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 . . . .