Thank you for your Feedback

Thank you to all the families who have fed back their experiences over the last term. This has been collated and the Spring Term 25 Feedback from Families will be shared with the Wokingham Area SEND Assurance Board at their next meeting in May.

Thank you as well to all the families who completed our SEND Home to School Transport Survey. These results have been shared with WBC officers.

WBC SEND Team Update
There was a great turnout for the "Meet the SEND Team & SENDIASS drop-in" on February 28th. The presentation from the session is available here: Introducing our SEND team.

The SEND team is now organised by school, with dedicated officers assigned to each one. These officers will handle both the EHCP assessments and annual reviews for children at their assigned school. We hope that having more permanent staff in place aligned to a school will improve communication, which we know has been a challenge for many families. If you're still facing issues, please don't hesitate to reach out.


ADHD & Autism Referral Pathways
We have continued to raise families concerns over the new ADHD & Autism referral pathways to health partners at BHFT (Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust) and the BOB ICB (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire Integrated Care Board). Please do get in touch if you are being affected by these changes.


PINS - Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools
We are very pleased that Wokingham Borough is part of the second phase of this pilot programme. Thirty primary schools in the Borough will take part, focusing on supporting neurodivergent children in mainstream schools at a whole-school level. The programme is needs-led, meaning it supports children regardless of whether they have a formal diagnosis. As the parent carer forum, we will be very involved, and we'll share more information with you very soon!


Wokingham World Autism Awareness Event
It was a pleasure meeting both families and professionals at the first Wokingham World Autism Awareness event on April 1st. The event was organised by the Wokingham Autism Partnership Board, with members from Wokingham Borough Council (WBC), Health, and local charities and voluntary organisations, including us!

The Wokingham Area All-Age Autism Strategy has now been published. This strategy outlines a shared vision and direction for local partners in supporting autistic individuals of all ages living in the borough.

The Wokingham Area SEND and Inclusion Strategy has also been published and is closely connected. It outlines the goals and plans to improve outcomes for children and young people aged 0 to 25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

What else have we been up to?

• Raised the issue of part time timetables and alternative provision (AP). Thank you to those who completed our short survey. We will be discussing the results with WBC officers to improve this for families.
• Attended the Wokingham Area SEND Strategic Parntership Board, SEND Assurance Board and the SEND Early Years Partnership group as well as the Annual SEND Conversation with Ofsted & CQC. This is not a full Ofsted/CQC SEND inspection, but rather an opportunity for Wokingham Area partners to discuss their SEND self-evaluation and improvement plans for the upcoming year. During this meeting, we highlighted key concerns from parents, including issues with communication and the changes to the neurodiversity referral pathway.
• Attended the Ordinarily Available Provision, Local Offer and Post-16 working groups.
• Hosted our daytime and evening Drop-in & Chat sessions.
• Hosted SENDIASS training session on SEND Support in School and Preparing for Adulthood.
• Attended the SENDIASS drop-ins to provide a cuppa and chat with parents attending and also very pleased to attend the Portage Drop-in session in Woodley and Wokingham.