Southend SEND Independent Forum - 2023 Overview

Irvana Davies • January 19, 2024

SSIF had a productive 2023 and wanted to share with you a roundup of events and achievements undertaken by the PCF (Parent Carer Forum) over the course of the year:


Last January saw the team working on plans & developments for the year to come.


February we attended the NNPCF & Contact Conference in Bristol – it was great to see what being part of a PCF means on a national level and to meet colleagues & like minded ParentCarers from the 150+ other PCFs across the country.

We also received notice that Southend would have a full area SEND inspection under the Department of Education New Framework being 4th in the country & 1st in the region.


Ofsted and CQC carried out an inspection of Southend SEND services from 6th – 10th March 2023. Your voices were shared directly with Inspectors through the survey that was completed prior to the inspection. We are really pleased that so many SEND families responded to ensure their views and experiences were heard and considered.

The result was an Inconsistent outcome and the report was published.  Read the Ofsted and CQC Report.

The Inspectors found that the experiences of children and young people with SEND in Southend-on-Sea can be very varied and the report reflects the experiences and feedback we have received from our families. We acknowledge that the Local Authority and Health services have implemented changes and improvements to the SEND systems, however too often our children’s and young people’s needs are not met in a timely manner.

In March we held a free Wellbeing event for SEND ParentCarers in collaboration with N.O.W’s the time for change and Hands above Massage at the Cliffs Pavilion. There were lots of different taster sessions available such as growth mindset activities, emotional freedom tapping & reiki. The event was a great success and due to popular demand we are repeating this event, with even more therapies in March this year – please see dates for your diary section at the end of this article.


We continued our Coffee Mornings at SAVS in Alexandra Street which have grown from strength to strength. Many of you have benefited from speaking with the Specialist Services that join us such as SENDIASS, Advisory SENCOs, Representatives from The Lighthouse Child Development Centre among others. We continue to run these monthly with Chaos and Calm, who provide a free, fun-themed, SEND specific creche to enable any ParentCarers who have little ones to attend our sessions.


In June we were joined by Mrunal Sisodia OBE & Jo Harrison (Essex Family Forum) & Eastern Region Rep who spoke about Understanding The Role of the PCF, from a Local, Regional & National perspective.

 

A large portion of our year was spent working on the SEND Strategy & The Strategic Action Plan, which were finally published in the Autumn Term.


On Friday 6 October, in conjunction with the Southend SEND Area Partnership we organised a SEND Area Partnership Network Event to explain and discuss more about -


Ø role of the SEND Area Partnership;

Ø outcome of the Ofsted and CQC inspection;

Ø the Southend SEND Network;

Ø the SEND Strategic Action Plan;

Ø the SEND Strategy.


And were thrilled to launch our Family Feedback Survey so you can tell us what life is like as a SEND family in Southend – what works, what doesn’t and everything in between!

We need to hear your stories so we can ensure we are representing the actual lived experience of SEND ParentCarers across our City. 

SSIF works with (not for) the council, health and social care and we use the views and experiences you share with us to influence and inform the provision and services used by our children & young people and how things can be improved for them.

 

In November we took part in the NNPCF & Contact AGM, webinars & on-line conference.


For the Festive session at our SAVS Coffee Morning it was lovely to welcome back some of you who had joined us at various events throughout the year to share some festive treats and receive an early Christmas Gifts for both ParentCarers & our Creche attendees.

 

As you can see it was a busy year and 2024 promises more of the same plus some exciting new developments….


SSIF EVENTS - DATES FOR YOUR DIARY THIS TERM:


Tuesday 5th March

SSIF Parent Carer Wellbeing Day at The Cliffs Pavilion – as always advance information & priority booking will be given to our membership for this free event – so sign up today to become a member via the Join Us link in the top left hand corner above.


Thursday 7th March

SSIF Seminar on Early Identification & SEND Support in Schools


SSIF – ParentCarer Feedback Survey


SSIF continue to represent SEND families voices in Southend, to ensure that the necessary changes are implemented to best meet the needs of our children and young people.


One of the ways we do that is by gathering information from you, thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to give their feedback so far, your lived experiences help shape our work and we could not do this without you – you can give us feedback on anything that you want - the good, the bad and everything in-between.

Complete our survey.



September 22, 2025
The Children's Learning Disability Service (CLDS) is due to be recommissioned in 2027.
An advertisement for a coffee and chat event
September 5, 2025
One of our favourite Events is our regular monthly coffee morning, where Parent Carers can get together to share their experiences. Every month we have the Local Offer team with us and invite 1 or 2 additional special guests from for example Health, Social Care, Education and more, to offer guidance and advice. There is also a sensory play creche available for your little ones aged 0-5 with Chaos & Calm. Come along and chat to other ParentCarers, get advice from one of our SEND support service guests and enjoy a hot drink with something sweet. Booking is not required.
September 5, 2025
“School Attendance Matters” but its not that simple! We know that that in recent years, at this time of year, social media and sometimes the news outlets too, become awash with campaigns relating to attendance at school and that this can be really distressing for some Parent Carers. Unfortunately, in the information widely circulating there is no clarity in how this affects children and young people with medical conditions, serious mental health challenges, or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). As Parent Carers, our first instinct is always to protect our children and young people. Many of us are navigating incredibly complex situations, where our children maybe want to attend school but the reality of doing so is far from simple. It can feel deeply unfair to then open social media and be confronted with campaigns suggesting that not being in school will damage our child or young person’s future. When you’re already doing everything, you can to support your child – often against huge challenges - messages like these don’t feel supportive. Instead, they leave us feeling blamed, judged, or as though we aren’t doing enough. When in reality, we are working tirelessly to give our children and young people the best chance in life! We know there can sometimes be so much information that you don’t know where to turn but we thought it would be helpful to share some websites and information to find out more. We know that it is long but we have attached the “Working together to improve School Attendance” guidance document here and in particular the section relating to our families can be found at the end of Paragraph 2, pages 23-26. The guidance acknowledges that children and young people with long-term medical conditions, serious mental health challenges, or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can face extra barriers when it comes to school attendance. Schools are encouraged to have compassionate conversations with families in these situations, recognising that it isn’t always straightforward. If your child or young person struggles with school-based avoidance the first step we would encourage you to take is to reach out to their class teacher, SENDco or sometimes if available, the school mental health lead. If you feel that you aren’t being supported, the Local Offer have lots of information available on their website which can be found here , including links to books and apps that may be useful and details of who you can speak to, for example, the Access and Inclusion Team. SENDIASS also offer resources on their website with useful information about support available. Their information can be found here. Young Minds is a charity offering advice and information to give young people the tools to look after their mental health. They also aim to empower parents and professionals to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives. You can find lots of resources on their website here . Similarly, Kids Inspire is a mental health charity that offers personalised recovery plans for children and families who have experienced trauma and have lots of information and resources on their website which can be found here. If your child or young person is experiencing high anxiety or very poor mental health we would strongly encourage you to speak with your GP to seek further support.  If you feel able to, we would be grateful to hear about your experiences, please use our family feedback form on our website or better still come along and see us at one of our Coffee mornings! 😊
poster for seminar with details
May 27, 2025
Transitions in Education