SENCO survey on information sharing and networking.

As a result of the recent survey, we have decided that the best way of providing support and networking is via an internet forum. 

One question asked SENCO's what they would use the group/page for, if they were to join. Please see below for a table of the findings. 

The top replies were "all of the above" as well as a strong response for asking questions, browsing others' good practise and getting up to date information. This enabled us to see that the internet forum would be the best way of being able to deliver this. The feedback below also shows that SENCo's preferred way was an internet forum. 

Having a newsletter also seemed to be a very popular option. We spoke with Sarah Grant, Learning Partner, as she currently sends out a newsletter to schools. We have agreed with her that we will contribute to this newsletter, which will reflect Q&A's on the internet forum, useful resources and information on the work ISO have been doing. More information about this will be available shortly. 

We had a number of valuable responses, which enabled us to create the idea of the internet forum. There were other valuable ideas, which we wanted to highlight, to inform you of what we are going to be doing in response to these ideas: 

• "Send information to our setting email to download and have to hand in working hours for all staff as we do not have an internet connection." - we are looking at working with Sarah Grant, Learning Partner, to incorporate an ISO section into her Newsletter that currently gets sent out termly. This will provide updates on ISO, resource ideas as well as 'snapshots' of Q&A's that have been on the internet forum. 
• "A list of services and contact details (would be helpful to those new to Kirklees -like me)" The Kirklees Local Offer aims to have services available in Kirklees for professionals to access. If you are unable to find something, please contact the ISO line on 01484416440 and we will help signpost you to the correct service. 
• "Yes, a named representative for our school" - The ISO has 2 full-time members of staff, who are available for schools to call 8:30-4:30 - Jenny & Laura. 
• "Clear directory of evidence based intervention programmes"- we are hopeful that over time, the forum will have a bank of resources and interventions that professionals can access at their own convenience.
• "Just a thought, maybe not about general info from Kirklees, but Barnsley have an EHCP hub where all of the people and services needed for reviews/meetings can upload information concerning a particular child. When meeting about or updating the EHC form, the online interface is very user friendly, rather than the paper forms"- This is a great idea. It is something that we will make sure we feed back to the relevant people.
• "Send to SENDCO's as well as DSL's as alot of information can cross over as well as HEADS". - We will send out any further information to the office of each school, as well as SENCO emails that we already have. 
• "updates from SENDACT, e.g. are EHCP support planning meetings no longer taking place? Specialist placement panel met a few weeks ago but we haven't had any contact to say what the outcome was for a pupil at our school. Parents tell us they will receive a letter this week but what about school?" We aim to post as many updates as we possibly can from different services, once we receive information. 
• "I am part of a large Whatsapp group for all the Nursery School Headteachers and this is a really good way for a support group to work as you can ask questions and people can opt in and out of it with no pressure. I think a teams group with a sharepoint area to enable people to share resources would be amazing". - This supports the idea of the internet forum. This enables SENCO's to have all information in one place to access. 

UPDATE August 22:

We had previously set up a community forum, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the forum was shut down at the end of July. As a result, we have now created a private Facebook group which you are able to access. We aim to share as much information as possible from ourselves as well as other SEND services within Kirklees. There will also be resources & training opportunities as well as the usual networking. 

The Facebook group can be found here - Kirklees Inclusion Support Offer Forum (ISO) for Professionals

Please note the rules for the group before joining. 

ISO aims to be an active part of the group, taking part in any discussions that take place but ultimately, we would like to see SENCO's engaging in conversations, sharing practise & supporting each other. After all, you are the experts. 

You will be able to use the group for the following: 

• Post SEND related questions for others to answer - whether this be relating to a specific child (anonymously) or a general query. 
• Post information that you have recently found out - to help other SENCO's by sharing the information. 
• Ask other SENCO's for resources/good practise ideas. 
• ISO will post information as and when it is received by Kirklees services.
• Find resources that have been saved by ISO/other SENCO's in the resource area.