Autumn Meeting November 6 2009

Present:
Lyn Clarke, Andrea Griffiths, Caroline Barnes-Tee, Rob Grayson, Jean Bean, Julie Williams, Sue Perutz, Dianne Whyte, Katie Curnin, Amy Wilson

Documents discussed:

• Quality standards outcomes evidence from Regional heads of Sensory Services
• Fit to Learn
• Wakefield CALL - draft assessment framework
• Leeds SNAP hydrotherapy risk assessment
• Bradford draft Support Service
• York - Management of Continence Guidance
• York - Pupil Voice templates from TAG learning 'Comic life'

Discussion

1. Moving and Handling training

There are a number of training differences between LAs. Durham are now employing an OT to do all their M&H assessments. Darlington use Andrea's day a week for PN. Wakefield will have two trainers by January 2010 (one being the education OT). York had difficulties in the past but the situation is manageable. Bradford use somebody employed by the council. Most LAs use Centaur Training but North Yorkshire will be using LPS. York have a M&H policy and guidelines

• Caroline to email details of LPS for distribution
• Sue to email document for distribution

2. Leeds SNAP Hydrotherapy RA

This is available as a download from the SNAP site and includes communication problems. Wakefield are updating their swimming RA and will include communication. The form has been amended to allow more tick boxes to speed up the paperwork.

• Katie to provide copy for March 2010 meeting

Andrea described the Astor Bannerman changing plinth which will go down to 20cms and can be used with a wedge and mat to allow independent access to the swimming pool for a child who can bottom shuffle. It will support weights up to 21 stone and is suitable for a chlorine environment.

3. Fit to Learn - movement programme for Primary age children

Eileen Warburton has arranged to publish this before her retirement in December 2009. The publication has gone for professional printing and will be a ring bound folder costing approximately £12:50. The Physiotherapists involved are working on a version for the under 5s to be called 'Movement Matters' and a senior version to go on in to secondary schools.

3. Paediatric Therapy files

Dianne Whyte has been allocated the job of publishing the therapy files in the same way before her retirement at Easter 2010! Andrea has used the illustrations from the Mo-lift site to personalise her RA with the fold able hoist.

4. Liaison with Early years services and the transfer of Health information.

This seems to be a problem in many LAs which is usually solved by informal contact between professionals working in the same building rather than through formal consultation.

• Wakefield are alerted through CDT meetings and the CALL project
• Bradford hold monthly allocation meetings with their Pre 5 service
• Darlington hold termly meetings with the therapists where the Support Service is alerted to new cases.

5. Guidance on CRB checks and the new OFSTED guidance

This led to a lot of discussion from those of us obliged to show the document, those who provide a CRB number verified by phone call to those who did not realise there was a problem.

6. Continence care guidance

York have a draft policy document for continence guidance. Invasive and personal care is documented in an individuals health care plan as there had been problems with the term 'intimate' care. the continence nurse was involved in the production of the York document. Wakefield have a policy, guidance and protocol for intimate care - they will now think about changing the title as it has been produced by education for schools.

• Sue to forward the document for circulation to the group.
• Lyn to circulate the Wakefield documents

7. Building adaptations

A discussion ranged over the use of two sinks in an adapted toilet, turning circles for wheelchairs, PFI school designs, lift designs and the disposal of medical waste and soiled nappies.

8. Pupil Voice and Comic Life

Sue has used this programme from TAG learning to produce a photo document to give the child's views. The software is £11 and allows a bank of photos to be imported in to a template and speech bubbles to be added to give views. She had used it to great affect with a child with mobility issues who wears a Lycra body suit to show how difficult it was for him to manage the stairs in his school. It would also be very useful for transition visits.

9. Quality Standards

The document was circulated.

10. Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning WRAML - a talk by Shelley Williams OT

Shelley demonstrated the WRAML test which most of us found very challenging. She described how it produced a standardised score for the different aspects of memory and how useful it had been in school s to demonstrate processing difficulties and memory problems with students with good recall but poor comprehension. She had been able show what language/questioning skills could be used to prompt memory. The test is £500, should be administered by an OT and takes 90 minutes to complete. The scoring takes hours!

11. Detailed assessment of the speed of hand writing - DASH

This is an easy assessment giving a standardised score suitable for exam consideration evidence. It costs about £100 and takes 30 minutes to complete. It should be administered by a teacher and the evidence collected has been used to persuade schools that ICT is a more effective method of recording.

12. Bradford's Physical Difficulties Service draft document

Julie asked members to comment on the draft document and various suggestions were made. Sue said that York had put a lot of work in to their leaflets and to promoting the service. She is happy to share these with Julie.

AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING

• On line training - Wakefield
• Symbol Project - York
• Swimming Risk Assessment up date - Wakefield
• Inclusive PE - Wakefield

A suggestion has been made to look at switches and for the June 18 2010 meeting to be held at Featherstone Resource base

Lyn Clarke 06.11.09 Wakefield SENSS

Regional Meeting 26.06.09

The meeting started with a message from Wendy Stafekis thanking the group for their support over the previous 8 years. It was accompanied by a box of chocolates! Wendy will be sadly missed at meetings. She has been good company, a font of knowledge and a generous provider of resources and information. Margaret Milligan is having a 'gap' and is leaving North Yorkshire at the end of this term. It is getting to the stage where we may need to organise reunions as well as our termly meetings. It is not a goodbye to Margaret but we will miss her contributions just as greatly.

1. A general discussion took place about measuring impact. North Yorkshire now write to parents at the start of their involvement detailing who is working with the school on behalf of their child and a statement about their service involvement. Questionnaires to parents sometimes give a misleading result as they sometimes do not know where support fits in the bigger picture.
A discussion on early years support shows a different picture across the region. Health workers supporting in schools were also discussed for children with medical needs whose condition did not affect their learning.
'Medical Conditions in School - A Policy Resource Pack' (download from DCSF website) was shared. this is a useful document but colleagues pointed out that it was written by organisations with a particular focus and that not all the advice was relevant to schools. Only registered nurses can use the PowerPoint presentations that go along with this publication but there is free training available for school nurses.

2. Acquired Brain Injury
A discussion revealed that many children return to school after head injuries having made a full physical recovery but with lasting problems from the brain injury. We watched the CBIT video and Sue Eyres pointed out that therapy needs and the contact with parents was crucial. The video is called 'Must Try Harder' and detailed the comments made by teachers who misunderstood the implications of brain injury.
Sue also recommended 'Head Injury - A Practical Guide' Speechmark ISBN 0-86388-451-2 by Trevor Powell
The most common injuries were those to the frontal and temporal lobes affecting attention, higher functioning and the acquisition of new skills. Some skills will be preserved after injury but children are likely to have a range of problems requiring structured learning, support, repetition and help with organisation and social skills. Early and relevant intervention seems to be the key.
Sue also shared the document Barnsley use (from Sheffield and Leeds hospitals) when a child returns to school. She will also share information on training on working memory that she found very useful.

3. Sue Perutz shared the work from the pilot in York called 'Listen to me' on person centred planning and review. The multi agency team in York have produced leaflets for adults, secondary, primary and preschool children to explain the process and to structure the information gathering. This is similar to the training courses attended by Wakefield staff on 'Person Centred Transition Reviews'. Jean Bean has attended this type of review in North Lincs and fed back her experiences. Margaret Milligan recommended 'Hybrid' an assessment tool for assessing service effectiveness and collecting views. She said it helped to look critically at practice and the materials used in her service.

4. Social Networks
Wakefield shared their use of the Social Network model for sharing information about AAC use and assessment and described how it was used by the Wakefield CALL project. We watched the DVD and realised that it is very similar to the ethos of person centred planning.

5. On the agenda for the next meeting on 06.11.09 will be
Memory testing - Shelley Williams OT Wakefield
Handwriting - Standardised tests and evidence for exam boards - Shelley Williams OT Wakefield
RA for the poolside Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - Sue Eyres Barnsley
We are also hoping to invite somebody from Barnadoes to describe their support to students with disabilities to allow them to take part in out of school leisure activities.

Good luck Wendy and Margaret, try to think of us in the Autumn when you are off in the motor home and relaxing in the garden . . . .

Wrong date

Sorry I have just noticed that I have put the wrong date for the Spring 2010 date - it should be the 12th March. Apologies.

Spring Meeting March 06.03.09

Documents shared:
Sample PEEP - Wakefield
It's in a bag - Yellow box - Wakefield
Useful websites - Darlington
Including Children with PD/Med on school trips - York
Service Booklets - York
QBit training pamphlet - Barnsley
Resources from QBit and DCD courses - Barnsley
Managing the Health Care Needs of Chidren and Young People - North Yorkshire

We welcomed Ann Wogden and Julie Williams from Education Bradford to the meeting which was attended by members from Wakefield, Darlington, North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Barnsley and York. The meeting dates for 2009/2010 are fixed for 06.11.09, 12.02.10 and 18.06.10. They will be held at The Heath View Centre in Wakefield.

We looked at the NYCC publication on managing health care needs. This is available as a download from their website. Go to 'Education and Learning' - Special Educational Needs - SEN Support Services - Useful Downloads. Following the sharing of the WAkefield PEEP, Margaret Milligan said that North Yorkshire have a PEEP which was produced for a residential setting, that she will bring to the next meeting.

A lot of discussion ensued and we did not follow a particular agenda. York's leaflets promoting their service will be available in a number of settings including GP's surgeries and Medical Centres. We discussed the different Safe Moving and Handling differences between Local Authorities and the conflict between methods used by trainers with a strong adult services background and those used with children in school. Andrea Griffiths described a plinth from Astor Bannerman with a foam 'nose' which she had used to transfer a pupil from the pool side to the water. Sue Eyre shared the training leaflet from QBit on training for support staff. J.S.Parker Associates, the training providers, are also the company case managing some of the children with acquired injuries in our schools, we wondered whether this could cause a conflict of interest in some circumstances.

We also continued the discussion on the purchase and tracking of equipment. Wakefield charges for items under £20, Durham expect schools to buy items with a value less than £100 and Darlington only purchase items which cost more than £250. Joint funding between Health and Education varied between areas even more.

Sue Eyres had attended the Newport DCD Conference and has volunteered to join a working party looking at transition between primary and secondary. Sue offered to circulate any information she gets to the group and to report on their planning and progress. Margaret suggested we used Google Docs as a way of sharing information. Lyn will look in to this.

Julie Burton demonstrated 'It's in a Yellow Bag' resources developed as a precursor to the red and blue boxes. She and her colleague Sandra Bigg from Wakefield have produced the resources and record sheets in the same format. The feedback from Therapists has been that something similar for older children would be very useful; we suggested that these could be called 'Skill Sacks' to make them more age appropriate. The Yellow Bag resources will be emailed out to the group.

Sue Perutz described the progress towards standardising symbol sets in York and said that after a lot of discussion they had decided to a range of five symbols for each word or thing. This would show progression, allow those with a strong preference for particular sets such as Makaton to use them but be able to move on. They are looking at using them and making them available through the VLE and will report back on progress next time.

We then got all the 'mini' laptops - Asus and Dell - and had a play with Linux and Windows versions. Several preople decided they wanted their own!

On the (very loose) agenda next time, 26.06.09, will be
- Standardising Symbols update - York
- DVD on acquired brain injury - Barnsley
- providing evidence for quality standards based on work with individual children - York
- Swimming risk assessments for duchenne MD - Barnsley
- 'Listen to Me' pupil participation (multi agency) - York
- Social Networks, a method of information sharing between agencies - Wakefield

The autumn sessions could include using Symwriter and Thinking in Pictures. We could also invite Liberator to talk about their 'Discovery' Programme. Any ideas to be sent to lclarke@wakefield.gov.uk