Professional's Weekly Update Saturday 13th April 2024

Have Your Say

SEND, Inclusion and Alternative Provision Strategy

Parent Carer Focus Group Sessions

We are inviting parent carers of children and young people with SEND to join our online focus groups. The sessions will provide an opportunity to explore and discuss in more detail the emerging priorities within the SEND Inclusion and Alternative Provision Strategy (SENDIAP) for Wiltshire, as a result of engagement opportunities that have taken place so far.

The sessions are focused on the topics or themes that have come from parent carers. There will be key representatives from services and providers to listen and respond to your views and suggestions during each of the sessions.

The focus group sessions are all online, with some sessions held during the day and some at the end of the day. All sessions will also have a representative from Wiltshire Parent Carer Council team to support the process.

Please see below for more details on the sessions.

Date and time	Focus group theme
Monday 15^th April 10am – 11.30am Bookings are now closed for this session.	The quality of planning that reflects the views of parents and CYP and their current needs, is outcome led and has timely reviews
Monday 22^nd April 10am – 11.30am	Better communication and quality of information for families and CYP, better choice re provision and services
Monday 22^nd April 4pm – 5.30pm	Support and advice to parent/carers and their families, advocacy
Tuesday 30^th April 10am - 11.30am	The skills, knowledge and understanding of practitioners and officers in the system including training, collaborative practice across services, joint assessments, sharing of practice
Tuesday 30^th April 4pm – 5.30pm	The voice of the child and their family, children being at the centre of planning, views and aspirations listened to, heard and acted up, parents as true partners

You are invited to join as many sessions that are of interest.

To request a place at one or more of these sessions, please click HERE.

Non-Speaking Autistic Children’s and Adolescent’s Mental Health Survey

Klaudia Niemiec is a researcher from the University of York and would like to invite you to participate in a research project that explores 'How does attending social groups impact non-speaking autistic children's and adolescents' mental wellbeing?'

Please find in attachments a flyer (Participant Recruitment Leaflet.jpg) that includes information about the study, the eligibility criteria and a link/QR code for the survey.

Each parent's unique insights and perspectives on non-speaking autism are incredibly valuable and could greatly enrich research findings.

Aimee is also working on a research study that explores the mental wellbeing of non-speaking autistic children, while also assessing the support available to them. They are interested in hearing the experiences of parents/caregivers of children aged 4-19 years.

The study involves taking part in a 10-minute, online questionnaire about wellbeing priorities and gaps and strengths of current support. All responses are anonymous and there is no obligation to answer every question.

Please see flyer in attachments (Copy of Participants Needed) for QR code to complete the survey.

General Feedback (see attached form)

If you have any general feedback you would like to share, please telephone us on: 01225 764647 or send an email to: admin@wiltspcc.co.uk. Please be assured that when we share feedback with services, we never identify the person who gave the feedback, unless we have their consent to do so.

When sharing your feedback, it is often helpful to know:-

Which part of Wiltshire you live in? (North, South etc.)
How old your child/young person is?
Consent to share your contact details? (optional) This is so we can work with service providers to address issues with you individually.

You may prefer to complete the attached feedback form, send us an email or call us to give your feedback.

Events and Information

What’s On Parent Carer Calendar April 2024

For a full list of training/events/support groups for May for parent carers, please see our What’s On Calendar for more details: What's On Calendar

Inclusive Dance Sessions In Wiltshire

Wiltshire Inclusive Dance invites young people aged between 11 and 25 to join in with creating movement through having fun and exploring the space! With the use of colourful props and music, this session will be engaging, inclusive and interactive. The cost of the sessions will be £6 per participant per session.

Tuesdays Term Time only Starts 16^th April 2024

5.15pm – 6pm

Leigh Park Community Centre, Westbury

To register, please contact wiltshireinclusiveactivities@hotmail.com

New Specialist In-Patient Mental Health Provision for South West

Planning permission has been granted for a new £20m unit in Bristol providing specialist mental health care for people with a learning disability and autistic people across the south west.

The new 10-bedded unit will be built on the Blackberry Hill site and run by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP). It is being designed specifically to care for individuals across the south west with a learning disability or autistic people who would benefit from specialist mental health treatment in a hospital, when needs cannot be met in a mainstream mental health hospital or at home.

The Unit will help to bring an end to long-distance placements for patients, making life better both for individuals who need hospital treatment, and for their families, friends, and carers.

Construction work is due to start in May this year, with the Unit anticipated to open in the summer of 2025.

Is Your Child Eligible for Free School Meals?

For children in years three and above, free school meals are not provided automatically. They can be awarded if as a family, you receive any of the following benefits: -

Income support
Job seeker's allowance (income-based)
Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
support under part six of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
Child tax credit - providing you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and your family's annual income (as assessed by HMRC) is not more than £16,190 (as of 6^th April 2012)
Working tax credit 'run-on' - the payment you may receive for a further four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit
Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)

Free school meal applications for all primary schools are managed by Wiltshire Council. However, a small number of secondary schools manage their own applications and will advise parents on their process. These schools are: -

Bishop Wordsorth's Grammar School
Bradon Forest School
Salisbury 6^th Form College
South Wilts Grammar School for Girls
St John's School Marlborough

Registering for free school meals is confidential, no one will know a family has registered and it will not affect any other benefits you are claiming. Families can apply online, or by printing and returning the form on the Wiltshire Council website.

All infant school children, (those in Reception, Year One and Year Two) have been automatically entitled to free school meals since September 2014, you only need to register if your child is in Year Three or above.

The WPCC recommends that all families who meet eligibility for free school meals register their children regardless of their age as this will ensure that their schools receive Pupil Premium. Pupil Premium is extra money for schools to help disadvantaged pupils of all abilities achieve their full potential. Another benefit of registering children for free school meals is to enable children to access the Wiltshire FUEL Holiday Activity and Food Scheme.

New SEND Free School for Wiltshire

As a result of a successful bid to the Department for Education (DfE), a new SEND school will be built in the Westbury area to create more special school places. The new special school will be located at Bitham Park in Westbury, subject to completion of feasibility studies and planning permissions. The education provider will be Brunel Academies Trust.

The new school for 130 pupils will provide specialist provision for pupils aged four to 19 years with social emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) and could be opened by Autumn 2026.

Morrisons Supermarkets to Extend their Quiet Hours

Morrisons is extending its quiet hours initiative for people who may struggle with music and other loud noises.

The supermarket currently operates quiet hours between 9am and 10am on Saturdays, and the first hour of trade on Sundays. This will now be extended to include 2pm to 3pm every Monday to Thursday. During quiet hours, the majority of Morrisons stores operate lower levels of lighting, turn music and radio off, avoid making tannoy announcements, reduce movement of trolleys and baskets and turn checkout beeps and other electrical noises down. Posters are also placed outside stores to notify customers when a quiet hour is running.

Free Care Act Workshop for Families and Carers of People Who Have a Learning Disability

The workshop will be via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday 30^th April at 1pm - 3pm. Please email alex.macneil@openstorytellers.org.uk if you would like to attend and they will send you a link.

The workshop will introduce you to the Care Act and how it works post-EHCP. They will talk about eligibility and how social workers decide what service is right for each person.

Please note that this is not legal advice will be not given.

OpenStoryTellers is proud of offer this workshop to benefit local families and by way of introducing you to their organisation.

The PDA Summit 2024 Free Weekend Access

26th - 28th April

The summit takes place over a 3 day period opening at 10am on Friday 26th April.

Each day at 10am there will be different webinars with guest speakers and professionals released for 24 hours viewing. You will only be able to access the webinars released on each day over the summit weekend.

For more information, please click HERE

Super Saturdays: get around for a pound with Wiltshire Connect Wiltshire Connect is a bookable bus service operating in the Pewsey Vale and Marlborough areas, and from Saturday 6 April until Saturday 29 June inclusive, they are offering fares for just £1 for all rides booked on a Saturday. Simply enter the promo code SAT24 into the Wiltshire Connect booking app to benefit from the reduced fare. For more information on Community Connect buses, please click HERE.

Doorway Wiltshire

Doorway Wiltshire supports people over 16 who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness with basic needs such as hot food, showers, clothes, and laundry as well as referrals to other agencies including health, housing and addiction support. Their website address is www.doorwayproject.org.uk.

Chippenham Coffee Morning

Autism Central have organised a casual coffee morning for parents and carers of autistic children (any age/ no diagnosis required). An opportunity to speak with the team members from the Autism Central Peer Education Programme. No need to book just drop in on the day (children welcome).

Tuesday 23^rd April: 10.30am – 12 noon

Rivo Lounge, 2-4 The Bridge, Chippenham, SN15 1EX

Free Emotionally Based School Avoidance Workshop for Parent Carers and Young People

In response to our questionnaire in January this year, Silverwood School has generously offered to facilitate a free workshop to support parent carers of children and young people with SEND in Wiltshire. This free workshop will take place online on Monday 29^th April from 10am to 12pm and will aim to support families affected by Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA). These workshops would be free to attend, open to any Wiltshire parent carer and young people if they want to join alongside their parents. This workshop is not restricted to parent carers of children currently attending Silverwood School.

This session will be led by Emma Rossiter, who is a senior leader at Silverwood School. The session is designed to support parents and carers to understand more about: -

EBSA and how schools, parents and carers can support young people.
The anxiety cycle and how to take the steps to break free of this.
The role of trauma, SEND and life experiences.
Reasonable adjustments to support our children and young people.

To book a place at this workshop, please click BOOK. The session will be held on Teams and a joining link will be emailed to all parent carers who have booked nearer to the session. Bookings will close at 10am on Thursday 25^th April 2024.

For more information, please see attachment: Silverwood EBSA training with Emma Rossiter 2024.

Family and Community Learning Courses - Updated

Please see below the latest courses available from FACL:

Time Smart starts on Thursday 20 June at the Medley Centre 10.30am - 12.30pm. Induction for new learners is Thursday 13 June 10.30am – 11.30pm.

This five session course supports learners to increase their understanding of time and boost their confidence with personal planning skills, thereby increasing personal independence. Learners will look at 12 and 24 hour clocks, calculate the timing of routine domestic tasks and discuss when they are usually completed, create a daily timetable, and decide which bus they would need to catch to attend an appointment. The course culminates in learners planning a day trip using public transport timetables (though they won’t leave the Medley Centre during the course).

Deadline for bookings is Thursday 6 June.

Starting Secondary. This free, online, two session course will support parents and carers to support their child in the transition to secondary school. Learners will develop practical strategies to support their child and a better understanding of their role as parents during the transition. They will develop knowledge of the differences between primary and secondary school and explore ways to manage stress, build emotional skills and resilience, and support online safety. Starting Secondary is running on Friday 10 May 10am – 12pm.

Understanding The Early Stages of School Avoidance is running on Monday 29 April and Thursday 27 June. This course will be useful for parents of children who are still attending school but where attendance may be suffering a dip or causing issues. It helps learners identify emotionally based school avoidance, shares practical strategies, and looks at what schools can do to support attendance. It also provides an opportunity for learners to share experiences and ask questions of an educational psychologist.

Supporting My Teen with Transitions to Adulthood starting on Thursday 25 April 10am – 12pm – useful for those parents with children who are looking to move on from secondary school.

Supporting My Teen With Wellbeing is running on Thursday 18 April. This course is suitable for parents and carers of children of about 11+ years old. It looks at the emotional and psychological changes taking place for a teenager and shares ways in which to help them prioritise their wellbeing.

Working in Schools from Tuesday 16 April. This is a four session course aimed at supporting people who would like to work or volunteer in schools. Each session looks at a different area, including how to engage and support children in learning, effective responses to challenging behaviours, how to use the curriculum to guide learning, and how to promote wellbeing, safety and learning. There will also be an apportunity learners to apply for a day’s work experience in a local school.

Community Smart - New Start Date supports learners to develop an awareness of the facilities and opportunities available in their local area and how to make and maintain relationships with family, friends and neighbours. Learners also consider ways to engage in their community using appropriate forms of travel, supporting independence, social confidence and emotional well-being.

Starts Monday 22nd April 10.30 am - 12.30pm at The Medley Centre, Civic Hall Trowbridge.

Induction 15 April

If you are interested in attending these sessions, please get in touch with the Family and Community Learning team on 01225 770478 or email familyandcommunitylearning@wiltshire.gov.uk

For other courses available please click HERE

Wiltshire Autism Assessment Service Online information sessions

WAAS will continue to be running online information sessions about your assessment appointments with the autism assessment team. The sessions are for parents who have children on the Autism pathway.

The short sessions (about 30 minutes) will tell you about the appointments your child will be offered as well as some helpful support and advice while your child is on the pathway.

To receive a Microsoft Teams invite to these sessions, please email familysupport@hcrgcaregroup.com with the date of the session you would like to attend (see table below).

Upcoming sessions:

Topic	Date and Time (sessions last approximately 30 minutes)
Your appointments with the autism assessment team	Wednesday 24^th April – 1.30pm
Understanding emotions and behaviour	Wednesday 8^th May – 1.30pm
Your appointments with the autism assessment team	Wednesday 22^nd May – 1.30pm

Wiltshire Autism Assessment Service (WAAS) Monthly Email Newsletters

If you have a child on the diagnostic pathway with the Wiltshire Autism Assessment Service, you can now sign up for the WAAS monthly email newsletters which contain signposting, advice, new resources and service updates.

To sign up, please email the Single Point of Access (SPA): vcl.wiltshirespa@nhs.net with your details and preferred email address.

South Wilts Mencap Newsletter

South Wilts Mencap supports people with learning disabilities in South Wiltshire; inspring them to achieve their full potential and enabling them and their families to lead fuller lives. They support families in the South and Salisbury region of Wiltshire. They support with clubs, activities, fun days, short breaks and more.

CLICK HERE to have a look at their recent newsletter.

Contact's Brighter Beginnings Workshops - FREE

Contact is offering a number of free online/virtual workshops for parent carers of children and young people aged 0-16 with additional needs. The workshops are available thanks to funding from a range of funding sources. The workshops are free virtual one-off sessions and it is hoped that Contact may be able to offer in-person workshops again in the future, once it is appropriate to do so.

‘Regional workshops’ are for families who live in those areas only, due to funding arrangements.

Click on the workshop links on the website to book onto your chosen workshop/s.Not all workshops have dates yet, but new dates are continually being added, so if there is not a workshop available suitable for you, please revisit the website.

The workshops are very popular so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Contact’s Free Parent Carer Listening Ear Service

You might be struggling emotionally and looking for strategies to help you cope. Maybe you just need to talk to someone who understands the extra challenges you face and who can point you in the right direction to get the support you need for your family.

To help, Contact offer 1-1 telephone appointments with a family support adviser for parent carers looking for a listening ear, reassurance and practical and emotional support (see attached flyer).

Contact have released a video and podcast that explains the listening Ear Service in more detail.

You can watch the video on YouTube HERE or listen to the podcast HERE.

Making an appointment for the listening ear service is simple: choose the day (morning, afternoon or evening), and when you register choose the time slot you want. Appointments are regularly updated and are subject to availability.

The service aims to provide approximately 3 calls to Parent Carers before they are able to signpost you elsewhere for further support. If you are dealing with a specific issue that requires continuity and consistency, Contact will take this into consideration. Please get in touch for more information.

Book a Listening Ear Call

Contacting the WPCC

WPCC Phone Line 2023.

Our phone lines continue to be open as normal (10.00am – 5.00pm) and the number to access the WPCC SENDIS team remains as: 01225 764647.

When you call, it is likely that your call will be answered by one of our telephone triage workers who will take basic details of your enquiry and pass it on to a member of the team. If you cannot get through, please leave a message with your name and contact number, or email and we will call you back as soon as possible; please be mindful there are times when our phone lines can be extremely busy.

If you cannot get through on the phone, you can email us: admin@wiltspcc.co.uk

You can find previous WPCC newsletters here: Previous Newsletters

Keep safe and well,

The WPCC Team

Title Colour Key For Newsletter Black - New article added this week or staying in the newsletter Purple - Article retained from last week (reminder) Red - Article will be not be in the newsletter next week (final reminder)
In This Week's Issue...
BREAKING NEWS	New WPCC Autism Information Pack now Available New Support for Families, Children and Young People in Wiltshire Change to Barnardo’s Telephone Number
HAVE YOUR SAY	SEND, Inclusion and Alternative Provision Strategy Non-Speaking Autistic Children’s and Adolescent’s Mental Health Survey Feedback Form (see attached form)
ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE	SEN Parent & Carer Coffee, Cake and Chat – Bradford on Avon SEN Mini Disco for 0-18 yrs – Bradford on Avon SEN Mini Disco for 18+ yrs – Bradford on Avon What’s On Children/Young People's Calendar
EVENTS AND INFORMATION	What’s On Parent Carer Calendar Inclusive Dance Sessions In Wiltshire New Specialist In-Patient Mental Health Provision for South West Is Your Child Eligible for Free School Meals? New SEND Free School for Wiltshire Morrisons Supermarkets to Extend their Quiet Hours Free Care Act Workshop for Families and Carers of People Who Have a Learning Disability The PDA Summit 2024 Free Weekend Access Super Saturdays: get around for a pound with Wiltshire Connect Doorway Wiltshire Chippenham Coffee Morning Free Emotionally Based School Avoidance Workshop for Parent Carers and Young People Family and Community Learning Courses Wiltshire Autism Assessment Service Online information sessions Wiltshire Autism Assessment Service (WAAS) Monthly Email Newsletters South Wilts Mencap Bulletin Contact's FREE Brighter Beginnings Workshops . Contact’s FREE Parent Carer Listening Ear Service (flyer attached)