Wokingham Area SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2024 to 2029 (Easy Read edition)

Wokingham area SEND and inclusion strategy 2024 to 2029

Our plan about how we will make sure children and young people get the right support at the right time

Everyone who owns this plan

About this easy read

This is an easy read of a bigger plan called the Wokingham Area SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2024 to 2029.

This easy read tells you about the main things in the bigger plan.

If you want more information, you can find the bigger plan on our website:

www.wokingham.gov.uk/children­ families-and-young-people/send­ local-offer/about-send-local-offer/ send-strategies

What is in this booklet

Page 1 About SEND

Page 2 About this plan

Page 4 Big thing 1: Early support

Page 7 Big thing 2: Having enough SEND

support

Page 10 Big thing 3: Working together

Page 14 Big thing 4: Supporting

children with SEND with big

changes

Page 16 Big thing 5: Co-production

Page 19 Big thing 6: Making SEND services

work better

About SEND

SEND

Some children and young people may find it harder to learn than other children of the same age.

They may need extra support at school or college.

We say children who need extra support to learn have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

We call it SEND for short.

Some children with SEND only need a little bit of support and some children need a lot of support.

About this plan

We are Wokingham’s strategic SEND Partnership.

We work together with services, families and carers to give children and young people the right support.

Services are things like: • Education services. Things like schools and colleges.

• Health and care services.

• Local councils.

• Services that support families of children and young people in Wokingham.

We all want the best for all children and young people with SEND.

We have all worked together with children and young people to make this plan.

The plan shows how schools, children and families will work together so children with SEND can learn and grow.

There are 6 big things we want to do in our plan.

Big thing 1: Early support

Children with SEND need help early in their life.

Early help and support gives children the best chance to learn and do well.

Here are the things we will do in Wokingham

We will make sure SEND children get the support they need when they need it.

Support is given close to where people live.

All schools will help children with SEND to learn.

All schools will make sure children with SEND feel included.

All staff will get the same good training to help children and families in the best way.

We will work together to make sure children with SEND feel part of the community.

A community is where people live, work and play in the same area. It can include friends, neighbours, and family too.

Health services will work with SEND children in community places.

This means the places everyone goes to. Places like the local doctors, dentist, and chemists.

We will try to stop SEND children from being suspended from school.

Suspended means you have to stay home and not go to school for a little while.

It can happen if a child seriously breaks the rules at school.

Big thing 2: Having enough SEND services

We will make sure there is enough good support in education and health.

All children with SEND will be supported from birth to up to age 25.

Children and young people will get the help they need when they need it.

Here are the things we will do in Wokingham

We will find any problems with services and fix them.

Children with SEND will go to good schools near their homes.

New

We are building 2 new schools for children and young people with SEND.

There will be more support in mainstream schools.

A mainstream school is a school for all children together. Children with SEND and children who don’t have SEND go to the same school.

We will give young people aged over 16 more choices. Things like college and chances to try working in a job.

We will make a plan about what support is needed.

This will help us to make sure there are enough services for children and young people with SEND in the future.

We will make school transport better and easier to use. Things like buses and taxis.

We will support young people to learn to travel on their own if they can.

We will check that all schools are working well.

We will make short breaks better for families who need them.

This is time for parents and carers to take a break from caring.

Big thing 3: Working together

Services will work together to help more children and young people.

They will share things like: • Staff like teachers and health workers.

• Money.

• Schools and other buildings used for education.

• Any other support needed to help children.

Here are the things we will do in Wokingham

Education, health and care services will work together and share information.

This helps everyone to understand how a child or young person wants or likes to be supported.

We will train staff how to support children and families.

They will learn to give good support.

We will make therapies better.

Therapies are things like: • Support with speech.

• Help to learn day to day tasks like dressing and cooking.

• Support to move better, and get stronger.

• Support to make and keep good relationships with other people.

We will make mental health services for children better.

Mental health is things like your thoughts, feelings and how you cope in everyday life.

We will help children with complex needs.

Complex needs means children who need a lot of extra support.

Things like support to move around and communicate.

Communicate means being able to tell other people what you want and how you feel.

Big thing 4: Supporting children with SEND with big changes

We will help children get ready for changes as they get older.

Things like: • Changing from a child to a teenager.

• Becoming a young adult.

• Moving to schools for older children.

• Doing training and finding work.

• Moving into your own home.

Here are the things we will do in Wokingham

Children will have good plans that support them through these changes. Each child will have their own plan.

We will collect good information to help support children with SEND as they grow up.

We will make sure all staff know what needs to be done.

We will share information about how services work to support people.

You can find this information on our website:

www.wokingham.gov.uk/children­ families-and-young-people/send­ local-offer

Big thing 5: Co-Production

Co-production means working together with people with SEND, families and carers.

Their experiences of SEND services can help to make services and support better.

Together we: • Plan services.

• Make services better.

• Check that services are working properly.

Here are the things we will do in Wokingham

All of our work will be done with co-production.

We will make Wokingham’s SEND Co-production Charter better.

A charter is a set of rules that say how people or groups should work.

This charter says we will use co-production to work with children and families.

We will make a plan about how we share information with families.

We will make sure we talk to children and young people with SEND.

This will help us to find out what is important to young people.

We will ask families what they think about services every year.

We will write a report about how we use what families tell us to make services better.

We will help families understand decision-making panels and the decisions they make.

A decision-making panel is a group of people who meet to make important choices.

They decide how much money or support a child with SEND will get.

Big thing 6: Making SEND services work better

We will get better at supporting SEND children in Wokingham.

Wokingham SEND services will try to be one of the best in the country.

Here are the things we will do in Wokingham

We will spend money carefully to help children and families.

We will make information simple to read and use.

We will tell people how things are working. Things like if they are doing well or need to get better.

We will see how SEND services work in other places.

We will listen to experts to learn how to get better.

An expert is someone who knows a lot about something.

We will make sure schools have enough money to support people well.

We will make sure special schools are working well. This will give children and families the best support.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or want to know more about our plan, you can contact us.

Phone:

0118 974 6000

Email:

SEND_Strategy@wokingham.gov.uk

Look on our website:

www.wokingham.gov.uk/children­ families-and-young-people/send­ local-offer

This easy read was checked by Clasp.

This Easy Read was written by Easy Read UK. 21 The pictures in this easy read are from Photosymbols and Ing Image.

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Republished from Wokingham Borough Council under the Open Government Licence v3.0. View the original PDF.