SEND Resources for Professionals

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The compiled resources below bring together a wide collection of toolkits, advice and guidance to support and help those professionals working closely with young people with SEND. They cover a range of topics, including participation, communication, events and transition processes. These tool-kits are designed for practitioners working across health, social care and education to effectively involve and support young people in matters that are important to them and impact their lives.

The resources have been compiled by external organisations and are publicly available. This is not an exhaustive list and is intended as guidance only. If there are areas where we could provide further support, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Advocacy

  • This guidance from Voice Ability supports advocates in challenging decisions or actions with or on behalf of individuals
  • ALLFIE have created this toolkit focusing on supporting disabled people to lead on advocacy.

Autism

Communication

  • Tools for Talking are resources to facilitate culturally sensitive, person-centred communication and understanding, service planning and delivery
  • CDC teamed up with Participation Works to create this guide which provides information and ideas about how you can enable children and young people with a range of communication impairments to participate in decisions about their lives
  • This guide, designed by MENCAP, is designed to provide a brief introduction to communication, and the problems faced by someone with a learning disability
  • The communications toolkit is a compilation of sample worksheets and communication boards created by the Information, Advice and Support Services Network

Easy Read

 

Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP)

 

  • Amy, a member of Council for Disabled Children’s youth advisory group FLARE, has created an incredible resource to support children and young people who have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP)
  • This CDC Top Tips guide is for all professionals who are involved in supporting disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs, to fully participate in their Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan
  • This CDC resource has been produced to help practitioners write good quality EHC plans that meet both the letter and the spirit of the Children and Families Act 2014. This guide which seeks to build on the first resource with a particular focus on how plans should evolve for young people from year 9 reviews onwards, as their journey into adulthood builds momentum. We would recommend that you use this resource to complement the first guide
  • A Quality and Rights-Based Framework for Professionals Involved in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for Disabled Children and Young People developed by RIPSTARS Coventry

Evaluation

 

  • This toolkit from Artworks Creative Communities details a selection of creative techniques that practitioners can use to enable participants to engage in understanding and share their feelings and opinions in a reflective manner

Events and Planning

 

  • The Disability Awareness Toolkit by Plan International is a resource that can be used when facilitating a community meeting
  • Young People and Respect created a toolkit for running a consultation event with young people about respect
  • ALLFIE have produced this document to help organisations meet disabled people’s access requirements during events
  • This document from the National_l Disability Team aims to support staff working in higher education who are involved in the planning, organising, publicising and running of events

 

Health

  • Chelsea and Westminster Hospital have created a Patient Passport aimed at supporting people who need additional help when coming into hospital
  • toolkit from Young People’s Health for those supporting 16–25 year olds experiencing common mental health problems to gain and stay in work
  •  Young Minds created these handy guides to give you all the basic information you need to know about participation across the children and young people's mental health system

Participation

 

  •  The Participation Audit Tool from the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) is an essential resource for statutory and voluntary agencies, across health, education and social care to evidence and develop their participation practice and outcomes
  • This __from CDC lists a series of tips for involving young disabled people in participation
  •  A CDC checklist for how to include young people in decision making
  • A case study from CDC focused on engaging young people in Core Asset's Independent Support Service
  • This CDC guide offers an array of practical examples and suggestions to help professionals and parents become effective participators
  • The toolkit from ALLFIE has been created to better connect with disabled young people and build their resilience to participate in decision making.
  • This is the first booklet in a toolkit comprised of 6 booklets developed by Save the Children

SEND Reforms

Transition

 

  • Coram Voice have produced this toolkit to help advocates, professionals and carers support disabled children with the transition from children’s to adult’s services
  • The Bi-borough Transitions Toolkit for Early Years can be used as a guide to transition processes and can inform policies and procedures
  • The Bi-borough Transitions Toolkit for Primary to Secondary is aimed to assist teachers and parents / carers working with children and young people with SEND to support their thinking around periods of transition. It should be applied alongside 'Transition, Recovery and Learning in the Aftermath of a Pandemic' which has been produced by the Educational Psychology Service for Primary Phase and Secondary Phase
  • This toolkit from the Autism Education Trust is a summary of the common issues surrounding transition for young people on the autism spectrum
  • Managing the transition back to school: A guide for schools and colleges from the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families
  • Managing unexpected endings and transitions: A practical guide to support pupils and students to manage change during periods of disruption from the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families
  • An animation and accompanying teacher toolkit aimed at supporting pupils who have recently started Year 7 or who will be preparing to transition to secondary school later in the year (Years 6 and 7) by Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families

Under 8s and Early Years

  • National Children’s Bureau has created a set of eight leaflets on a range of topics for young children from birth to eight
  • The Bi-borough Training and Outreach Service Team have developed a bank of ideas of how to capture the voice of EY (under 5s) and non-verbal pupils
  • The Researcher Toolkit and Resource have been designed to support those who are seeking to include young children aged 5-8yrs old in research
  • This CDC toolkit provides information about supporting SEN and disability in the Early Years
  • Look Who’s Talking is a set of posters about eliciting the voices of children from birth to seven

Virtual Engagement

  • FLARE a young people's advisory group have published some top tips for virtual engagement

Employment

  • Ambitious About Autism has created this toolkit for professionals to help support autistic young people into their first experiences of employment, further education or training.
  •  Ambitious About Autism has created this toolkit for employers to help support autistic young people into their first experiences of employment, further education or training.

 

 

Related Links

  1. The Advocacy Project
  2. Full of Life RBKC
  3. Young Health Watch Westminster
  4. Westminster IASS Service
  5. Council for Disabled Children
  6. KIDS

Related Advice

  1. SEN Support Toolkit

Related Pages

  1. Activities and things to do locally
  2. Early education and childcare
  3. Parents and carers
  4. Health and wellbeing (birth to 5)
  5. Short Breaks
  6. Support for parents of children with SEND
  7. COVID-19 / Coronavirus Updates and Resources

Page last reviewed: 12/03/2024

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