In this issue:
Better information for families with children in the early years
In 2020, we did a massive revamp of our Preparing for Adulthood webpages. So this year we decided to focus on refreshing our early years information. Over the past few months, we have worked with HPCI and parents in our SEND online feedback group to understand the unique needs of families with children in this age group. Our pages now have more relevant, detailed information. See how we achieved this and take a look for yourself.
Visit our Early Years refresh blog
Herts charity SPACE nominated for national award
Charity SPACE Hertfordshire have been shortlisted for the Community Organisation Award for Disability at the National Diversity Awards! SPACE were shortlisted after receiving over 50,000 nominations, and they are the only Hertfordshire-based charity to be nominated. Congratulations to the whole team at SPACE!
SPACE are a Hertfordshire based charity who supports families of children and young people with ASD/ ADHD and other neurodiverse conditions - whether or not you have a diagnosis. Visit the SPACE Herts website.
SEND Strategy community events
You are invited to our SEND Community events, to learn more about the launch of the new SEND Strategy for 2022 - 2025, and to meet SEND organisations and services in Hertfordshire who can support you. The tagline for the new strategy is "SEND is everybody's business" - we want to show you how we intend to ensure this is a reality in Hertfordshire.
| Venue |
Date/ time |
| Birchwood Community Centre, Hatfield |
7 September, 10 - 2pm |
| The Priory, Ware |
16 September, 10am - 2pm |
| Online event hosted by HPCI |
17 September, 10am -11.30am |
| The Niland Centre, Bushey |
22 September, 10am -2pm |
| Online event hosted by HPCI |
29 September, 7.30pm - 9pm |
| Stevenage Football Club, Stevenage |
1 October, 10am - 2pm |
View more SEND Strategy event details
Transitions information
Something we have heard a lot from families of young people people of any age, is that transitions and change can be a tough thing to manage. Whether it's your young child beginning nursery, the first day or secondary school, or moving into adult life after college, there are unique challenges. Times of change are always a fine balance between worries about the unknown, and the excitement of new possibilities. So we have worked with families from HPCI and the SEND online feedback group to give you a new webpage about managing transitions, with advice from families who have been through it. We hope you can use this to manage change and feel able to rightly focus on the positives.
Visit the transitions webpage.
New to SEND information
Another thing that's new to the Local Offer is our New to SEND webpage. This began after speaking with early years parents about their experiences at the very beginning of understanding their child's SEND needs. A lot of families described to us the feeling of being both overwhelmed, but not having anywhere to begin with finding out what they needed.
So we developed this webpage for any family at the beginning of the SEND journey, whether your child or young person has had needs identified early in their lives, or much later. Again, the webpage features real advices from families who have been through it.
Visit the New to SEND webpage
Events
View all summer holidays activities
Online - Managing anger in your family (Families in Focus CiC)
Courses beginning in September and October - Wednesday mornings or lunchtimes, free
A FREE 6 Week Handling Anger in your family (with primary aged children) for parents living in Hertfordshire via ZOOM.
Online - Diagnosing ADHD and autism (ADD-Vance)
Monday 13 September, 10am - 11.30am, free
A FREE course for parent/carers of children aged up to 18 years where a concern has been raised that they may have ADHD and/or Autism. The course will help you to understand the diagnostic criteria and Herts diagnostic pathways, explore the pros and cons of receiving a diagnosis, and much more.
Online - Remote Minecraft session (Potential Kids)
Friday 20 August, 6.30pm - 7.30pm, free
This activity is for neurodiverse young people to be able to play Minecraft together and make new friends in a safe environment moderated by Potential Kids.