This months newsletter is now here with important information about the Schools white paper and SEND consultation, other consultations happening in somerset, and opportunities for you can have your experiences heard.
November Newsletter Now available
This months Newsletter is now available with some very important information on upcoming events including new locations.
June Newsletter Now Available
This months Newsletter is now available with some very important information about Inspections in Somerset. Please read carefully so you may have an opportunity to share your views/ have your voice heard.
New Format Newsletter
We are launching our new look newsletter. The aim is to bring you a shorter burst of updates and information, but more regularly.
You can access it here to either read on the page or download for yourself.
Appreciating Differences in our Neurodiverse children and young people
An exciting opportunity for Parent Carers, School staff and Professionals across Education, Care and Health to attend a 3-hour webinar working collaboratively to support neurodivergent children and young people focussing on how the SCERTS framework can be useful for a common language, particularly around provision of support.
- 13 January 2025 – 1pm – 4pm (UK Time)
- 30 April 2025 – 1pm – 4pm (UK Time)
- 4 June 2025 – 1pm – 4pm (UK Time)
Social Communication; Emotional Regulation; and Transactional Supports SCERTS is an evidence-based framework that provides guidelines for helping an individual confidently and competently connect to others in ways that are meaningful to them. Its focus is to create a positive environment for young people who are autistic or have social, emotional and mental health differences.
The model is designed to provide guidance for helping children to progress and provide families and schools with help to feel successful in supporting the child.
SCERTS helps families together with colleagues in Education, Health and Care to collaborate in a carefully coordinated manner.
This training is FREE to the Somerset parent carers, workforce and education settings. It is delivered virtually by Emily Rubin, one of the co-founders of this model and/or Amy Laurent.
Talking with children & young people about substance use
The summer break marks the end of the academic year in the UK and gives children and young people a substantial respite before the new academic year. Unfortunately for some, the summer break also provides an opportunity to experiment with alcohol and drugs.
Somerset Council, Public Health have developed the information pack providing guidance and support for parents, carers and families to start talking about substance use; helping children and young people understand the risks and support them to make safe and healthy choices.
SEND Tribunals – Have you say.
Join us at our office in Yeovil to meet with Ben McGrail from ITV who wants to hear your experiences of going through the appeal process for Education, Health and Care assessments/plans.
The session will be on Monday 10th June 10-12 and Ben will be here with his crew to listen to your experience and to film for his upcoming report on this subject.
More details are below. There is no need to book but it would be helpful if you can text us to let us know you will be attending on 07543 680365, so we can ensure there is enough space for everyone.
WISE up workshops
Over the course of this year we have been running a series of workshop to support families.
Being a parent carer of a child or young person with additional needs can bring extra situations which are challenging to know how to handle. To help support parent carers navigate these we created a range of workshops based on the subjects you have told us would be helpful.
We are delighted to announce the NHS Somerset (Integrated Care Board) have provided funding so the sessions can continue next academic year.
We want your help to decide on what subjects to cover next year so will be running 2 sessions as part of the Let’s Talk SEND and Inclusion Event. You can find out more here.
Alternatively you can email your ideas to getinvolved@somersetparentcarerforum.org.uk or text us on 07359 611454.
Have your say on support for children and young people to understand their feelings and Mental Health
We want to know what has helped children and young people with understanding their feelings and mental health. CAMHS, Healthwatch, NHS Somerset ICB, Somerset Council, Somerset Parent Carer Forum and Spark have worked together to create this survey to get your views.
This survey has been designed to help us understand the support available for children and young people and what would be helpful. The survey will be used to help us decide how we do things in Somerset, with the view to making things better for children and young people trying to access support.
The survey will take about 5-10 minutes to complete. The survey is open for children and young people, parents, and practitioners in Somerset. The closing date is Sunday for 16th June.
If you require any help to complete or would like a paper version, please contact us on 01458 259384 or email getinvolved@somersetparentcarerforum.org.uk.
To access the survey please visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/cypmentalhealth or scan the QR code on the poster.
Chill and Chat
Somerset Parent Carer Forum run a range of coffee session across the county for families to get together.
All parent carers are welcome to join us and you don’t need to book on, just turn up.
These are relaxed session to have a chat and a catch up with other parent carers and to get information from our representative.
Our current locations are:
- Wells
- Taunton
- Shepton Mallett
- Minehead
- Yeovil
- Street/Glastonbury
- Bridgwater
- Henstridge
- Langport
Visit our events section of the website to find out more.