SENCO noticeboard

SEND Update - March 2024

Welcome to the March 2024 SEND Noticeboard which contains important information and updates on the feedback from SENCo's Spring briefing, a FREE British Sign Language class, a free all age Autism engagement event, and much more!

This update includes

Feedback From SENCo Briefing Spring 2024

SENCo Network Sessions – A Review on Annual Reviews!

Thank you to the many SENCos who have contributed to this half term’s sessions. We asked you to look at the Annual Review documentation and help us co-produce a document that works better, asks the right questions, has enough guidance on it to facilitate quality information to be gathered and is efficient in its use. We have been thrilled with the response and will be feeding this back into the EHCP Task and Finish Group’s Working Party focussing on Annual Reviews. We still have similar work to do with our special schools, with parents/carers, children and young people and with our partners, but we have most certainly started the ‘change’ journey and I am excited to see what we can produce together. We have even had some volunteers who have joined the Working Party to help deliver the changes we are looking for to help deliver a better process which produces quality EHCP reviews.

For further information, or if you’re interested in joining the working party then please contact Helen Georgiou

A set of FAQs was also developed following the session and these are attached here for your information.

Summary of Feedback Re Annual Review Guidance (MS Form capture)

Thank you to our partners who were able to give their feedback on the Annual Review (AR) Guidance document sent out prior to the briefing session. As agreed at the briefings, a summary of responses as follows:

The Facts

  • 96% find the AR Guidance useful.
  • 77% use the AR Guidance (regularly 34%, occasionally 43%).
  • 8% have not used it before, and 15% did not know about the AR Guidance.

Comments

Why Do You Find the AR Guidance Useful?

There were lots of positive comments around understanding the timeframes, the clarity of the document and the useful model agenda and checklists. New SENCos said it was very helpful for them to have as a guide and there were a few comments about the AR Guidance being a good reference tool for ARs.

It Could Be Better If

  • the AR documents matched the EHCP templates.
  • there was a contents page with page numbers for easy look up.
  • the visual on the last page was bigger.
  • the LO was easier to navigate to find these documents.

What SENCOs Now Know From Reading the AR Guidance

SENCos’ comments mainly centred around now knowing the timeliness around the AR process: what to do prior, during and after the AR, and timings for SENAR too.  The comment ‘…outcomes not targets’ was particularly poignant. Others commented on now understanding the timings around Phase Transfers, the fact that there is model agenda to help them, and detail on how to determine if an early review is appropriate. 

SENCos also commented that sometimes SENAR don’t stick to the timelines set for decisions or amended plans and that it’s not easy to find out who your link Officer is; this will be fed back to the Teams.

Calling All New SENCos!

We are continuing to hold a termly briefing event for mainstream school-age SENCos new to post or new to Birmingham; the next briefing event will be held on Monday 29th April 2024. Places will be reserved for SENCos new to role as of the beginning of the Summer term ’24, and they will receive an invite in the new term to this event.

The briefing will be led by senior leaders within the Local Authority SEND teams, colleagues from the SEND Locality SALT and OT, reps from the Birmingham Parent Carer Forum with attendance from experienced school SENCo representatives from the Local SENCo Consortia groups.

The agenda offers an opportunity to:

  • Find out who the SEND teams are and what support they are offering,
  • Have an overview of the Birmingham funding system,
  • Understand the Local area SENCo groups,
  • Understand the LA communication process to SENCos,
  • Learn about the Balanced system approach to SALT across the city,
  • Find out who the SEND OT locality therapists are and what they offer,
  • Meet the Parent Carer Forum and find out more about their work with parents
  • Network with other SENCos.

  For further information please contact Heather Wood at Heather.wood@birmingham.gov.uk

FUNMOVES: A Brand New Exciting Project to Identify Movement Difficulties

Do you have children in your school who find running, hopping, jumping and balancing tricky?

Would you like a fun, quick and easy to use tool to identify children in your school who have motor coordination difficulties? Would you like to reduce health inequalities by enabling all children in years 1–6 to be screened during a PE lesson, and tailored report provided for each child?

FUNMOVES is an easy-to-use universal assessment tool that allows teachers to test a whole class in an hour, using resources readily available in schools.

This new tool has been developed by a psychologist along with physiotherapy and occupational therapists up in Bradford, and the author of the tool is keen to work with the SEND Occupational Therapy team here in Birmingham.

If you would like to be part of a pilot project to introduce this tool into your school, we’d love to hear from you. This project is free, apart from needing to buy tape and beanbags! It is envisaged this project will be rolled out in September 2024.

Sign up for a FREE British Sign Language (BSL) Class

Sign Language Week will be running from 18th - 24th March 2024.

Signature in partnership with the British Deaf Association (BDA), we will be hosting the UK’s largest British Sign Language (BSL) lesson online with primary schools across the UK.

The lesson will be available from 10am on Wednesday 20th March and will give you and your school the opportunity to learn BSL from a Deaf teacher. This great opportunity has many benefits for children such as strengthening and improving communication skills and confidence, new ways for them to express emotions, and an appreciation of the diverse cultures of the UK.

You can use the following links to sign up:

Reminder: CAT Parent Carer Drop-in Sessions Last Week of Term

A reminder of the Drop-In sessions for parents/carers taking place on the 19th and 20th March. Themed presentations from the CAT team are delivered at these sessions with plenty of time given for questions and discussion. Parent/carers of children and young people of any age are welcome, they do not need to book and can “drop in” on the day.

Spring Term 2024 Parent Drop In Sessions:

Findings from the Delivering Better Value Programme and Successful Bid Application

We are delighted to let you know that the local area has been successful in securing £1m of funding over 2 years to implement areas for further development identified through the Developing Better Programme (DBV).

The DBV programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. Over 600 people across Birmingham took part in the diagnostic phase of the programme from August last year.

The findings from DBV are currently being shared across head teacher and other fora. The 2 workstreams that have been agreed with all stakeholders are:

  1. Developing a shared understanding across the local area including schools and settings about what needs can, and should, be met in mainstream, RB and special schools, in line with the expectations of the national SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan 2023 thereby further developing SEN leadership capacity across the SEND system, including in schools and settings.
  2. Reviewing funding arrangements, including SSPPs, to ensure that there is clarity for schools and settings about how much money they will receive for each pupil and how the decision regarding funding has been made.

We will be in touch over the coming weeks to invite schools and settings to be involved in the oversight, planning, and implementation of these work streams.

February Newsletter from the Family Hubs

Please find attached the February edition of the ‘Family Hubs and Best Start for Life’ newsletter, which we hope you will find interesting and informative. It includes news on:

  • Ladywood and Hodge Hill Family Hub Open Days
  • ‘Little Moments Together’ campaign which aims to show parents and carers that sharing simple, child-led moments together throughout the day has a big impact
  • ‘Words for Life’ helps disadvantaged children to gain the literacy skills to succeed in life

Family Hubs is funding a range of services, support and information for families, both online and in person.  To find out more, please contact the Family Hubs team at familyhubs@birmingham.gov.uk. 

Free Co-Production Training Now Available

We are delighted to invite you to one of our free in-person SEND co-production training sessions. This training is open to all staff working in SEND education, health, social care, or voluntary sector services in Birmingham. Young people and parents and carers are welcome to attend this training and can also get involved in the delivery of any future training sessions.

The aims of this training are to discuss:

  • How we can work together with young people and parents and carers to improve our services. 
  • The definition of ‘co-production’ and what this means in practice.
  • How to overcome barriers to participation and sharing learning and good practice.
  • Raise awareness of the Birmingham SEND-Co-production Framework & Charter. 
  • How organisations can sign up to the new Birmingham SEND Co-production Award Scheme.

You can find out more and book your place by following this link

Please note that places on this training will be offered on a first come first served basis and numbers will be capped dependant on room sizes. An email confirmation will be sent to participants prior to the session.

If you wish to discuss any aspects of this training, please get in touch with Laky Sahota at lakhvir.sahota@birmingham.gov.uk

Do You Know What’s Happening at Your Local SENCo Group Meeting?

Our Local SENCo groups meet half termly to share CPD activity and issues/areas identified in their local consortia area. These are groups run by a named SENCo in the area with support from the Pupil and School Support team.

The Local SENCo leads also meet half-termly with the LA to share what is happening in their Local Group and to discuss key themes coming from schools. The overview of topics in the groups since September 2023 may be of interest to other Local SENCo groups. We have also published the summer term calendar of Local Group meetings so please get in touch with the named SENCo lead for your area if you’re not yet attending these and want to know more.

We are looking for interested SENCos within both the Aston/Nechells and Hall Green consortia to support as the Local SENCo Lead in their area, so please talk to your named PSS teacher if this is something you would like to know more about.

Introducing Lumin&us™ Subscription Boxes: Transformative Mental Health Support for Families

At Beacon Family Services and Beacon Services Resources, we understand the challenges faced by professionals working with families and the growing need for accessible mental health resources. Lumin&us is an exciting and innovative initiative that could significantly impact the lives of families seeking professional mental health support.

Lumin&us™ is tailored for children aged 2-10 years displaying signs of anxiety and parents who may be struggling to make sense of their child's behaviour or experiencing stress and anxiety themselves.

Lumin&us™ Subscription Boxes are designed to provide parents of children aged 2 to 10 years with a unique blend of expert advice and play therapy activities, fostering emotional wellbeing through holistic development.  Attached to this notice you will find detailed information about our Lumin&us™ Subscription Boxes programme now open for referrals. The programme is fully funded by the National Lottery so free for families.  We hope you can help us get the boxes to the families looking for early help who will benefit most. The response has been very positive so far so do encourage families to sign up as soon as they can, so they don’t miss out.    

Referral Process:

Funded by the National Lottery, we have the capacity to offer this resource fully funded resource to the first 200 families who sign up in two cohorts. If you know a family that could benefit from this program, please refer them using our attached Parent/Carer Letter and sign-up form.  The first cohort will receive their first pack at the end of March. 

For further information please contact charlotte@beaconservices.org.uk

Mental Health and Wellbeing: New Practical Resource and Tools

The Department for Education has recently launched two resources to help schools and colleges to promote and support mental health and wellbeing. These include:

Pupil and School Support Have Been Awarded DLD Friendly Accreditation Status by NAPLIC

NAPLIC is a national organisation of teachers, speech and language therapists and other professionals, working to develop best practice to support children and young people with language difficulties through awareness raising, and information and knowledge exchange. It has been a leading voice within the Speech, Language and Communication Needs area of SEND since its foundation in 1986.

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a severe and persistent difficulty with understanding and/or using language which affects over 7% of the population and which can have a significant impact on educational attainment, mental health and wellbeing, and life chances.

NAPLIC developed the ‘DLD Friendly Audit’ to support services to adapt their policies and processes in respect to Developmental Language Disorder and embed the changes to DLD systems within their service.

Confused About Which SEND Code to Use in the School Census? Training Coming Soon

The submission of the school census individual pupil records is a statutory requirement on schools under Section 537A of the Education Act 1996. SEN provision is collected for all pupils on roll on census day using the following codes:

  • ‘E’ (education, health and care plan) or
  • ‘K’ (SEN support)

The spring term school census also requires schools to identify the nature (type) of a pupil’s special educational need. This data is used by the LA and DfE for comparison purposes both locally and nationally and so it is important that the primary area of need is recorded accurately and consistently. As there is no requirement for a pupil to have a specialist assessment to be recorded in the main SEN types this sometimes causes confusion as to what code to record. 

Schools also tell us that there is a lack of clarity over who should be making decisions around the primary need. In order to support schools with this, the Local Authority will be hosting a webinar during the summer term to explain best practice around making these decisions and clarifying the roles and responsibilities within it.

Watch this space for future dates for the webinar, this will also be shared via the School's Noticeboard.

SSPPs to Support Phase Transition – Changes to Process for Children Moving from Early Years Settings to Reception Classes

For the past two years we have supported phase transition through the use of a funded SSPP.  The aim of this being that schools have funding available to put provision in place from day 1, increasing their ability to meet the child or young person’s need.

The process for this for children moving from an Early Years (EY) setting required the EY setting to work with their professionals to develop an SSPP which would attract funding for them in the Summer term, and then a nominal 3 Support Units (£1,050) for the Autumn Term in the receiving school for reception. 

The purpose of this was to allow a term for the primary school to work with their agencies to review at least the provision in the plan and ensure it was matched to what was being delivered in the new setting with the different environment and ratio of adults.

Feedback from schools and settings tells us that this process has not been the most supportive and, in some cases, has not reduced the need for the child to enter school on a part time basis. Therefore, for this year we will be introducing a new process:

Where EY settings are requesting SSPP funding for the full summer term, submissions are required before allocated Reception places are known. Therefore, later in the term, once the receiving school is known, the EY settings will contact the school and invite the relevant staff to update the SSPP in preparation for transition. Where this is undertaken the school will receive the full amount of Support Units agreed by the panel for the Autumn and Spring terms of reception.  Where this is not undertaken, school will receive 3 Support Units for the Autumn term to enable them time to get the relevant support service in to support reviewing the plan.

Where EY settings are requesting funding for the period after half-term, school places for children are likely to be known so best practice will be that the SSPP will be co-produced with the receiving school. Where this is undertaken the school will receive the full amount of Support Units agreed by the panel for the Autumn and Spring terms of reception.  Where this is not undertaken, school will receive 3 Support Units for the Autumn term to enable them time to get the relevant support service in to support reviewing the plan.

In some cases, EY settings do not request SSPP funding for the summer term, rather prepare a SSPP to support transition for the child into Reception. In such cases the EY settings will contact the receiving school with a view to co-producing a plan for submission for funding, which will commence from September 2024. Where this is not undertaken, school will receive the draft plan with no funding attached which they can then use to inform work with the appropriate support service.

The process for Primary to Secondary transition will remain the same - where an SSPP has funding attached beyond the end of the summer term in year 6, the receiving year 7 school will receive funding until the end of the plan. For funding to continue beyond that date the usual review process will need to take place with relevant agencies.

In all cases school will need to confirm in the Autumn Term Multi-Agency Planning Meetings, that the pupil is on roll and attending full time for funding to be released. Where the pupil is only being offered a part time timetable then the funding will be reduced to reflect this.  

Guidance About the Use of the Birmingham SEN Toolkits in EYFS

The Birmingham SEN Toolkits support settings to meet the requirements of the SEND Code of Practice (2015) by assessing and identifying the needs of pupils, setting purposeful and measurable small step learning targets and identifying appropriate provision. They support the development and mastery of literacy and maths skills across the curriculum. The content of the Toolkits is reviewed and updated regularly in response to national and local guidance.

The Birmingham SEND Toolkits are targeted at children and young people who have cognition and learning needs who are working on National Curriculum subject specific studies in Year 1 onwards. The Birmingham SEND Toolkits should not be used with children in the Foundation stage. Children within the Early Years follow the statutory Foundation Stage Framework. When assessing progress, identifying needs and appropriate provision, practitioners can use the comprehensive non-statutory Early Years guidance. Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters guidance set out what most children do at each stage of their learning and development and supports with appropriate provision. 

For further advice and guidance regarding use of the Birmingham SEN Toolkits please speak to your Pupil and School Support teacher.

Autism Resource Base Practitioners Meeting

The Communication and Autism Team hosted the Autism Resource Base Practitioners meeting on the 28th February 2024.  These events occur termly to facilitate networking, CPD and sharing of good practice across our city’s Autism Resource Bases. We were really pleased to have attendees from some of our newer bases join us. It was a packed agenda with a focus on curriculum and assessment, CONTACT autism hub joined us to promote support for families, CAT extended knowledge on executive funding, work trays and adaptive teaching and Woodhouse presented on their extended curriculum through their work with a local farm. 

Most importantly we were joined by a young person now at secondary who shared his autistic story.  He was supported by his current school setting and shared his experiences of primary school and transition through to secondary.  Lived experience through insight into an individual’s strengths, needs and perspective ensures that the young person’s voice is heard, not only to advocate for themselves but to inform professionals learning. He was inspiring and offered advice on transition and support that works for him, alongside taking questions from the group to inform their day-to-day practice.

100% of respondent found the sessions helpful and that it would impact on practice:

“useful discussions around planning and assessment. Will generate some thoughts and discussions with resource base staff”

“good team working and ideas for training"

“the support for parents in particular”

Feedback from an attendee:

"Being invited to and being able to attend the Autism Resource Base Practitioners meeting has been an excellent opportunity for me to not only network with other RB practitioners; keep up to date on information and practice; share, receive & offer support, but it has also given me the personal space to reflect on my setting and my own practice. The CAT team have and continue to be fully supportive to any queries and have been amazing at empowering us with their training opportunities. They always ensure that discussion topics are relevant and current - it's such an exciting group to be a part of!"

For further information please contact Sarah Scarr at Sarah.j.scarr@birmingham.gov.uk

Free All Age Autism Engagement Event - For Parents & Carers Who Have Children with Autism

Please promote with your parents and carers the event for families with CYP with Autism!

The All Age Autism funded project, in connection with Landau, focuses on supporting autistic people of all ages to rebalance health issues whilst supporting families and carers. Our aim is to improve and increase the number of support services on offer to autistic children, adults and their families parents and carers. We are currently working with groups of people in two strands (aged 0-19 and 19 upwards) with support from our clinical teams for parents/carers with consultations, open group sessions and various other engagements. Our funding has allowed us to offer a number of free support sessions on Sleep, Makaton and benefits advice with DWP. Our project culmination is a large engagement event (Midlands Arts Centre 27th March 10-3pm) where there will be stands with BCHC professionals, organisations, charities and other activities, to encourage further engagement, signposting and support. The event is aimed at all ages, and open to our current service users, but will be advertised within Birmingham and Solihull.

Coming Soon: Autism Acceptance Week  2-8 April 2024

Join the Communication and Autism Team in celebrating Autism Acceptance Week 2024!

Although Autism Acceptance Week falls within the Easter break, it remains important to celebrate neurodiversity within settings to foster and enable an ethos of understanding and acceptance of difference. To support you to do this, the Autism Education Trust have developed resources for you to use which are FREE to download from the Autism Education Trust website: www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk

These materials include teacher guides, resources, PowerPoints and lesson plans to use with pupils in your settings.

In addition, look out for a PowerPoint from the Communication and Autism Team which will be sent to settings by your allocated CAT. As we always advocate the autistic voice, this PowerPoint contains views from our autistic young people currently attending our Birmingham schools. We will also be sharing a blog with you, written by “Just Some Guy”, a Birmingham autistic adult. This will be available on the Access To Education website very soon.

Happy Autistic Acceptance Week to you all and thank you for all you do in supporting our autistic children and young people.

Do You Know About Supported Internships for CYP with EHCPs?

Birmingham LA have been working closely with the Heart of Birmingham Vocational college on a new pilot around supported internships. This is a 30-week programme aimed at young people with an Education Health and Care Plan, incorporating three sets of 10-week placements with a range of providers. The pilot year has been mainly around administrative work for students but the offer is developing to include a wider range of transferable skills.

Sam Evans (age 24 yrs) is one of the young people who has been part of the pilot cohort this year and he has agreed to share his experience of the programme and what this has offered him, in the hope that this will encourage more young people aged 16-24 (with an EHCP) to consider a supported internship.

How did you find out about supported internships?

‘So I actually went to a job fair. It was called sense. It was essentially like a job fair but for special needs young adults and that's how I came across the support and internship. I spoke to the Council. I can't remember exactly who we spoke to, but

they told us about the internship programme and I think me and my parents knew straight away …. because I was struggling in college essentially …. so we knew straight away that this is for me really.’

Sam is on placement at one of the Day Care centres in the South of the city, working with adults undergoing rehab from surgery as well as adults with dementia. He is working on reception at the centre and has shared some of the activities he is doing as well as some of the aspects he really enjoys.

‘So essentially I'm on the internship for mostly work experience and to get me used to the world of work. Our primary objective after the internship programme is to get paid employment by the end of it. It helps with team building skills and the skills in the workplace, pretty much getting experience as a whole.

My work is greeting people, letting them in, showing them where to go. I also take phone calls as well. I book taxis for some of the residents here. I also help the housekeeping team and I create forms for them, I edit forms for them and I update the residence list quite often. I add those who are coming and those who are leaving.

I also do the display boards each month; I've created display for like holidays for example, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, that that sort of thing just to lighten up the place.

I enjoy greeting people because you pretty much see all walks of life, essentially.

I like talking to new people every day and I enjoy like impressing them by doing the tasks that the staff provide me with. I pretty much enjoy selling myself, really.’

As part of the internship, Sam has been able to access a curriculum specific to support with employability skills covering elements such as time-keeping, how to dress for work, team building skills etc. Sam has a tutor (Hayley) from HBVC who supports him as well as a Job Coach provided by Mencap. In discussing the support available to him, Sam has shared the importance of the social group he has developed as part of the internship:

‘So every morning before work we have a Teams meeting essentially like a social interaction session. As such, where we discuss what we did on placement, what we did during the evening after placement. In the morning, I do teams with my peers and my tutors and then after that I'm straight to work then.

Socially as well, we all, also had a WhatsApp group so we could just talk to each other even outside of work hours. (Sam has visited the Christmas market and Jimmy Spicers with his peers. He also shared that when he is on the Easter break he is taking part in an event at his work placement and will be independently running a cake stall there)’

What do you think you have gained from taking part in an internship?

‘If I was to say what I've learned from the internship it is to be resilient and to be confident in what I do. Because, like I said back last year when I was at college, I was neither confident nor resilient. But now that I'm in this programme, it taught me how to be resilient and how to be confident within my own ability. I'm hoping to get to get a full-time job, whether that being voluntary or with a wage.

It felt like a breath of fresh air when comparing it to my last college, because I was pretty much learning last year the same things as I went over in my previous years, whereas this this year I'm actually learning how to behave in the workplace, how to read policies efficiently, how to turn up on time and all things like that. How to communicate well with your colleagues and managers, that sort of thing.

A prime example of this will be me taking the taking phone calls, professional phone calls. I was not very confident at first on answering the phone to people, but as I've learned those skills with my work coach and my tutors, I've now became fully confident in answering the phone, like it's even just a day-to-day task for me when the phone rings. I'm like ‘hello, this is Sam speaking. How can I help you?’ So my confidence in that has grown significantly.

My mom and dad have seen how the difference between me last year and me this year. They've completely seen the difference. Even my dad said, like last year, I wasn't as confident as I should be. But now I feel like my confidence has improved a lot.’

What would you say to other young people thinking about a supported internship?

‘I'd recommend for them to give it a go because there's all sorts of benefits to come up from this internship, like for example, you can get work experience, you can meet new people, it can help you build new skills that you've never thought you'd learn. You can fully experience what a workplace is like, a fully functioning workplace.
And you can also have a general community amongst each other really.’

You can find out more about the supported internship programme at this link, or please contact Lorraine.Pearce@birmingham.gov.uk or Hannah.redfern@birmingham.gov.uk

Sibs - For Brothers and Sisters of Disabled Children and Adults

Here at Sibs we will be celebrating National Siblings Day on Wednesday, 10th April. This year's theme is #ItsaSiblingThing and we're inviting siblings, parents and organisations to show their support in raising awareness of siblings of disabled children and adults. We have activity sheets and resources for young siblings, as well as a workshop for adult siblings. For more information about National Siblings day and downloads on our website.

This entry was posted by Jessica Wykes on 11/03/2024.