SEND Communications and Participation

05/09/2018

PACC reps were back attending meetings this week.  PACC Participation Co-ordinator Sarah Thomas chairs the Shropshire SEND Communications and Participation group, which is one of the SEND Strategic workstreams hosted by Shropshire Council.  It is a multi-agency group with representation from education, health, social care and the voluntary sector.  The group initially caught up on the current news from the teams represented;

• The SEN Team is currently busy delivering Autism awareness training to schools in Shropshire and recently delivered its first session to a Post 16 college.  They are also preparing their Shropshire SEN Newsletter which will be published in mid-October
• Healthwatch Shropshire are preparing to focus on gathering people’s experience of the new 0-25 Emotional Health and Wellbeing Service, with children’s and young people’s mental health being their hot topic for the Autumn.  They are also gearing up for winter messaging about flu jabs etc.
• The Health and Well Being Board Communications will have a focus on children and young people over the next few months and will be raising awareness about the services available in Shropshire for the 0-25 age group.
• The Adult Social Care Team are creating a Transition Team in which social workers will specifically work with young people between the age of 14 and 25.  A young person will be allocated to a social worker and will stay with that team member throughout the transition period. More information about how this new team will operate will be available in the near future.

The remainder of the meeting discussed feedback from the Communication and Participation Survey responses and the development of a Shropshire SEND Communication and Participation Strategy based on these responses.  The draft Shropshire SEND Communication and Participation Strategy will be produced over the next few weeks and shared for comment.