.Promoting autism-inclusive attitudes
4.Guidance for school leaders on supporting autistic staff members
A fifth resource, ‘Reasonable adjustments to school behaviour policies’, is currently under review and will be added to the Autism Resource Suite soon. This resource considers the implications of the Equality Act with regards to behaviour and how reasonable adjustments can be implemented within a school setting.
These and other SEND resources focused on mainstream schools can be found here: https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/resources