Thursday 10 November 2016

November 2016 - News


Info from Welsh government
Sennedd Debate to include Home Ed - Tuesday 14th November
https://assemblyinbrief.wordpress.com/2016/11/09/childrens-commissioners-annual-report-2015-16/


An opportunity to connect with the First Minister for Wales. 
Thursday 17th November. You must prebook your ticket here.
Deadline approaching for people to claim for their care People who believe their care should have been funded by the NHS, are being encouraged by the Welsh Government to register their intent to make a claim. http://gov.wales/newsroom/health-and-social-services/2016/160929deadline/?skip=1&lang=en
Together for Mental Health: Delivery plan: 2016-19 Promoting better mental wellbeing and preventing mental health problems. Together for Mental Health was published in 2012. It is our 10-year strategy for improving mental health and wellbeing and improving the care and treatment of people using mental health services their carers and their families.  The 2016-19 delivery plan is the second of three plans which sets out the actions to ensure  the strategy is implemented. http://gov.wales/topics/health/nhswales/plans/mental-health/?skip=1&lang=en
Some of the events our group members will be attending this month:-


“Protecting children, enforcing their rights” Free public lecture by Lord Kerr

17th Nov @ Swansea Uni, Richard Price Lecture Theatre, 6.30pm

All Wales Carers Assembly 2016
Old Debating Chamber, National Assembly for Wales, Ty Hywel
To mark this year’s Carers Rights Day
Friday 18 November 2016


Schools Exclusion Training with Snap Cymru 22/23rd November Swansea

Lots more events and training around Wales for members are listed as always in our facebook group  . If you are a parent/carer of a young person educated outside school in Wales do join us!

Other News from around WalesThe Into Film Festival is running this month. An opportunity to see a wide variety of free cinema screenings all over Wales. Don't forget to take a look at the free learning resources to accompany the films available on the Into Film website. To book click here.



Contact A Family Cymru
Nominate your unsung heroes in the first ever Contact a Family Awards
We want your nominations for our first ever Contact a Family Awards to help us shout about and celebrate the countless things UK families do when caring for a disabled child. You can help shine a well-deserved spotlight on families with disabled children by nominating friends, family members or yourself in one or more of the six Contact a Family Award categories by 31 October.
 
Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. Are these new rights making life better for you?
When the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 came into force on 6 April 2016, it brought with it important new rights for carers in Wales. Are these new rights making life better for you? Carers UK want carers across Wales to help them Track the Act so they can see what’s making a difference to your life, and what more needs to be done. Follow the link to the short survey and tell us about your experiences:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/72JXW3X
 
Family events in Wales are moving on up (and out)
Contact a Family Cymru has a great history of providing social events for families in Wales with the aim to bringing families together to share experiences and the wealth of knowledge that they hold. We have been able to build successful partnerships with many of the cinemas in Wales and their independent umbrella organisation, Film Hub Cymru. We are now going to be working with Film Hub Cymru and some of the cinemas in Wales to advise and help them run a programme of disability family friendly film shows during 2016 and 2017. Watch out for further details.
In August this year we invited families to share their views on events and the majority were really interested in attending outdoor events – going on walks and rides, joining in nature activities and taking part in camp-craft games. We have listened to this interest and recently ran some successful pilot outdoor events. We have also applied to BBC Children in Need for funding to run a programme of these outdoor events from 2017 onwards. So keep your fingers crossed for that and get those wellies at the ready! For regular updates, like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/contactafamilycymruor go to our website www.cafamily.org.uk/wales.

National Autistic Society As part of our free autism education resources project, we asked autism professionals for tips on supporting young people as they move to a new school or start school for the first time.If you're not signed up to receive MyWorld already, which provides free fortnightly resources for education professionals, you can do so here.
And

Moving Forward: A flexible pathway to employment The Moving Forward project team give an insight into how their project supports young autistic people into employment, further education or volunteering opportunities.


The diagnosis of a child’s vision impairment can turn a family’s world upside down. Dealing with the emotions and many questions posed by what the future may hold can be a difficult time.
Check out Starting Point which signpost families to resources and professionals that can help with the first steps in accepting their child’s diagnosis.

Afasic Cymru parent support group in Swansea up and running!  We are hoping to hold a group every two months at the Swansea Carers Centre in Mansel St, Swansea, families are welcome from any area.  I’ve attached a poster about the next group on Thursday 3rd November, 10am – 12pm and would be very grateful if you could share it with anyone who might be interested.  The November group is to be a normal coffee morning drop in session but the one that is organised for Thursday 1st December is going to be a workshop for parents/carers run by Richard formerly from Contact a Family, topic to be decided.

Swansea Carers Centre Self-Advocacy for Carers 50+ Swansea Carers Centre will be delivering self-advocacy training in the next couple of months to help carers in Swansea to get their voices heard. They will be running during October and November and will be an opportunity for carers to learn about communicating effectively, making a complaint, influencing and negotiating, carers rights, learning about emotions, being assertive and stress control.

- Intro to Mindfulness [Wed, 19 October / Wed, 23 November]
- Community Policing & You [Mon.24 October]
Road to Resilience [Thu, 27 October]
Be Assertive! Be Confident! 4 Weeks [Starts Thu, 3 November]
Help Me to Be Heard! Dealing with Professionals 4 Weeks [Starts Mon, 7 November]
- Safeguarding [Tue, 8 November]
Stand & Deliver (with Confidence) [Thu, 29 November]
Priority will be given to carers who are aged 50 and over, but we will open it to other carers if spaces are still available on a  course. So if you are interested in our Self-advocacy training programme, just ring us on 01792 653344 or email:marta@swanseacarerscentre.org.uk
daniel@swanseacarerscentre.org.uk
And also from Swansea Carers centre
Swansea Young Adult Carers Project. Most young carers look after parents or care for siblings and do extra jobs around the house such as cooking, cleaning and help move around the home. Young carers also give the person who they are caring for emotional and physical support.
Young carers often don’t know they are carers as they start support from an early age. Others can become a carer overnight. Many young carers are happy with their caring role, other feel like they need extra support. How can we help? Swansea Young Adult Carers Project will provide one to one support with a young person. On the third Thursday of every month we hold a drop in youth club between 6:00 -8:30pm at EYST St Helens Road Swansea. Click here for details http://www.swanseacarerscentre.org.uk/2472-2/


 

Foundation Phase - updated information for Flexi-schoolersThe statutory curriculum for all 3 to 7 year olds in Wales, in both maintained and non-maintained settings.It encourages children to be creative, imaginative and makes learning more enjoyable and more effective. Children will be given opportunities to explore the world around them and understand how things work by taking part in practical activities relevant to their developmental stage. They will be challenged through practical activities and develop their thinking with open-ended questions. Children will be encouraged to explore concepts and share ideas for solving problems. The Foundation Phase has 7 areas of learning which are delivered through practical activities and active learning experiences both indoors and outdoors. The areas of learning are:

·        personal and social development, well-being and cultural diversity
·        language, literacy and communication skills
·        mathematical development
·        Welsh language development
·        knowledge and understanding of the world
·        physical development
·        creative development.

Practitioner guidance Guidance and training materials (external link) to help deliver the Foundation Phase are available on Learning Wales.


Flying Start Flying Start is part of our early years programme for families with children under 4 years of age living in disadvantaged areas of Wales. Flying Start is one of our top priorities in our Tackling Poverty Agenda. We are committed to doubling the number of children and their families benefiting from the Flying Start Programme from 18,000 to 36,000 by the end of this Assembly’s term in 2016. In 2014-15, 37,260 children benefited from and  were in receipt of Flying Start services in Wales at any time, exceeding the expected numbers.  What Flying Start means in practice There are 4 key elements to Flying Start. Free quality, part-time childcare for 2-3 year olds Flying Start provides quality childcare which is offered to parents of all eligible 2-3 year olds for 2 and a half hours a day, 5 days a week for 39 weeks. In addition, there should be at least 15 sessions of provision for the family during the school holidays. This should be linked to foundation phase entry into schools to ensure a seamless transition between the two offers with no gaps in provision. An enhanced Health Visiting service; Access to Parenting Programmes; Speech, Language and Communication; Outreach http://gov.wales/topics/people-and-communities/people/children-and-young-people/parenting-support-guidance/help/flyingstart/?lang=en
Scope is a charity that exists to make this country a place where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else. http://www.scope.org.uk/ The site has information for parent/carers and resources such as childrens books http://www.scope.org.uk/support/families/books/children Also online support for young carers https://blog.scope.org.uk/

Contact a Family policy head supports launch of Premier League disability programme  an initiative that aims to inspire disabled people through sport.The three-year programme will see the organisations provide funding to Premier League clubs to create more opportunities for disabled people across England and Wales to get into sport. The initiative was launched at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London at an event hosted by the broadcaster Clare Balding. Our research into play and leisure found that disabled children often face significant barriers to leisure activities, including lack of provision, poor access and negative attitudes. Our report Fair play for disabled children: Bevan Foundation report, 2010 [PDF] calls for a rights-based approach and an increase in funding to improve accessibility for disabled children.If you're like more advice around your child's rights to play and leisure and where to get information about leisure activites, download our guideHolidays, play and leisure [PDF].


Contact a Family Updated Carer’s Allowance factsheet  Our Carer's Allowance summary factsheet [PDF] includes all the facts about who is entitled to this benefit and how you claim it.  You can also take a look at our podcast mini-series which answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Carers Allowance we hear from callers to our helpline. If you ever wondered who qualifies for Carers Allowance, whether you’d be better off financially by claiming it or how your earnings or savings will affect your claim, then this podcast is for you.
SNAP Cymru provides information, advice and support for parents, children and young people who have, or may have, special educational needs or disabilities.Our advice is impartial, confidential and free and is provided through our helpline and specialist casework service. http://www.snapcymru.org/

CBeebies has lots of help and resources for children with additional needs incuding Dyspraxia, Autism, visual impairment, learning disabilities, hearing impairment. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/sen-the-equality-act

MindEd offers free, completely open access, online education in over 300 topics. Our e-learning is applicable to a wide range of learners across the health, social care, education, criminal justice and community settings.
Our aim is to provide simple, clear guidance on children and young people's mental health, wellbeing and development to any adult working with children, young people and families, to help them support the development of young healthy minds. We have created bite sized chunks of 'e-learning' that help adults to support wellbeing and identify, understand and support children and young people with mental health issues. https://www.minded.org.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=18#1

A serving police officer has written about what it's like to be autistic and working in the police force. Karl McDonald also talks about the National Police Autism Association, an independent body supporting UK police officers and staff who are living with autism spectrum conditions. As well as offering support, the association promotes better understanding of neurodiversity within the police service. https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/uk/like-police-officer-autism/

CEREBRA The Difficult Box for those of you who attend the recent Swansea Carers event when Luke Clements spoke he mentioned a website under construction which looked at current issues in education health and social care for families of disabled children and young people https://difficultbox.com/

Carers Wales We're here to make life better for carers. Working as part of Carers UK:

  • we give expert advice, information and support
  • we connect carers so no-one has to care alone
  • we campaign together for lasting change
  • we innovate to find new ways to reach and support carers. www.carersuk.org/wales/news/track-the-act

Assessments: A guide to getting an assessment in Wales from April 2016 Many carers find it easier to continue in their caring role if they can get some help. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 came into force on 6 April 2016. The Act repeals the majority of previous community care legislation and intends to transform the way that social services are delivered in Wales.  For the first time, carers will have the same rights as those they care for. The Act introduces a new broader definition of a carer, a duty on local authorities to offer carers their own needs assessment as well as a legal duty to meet the eligible needs of carers following assessment.

Thursday 29 September 2016

All systems GO! Wrexham Austim Conference count down.


Home Educators will be out in force at the First North Wales Annual Autism Conference. Organised by one of our group members, and with an ex- Home Educated Young Adult as a key speaker. We are also really pleased to see Sensory Issues, and The Additional Learning Needs code listed as workshop topics.

Mark Isherwood AM, chair of the cross party autism group, will be chairing the event; NAS Cymru will be attending to give an update on the cross party autism group and autism development in the National Assembly for Wales and MP David Hanson will be attending to give an update from Westminster.The North Wales Annual Autism Conference will be held at the Catrin Finch Centre, Wrexham Glyndwr University on Friday, October 7 from 8.30am-5pm.

To obtain your ticket (they are selling fast!) Please click here

Press Release for the event is here

It's all systems GO elsewhere too ! 

We've been having face to face conversations/meetings ( play provision/ scrutiny meetings/ Gower College/3rd Sector Steering groups/Health groups/coffee mornings to name a few)emails etc, challenging and raising positive awareness around HE and additional learning needs. Various members have been putting a lot of work in on this front right, across Wales, and it's time to give them a MASSIVE round of praise: )
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
Next week we'll be in Swansea, Cardiff and Wrexham flying the flag for HE. If you have a child with Autism, we hope to see you for a chat at the Wrexham Autism conference 
2016/17 Focus
We are actively be working to obtain funding and co-production opportunities with other organisations to improve the life chances of our children and Young people in these priority areas over the coming year.
1. - Exam & Qualifications Access & funding.
There are numerous barriers to obtaining recognised qualifications for our young people. These range from organising exam access arrangements, cost to private candidates and geographical distance to exam centres.
Increase the number of available exam access centres in Wales for iGCSE/A LEVEL candidates that will accept candidates with additional Learning Needs.
Explore and make available to Young people a range of alternative qualifications such as Arts Award, ECDL & ASDAN.
2. Learning Resources.
3. Access to work and training opportunities for Home Educated Young people.
4. The Additional Learning Needs Bill!
If you can help us with any of the above right across Wales shout out!!!!!!


Useful Info from across Wales 

Carers Wales We're here to make life better for carers. Working as part of Carers UK:

  • we give expert advice, information and support
  • we connect carers so no-one has to care alone
  • we campaign together for lasting change
  • we innovate to find new ways to reach and support carers. www.carersuk.org/wales/news/track-the-act

Assessments: A guide to getting an assessment in Wales from April 2016 Many carers find it easier to continue in their caring role if they can get some help. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 came into force on 6 April 2016. The Act repeals the majority of previous community care legislation and intends to transform the way that social services are delivered in Wales.  For the first time, carers will have the same rights as those they care for. The Act introduces a new broader definition of a carer, a duty on local authorities to offer carers their own needs assessment as well as a legal duty to meet the eligible needs of carers following assessment.



Dimensions screenings ODEON’s next autism friendly film screening is
Trolls on Sunday 30th October at 11:30am. ODEON are changing their autism friendly screenings start time
It is expected, from November, that ODEON will change their screening time from 11:30am to 10:15am. We will send another enewsletter out once the change has been confirmed, please check our website for updates.
Vue's October autism friendly film screening is Ice Age: Collision Course on Sunday 30th October at 10:15am.
Vue host an autism friendly cinema screening on the last Sunday of every month at 10:15am, from £1.99. Vue have changed their autism friendly screenings start time From now on Vue's screenings will start at 10:15am.

Wednesday 21 September 2016

September News Round Up


Priorities for Children, Young People and Education Committee - consultation responses


EXAM CENTRES - we were pleased to publish a new list of Welsh exam centres this month. New centres have been added to the existing list, in new locations. This hopefully helps to reduce one key barrier to successful outcomes for our children. Several have been working hard to increase provision for candidates with additional learning needs. 
 For the list please click here

We now also have a private professional on board who is able to do the psychometric
 testing needed by some candidates. We have negotiated that this be done at a reasonable cost for those those who need it for their form 8, and have had no success with their LA EP service. 
Join and post in our Face Book group if you are a parent needing help with this. 

We are continuing to work on identifying new exam centres across Wales, and to ensure they offer equality of access whenever possible. We are also trying hard to ensure that these be competitively priced. Work in this area in ongoing, and we welcome all support in our endeavour to ensure that no child is left unable to obtain vital qualifications for reasons of cost or disability.  If you are able to help please get in touch with cymrualn@gmail.com.


Swansea leads the way in reducing the numbers of forced home educators with ALN by working to provide more specialist teaching facilities for children on the Autistic spectrum. News story here . This is a very welcome development, and one that we hope other councils across Wales will take note of. 

CALL FOR NEW TEACHERS TO LEARN ABOUT SLCN SEN is now going to be included as part of initial teacher training, and SLCN has been listed. There is a risk that it gets swallowed by ASD, so a petition has been started online. This petition is entitled ‘For every new teacher to learn about Speech, Language and Communication Needs’. The aim of the petition is to urge the Government to include Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) as part of any initial teacher training package. All trainee teachers should learn about SLCN so that they are able to adapt their teaching strategies and fully support their students to succeed and achieve, Call for new teachers to learn about Speech, Language and Communication Needs. http://www.afasiccymru.org.uk/call-for-new-teachers-to-learn-about-slcn/


EYE TESTS - 
Our Special Assessment Clinic provides eye care for patients who cannot communicate in the usual way. Cardiff.
This includes infants and young children, children with special needs and adults with intellectual disability. We work closely with the educational services to provide guidance on visual abilities and needs for children with any form of visual impairment, and also with the Low Vision Clinic to advise on or supply magnification aids when appropriate.
We are highly experienced in providing eye care for children and adults with all levels of ability. You do not need to be able to read or to communicate well to have a full eye examination.
We also operate as a teaching clinic for student optometrists.
We carry out research to develop further ways of assessing vision in special needs patients, and to study the aetiology and effects of vision defects in people with disabilities.
Our emphasis is always on communication, by written and verbal reports, so that parents, careers and educators are made fully aware of the patient's visual abilities and difficulties, and the ways in which their particular problems can be addressed.

Mencap WISE
 is available to everyone in Wales, whether you are a person with a learning a learning disability, a family member or a friend. We can give you the information you need to understand the rights of people with a learning disability and to support them to access services or challenge decisions. Call 0808 8000 300  or complete our contact form to get in touch https://www.mencap.org.uk/contact/contact_mencap_wise

Contact A Family Your stories Hearing from other parents can be a huge source of support for families caring for a disabled child. One of the best ways parents with disabled children learn is from each other. And we're always looking for more stories we can share to help raise awareness of the lives of families with disabled children. If you would like to know more please email Michele.Cefai@cafamily.org.uk or call the team on 020 7608 8741.http://www.cafamily.org.uk/connect-with-families/your-stories/

NAS Meeting the educational needs of pupils with PDA In this article Ruth Fidler, an Education Consultant and author specialising in pathological demand avoidance (PDA) and complex autism, explores some of the difficulties facing pupils with PDA, and how staff can best approach them.


Young Wales Annual Summer Questionnaire 2016 Welcome to the first Young Wales annual summer questionnaire. Each Year Young Wales will publish a questionnaire, developed by our Young Wales Project Board, drawing on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Concluding Observations published in 2016. The evidence we gather from the questionnaire will be used to inform the work of Young Wales and contribute to evidence submitted to future UNCRC calls for evidence. The closing date for responses is 14 October 2016. The questionnaire is available athttps://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2DKBDDG
The ‘All Wales Standards for Accessible Communication and Information for People with Sensory Loss’  People with sensory loss should be asked to describe their communication needs when they register with a new GP or primary healthcare service.  Arrangements should also be made to gather this information for existing patients.  This should describe a patient’s individual communication needs in a practical way ...’
 ‘As part of the referral process from primary to secondary care the communication needs of people with sensory loss should be identified and there should be arrangements in place to ensure they experience effective communication when they visit the hospital’.
 The Welsh Government is committed to tackling the barriers faced by the sensory loss community when accessing healthcare and to this end, are working jointly with colleagues from all Health Boards and NHS Trusts, the NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS) and the NHS CEHR on a national project to deliver an ‘Information Standard’ for NHS Wales. We need the involvement and support of individuals from the sensory loss community to help us ensure that we achieve an Information Standard that works for everyone.  We would like to create a Reference Group who we can work with to inform and develop the Standard. Public Health Wales is looking for people to give advice on how GPs and other health services in Wales should collect information on patient communication needs and ensure these needs are met. Do you (or does someone you know) fancy joining this group to have your say and make a difference? You can find out more and fill in an application form here

CALL FOR NEW TEACHERS TO LEARN ABOUT SLCN SEN is now going to be included as part of initial teacher training, and SLCN has been listed. There is a risk that it gets swallowed by ASD, so a petition has been started online. This petition is entitled ‘For every new teacher to learn about Speech, Language and Communication Needs’. The aim of the petition is to urge the Government to include Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) as part of any initial teacher training package. All trainee teachers should learn about SLCN so that they are able to adapt their teaching strategies and fully support their students to succeed and achieve


Cerebra Two of our parent guides have been Highly Commended at the 2016 British Medical Association (BMA) Patient Information Awards. We were delighted to receive the awards for our Parent Guides on ‘Returning to School: A teacher’s guide for pupils with brain tumours, during and after treatment’ and ‘Anxiety: A Guide for Parents’ at a ceremony on 12th September.
Cerebra We are asking for young people to write about their experience of growing up with and living with a disability to help us challenge negative perceptions and promote a wider understanding of different conditions. In this article sixteen year old Sallie tells us her story of living with cerebral palsy (CP). http://w3.cerebra.org.uk/information-and-advice/cp-and-me/
and also from Cerebra
Cerebra Cardiff University Family Fun Run Saturday 1st October Time: 1.25pm Distance: 2.4km
Route: 2 laps around the Cardiff Civic Centre, starting outside Cardiff City Hall. Perfectly suited to all ages, there’s no pressure to record fast times or even run all the way round. Instead, dig out your best fancy dress, drag along the rest of your family and friends and enjoy the experience. There are no age limits for the race, but children under eight must be accompanied by an adult, and unaccompanied children must be brought to the start and met at the fun run exit.
 Cardiff University Toddler Dash Saturday 1st October  Time: 12.15pm Distance: 100m 2015 saw the first ever Cardiff University/Cardiff Half Marathon Toddler Dash. It involved a 100m ‘dash’ on a fun course in front of Cardiff’s City Hall, aimed at children aged three and under. It’s back for 2016 so get involved!



A template Home Education card to print out and laminate at home for those whose children may be uncomfortable at being questioned by supermarket cashiers