As we come to the end of another academic year we would like to thank you for your support, whether it is completing our Annual Survey, attending a focus group or feeding back your expreiences, all these help us to make sure the voices of parent carers are heard in the work to improve SEND services in the Borough. We hope you have a lovely summer with your families.
Here is our half-termly round up for the 2nd summer half-term and some dates for the next academic year.
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 Summer Term 24 Feedback from Families will be shared with the Wokingham Area SEND Assurance Board which meets again in September.
One of families main concerns, the ongoing issues with SEND team communications, was raised in a meeting with Emma Cockerell (WBC Director of Children's Services). The meeting was very positive. WBC have been reviewing all the feedback from families and are exploring how they can add capacity from within their services, as well as external recruitment to improve service, particularly within the SEND team.
We will be arranging another Zoom Update on SEND Improvements & Safety Valve with WBC & Health for the first half of the Autumn Term. Following feedback from the session in May we will also be inviting Transport to attend. As soon as a date is confirmed we will let you know.
What else have we been up to?
Some of the main activities this half term include:
- Continue to work with Education, Health and Social Care and ensure wide promotion of the consultation on the Wokingham Area SEND & Inclision Strategy 2024-29 and Wokingham All Age Autism Strategy consultations. Consultations close on August 20th.
- Continue to raise issues with SEND Team communication via the Operational Meeting, the SEND Assurance Board and with Emma Cockerell (WBC Director Children's Services).
- Attended the Wokingham Area SEND Strategic Parntership Board, SEND Assurance Board and SEND Early Years Partnership group.
- Attended the EOTAS/AP, Local Offer, SEND Support & Specialist Outreach, Wrap Around Care and Post-16 working groups.
- Hosted our on line and face-to-face Parent Carer Participation Groups which discussed the Ordinarily Available document, and how it can be improved, Transport, our SEND survey and how we can make sure all SEND families know about us and what we do. Thank you to all those who attended and your really valuable feedback.
- Attended an Ordinarily Available workshop to map services that will be part of the new guidance document for schools (which will detail reasonable adjustments and what is Ordinarily Available for all Wokingham Borough children in mainstream schools).
- Hosted a drop-in with WBC on Post-16 Transport to enable parents to get more information and ask questions ahead of the September '24 Home to School Transport Policy changes.
- Attended the Parent Carer Health Engagement Day, WBC Preparing for Adulthool Local Offer event and Carers Information event to speak to parent carers about what we do.
- Hosted our first Drop-in & Chat session at Kore Cafe (run by Addington School Hospitality students). We are please that these day-time drop-in sessions will continue in the Autumn term. We are also very excited to announce, that with funding from Wokingham Lions 50th Anniversary Fund, we will be able to run a half-termly EVENING Drop-in & Chat sessions too. More details to follow on these drop-ins very soon.
- Along with 4 other local parent carer forums met with senior leaders from Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care BOB (ICB) to discuss co-production in Health services with forums/families .
- Hosted focus groups to help the development of a SEND Sufficiency Plan, which includes what families would like to see when schools are being planned including Resource Bases and SEND Units. Thank you to all the parents who attended and gave lots of great feedback. We will let you know further opportunities to help with this work.
- Attended the Short Breaks Steering Group and have asked for an update on the Short Breaks Review to share with families .
- Attended the NNPCF SE Regional Conference to share learning and information with the other 19 forums in our region.
- Hosted SENDIASS training session on Annual Reviews and Preparing for Adulthood.
- Attended the SENDIASS drop-ins to provide a cuppa and chat with parents attending.
- Met with Healthwatch Wokingham to expore ways of working together to highlight issues faced by parent carers in the Borough.