Preparing for Adulthood special
"It’s never too early for children and young people to learn some of the skills they need to prepare for adulthood. As part of the SEND Strategy programme, the Preparing for Adulthood (PFA) workstream is working on improvements across education, health and social care services.
Our emphasis is to support a range of improved outcomes to help our young people achieve connected lives in their local community. We recognise the need to build on our local offer so we are developing employment and training opportunities, exploring and communicating housing options and promoting healthy lifestyles by increasing uptake of the Annual Health checks.
Our Preparing for Adulthood Board includes a wide representation across Adult and Children’s Sector. We are actively working with Herts Parent Carer Involvement (HPCI) to develop and embed positive change, and we have appointed two experts by experience who really understand that Transition Matters. They are helping us shape improvement to our Young People’s pathways into adulthood."
Andy Lawrence, PFA workstream lead
In this issue:
EBE takeover blog
Find out what happened when our 2 Experts by Experience, Georgia and Chloe, took over our social media channels for a week in January.
Experts by Experience Social Media Takeover blogpost
Travel training
Hertfordshire County Council’s Travel Training programme has been successfully supporting young people who have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP), to travel independently from home to college on public transport for over 10 years. Through a structured process of training, monitoring and assessment, we develop young people’s confidence to become independent, provide them with all the information and skills they need to travel independently, skills which are important and transferrable to enhance their independence in later life. The Travel Training programme is an accredited programme, through which students can attain certificated evidence of their achievements, which they can take with them on their journey of independence into adulthood.
A parent toolkit is also available, this is a step by step guide to the Travel Training process and includes hints and tips, areas to cover, strategies, how to handle risks and hazards and a section on useful resources which can be used during the Travel Training process.
Parents/carers can use this to give them confidence and knowledge of how to support their young people on their journey towards independent travel.
If you would like to apply, please make sure your young person meets the criteria for the programme as detailed on the page, you can then click on the link “Apply for travel Training” at the top of the page or email the SEN Transport team ; schooltransport@hertfordshire.gov.uk.
Travel Training (hertfordshire.gov.uk)
YCH blog - moving on from school
If your young person is moving on in September, YCH Services for Young People have some great advice to help them with their next steps - whether they are going to college, university or if they have not yet decided what the future holds..
Find out more in the YCH - Moving on from school guest blog
My Future Coach
The 'My Future Coach' programme is currently being piloted in partnership with North Hertfordshire College. This programme involves providing careers information, advice and guidance support to high needs funded students, to enable them to produce a 'My Future ' transition plan. At least 25 of these young people will get either additional coaching or employment support to help them secure their post-college destination. 15-20 young people will join a 'My Future Job Club' where they will be supported to develop a Vocational Profile and/or CV and taught the skills and techniques needed to apply for and secure paid employment or volunteering. We'll be sharing more on this in a new blog coming next month.
Celebrating improvements in SEND and looking to the future
Our SEND Transformation programme is now coming to an end and we are proud of the improvements we have made in services for children and young people in Hertfordshire over the last 2 years. We have created some new webpages on our Local Offer website to share these achievements with you. You can also read about the projects we are still working on and the ways in which we will continue to improve SEND services.
Read more on our SEND Strategy webpages
Events - Spotlight on Preparing for Adulthood
Look at all courses for older children and young people
Mixed Ability Rugby Sessions:
Wednesdays 5.30 - 6.30 pm at Hertford RFC, Hoe Lane, Ware
Come and be part of the team! Hertford RFC are offering free mixed ability non-contact rugby sessions for anyone over 16 years.
Creative Spark Sessions - YCH
Mondays 5-7pm (18-24 yr olds at Harpenden Young Peoples Centre)
Tuesdays 4.30 - 6.30pm (13 - 17 yr olds at Harpenden Young Peoples Centre)
Wednesdays 6.30- 8.30pm (13 - 17 yr olds at Hemel Hempstead Young People's Centre)
The Creative Spark project is aimed at SEN young people to help them improve their social and communication skills with fun and interactive sessions.