for Disabled Children Issue 6, Autumn 2011 Children, Schools and Families www.moveitsefton.co.uk Aiming High Aiming High Lots of disabled children and young people took the chance to say “thank-you” this summer as they enjoyed a fantastic array of fun and stimulating activities all over Sefton. To find out more go to Page 9
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Aiming High for Disabled Children Issue 6 Autumn 2011
Aiming High for Disabled Children Newsletter with up-to-date information and news for children and young people with disabilities and their parents, carers and families
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for Disabled ChildrenIssue 6, Autumn 2011
Children, Schools and Families
w w w. m o v e i t s e f t o n . c o . u k
Aiming HighAiming High
Lots of disabled children and young people took the chance to say “thank-you” this summer as they enjoyed a fantastic array of fun andstimulating activities all over Sefton. To find out more go to Page 9
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Disabled Children’s Information and Database(0-18 years)
Please complete the following information and return it to the address (right) and the
Database Coordinator will contact you.
Child’s Name:
Date of Birth:
Parent/Carer Name:
Relationship to child:
Family Address:
Telephone:
Primary diagnosis:
Signature: Date:
Sefton’s DisabledChildren’sInformation andDatabaseThe Good Shepherd Site Sterrix Lane, Litherland. L21 0DA.
Swimming no longerstatutory athydro poolStatutory Saturday swimming at
the hydro pool in Southport
District General Hospital is no
longer available due to limited
demand. However, if you want to
book a session for yourself then
please contact Jane Galbraith at
the hospital on 01704 704 150.
Sessions cost £25 per hour and
are available on weekends.
Would you like the
chance to have
your questions
and views
heard by key
decision
makers
responsible for
providing services for your children?
As part of the national Carers Rights
Day, Sefton Carers Centre is
organising two ‘Question Time’
styled events, where the panel will
include senior figures from Health
and Social Care. Parent Carer
Question Time will be hosted in
partnership with P.A.C.T.S (Parents
and Carers Team Sefton). The key
themes being discussed by the
audience and guest panel are
‘Money Matters’ and the challenges
posed by funding and service
reductions at the forefront of carers’
Parent Carers Question Timethoughts.
The morning
session is
specifically for
parents and will
take place on
Friday 2nd
December from
10am-2pm at
the following address: RAFA Club,
Victoria Road, Freshfield, Formby.
L37 1LG. Complimentary
refreshments will be provided
including tea, coffee and biscuits.
For full details of the panel, check
out the November issue of Sefton
Carers Contact Magazine or visit
the P.A.C.T.S website for regular
updates www.pactsefton.org.uk
To attend, submit a question or for
more information contact Sefton
Carers Centre on 0151 288 6060.
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SeftonLibrariesAll Sefton Libraries have at least twoactivities each week aimed at theunder 4s. These are fun events andchildren can make as much noise asthey want!
At Storytime there is an activity andcolouring, as well as a story and acouple of rhymes. At Rhymetimechildren sing along and play theirinstruments to nursery rhymes andsongs; afterwards they can enjoycolouring-in with their friends.
To find out more about what’s on offerfor children at Sefton Libraries, pleasevisit the following weblink:http://bit.ly/pN6BVr
If you don’t have access to theInternet then please contact Sefton’sContact Centre on 0800 140 0845 tofind the location and contact number for your local library.
Magazines, Books and WebsitesWorking Families
‘Working Families’ is the UK’s
leading work-life balance
organization for parents and carers
and their employers. They have free
Legal Helpline for parents and
carers as well as a Facebook page,
which you can ‘Like’ and therefore
keep up-to-date with their activities.
They have also produced the
following booklets:
‘From child to adult: aguide to disability,transition and familyfinance’ to read please visit:
http://bit.ly/r0KuLK
‘Getting into Work’which can be found at:http://bit.ly/oDDuJn
The Nystagmus NetworkThe Nystagmus Network has
published two story cards about
Northwick the Bear with nystagmus
to help children, teachers and others
understand what it’s like to have this
unusual eye condition. To find out
more, visit the following link:
www.nystagmusnet.org
Parent Place‘Parent Place’ is an online
discussion forum for parents of deaf
children to share their experiences,
worries and advice. For more
information visit:
www.ndcs.org.uk/parentplace
The BuzzThe Buzz gives deaf young people
the opportunity to make new friends
and find out about activities and
events, chat about things that matter
to them and play games. For more
information visit:
www.ndcsbuzz.org.uk
Cleft Palate and DeafnessThis book explains what a Cleft
Palate is and the type of deafness
commonly associated with it. To
find out how you can register to
download or order a copy, visit:
www.ndcs.org.uk
Anger ManagementGames for Children By Deborah M. Plummer
ISBN 9781843106289
Helping Children to Copewith Change, Stress andAnxiety.By Deborah M. Plummer
It’s Raining Cats and DogsThis is a humorous book that offers
an insight into the mind of someone
on the autistic spectrum.
By Michael Barton
ISBN 9780956713001
Wrong PlanetWrong Planet is a web communitydesigned for those with autism,Asperger syndrome, ADHD(attention deficit hyperactivitydisorder), PDDs (pervasivedevelopment disorders) and otherneurological differences. Alsodesigned for parents, carers andprofessionals, there are discussionforums, articles, features, blogs anda chatroom. Find out more atwww.wrongplanet.net
Every Little CountsIf you employ a PA (personalassistant) or nanny you are classedas a ‘micro employer’. The CitizensAdvice Bureau has produced anAdvice Guide at http://bit.ly/oHLVkb
Whizz KidzWhizz Kidz has started a newwebsite for children with mobilityneeds, visit www.kidz-unlimited.org.uk to findout more.
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The
Way
We Talk‘The Way We Talk’ is a new film
from the ‘Hello’ campaign showing
how speech, language and
communication needs can appear in
children. It is narrated through the
words of Oliver (aged 8), Attiyyah
(15), Luke (4), Jamie (15), Barnaby
(6), Aiden (7) and Alex (6).
You can help children with a
communication difficulty by
understanding more about their
needs. Watch ‘The Way We Talk’ at
www.hello.org.uk and visit
www.talkingtrouble.info
Families at the ‘Sefton Up on
Downs’ group recently organised
a useful and well-attended event
at Bootle Cricket Club.
Professionals, school
representatives and parents
joined together with the Downs
Syndrome Association to look at
the areas of development for
children with Downs syndrome,
including:
• Developing language and
communication skills.
• Accessing the Curriculum
• Developing numeracy and
A Helping
HandThe Sefton Helping Hand Serviceare in need of good qualityfurniture donations, which can becollected from your home andredistributed to residents who arein need within the Borough ofSefton. They can only collect andre-distribute from propertieswithin the Borough of Sefton.
To arrange a collection or if youare in need of furniture, pleasecontact Sefton Helping HandService on 0151 932 9008.
Please note we can only takefurniture that is in good repair.Upholstered furniture must stillhave a label attached that statesits compliance to fire retardantregulations.
Thursday, 24th November 2011 - 9.30am – 4.30pm, Reebok
Stadium, Premier Suite, Middlebrook Exhibitions Centre,
Burnden Way, Bolton. BL6 6JW. Junction 6, M61.
Find Answers at MerseytravelThe Merseytravel advisory panel is being replaced
with customer panels in each district, every ten weeks.
They will be open to the public and involve local
politicians and Merseytravel staff.
If parents and carers have had issues obtaining a
learning disability bus pass for their child, this would be
an appropriate place to raise those issues. As yet
times and dates are unknown but Christine Bates,
Disabled Children’s Information and Database
Coordinator, will signpost parents and carers when
they are available. Alternatively, you can contact
Merseytravel on 0151 227 5181 for more information.
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All TogetherSefton
Welcome to Sheila, a new columnist
for Aiming High for Disabled Children.
Sheila oversees 'All Together Sefton',
a Facebook page exclusively for
parents and carers of people with
disabilities. She will be using this
column to share information that
could benefit parents and carers, of
children and young people with
learning difficulties or disabilities.
While she’s working tirelessly to
share information with other parents
and carers, she is also a dedicated
Mum to 3 children, one of whom is
diagnosed with autism.
For her introductory column, Sheila
has been interviewed by Christine
Bates of the Disabled Children’s
Information and Database.
Why did you set up the page?
‘I feel very strongly about families like
mine being not just supported, but
well informed. We have lots of groups
and professionals supporting parents
within Sefton, but recognised there
were still groups of parents / carers
who are missing out on information
and support, which can lead to
families becoming quite isolated.
The Facebook page provides
information from local groups, and
parents and carers can let off steam
between themselves. Parents and
carers need a facility that meets the
needs of their family life outside of
office hours so they can ask
questions within the privacy of a
closed group and gain feedback
from others in a similar position.’
How do you link with other
agencies?
‘I link in with lots of other agencies
such as the Disabled Children’s
Information and Database and Sefton
Carers Centre, using everyone’s
areas of expertise to provide good
quality information for parents.
When there are areas of concern
raised by parents I will link to the
P.A.C.T.S Forum to enable them to
raise issues at a higher level, then
P.A.C.T.S will feed back to the
group.’
Where do you feel your area of
expertise will fit in?
‘I feel that my experience of being a
parent with a child on the autistic
spectrum is a good place to start and I
have discussed with several people
the possibility of developing an
information pack for parents/carers of
newly diagnosed autistic children. My
aim with the pack is to take away that
feeling of knowing your child’s
diagnosis but not knowing help is out
there and where to find it. I hope that
eventually the pack will be given to
families at the diagnosis stage. This
idea has been brought to the
P.A.C.T.S Parent Forum, Sefton
Carers Centre and the Disabled
Children’s Information and Database
and up to now has been well received
and supported.’
What’s been the response from
parents and carers?
‘We have over 60 members already,
include parents, carers and some
professionals posting supportive
messages and further information.
There are also groups who can post
information and details of fund raising
events, such as Crosby RDA and
‘Thumbs Up’ to name just two. I hope
our group continues to grow and that
it will continue to make families feel
well informed and well supported.’
Amongst the useful information, Sheila isconstantly updated with positive feedback fromparents and carers, which she has compiled forthis issue of Aiming High for Disabled Children:
‘I think it’s great! It’s often hard knowing
where to look for advice and information,
particularly if you are just starting out. It’s
also nice to be with people who are going, or
have gone through the same things as us
and can fully understand and appreciate our
concerns and difficulties.’
‘It's a really good way of sharing information
and thanks to you Sheila it's always topical
and kept up to date. Thank you.’
‘I think it is great. Well done. xx’
Sheila’s top tip for this issue is Emma’s ArtisanBreads in Formby, who are selling a gluten free
range of cakes and treats to eat-in or take-away, with
an additional charge to eat-in. There are also gluten
free birthday cakes and they soon hope to add gluten
free bread and pasta to their range. You can contact
Emma direct on 01704 830 124.
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This year’s summer holiday schemes
were packed with exciting opportunities
for disabled children of all ages in Sefton.
Funding from Sefton's Aiming High for
Disabled Children meant that summer
holiday activities took place throughout
the six week break and this year were
designed to be as accessible as possible,
catering for more young people with
complex needs, including a significant
number who had never accessed
summer schemes before. These were
designed and delivered by a variety of
providers including - Sefton Positive
Futures, Sefton Resource Centre, The
Well Young Persons Project, Crosby High
School, Rowan Park School, Merefield
School and various Children’s Centres.
This meant that over 370 disabled
childen and young people accessed
summer activities funded by Aiming High
for Disabled Children and their families
had a short break from their caring
responsibilities.
Feedback from parents and children has
been extremely positive and we are in the
process of evaluating it so that we can
learn from your experiences and build on
our successes for next year.
Short Breaks Update by Colin Oxley, Assistant Director, InclusionI am writing this following one of our
most successful years in supporting
parents and carers through providing
enjoyable short breaks for their disabled
children. The general feedback we
have so far is positive, though we
recognise that there are always
improvements to be made. A lot of the
improvement this year has been due to
the effective partnership working with
P.A.C.T.S in planning the programme.
We are working closely with them on a
detailed evaluation of this summer to
keep improving as we begin planning
for summer 2012!
I would like to take this opportunity to
thank all of the staff involved from
Sefton Resource Centre and Positive
Futures, including all of the extra casual
staff and volunteers, who worked so
hard to make this summer programme
successful.
One of the things that parents have said
to us is that they would like to have a
single point of access for Short Breaks
services so we are combining the
Resource Centre and Positive Futures
teams into a new Short Breaks service.
We have appointed Caroline Bates as
Head of Service and she will be
assisted by two deputies – Karen
O’Farrell and Richard Potts. The new
management team are thinking about
the development of the new team,
including trying to come up with a new
name for the service – any ideas
welcome!
I would like to emphasise that the new
service will offer a range of Short
Breaks – some in inclusive settings and
some in settings solely for disabled
children. We will continue to work with
P.A.C.T.S to make sure that the service
develops in ways that meet the needs
of our children and families.
Parents and carers have also told us
that they would like easier access to
services and I have tried to capture this
in our draft Short Breaks statement.
This is already on the P.A.C.T.S website
and I would welcome your views. We
need to put the statement on the Sefton
website in October and I am proposing
that we should use the draft statement
initially, while emphasising it is a draft
and may change in the light of any
comments received. I would hope that
we would have a very clear idea of what
you think of the statement by Christmas
so that a final version can be placed on
the Sefton Council website by January
2012.
I hope that the changes we are making
are working for our children and families
but please let us have your views so
that we can continue to improve
services together.
Fun theGreatestResourcefor SeftonFun was the greatest resource for
P.A.C.T.S - Parent and CarersTeam SeftonIf you are a parent orcarer of a child or youngperson 0-25 years withadditional needs orbelong to a group ofparents you can getinvolved with P.A.C.T.Sand 'Have Your Say'. The P.A.C.T.S Vision is to join
parents together with a collective
‘voice’ to work with service
providers to help shape services to
meet the needs of disabled
children and their families.
The team have had a very busy
few months working with Sefton
Council on behalf of parents of
disabled children and will continue
to do so in the future.
P.A.C.T.S have been involved in
many key projects and
developments, including:
Helping shape the summer holiday
activities for disabled children in
Sefton alongside Sefton Positive
Futures, Sefton Resource Centre,
children’s centres for their family
days and Merefield School, Rowan
Park School and Crosby High
School for their summer schemes.
Did your child access any of these
activities? Please contact the team
and let them know whether or not
your child attended. If your child
did attend, tell P.A.C.T.S about
your experiences. Were they
good? If so what aspects did you
enjoy? Would you change
anything? If so, what would you
change?
If your child did not access any
activities, please let P.A.C.T.S
know why. You can find online
forms on their website. All the
feedback will be used to help as
many children access some form
of summer activity as possible and
make the activities better for our
children.
Also on the P.A.C.T.S website
there is a consultation document
from Sefton, regarding the core
offer of Short Breaks. Please have
a read and give your comments
either directly to Colin Oxley or
through P.A.C.T.S. If you don’t
have access to the Internet please
contact P.A.C.T.S on 07864 913
630 or Christine Bates at the
Disabled Children’s Information
and Database on 0151 934 3853
and a copy will be sent to you.
The deadline for consultation has
been extended to encourage as
much discussion and feedback as
possible.
P.A.C.T.S have also been involved
in the Children’s Centres Review
and there is some information on
our website for you to read and to
comment on if you wish. It is
important to feedback your views
on the children’s centres as the
proposals may change the
services they offer.
All these things are important
steps in making services available
and accessible for disabled
children.
You can find out more about
P.A.C.T.S by visiting their website:
www.pactsefton.org.uk
If your child attends school / nursery please give details below
Telephone:
Email:
What’s the best way to contact you?
Telephone Email Post
Parent / Carer contact details
Name:
Child’s Name:
Address:
Please return to P.A.C.T.S (Parent and Carers Team Sefton),
c/o 27-37 South Road, Waterloo, Liverpool. L22 5RF.