Information on playschemes and activities during the Christmas holidays for children and young people with special needs and disabilities.

The Local Authority has now published their booklet setting out the playschemes and other activities available during the Christmas holidays for children with SEND. Places on the playschemes are limited so if you want a place for your child/young person, do make sure you book as soon as you can.

You can see the booklet here on the Enfield Local Offer. 

Our Voice have also published a booklet for children and young people with SEND, giving more information on inclusive activities including cinema and theatre, museums, sports, youth clubs and more. See our booklet here. 

Below are a series of resources focusing on children with SEND that you may find useful for keeping your children entertained, calm and happy at home. 

This short film on the value of play from the British Psychology Society/ Division of Educational and Child Psychology looks at the importance of play and the way in which play helps children to manage their emotions and stress. 

BBC Bitesize SEND toolkit has a wide range of useful resources for both activities and wellbeing, including music, fun activities, adapting physical activities, Makaton, BSL and supporting reading. There are a range of specific resources for children with specific special needs and disabilities including hearing impairments, visual impairments, Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Learning Disabilities.

Home Learning activities for children with Autism and/or Learning difficulties - these resources have been produced by Enfield Advisory Service for Autism in conjunction with Russet House school.

There are some useful SEND specific resources (as well as a wide range of other materials) on Twinkl - although this is no longer completely free to use there are normally options to download some items free of charge. 

You can also find a range of other inclusive / SEND focused activities for children on The Sensory Projects website.

Music Therapy Tree have provided accessible music therapy resources, suitable for children with autism and learning difficulties in the new Self-Isolation support area of their website. 

Kids TV 123 - a YouTube channel with lots of educational songs e.g. numbers, phonics

GoNoodle - music and mindfulness

Cosmic Kids - Yoga and mindfulness for children

Stop Breathe Think - mindfulness and meditation for children 

The Singing Walrus - fun educational songs with accompanying worksheets and flashcards 

Just Dance - dance along to your favourite songs and follow the movements on the screen

Barefoot Books - animated singalongs and activity packs 

The Learning station - 'brain break' action songs

Singing Hands on YouTube has a wide range of videos of songs signed in Makaton.

PBS Kids Music Games - educational games and activities related to music. 

imoves - a range of fun activities to keep children happy, healthy and focused including Worry Monster, Pilates and meditation for mental health and well-being

Tate Paint - a tablet-friendly online paint game  

Great Ormond Street The Power of Play has a range of fun games and activities provided by their team of play experts. 

Unicef has a set of 10 playful activities for disabled children

This article gives a good list of different activities that you might like to try at home and out and about.

If you have concerns about your child's online safety, see our list of useful sources of information here. 

We are delighted to announce that a new SEND Youth Club for ages 11 -25 will be launching Tuesday 23rd November 21. 

Sessions will take place every Tuesday evening from 6.30 to 8.30 pm at the Bell Lane Youth Centre, Enfield EN3 5PA. 

To book a free place for your child/young person go to the Youth Enfield website, and select venue: Bell Lane, and you will then see the booking link. 

Young people with SEND aged 11 and over are invited to get involved and have their say by joining the Young Person's Participation group. 

Young people will be able to get involved by:

• being part of a group that meets regularly to discuss topics that are important to them and having a voice in decisions, planning and the development of services and projects that affect them
• becoming a Young Inspector with the opportunity to visit local services and say what they like and dislike about the service
• be involved in recruitment for people working with children and young people
• take part in projects to raise awareness of SEND and increase accessibility - for example through blogs, videos and campaigns 

Activities will be adapted to ensure all young people are able to participate.

If your young person is interested please contact alasdair.gillies@enfield.gov.uk

See the flyer here for more information 

Enfield now has a new SENDIASS service (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information and Advice Service, run by Centre 404. 

The SENDIAS Service provides impartial and confidential support for matters including: 

• Rights of parents/carers and children
• Form filling, applications and letters
• Documentation including EHCPs, reviews and needs assessment
• Arranging and attending meetings in schools or with Local Authority
• Information and support for complaints, mediation and appeals
• Advice regarding school/college placements and exclusions
• Independent Advocacy 

You can contact SENDIASS on telephone 07494 280063 or email sendiassenfield@centre404.org.uk

See the flyer here for more information about the service and full contact details. 

Ignite Hubs are offering free SEND-specific online sessions 'Learn coding the visual way' - an introduction to using Scratch which is a visual tool for coding. 

The sessions are for young people between the ages of 7 - 13 with SEND (parents are welcome to sit and play an active part in the sessions if they wish).

The sessions start next Wednesday 10th November from 6-7 pm. If you are not sure whether this will work for your child/young person, you have the option to register for a single session with no obligation to continue.

For more details see the website at https://www.ignitehubs.org.uk/SEND 

The Young Futures project from Every Parent and Child is a free 8-week programme for young people aged 12 - 25, with SEND. 

The programme will start on the 10th November and includes indoor fitness sessions every Wednesday and Thursday at 5-6 pm over 8 weeks, and Martial Arts classes every Wednesday and Thursday 6-7 pm.

Empowerment sessions including employment skills, money management skills and advocacy skills take place on Friday 26th November 2021  and Friday 7th January 2022.  

For more details see the flyer here and if you or your young person have any queries please contact Vash at EP&C tel 07903 708 944 or email vashsisht.raya@epandc.org.uk.  

On 22nd October, Our Voice hosted an Independence Skills workshop presented by the Enfield NHS OT (Occupational Therapy) Team. 

You can see the presentation from the workshop here. 

Information for families of children due to move to Secondary School in September 2022 or the following year. 

Our Voice held two videoconference sessions in conjunction with SENDIASS and the Enfield SEN Team looking at the transfer to Secondary School for children with SEND. You can see the presentation here and the Q&A here. 

• For children with an EHCP the deadline for confirming your preference is 22nd October - see the process here. 
• For children without an ECHP applications must be submitted by 31st October - see all the relevant information here. 

You may also find it useful to look at these resources for preparing for the transfer to secondary school. 

• Guide for parents 
• Guide for children (Easy Read) 

Additional guidance:  

• Guide for teachers preparing Autistic children for the transfer to secondary from the Advisory Service for Autism 
• Guide for teachers supporting children with SEND to transfer to secondary school
• Things I could say to start a conversation when making new friends

This week the Local Authority are running a wide range of 'Moving on' events aimed at the parents of children in year 9 and above, exploring the issues around transition to adulthood. 

See the Moving on booklet here for information about the moving on process and details of this week's events.

The events planned are: 

Tuesday 12th October

• Understanding Transition - all you need to know about the process
• The Local offer and MyLife and how to navigate them
• The Mental Capacity Act and how it relates to young people with SEND
• My transition - hear from parents and young people about their transition experience (evening session 7-9 pm join here) 

Wednesday 13th October 

• Meet Send Services and find out about the Preparing for Adulthood outcomes and the process for moving to college 10 - 11 am - join here.
• How to support young people with behaviours of concern through transition 11 am - 12 noon join here
• Adult Social Care Personal Budgets 12 noon to 2 pm join here
• Direct Payments in Adult Social Care and Employing your own staff 6-8 pm join here

 Thursday 14th October 

• Health in Transition 10 - 11 am join here
• Vaccinations and making decisions 2- 3 pm join here

Friday 15th October 

• Ask the Parent Reps - a chance to talk to other parents about transition (with Our Voice and Carer to Carer) 11.30 - 12.30 join here
• Meet SEN services and find out about the Preparing for Adulthood outcomes and the process for moving to college 1-2 pm join here

Monday 18th October 

• Understanding Transition - all you need to know about the transition process (evening session) 7-9 pm join here

Tuesday 19th October 

• Transition surgery - ask the professionals anything you didn't understand from transition week. 11 am to 12 noon join here