SENDCo Mrs Kelly Aldred kaldred@ ext.1081	DEPUTY SENDCo Ms Imogen Burns iburns@ ext.1081	Student Support Centre Manager Mr David Butters dbutters@ ext.1029	SEND Admin Mrs Amanda Powell apowell@ ext. 1055

Learning Support Assistants

• Mrs Caroline Ablewhite (Lead LSA)
• Mr Piers Martin (Lead LSA)
• Mrs Mary Nobes (Lead LSA)
• Mr Ethan Dimaano
• Ms Yee Ling Law
• Mrs Tanya Jones
• Mrs Fatma Karim
• Ms Devorah Ross Carter
• Miss Hannah Whittaker
• Mrs Kiera Long
• Mrs Emma Gardiner
• Ms Sabrina Martin
• Mr Oliver Waterman
• Mrs Becky Collier (ABAVB Therapist)
• Miss J Buinicka (ABAVB Therapist)
• VSSS Support staff for the Deaf x 2

At Notre Dame, students are not excluded from participating in the full curriculum on the basis of experiencing a disability. Accessibility means that people can do what they need to do in a similar amount of time and effort as someone that does not have a disability. It means that students are empowered, can be independent, and will not be frustrated by something that is poorly designed or implemented. All buildings have a disabled lift access and there is a designated DDA toilet in each building, as well as a 'wash / dry' toilet for specific students that can only be accessed by a pass card. Over Summer 2022 we have redesigned the Courtyard area so that a new wash/dry toilet, plinth and hoist can be accessed by our students who are wheelchair-bound. All staff training has been provided by an NHS Occupational Therapist or Physio.

Staff create resources to enable students with dyslexia or visual stress to access the same classroom work as others and radio mics are in use for our hearing impaired students. What is good for students with SEND is good for all.

To find more information, view our Accessibility Plan by clicking on Policies.

The SEND department works collaboratively with our Progress Tutors to provide targeted intervention for both literacy and numeracy. 

We run a range of interventions and earmark specific individuals using both feeder school information and our own initial testing and then use an 8-week period in which to work on both literacy and numeracy skills.  We are also members of 'Dyslexia Outreach' who have trained three of our team to use a bespoke intervention called ‘Precision Spelling’ for those students already noted as having dyslexia / dyslexic traits and any new additions to the register who have been identified through SENDCo or external assessments.

Numeracy intervention is split into three strands: in-class support, small group and one-to-one, depending on the level of need and reinforcement required. We are lucky to have Maths specialists as part of our SEND team and we also liaise with the Maths Department and their Numeracy Progress Tutors to ensure that the right targetted support is in place.

New Year 7s currently take either Spanish or French as their Modern Foreign Language (MFL) choice but in some instances students find this more challenging if they have SEND issues, specifically with literacy. We work closely with our colleagues in MFL to monitor progress and during Year 9, in some rare instances, negotiate a complete withdrawal from languages to participate in a non-language GCSE group which runs parallel with the English curriculum.

Welcome to the September 2022 bulletin

Welcome to our latest edition of Norfolk's bulletin for the families of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and the professionals working with them.

Our update this month includes information on proposals for 86 new specialist education places, with an opportunity for you to have your say. The new SEND participation strategy is a great piece of work which shows how much the voice of children and young people with SEND is valued and gives examples of how they can get involved. And we have news of some helpful Easy Read guides to support healthcare choices, a video about how children with SEND can be supported at school, and new film to help parents find out more about early years provision for young children with SEND. We also have an update on the project to improve post-16 educational provision.

All the updates are short with options for more information if it’s a particular area of interest for you. You can also find regular updates on our SEND Local Offer Facebook and Twitter.

Call for experiences of EHCP statutory needs assessments

Professionals from the High Needs SEND team at Norfolk County Council are asking for parents and carers to share their experiences of the Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) statutory needs assessment process.

The team has developed three short online surveys, each relating to one of the three ways an assessment is concluded. They are keen to listen to and understand the successes, challenges, issues, and situations faced by families and get feedback to help them improve their services.

The surveys are quick to complete and offer an opportunity for families to freely comment on what worked well and what could be improved.

• Click here to complete the first survey, which seeks views of experiences where an assessment has found SEN Support is already providing the right support and no EHCP statutory needs assessment is needed

• Click here to complete the second survey, which seeks views of experiences where an assessment has concluded SEN Support with additional advice to educational settings on how to differentiate the curriculum is appropriate and no additional provision or EHCP is required

• Click here to complete the third survey, which seeks views of experiences where an assessment has concluded an EHCP is required and this has been issued.

New film for parents on early years places for children with SEND

• The Norfolk Family Information Service has produced a short film to support parents of young children with SEND in understanding the early years options and finding suitable childcare.

  It explains that settings can and will make adjustments to ensure they can support the needs of young children with SEND. 

  To view the film click here.

New easy read guides to support healthcare choices

The national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team has worked with people with lived experience to produce two new Easy Read guides for people with learning disabilities to help them make healthcare choices and ask the right questions of health care professionals.

They help with understanding and accessing health information about medication, appointments, treatment, and health conditions.

Get ready to talk about your health prepares people for what to do before they go for a consultation and includes information about their rights and what they can ask for and also how to prepare for an online health consultation.

3 questions for better health gives tips on what to ask at a healthcare appointment with an emphasis on making sure people understand they have a choice about their health and care.

Visit the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System website to find out more

The national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team has worked with people with lived experience to produce two new Easy Read guides for people with learning disabilities to help them make healthcare choices and ask the right questions of health care professionals.

They help with understanding and accessing health information about medication, appointments, treatment, and health conditions.

Get ready to talk about your health prepares people for what to do before they go for a consultation and includes information about their rights and what they can ask for and also how to prepare for an online health consultation.

3 questions for better health gives tips on what to ask at a healthcare appointment with an emphasis on making sure people understand they have a choice about their health and care.

Visit the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System website to find out more

SEND Extended offer pilot for post-16 provision

Representatives from post-16 providers, Family Voice Norfolk and Norfolk SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) have worked with professionals from Norfolk County Council to develop a pilot project call the SEND Extended Offer.

It will be trialled with a group of special schools and their students from September with the aim of establishing a better understanding of the range of post-16 needs, how best to support them and where the gaps are. It will help to forecast the likely numbers of young people who would benefit from access to additional support. 

The plan is that this pilot project will provide the information needed to shape a Norfolk-wide offer for families. 

Helping young people with SEND have their say

A new strategy has been posted on the Norfolk SEND Local Offer website to help young people with SEND understand how they can have a say in the things that happen in their lives and how much their voice is welcomed.

The SEND Participation Strategy has been created to make sure people working in SEND listen to children, young people and their families and to make sure children and young people know that they can have a say in things and they will be listened to.

It reassures young people that their voice can make a difference and gives an example from a young person working with the DRAGONs (Disability Real Action Group of Norfolk). This is a group of young people from Norfolk with disabilities which aims to make sure SEND opportunities are accessible and young people are enjoying their services.

Read the strategy here to find out more.

New specialist education places proposed for Norfolk schools

A total of 86 new specialist education places are being proposed at six mainstream schools in Norfolk thanks to the county council’s £120 million SEND transformation programme.

Six consultations have opened for the views of parents, professionals, and residents. If agreed, the proposals would see three brand new Specialist Resource Base (SRB) classrooms built on three school sites and existing SRBs at a further three schools increasing their capacity for more children and young people.

The new places, which will be for primary and secondary age children and young people, are in addition to 30 new places agreed earlier this year – bringing the total number of new SRB places provided by the council’s transformation programme to 116 this year.

• Wensum Trust is consulting over proposals to build two new 25-place autism bases. One is proposed for Acle Academy, whilst the other is proposed for Alderman Peel High School in Wells-next-the-Sea. Click here for the Acle consultation and click here for the Wells consultation.
• Corvus Education Trust is consulting over a proposal for a new 16-place social emotional and mental health (SEMH) base at Watton Westfield Infant and Nursery School and Watton Junior School. If agreed, the plan would be to locate the new building behind Watton Junior School within the school grounds. Click here for the Watton consultation.
• Inspiration Trust is consulting over proposals to expand three of its existing autism bases providing an additional 20 places. Click here for the consultation to expand the base at Thetford Academy from 20 to 25 places. Click here for the consultation to expand the base at Cromer Academy from 15 to 20 places. Click here for consultation to expand the base at Hewett Academy in Norwich from 10 to 20 places

Views on the consultations at Acle, Watton and Wells can be submitted until Monday 10 October. Views on the consultations at Thetford, Cromer and Norwich can be submitted until Tuesday 18 October. You can read more here

Making Sense of SEND event in Cringleford

Norfolk SEND Local Offer’s free Making Sense of SEND events give the chance for parents and carers to hear from specialists, give their views and ask questions.

You can attend either online using Microsoft Teams or in person.

The next events are:

• Tuesday 22 November 2022 (The Willow Centre in Cringleford)
• Wednesday 18 January 2023 (North Walsham Community Centre)
• Tuesday 21 March 2023 (Dereham Town FC)
• Tuesday 9 May 2023 (Professional Development Centre in Norwich)
• Tuesday 11 July 2023 (venue TBC)

Book your place to attend. Find out more about Making Sense of SEND events on the Norfolk SEND Local Offer website.

Supporting children and young people in the new school year

Starting or joining a new school or college is a big event for children and young people with SEND and their parents, and it can be equally challenging to be returning to the same school to face new routines and new learning after the long summer break.

The Norfolk SEND Local Offer web pages provide lots of information and ideas for things parents and carers can do to make the process as positive as possible. The transition in education page contains a guide to person-centred planning and lots of ideas about how support can be provided at every stage.

It also contains specific guides and leaflets about early years transition, transition from infant to junior school, transition to secondary school, transition from secondary school to post-16 college and transition and training for post-18 young people with SEND.

You can also find a helpful video recently produced by Norfolk County Council, Norfolk SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) and Family Voice Norfolk which explains what SEN Support is and how it can work for your child. Watch the video here: What SEN Support is and how it works.

Norfolk working with the Government on special needs funding

Norfolk County Council is one of many councils currently working with the Department for Education to help with the increased pressure on our main budget for SEND in early years, schools and colleges, which is known as the ‘High Needs Block’.

The budget hasn’t been able to keep up with demand for several years, because nationally and locally there are an increasing number of children and young people with more complex needs.  We have provided the services and places needed for children and young people but this means the budget is overspent.

We have sent some initial proposals to the DfE for how we can balance our budget while delivering more support for specialist education and with a particular focus on more support for mainstream schools and for SEN Support, reducing the need for Education Health and Care Plans to access support.  We are due to have more talks with them and in October aim to submit a final plan for the way forward.

Meanwhile we have already invested £120 million in a SEND transformation programme to create at least 500 more specialist education places over five years in Norfolk to help reduce travel times and minimise spending on high-cost independent placements and transport.

We should know by the New Year whether the Government accepts our proposals and how this may provide additional funding for us.

Have your say on new mental health service

The Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust’s (NSFT) Participation Team for Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is inviting children and young people and parents and carers to get involved in developing a new service for children and young people aged 11 to 18.

Called CATAT – CAMHS Alternative to Admissions Team, it is being designed for young people in crisis to support them to stay in the community with more intensive home treatment in the hope of preventing of hospital admission. This service will also be used to reduce emergency inpatient admissions and to provide a higher intensity treatment in a home environment.

There are several ways to get involved. There is an ambassador programme for children and young people and a separate ambassador programme for parent carers which both meet online every six to eight weeks. The children and young people programme is for young people with lived experience who are in a stable place in their recovery who can provide contributions and suggestions to help keep services relevant and sensitive to people’s needs. The parent carer programme enables parents to provide feedback and review content and evaluate current and upcoming services.

Other opportunities to get involved include joining staff interviews, one-to-one interviews with staff, or attending specific feedback events. To find out more contact participation co-ordinator Elizabeth Bennett by emailing CATATParticipation@nsft.nhs.uk or visit the NSFT website involvement opportunities page.

Children's continence survey still open for parents and professionals 

The Children and Young People’s team at Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System is still appealing for parents and education professionals to take part in a survey about children’s continence services.

The service provides care for bladder and/or bowel problems and provides support for children and young people having difficulties with toilet training, day-time wetting, night-time wetting, soiling and/or constipation.

It wants to better understand the needs of these children and their families and those who are working with or supporting them. Complete the survey here. Visit this web page to read more about these services.

Want to find out more?

Did you know the Norfolk SEND Local Offer web pages have a special section designed for children and young people aged from 10 to 25? Click here to see it.

More detailed information on SEND services can be found on the Norfolk SEND Local Offer web pages at www.norfolk.gov.uk/SEND. 

Click here for the subscription link to this Norfolk SEND Bulletin.

Family Voice Norfolk is the parents carer forum for the county, working with health, education and social services to improve services for children and young people with SEND and their families.

Impartial help, support and advice

If you need help and support please contact:

Norfolk SEND Partnership information and advice service (SENDiass) 

SENsational Families 

Norfolk SEN Network 

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