Local News

  

BROMLEY MENCAP AND BROMLEY SCOPE AGREE TO MERGE

It has been agreed by members of Bromley Scope and Bromley Mencap that the two organisations should join together to become one organisation.  Bromley Mencap will begin to run Bromley Scope’s services.  This means Bromley Mencap will become a disability organisation and will provide services for other groups of disabled children.

Looking for Activities to enjoy during the holidays?

The Integrated Youth Service has arranged a wide range of low cost and free summer activities for children & young people across the borough.  Details are available to download by clicking here. 

 If you are unsure about the suitability of these activities for your son or daughter please contact the Youth Service Support Services directly. 

Individual SEN Pupil Resource Agreements – Pilot Scheme

Since the consultation with Parent Voice members during the 2009 Autumn term, which largely opposed the Authority’s proposals to change the SEN funding methodology, the Assistant Director for Access and Inclusion has been investigating ways in which the Authority might improve its SEN processes so that children with SEN can be more effectively and efficiently supported in a strengthened partnership agreement between the Authority, parents/carers and Bromley schools. 

As part of this work, the newly established Inclusion Support Service is developing a pilot scheme intended to provide early, targeted, specialist intervention and enhanced support (referred to as Pupil Resource Agreements) without the need for undertaking the lengthy, time consuming and often quite bureaucratic statutory assessment process. At this pilot stage of the development, the Agreements are intended for pupils with SEN which have been identified as being at the upper threshold of the SEN Code of Practice School Action (or Early Years) Action Plus range of need but which are considered to be not in the range of severe and/or complex. Pupils may be being considered for referral (or may have already been referred) to the Authority for consideration for a statutory assessment of SEN.

A focus group has been established which includes Head Teacher and SENCO representatives – Parent Voice has been asked to nominate a representative(s) member(s) to join the group – to assist with the development and evaluation of the pilot scheme. As part of the pilot, 30 pupils have been identified by the Pre-School Specialist Early Support Services. These pupils will be entering into mainstream school reception classes in September 2010 and January 2011and will be the first group to benefit from Pupil Resource Agreements. The Agreements will not affect either parents’ or schools’ statutory rights to formally request that the Authority considers a statutory assessment of any individual child’s needs at any time.

The pilot scheme will be subject to review and evaluation and this will inform any future development of Pupil Resource Agreement arrangements. More detailed information about Pupil Resource Agreements will be available during the Autumn Term 2010 and will be posted on the Parent Voice web site.  

Weekend and Summer Holiday Provision for Short Breaks has been commissioned!

Details of all of the summer holiday provision which as been commissioned by the London Borough of Bromley is now available.  Please click here to download this information. Please note that eligibility criteria may apply to some of the schemes so check with the service provider directly as to whether a specific provision is appropriate for the individual needs of your child.  Concessionary rates and transport may be available on some schemes.  Please contact the service provider for more information.

Parents from Bromley Parent Voice were involved in the commissioning process.  We would therefore welcome your comments on both the range and quality of the schemes available.

'Parents Are Special Too'

Coming to a Children & Family Centre near you! 

'Parents Are Special Too' are new support groups for parents and carers of children with a disability or additional need.  These groups will be run parents for parents and will give parents the opportunity to iscuss issues that concern them.  The groups will also allow parents to have better access to information too! The groups will start in June in four Children & Family Centres across the borough:

BLENHEIM          Monday 28th June 1-3pm

BURNT ASH       Monday 28th June 1-3pm

MOTTINGHAM    Tuesday 29th June 12.30-2.30pm 

CHURCHFIELDS  Friday 2nd   July 1-3pm

For more details click here.

Safeguarding and Looked After Children - Ofsted Full Inspection 12th-23rd April 2010

Parents from Bromley Parent Voice were asked to form a focus group which met with an Ofsted inspector as part of the inspection process.  As well as looking at how well agencies and professionals work together to identify, safeguard and promote the welfare of potentially vulnerable groups of children and young people that live in the London Borough of Bromley, the inspection also assessed how the views of children, young people and their families and carers are sought and inform service delivery.

The inspection report can be downloaded here.

Active Involvement/Disabled Children and Young People’s Project

Cathie James has recently joined Bexley & Bromley Advocacy as the Disabled Children and Young People’s Supporter.  Working across Bromley borough, her role will be to promote and support the active involvement of children and young people with a disability.  To ensure broad representation across the age range (5 to 18 years) and to engage people with differing abilities and communication needs, this will include:

• Different kinds of opportunities for participation
• Support and training around participation skills
• Provision that is fun and interesting

Children and young people will be supported to share their views on issues such as:

• Short breaks
• Transition to adult services/further education
• Bullying
• Facilities in leisure centres and other community settings

Want to know more or to arrange a visit to your group or organisation? Contact Cathie on 020 8300 9666 or email cathie@bbadvocacy.org or click here to see a summary report of the pilot project.

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To date Bromley Parent Voice has been asked to be involved

in the following consultations and service developments.