Free Computers and Assistive technology
20/07/2010
Government scheme on offer to school-age children with a learning or physical disability who come from a low-income family.
The Home Access has been very successful with only 20,000 grants left to award. Due to the success of the programme Home Access are now inviting applications for computers for children with severe disabilities or Special Educational Needs.
If a child has difficulty using a computer because of a severe disability or a special educational need, they may be eligible for a tailor-made Home Access package based on a simple evaluation of their needs.
Commissioner calls for children to contribute to child protection review
16/07/2010
The children's commissioner for England is urging teachers, social workers and youth workers to encourage children to take part in the government's review of child protection.
Teather announces green paper on SEN and disabled children
08/07/2010
A green paper on special educational needs (SEN) and the lives of disabled children will be published this autumn, children's minister Sarah Teather has announced.
Child Accident Prevention Trust News June 2010
01/07/2010
The latest edition of CAPT News, the newsletter from the Child Accident Prevention Trust aims to equip you with the knowledge, resources and tools to make a significant contribution to preventing serious childhood accidents in your community.
Bliss re-launches Families and Carers website pages
28/06/2010
Bliss, the charity for babies born too soon, too small or too sick, has recently re-launched the Families and Carers section of their website as Support for families. This will now be divided into four main sections; Before your baby is born, On the unit, Going home and Older children.
It will also have all new landing pages to help make navigation easier throughout the sections. The colour has also changed to ensure it is as user friendly as possible.
Let’s listen - Young children’s voices - profiling and planning to enable their participation in children’s services
21/06/2010
Young Children's Voices Network have launched a new resource; part funded by Participation Works.
This resource is to support early years settings and local authorities to evidence and plan listening to young children and enabling young children’s participation in children’s services.
Over 60 guests from all over the country attended the celebratory event which included presentations from Dr Cathy Hamer, who developed ‘Let’s listen’, and colleagues from Hertfordshire County Council, who shared findings from their young children’s consultation project which explored 3 and 4 year olds’ experiences of the Flexible Free Entitlement.
REDBRIDGE: Rights of disabled children to be discussed at conference
04/01/2010
THE LEGAL rights of disabled children and their carers will be discussed at a special conference in Redbridge next week.
The event - which is also due to focus on the services available to disabled youngsters in the borough - will be held at Redbridge Town Hall, High Road, Ilford, on Friday, January 15, at 9.30am.
The conference has been organised by the Parents Forum Interface, which was set up last year to fight for better services for families with disabled children.
Funding helps Horsham project for disabled children
08/12/2009
FOLLOWING a successful bid by Horsham District Council for more than £60,000 in funding, a co-ordinator has been employed to oversee a project for disabled children in the area.
The council recently gained more than £60,000 of funding from the Department of Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health to develop seven out of school activities for children with additional needs and their siblings, entitled 'Aiming High for Disabled Children'.
Dorset parents unite to campaign for disabled children
17/11/2009
ONE hundred parents have joined together to create a group dedicated to improving the opportunities and services available to disabled children.
The Dorset Parent Carer Council (DPCC) launched this month and has secured £10,000 in funding through the Government’s Aiming High initiative.
Parents launch new action group
10/11/2009
A PARENT action group was officially launched in Grimsby Town Centre.
Members of the Parents United For Individual Needs (Pufin) held their launch campaign in Freshney Place.
The group is funded by Aiming High and works to voice the concerns over issues surrounding children with additional needs.
Amanda Burkitt, of Pufin, said: "The group was born from the Aiming High For Disabled Children consultation events that took place in 2008.
Comic celebrity Henry Normal to speak at Amaze Parent Information Fair
28/10/2009
All parents who have children with disabilities, complex health needs and special educational needs are invited to the Amaze Parent Information Fair on Friday 6 November at The Brighthelm Centre on North Road, Brighton. The event, for local families, will provide information stalls, goody bags and free pampering from 10.30am till 12.30pm - but the highlight for many will be hearing Henry Normal and his partner Angela Pell talk about their experiences of having a child with special needs.
Henry Normal and Angela Pell live in Brighton and are Amaze’s new patrons. Henry began his career as a stand-up comic and poet and has been responsible for creating, writing, executive producing and script-editing some of the UK’s best television comedy of the last decade. Angela Pell’s career began as a performance poet and she’s a sit-com and film writer. Her first screenplay was the 2007 film, ‘Snow Cake’, which stars Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, who plays an autistic woman
The Information Fair also marks the launch of the Parent Carers Council (PaCC), a forum for parents of children with special needs which aims to help improve local services and support. The PaCC is supported by Amaze. The charity’s Annual General Meeting follows at 1.00pm and parents who book beforehand on 01273 772289 are welcome to stay for the AGM and lunch.
Children’s Minister: Building parents’ and carers’ confidence online with myguide
21/08/2009
Children’s Minister Delyth Morgan today launched a new facility on myguide, a free and easy-to-use tool to help parents and carers catch up with their children when it comes to the Internet.
myguide helps provide the next step in the Government’s implementation of Dr Tanya Byron’s review of internet safety. myguide can be used independently, with the support of a friend or family member, or with help from experts in one of the thousands of UK online centres based in libraries and community organisations.
Young Minds Parents Helpline Survey
10/08/2009
Are you are a parent of a disabled child or a disabled parent? YoungMinds parent helpline wants to get parent’s views to find out about the emotional wellbeing of their your children, and what help has been offered if things get tough.
Young Minds Parents Helpline Survey
07/08/2009
Are you are a parent of a disabled child or a disabled parent? YoungMinds parent helpline wants to get parent’s views to find out about the emotional wellbeing of their your children, and what help has been offered if things get tough.
Contact a family - Big Day Out!
09/07/2009
As part of Contact a Family's 30th birthday celebrations the Big Day Out will encourage and facilitate families with disabled children to get out and about and enjoy play and leisure together throughout the month of August.
Read more and access the Big Day Out toolkit via the above link.
Parents rate local authorities on services for disabled children for the first time
13/05/2009
Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Minister for Children, Schools and Families today announced the results of the first ever national survey of parents’ views of services for disabled children.
On average, parents rated the services for their disabled child as 59 out of 100, providing the Government and local areas with the first ever tangible base point from which to track progress or changes in perceptions and experience in future years on services for disabled children, covering health, education and social care.
The score means that local areas can track their progress and means that families can expect to see further improvement as local areas benefit from the ground-breaking Aiming High for Disabled Children programme and the resources Government is investing in transforming services for disabled children.
North East Lincolnshire Aiming High for Disabled Children Feedback Newsletter
08/04/2009
Over a three month period North East Lincolnshire Council held a number of consultation events. They received
over 427 comments from the parents/carers, young people and workers.
They have issued a newsletter which brings together the over-arching themes expressed in the consultation and responses to comments, which include:
- Relationship building
- Information provision
- Equality of access and service provision
- Staff training
- Town planning and transport
To view the newsletter please click the link below.
North East Lincolnshire Plan Together Database
08/04/2009
Each local authority has a legal requirement to collect information about children and young people with special needs and disabilities. This is so they can monitor, plan and provide services that meet the needs of those children and young people. Plan Together will be the tool that is used for the collection of this information.
At present North East Lincolnshire council does not have enough information from families and their children about their requirements. If services are to develop we need to collect information that can then inform the shape, size and type of service. The council is therefore encouraging parents and carers to join the database.
Funding and payment arrangements for the 2009-10 Sure Start, Early Years & Childcare Grant (SSEYCG) and Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC)
19/02/2009
Attached is a letter to Directors of Children's Services, LA Chief Executives and LA Finance colleagues from Frances Carter, Team Leader, Early Years, Extended Schools and Special Needs Group. the letter sets out the funding and payment arrangements for the 2009-10 Sure Start, Early Years & Childcare Grant (SSEYCG) and Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC) and also the terms of grant which local authorities will need to accept before any funding is released.
Parent participation takes off
15/01/2009
Parent groups in 97% of English local authority areas have now been allocated funding to help them have a say in planning and shaping disabled children’s services.
In just two months parents with disabled children in 145 of the 150 local authority areas were successful in bidding for grants to help them get involved in local decision making.
Over the next year a further £1.5 million is available to parent groups to develop participation activity across England, as part of the Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC) programme.
To read more on this press release please refer to the document within the link.