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SENDMatters May 2023

Welcome to the latest issue of the SENDMatters Termly Update

This termly newsletter aims to provide parents, carers and young people and professionals with information and updates that inform you of the latest news, developments and services for children, teenagers and young adults (aged from birth to 25 years old) who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Bromley.

We cover a range of developments and key local events, and any updates.

What's in this issue?

Updates on our SEN Services within Bromley

  • EHCNA Eligibility Guidance
  • Portage Play and Learn Group
  • Children and Young People Bladders and Bowel Service
  • The Down Syndrome Network Group
  • Blenheim Children’s Centre
  • SENCO Conference
  • SEND Network Champions
  • Bromley Local Offer update

Help and support for families

  • Bromley Mencap
  • Bromley Y

Have your say...

  • Parent and carer engagement in Bromley - New Parent Carer Forum

Let us know what you think

Table of contents

Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) eligibility guidance for schools

The London Borough of Bromley works closely with educational settings and other partners to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities can access the right support at the earliest possible opportunity. Please speak to your school SENCO if you would like further information on SEN Support and the Graduated Approach.

Following recent discussions and meetings with school colleagues, partners, and parent/carers, the Council has published a document outlining our Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) eligibility guidance for schools.

Portage Play and Learn Group

Portage is a home teaching service that work with families with an aim to help them develop a quality of life and experience, for themselves and their young children. It encourages them to learn together, play together, participate, and be included in their community in their own right and are part of the SEN Advisory Team.

The Portage Play and Learn group started as a pilot last year. The aim of the group is to support the development of the child’s communication, provide that vital peer to peer support for families and is structured so that the children learn to be with each other and develop the skills that will support them as they move into pre-school.

The group has gone from strength to strength over this year so much so that a second one is starting next term and families described how much they and the children have enjoyed the group.

CYP Bladder and Bowel Service

The new CYP bladder and bowel service in Bromley has been launched, within this we will be offering Toilet training clinics for children and young people with SEND. Our toilet training clinics aim to promote bladder and bowel health, toileting independence and parent/carer education. Children and young people who may have difficulty with toilet training should be supported with a toilet training programme that can be implemented at home and school.

They accept children and young people from the age of 5-18yrs following a referral from the GP or acute paediatrician.

For more information, please visit the website: Children and Young People's Bladder and Bowel Service - Bromley Healthcare

The Down Syndrome Network Group

The Down Syndrome Network Group first met in November 2022. The network gives all staff in schools, early years settings and colleges the opportunity to network, to share good practise and to learn from other professionals working with children and young people who have a diagnosis of Down Syndrome.

Two meetings have already been held and they plan to meet each term in person at the Phoenix Centre. They have had a number of different speakers including teachers from the Complex Needs Team who presented on the unique learning profile of a young person with Down Syndrome, a school SENCO who shared how they support a pupil in a mainstream setting and a Speech and Language Therapist who presented on speech difficulties often occurring in young people with Down Syndrome and how to manage these. We have also welcomed colleagues from Bromley’s Down Syndrome Parent Support group.

These presentations have been very well received. We have also set up a resource bank of useful teaching tools and schools are borrowing these to use in their education settings. All professionals are welcome to attend.

The next meeting in on Thursday 15th June at 4pm at the Phoenix Centre. For information, please email

ISATandCNT@BROMLEY.GOV.UK

Blenheim Children’s Centre

A recent information and engagement event was held at Blenheim Children’s Centre. Professionals from Speech and Language Therapy, Local Offer, Health Visitor, Children and Young People Engagement SEND Lead.

SENCO Conference

This term’s conference took place on Thursday, March 30th at the Bromley Central Library.

ISAT’s interactive sessions included:

The team thanks our colleagues from Bromley Speech & Language Therapy Service, Bromley Collegiate, Kooth, St Georges (Bickley) Primary School, St Peter and St Paul’s Primary School and the Bromley Complex Needs Team for delivering presentations within our sessions.

A large number of mainstream schools were represented at the event. Feedback received:

“A fantastic opportunity for networking and sharing information.”
“A really valuable conference – and great to have a regular face-to-face event.”
“Literally everything was useful. I’m leaving here with so many things to implement.”
“Thought-provoking – lots of ideas shared. My score is 110/100!!”

The next conference is taking place on July 6th 2023. No booking is required. For any enquiries, please contact jacob.pereira@bromley.gov.uk or your ISAT advisory teacher.

SEND Network Champions

Please join us at our next meeting on 24th May

Bromley Local Offer Update

Would you like us to come and meet parents within your school? Please see more details in the flyer and arrangements can be made to come into school.

Help and Support for Families

Bromley Mencap

Our services provide support for disabled children, young people, and young carers through to their transition into adult service. We offer advice and information, signposting, opportunities for peer support, short breaks, and leisure activities.

Short Breaks

Our Community Support Workers, Buddies and Childminders have been supporting over 45 families to have some well-earned respite. The support is flexible and centres around the child/young person.

Specialist Autism Family Support

We are working with 17 families, offering support with issues such as the ASC Diagnosis pathway, providing parental support, behaviour management & emotional regulation tools and attending school meetings.

Young Carers

Our Young Carers were treated to games, crafts and pizzas as we celebrated Young Carers Action Day. We also launched our new Young Carers app this month and we look forward to getting our Young Carers set up and joining the forum.

16+ Autism Service

We are supporting people aged 16 and above with issues such as socialising, managing money and living independently. We have recently held workshops on Mental Health and Avoiding Scams.

Bromley Y

Bromley Y are continuously updating our materials and interventions to meet the mental health and emotional wellbeing needs of children and young people in Bromley.

Please find attached our most recent service leaflet which tells you all about our interventions but also if you would like to understand a bit more about the text support service we offer to young people of secondary school age, please watch our video below.

Parent and carer engagement in Bromley

We want to put the voice of our children and young people and their families at the heart of what we do.

Our SEND engagement framework Better Together: Inform, Involve, Influence sets out how we ask for, collect and use feedback from our children and young people and their parents or carers. We work with a range of organisations and individual parent and carers.

New Parent Carer Forum

We are working with NNPCF and Contact to establish a new independent parent carer forum in Bromley. An initial meeting has been held online with good attendance. The next steps are to form a small steering group who will work with the NNPCF and Contact to move the forum forward.

We would welcome your comments and thoughts regarding the new forum and how we can strengthen our engagement with children, young people and families and these can be sent via our email address: sendmatters@bromley.gov.uk

If you would like to be kept updated on the progress of the forum please also use the above email address.

Let us know what you think

Our SENDMatters newsletter

We’d like to hear from you about what you would like to see in this newsletter.

So, if you know if anything locally that’s relevant to special needs and disabilities for children and young people, that other parents/carers and young people would like to hear about which includes local events, please let us know.

Just email us at localoffer@bromley.gov.uk or complete our Local Offer feedback form.

The London Borough of Bromley bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external sites for answers to questions regarding its content.

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