Week of SEND 2024

Presentation by - Jo

BRIC provides emotional and practical support for vulnerable young children and their families at an early stage to improve their lives and their opportunities. They provide emotional support and practical help to children and their families to get them back on their feet after dealing with issues such as illness, disability, abuse, isolation, and the demands of having a young family.

Bringing up children is not easy and in the current situation is causing many families more anxiety and stress and in the need of some extra support, their family support mentors offer support through phone calls to help work through the issues you are currently facing, working together to achieve the outcomes that are right for your family.

You may feel isolated and struggling with your emotional health, you could be struggling to manage routines and behaviour, be worried about your family finances, or going through relationship issues. You may just need someone to talk to.

BRIC recruits Family Support Mentors, who are currently providing all support remotely, to provide this one-to-one support for families. If you have some time, a non-judgemental and empathetic approach with an understanding of the stresses that family life can bring, we would love to hear from you.

Presentation by - Lucy
Improving services for deaf children and young people in Lincolnshire.
Children's Hearing Services Working Groups (CHSWGs) "chizzywigs" bring together people from different services who support deaf children and young people and their families.

These include audiologists, teachers, speech and language therapists, social workers, local charities and representatives from the National Deaf Children's Society.

They aim to make sure that different services work well together and provide the best possible support for deaf children and young people, and their families. CHSWGs operate across England, Scotland and Wales, and there's one in Lincolnshire

Presentation by - Rachel
Following on from the isolation that Covid caused Curo -lincs decided to launch a new service offering mental health support with a difference. They provide support either one to one or within small groups, horticulture, nature crafts and animal assisted therapy. Utilising nature in a variety of ways to encourage people to interact and build confidence. People are naturally multi facetted so why not offer multi facetted ways to engage and support them? .

The animals are a natural therapy. They have trained therapy dogs but also use their free range farm animals. Clients will learn about them and how to care for them, using a trust technique to develop a unique bond with the animal. This promotes a structure that promotes self worth, empowerment and achievement. It's imperative that both animals and people are not ‘forced’ into engaging.
The Paws-itivity dog cafes run a similar structure enabling people to attend without pressure to talk to them, people can talk to our dogs whilst building confidence to interact with the group. Normally with a piece of cake and coffee.
They also offer nature craft groups, where people can chat and do their own or one of their crafts. These are inspired by nature and so far they have done heartfelt hens, positive painted rocks, Boston pompom birds, gonks and needlecrafts.

Their projects are predominantly facilitated by volunteer peer mentors who use their farms to provide health, social and wellbeing services for vulnerable people including: adults & children with disabilities, mental health issues and those experiencing isolation;

Activities may vary depending on the person/groups attending and the time of year, but the following are some examples of things they do:

• Mindfulness, Arts, Crafts and photography for wellbeing
• Horticultural activities such as: planting wildflower areas, planting and maintaining orchards, gardening, growing vegetables, building edible gardens. Hedge laying. Pond dipping, harvest the vegetables,
• Learn about the animals, including feeding, cleaning and providing enrichment.
• Build an enrichment activity for the animals such as hurdles, ramps, beds.
• Groom the pigs and goats, Dust chickens for mites, Clip goats’ hooves, Collect the eggs
• Take the goats for a walk.
Group activities such as: men’s group, women’s group, dog cafes, coffee mornings. Come along to one of the community social groups where they bring one of their dogs and you are welcome to bring.

Presentation by - Carol
Early Years Specialist Teachers based in localities provide ongoing support for Childminders, Nurseries and Pre Schools /EY SENCOs who have children with SEND.

Early Years SENCOs can also request support via the Early Years and Childcare website.

Early Years and Childcare support deliver a range of training opportunities such as networks and SENCO training for Early Years Providers to ensure that they meet the requirements of the SEND Code of Practice.

Early Years Specialist Teachers also target their support for Children who are looked after, Vulnerable children on a plan who are behind age related attainment, Children at risk of exclusion, Transition support.

Early Years Specialist teachers are based under the Early Help Locality Teams so can link with Health and Social care.

Dingleys Promise
Using their experience of working with SEND children over the last 40 years, Dingley’s Promise have created training and resources to enhance skills, improve confidence and inspire, to cultivate an inclusive environment for all children. The training is designed for everyone and has supported thousands to enhance their ability to include and support children with SEND. Each course has been designed to enable flexible remote learning and includes webinars and resources.

“Dingley’s Promise Training is a very useful tool, It was easy to follow and understand and the short quizzes really helped "

During the session participants will discover how to access the training for free, and be given an overview of each module and the resources included.

Presentation by - Odette & Jane
ECLIPS are part of Lincolnshire County Council's Specialist Teaching Team, they specialise in supporting children and young adults with speech and language difficulties.

They work closely with parents/carers, schools/colleges and other professional agencies such as the NHS Speech and Language Therapy service.

They are keen to promote Makaton training and support options for families and educators. Makaton is an internationally recognised language development programme that supports a multi-modal approach to teaching communication, language and literacy skills.

It can be used to support a wide range of communication and language needs from individuals with profound, moderate or mild learning difficulties, individuals with Developmental Language Disorder, individuals with no or developing speech, individuals with autistic spectrum disorders or sensory impairments to individuals with EAL.

The Dyslexia Outreach specialist teachers are also part of LCC's Specialist Teaching Team and offer advice and support for individuals with Dyslexia.

Presentation by - Lucy
Lincoln Deaf Chlidrens Society is a group for local parents, carers and families who have a Deaf child. We also welcome families with children with sensory and additional needs, from birth onwards.

The group runs on the last Saturday of each month at Birchwood Sure Start Children's Centre in Lincoln. We also have a facebook group where you can connect with other parents and carers.

Please join our facebook group - Lincoln Deaf Children's Society

Presentation by - Hannah(working carers)
The Lincolnshire Carers Service is commissioned by Lincolnshire County Council and delivered in partnership with the Care & Wellbeing Hub and Carers First.
The Care & Wellbeing Hub provides the first point of contact for the Lincolnshire Carers Service, providing information, advice, and support to unpaid carers over the telephone, and Carers First work directly with carers in local communities across Lincolnshire so they can live their lives to the fullest.
They offer services to support carers at every stage of their caring journey allowing them to find the balance they wish to achieve in their lives.
They have friendly, knowledgeable staff to offer advice, guidance and information. Their support can differ and considers what's important to the carer.

Presentation by - Laura
The LPFT learning disability service is a specialist service that works with adults who have a learning disability, who due to their learning disability can’t access mainstream services to have their health needs met. The Learning Disability service offers the following:
• Support with mental health which includes:

Anxiety

Mood

Psychosis

Trauma

• Support with behaviours of concern which includes:

Assessment, including observations and interviews with those who know the person best

Intervention strategies which may include education and training

Helping others understand function of behaviours and assist with plans to enhance the quality of live for the service user and their carers

• Support with physical health where support is needed with

Movement and mobility

Nutrition including feeding and swallowing

Liaison with mainstream physical health services to support reasonable adjustments to enable access for adults with a learning disability

• Urgent assessment and support where there is risk of placement breakdown

The learning disability service covers the whole of Lincolnshire and has teams in Lincoln, Boston and Grantham.

  Contact(s):- Laura Copus /   Tel:- 01522 309136   Web:- www.lpft.nhs.uk

Presentation by - Chris
For a while now LPCF have been involved with Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and the SEND alliance in developing access to core induction skills and knowledge modules of learning for Special School and Mainstream staff.
This was through involvement alongside partners in the 5 year Special School strategy.
During the process LPCF suggested that the training provided should not be restricted to staff but should also be made available to parents as part of the E-Learning process.
The SEND alliance have had the foresight, in the spirit of co-production, to accept this and approve parents access to complete the seven modules available:-
What is Inclusion?
What is Inclusion? (Bonus Content).
Respecting Individuals.
Awareness of Neuro-Typical Child.
SEND Code of Practice.
Working with Professionals.
Types of SEND.
To access the training parents need to be members of LPCF.