Participation and Young People's Voice

March 2021 edition out now!

Welcome to the February edition of the All For Youth newsletter. Download a copy here. 

This inclusive newsletter is a way for you to share your voice with other children and young people across Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.

Welcome to our March edition. In this issue you will find:

• Meet Mahmoud from our News Crew
• Ava’s book review of Horrid High
• Autism peer support group
• How to make a London Underground
• ….and much more!

For this edition, a special thanks goes to Jadore, Mahmoud, Ava, Diyana, Oska, Fatimah, Taherah, Naaman, Nathanael, Akram and Michelle. 

If you would like to read previous copies of the newsletter, they are available to download on the right-hand side of this page.

Hope you enjoy,
Marianna

“Participation is having opportunities to be part of decisions that are important to you and may lead to changes”.

Definition created by young people at the SEND Young People’s National Conference, 2019.

• You have the right to be involved in things that matter to you.

• The law says you must have your say.

• It will help us understand the needs and wants of young people in the local area.  

• It will help us improve services and understand what changes need to be made. 

• It will help your communication, confidence and social skills

• You can meet other young people and create a new and supportive friendship network. 

• You can be involved in the council’s decision-making process.

• You can help raise awareness and understanding in the community.

We want to hear from you!

Are you...

• aged up to 25 years that wants to share their thoughts and views with us
• living or going to school in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster
• who wants to help drive change for children and young people with SEND
• who wants to learn new skills, meet new people and share their opinions with others

Want to have your say while also meeting new people and having
fun?

Then join our brand-new Participation Champions group for young people with additional needs or disabilities (SEND). This group will speak about important issues, plan events for young people, check information is accessible, meet other young people and lots more. Download the information and application form here.

Are you interested in being a writer for our newsletter? 

We are looking for a News Crew of young people to contribute to future editions of the All For Youth newsletter. You could write articles or reviews, submit recipes, artwork and photos or recommend apps, movies or places to go! Read more information here.

Would you like to join the Youth Council?

Click to find out more information about the youth councils in RBKC and Westminster. 

Please contact me for more information:
Marianna.Lill@rbkc.gov.uk
Ph. 07967 760095

Tools for Managing Emotions: These tools are designed to help children understand and manage their emotions and feelings and stay calm and in control in the classroom. This resource is designed to be used with individual pupils and is suitable for children aged 7 and up. 

Knowing your Mental Health: This guide aims to help you find the support and advice for whatever it is you’re going through.

Self-Care Summer Booklet (Secondary): Ideas for self-care that you can apply beyond the Summer holidays

Resilience Activity Ladder: This resource is designed to be used with individual children to help them to highlight a goal and break it down into smaller achievable steps, that they identify themselves.

Resilience Game: This game explores common scenarios that children may encounter in their day-to-day life at home, or at school.

ChildLine’s Calm Zone: Try breathing exercises, activities, games and videos to help let go of stress here.

Safety Net: A guide to going back to school for older children with tips on reducing anxiety and what to expect in the 'new normal' school environment.

Returning to School Life After Lockdown: A hearts and minds guide to support your next steps back to school

Resilience Games for children up to 6yrs can be found here  

Ava's Top 10 Tips: Ava, a member of the Westminster Youth Council has produced some top tips for other young people to think about when returning to school.

Advice and Support

Information, Advice and Support Services (sometimes called IASS) can help you with questions about school, college, training, healthcare and getting the right support and home, school or in the workplace. Watch the video which explains what IASS is. There are IASS services in both and Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea. 

Mental Health Support and Counselling

KOOTH counselling is on online counselling service for young people aged 11-25 years.

Young Minds can offer tips, advice and guidance on how to support your mental health.

Childline provides help, advice, support and counselling services to young people.

Mental health is just like physical health, everybody has it, and it’s important to take care of it. Growing up isn’t always easy. Children and young people face a lot of challenges and it can be difficult to cope with everything life throws at you.
Feeling down some of the time is normal, but if you want to talk to someone about your thoughts or feelings, there are plenty of routes you can take. This guide aims to help you find the support and advice for whatever it is you’re going through.

Deaf support

The Buzz website provides support to deaf young people and includes information about corona virus discussing top tips for staying positive, corona virus and depression, managing change and also ways to work from home.

Healthcare

You have rights when making decision and choices about your healthcare. This amazing website has lots of videos of young people talking about their experiences and great information on how to use the NHS and take control of the decisions that affect you.

Legal

The Youth Legal and Resource Centre in Wandsworth has resources about your rights, including fact sheets about various situations.

Jargon

Jargon busters can help when the words you are reading don’t quite make sense or contain a lot of abbreviations. They are like mini dictionaries and explain diffuclt language in a way which is easier to understand.

Health Jargon buster looks at language around healthcare and related services.
Policy Jargon buster looks at language around policy, the SEND reforms and strategic decision-making.

Participation

For more information on the Participation Works Project run by KIDS.

Transition - Moving onto secondary school can be an anxious and exciting time, check out Young Minds for some top tips and BBC Bitesize for a collection of videos.

EHC Plans - As part of their work, young people's advisory group EPIC created a factsheet for young people to explain what an Education, Health and Care Plan is and how it works. There is a video explaining what EHC Plans are. 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).

The Local Offer - As part of their work, young people's advisory group EPIC created a factsheet for young people to inform them about the local offer and how it works.

Post 16 - As part of their work, young people's advisory group EPIC created a factsheet for young people to inform them what support is available to young people once they reach 16. 

Personal Budgets - KIDS have created a young person’s guide to Personal Budgets. Watch the video here

Advocacy - Youth-led advocacy is about supporting young people to speak up and helping them actively take part in the decisions that affect them. This UNICEF toolkit will give you the skills and information you need to stand up for what is important to you. It also includes advice for engaging politicians and the local media.

Autism - A quick guide from ‘NICE’ for young people and their families about assessment and diagnosis.  Top Tips and practical resources for autistic young people from ‘Ambitious About Autism’. Molehill Mountain is an app to help autistic people understand and self-manage anxiety. You can use Molehill Mountain to explore the causes and symptoms of anxiety.

The CDC has also put together some useful guides about a range of topics. 

Here at the council, we want to make sure our strategy for participation is clear. It will follow these five principles:

1.      RIGHTS

All children and young people have the right to have a say about things that affect them, receive information they understand and have the support they need to learn, have fun and be safe, healthy and happy.

2.      INFORMATION

Children and young people have the right to information that is accessible, easy to understand and SEND and child friendly. 

3.      CONSULTATION AND FEEDBACK

Children and young people should be able to give their feedback and communicate their feelings in ways which are appropriate to them. We will use various communication methods including through face to face meetings, group and 1 on 1 meetings, emails, phone calls and text messages and through social media.

4.      DECISION MAKING AND PLANNING:

Young people will have opportunities to be involved in decision making processes through engagement, inclusion, consultation and co-production.

5.      EMBEDDING

We will ensure all participation is embedded and overseen through members of the Participation Champions Network, termly reference groups, Child Families Act Executive Board, and anywhere there are other opportunities for young people to be involved.

Vision:

We want to hear from you, act on what you say and then let you know what we have done based on your feedback. We want to make changes to things that are important to you ensuring your time is valued.

Aims:

1. We want to provide services to young people by listening to young people.
2. We want you to tell us what you want and then share this with other people in the council.
3. We will hear what you say and then act upon it making sure we keep you updated on what is happening.

Apps and Games:

Brain Parade http://www.brainparade.com/products/see-touch-learn-free/
Description: a visual instruction app, including flash cards and picture-choosing games, for children with autism and special needs.

HelpKidzLearn https://www.helpkidzlearn.com/
Description: a collection of games and resources designed for a range of educational needs and stages. It includes provision for school closure.

Sensory App House Ltd https://www.sensoryapphouse.com/
Description: a range of apps are available for pupils with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) or Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD). All are interactive and many do not require significant coordination abilities.

Visuals2Go https://www.visuals2go.com/
Description: an all-in-one app created to support people with communication and learning difficulties. For verbal and non-verbal learners.

You can find more online resources for home learning from the Department for Education (DfE) here.

Welcome to Global Engagement Day 2021! The theme for this year is Engaging Children for their Future. You can find out more about the work being done by the council from the videos below. Introducing:

Hasheam Burnett, Youth Participation Lead

Marianna Lill, SEND Participation Officer

Jordan Cotton, Consultation and Insight Officer

Please contact Marianna if you want to know more about sharing your voice and getting involved.