Kids First

Friday 5 July 2024, 10am to 12pm (Zoom meeting)

With Tracy and Tuhina from Merton’s parent carer forum, Kids First, and Stamatia Filippou, a Wellbeing Practitioner from Merton Uplift

Meet other parent carers of children and young people with SEND and find out more about Kids First, your local parent carer forum!

Stamatia from Merton Uplift will be joining too and teaching us some mindfulness exercises along the way.
After our morning’s walk in the sunshine (fingers crossed!), enjoy a drink and cake on us at the café.

All parent carers of children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 who live or go to school/college in Merton are welcome to join us.
Please book your place in advance using the contact details below, so we know you are coming, or just turn up on the day.

Meet us at the entrance to the park near the car park between the garden centre and the cafe at 10.15am.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Morden Hall Park, Morden Hall Road, SM4 5JD

Tuesday 25 June 2024, 10.15am to 12.15pm

With Tracy and Tuhina from Merton’s parent carer forum, Kids First, and Stamatia Filippou, a Wellbeing Practitioner from Merton Talking Therapies

Join us for a stroll in Morden Hall Park followed by refreshments in the Potting Shed café. New members welcome!

Meet other parent carers of children and young people with SEND and find out more about Kids First, your local parent carer forum! Stamatia from Merton Talking Therapies will be joining too and teaching us some mindfulness exercises along the way. After our morning’s walk in the sunshine (fingers crossed!), enjoy a drink and cake on us at the café.

All parent carers of children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 who live or go to school/college in Merton are welcome to join us. Please book your place in advance using the contact details below, so we know you are coming, or just turn up on the day.

Meet us at the entrance to the park near the car park between the garden centre and the cafe at 10.15am. We look forward to seeing you there! Morden Hall Park, Morden Hall Road, SM4 5JD.

Friday 17 May 2024, 10am to 12pm (Zoom session)

With Kelly Lewis-Cole, Merton Borough Lead for the Education Wellbeing Service (EWS), and Vicky Muschietti-Piana, SEN Merton & Sutton Mental Health Support Team Lead

Kelly Lewis-Cole, Merton Borough Lead for the Education Wellbeing Service (EWS), will talk about the work of the EWS and will present some initial findings from a recent audit of Merton services looking at mental health support available for families of children and young people with neurodevelopmental needs. This interactive session will explore the apparent mismatch between what services feel/say they are offering and what families feel they are receiving and will be an opportunity to share your thoughts.

Plus, Vicky Muschietti-Piana, SEN Merton and Sutton mental health support team lead will talk about her team and its offer.

She is also currently working with families of children in Merton and Sutton that have Avoidant Restrictive Food intake Disorder( ARFID). Vicky will discuss the disorder and think how school and organizations can work together to raise awareness.

Thursday 9 May 2024, 10am to 12pm (Zoom session)

W ith Eleanor Wright, SEN Solicitor & SOS!SEN! Legal Officer

Find out more about the Appeal and SEND Tribunal process!

You can appeal to the SEND Tribunal if you’re unhappy with a decision made in relation to an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment or an EHC plan. Eleanor will talk you through this process step by step, including updates on Tribunal practice and procedure. Other topics to be covered by Eleanor include Behaviour and Exclusions Guidance School Transport Department for Education Change Programme including proposals for a standard EHCP template Children out of school and EOTAS Don’t miss this chance to hear from Eleanor; a great speaker and SEND legal expert!

Friday 8 March 2024, 10am to 12.30pm (Zoom meeting)

With Yvonne Newbold, MBE, Newbold Hope

This 2½ hour session looks at the reasons why children and young people with additional needs can develop extreme behaviour, which may include physical violence towards other people and/or pets, other forms of aggression, controlling behaviour, avoiding demands, self-harm, property destruction and using inappropriate and offensive language.

Some of the areas covered in this session are sensory issues, communication, routines, resistance to change, transitions, processing speed, theory of mind, masking.

This session will be packed full of practical strategies you can implement at home with your children, with ample time at the end for you to ask questions.

Yvonne’s session will be very popular so get in touch now to secure your place!

Thursday 22 February 2024, 10am to 12pm (Zoom meeting)

With Eva Akins, Education Lawyer & Partner at Russell Cooke Solicitors, Ryan Stevenson, Co-founder and Director of Bright Heart Education, and Fiona Ringwood, parent carer and Kids First member

If your child is out of school and does not have an EHC plan, has an EHC Plan (or in the process of securing one) and you are not sure that attending school is appropriate for your child, they may be entitled to suitable interim education and/or require an EOTAS package e.g. local authority funded tuition, therapy and other provision such as equipment, mentoring, PE activities, educational trips, written into their EHC plan.

EOTAS is different to elective home education. With an EOTAS package, the LA must fully fund the package, whereas, if a parent chooses to home educate their child, the LA is not responsible for meeting any of the costs though should offer guidance.

Eva will outline your child’s key rights and entitlements, explain what EOTAS is (and isn’t) how to obtain it, and how it works in practice including EOTAS timetables, what provision can be included and personal budgets.

Ryan will explain how Bright Heart Education work with families, local authorities and schools, to help students who have special educational needs who may need Education Otherwise Than at School (EOTAS) and talk through the services they offer around home tuition and home schooling.

Finally, hear from Fiona, who will talk about her experiences of EOTAS with her son.

Plus opportunities to ask your questions!