You said, we did - Local Offer
September 2024
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| It is hard to find information about what happens when our young people become adults. | SEND Partners co-produced and compiled information that has informed the Local Offer PFA pages and we have created accessible documents that you can print if needed. |
August 2024
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| That the name 'Disabled Children's Team' is not used nationally to describe the social care support for our children and we would like it changing in Northamptonshire to reflect a children first approach. | We obtained feedback from parents and carers, and other professionals working with our families, with our parent forum groups in North and West Northants, and have now changed the team name to 'Children with Disabilities Service'. The Local Offer has been updated with the new details |
July 2024
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
You needed more information about Power of Attorney, Deputyship, Wills & Trusts You needed to be able to attend events as well as go to work | Our WNVP held two free workshops, one in the day in person, and one online in the evening |
June 2024
Our partners from NHFT run wellbeing cafes for young people as part of the Children and Mental Health Services
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
“We would like to see Harper (our therapy dog) more” Offering support to parents That the young people would like more resources (such as art resources, fidget toys etc.) in café. | We have made Harper available in the Northampton cafe on Mondays or Fridays each month. Young people can sit with her in the café space or use her for support in 1:1’s. We have continued to encourage parents to come along to cafe and made it clearer that there is support available for them at cafe, with or without their young person All cafes now have them available |
May 2024
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
You want a safe space to independently access information about situations and issues that you often experience. This broad range includes emotional and mental health issues, physical health, accessing support, sleep, and friendships. You want to understand more, and learn from others that have been in your situation. You want to achieve your best by knowing what you can do, and what might help. | Thousands of children, families and people that work with children have helped to form the idea of a shared learning platform. Young people have designed the service now known as iDiscover. |
April 2024
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| The web pages for Children and Young People’s Education services were difficult to navigate and to find relevant information | We reviewed the content, improved search functions and the layout of our web pages to make it quicker and easier to find relevant information. All amendments have been made based on user feedback. We have published the web changes during May 2024. Please let us know if you can't find anything on our webpages or on our Local Offer. |
February 2024
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| I can’t find any information on the Holiday, Activities and Food scheme (HAF) on the Local Offer for children receiving means-tested benefits. | We provided information and the link to the website about West Northamptonshire’s HAF Scheme. |
January 2024
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| Its hard to get back to the Local Offer webpages from the search directory. | The Digital Team created a clearer link back to the webpages from the directory. |
| Having two search boxes so close to each other is confusing. | The Digital Team have added text to the Local Offer search bar which makes it clearer which one to use. |
| There are too many filters in the directory. | We have streamlined the data base to make it easier to find what you are looking for. |
December 2023
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| We can't easily find the SEND ranges on the Local Offer website. | We added a listing so that the SEND ranges can be found on both the services results, and the resources results. |
November 2023
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| We can’t find the SEND Improvement Board records on the SEND Local Offer. | We added them to the web page for the SEND Strategy for everyone to read. |
October 2023
Our Partners at NHS England reviewed our SEND Local Offer and sent us over the following comments.
“We found it easy to navigate, generally user friendly etc. We liked the alphabetical visual content page and also the intelligent search engine that anticipates what you are searching for as you type.”
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| “In searching for “transition” (on the WNC website) it does not take me to Preparation for Adulthood. I think transition is more of a health term whereas Preparation for Adulthood is more common language in care and education settings.” | We have asked the Web team to add Transition to the WNC search bar so that when someone searched for ‘transition’ on the website they will have the Local Offer as a result. (search engine optimisation). The Local Offer directory will return results for transitions and PFA. |
| The Health section looks a bit brief in parts at the moment but I know there is the caveat at the start that it is all still under development. | We have updated the description of complex needs, and are waiting for advice about Children’s Continuing Care from our local partners. |
I like the simplicity of the pages – not too much text and well-spaced out. Easy to read etc. Are there links to easy read docs or in other formats for those that may need this? | We are undertaking ‘accessibility document’ training in November 2023 to ensure that all new printable resources meet the government guidance for accessibility requirements for public sector websites and we will be able to add more resources when this is completed. |
| I really like the inclusion of the QR code. | We are aiming to include these in all our printable resources. |
| The phrase “social care” as opposed to “social need” (though I think it does go on to describe wider “need”/early support etc. The word “care” – may be a bit off-putting or people think that’s not relevant for them, whereas everyone has needs. | This will be discussed at the next Local Offer Steering Group in January 2024. |
| We thought the You Said, We did, inclusion is nice. Obviously very new and work still needed but good to have the examples – be good to see the outcomes from this. | Thank you. |
September 2023
Short Breaks journey – Phases of Engagement
| Stage | Who did we engage with | You said | We did |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial engagement Sept 20 – Oct 20 | 14 people responded to the survey of which 13 were parents |
| Potential new model designed that included:
The redesign proposal was developed by a Partnership Design Group |
| Design phase Nov 20 – Mar 23 | Children With Disabilities Board (members included NPFG and providers) | These proposals were discussed and reviewed at each Children with Disabilities Board to shape the model. | Redesign proposal was developed and agreed by a Partnership Design Group, agreed, and approved by the Children and Young People’s Transformation Board |
| Second phase April 23- Jun 23 | 233 people from an electronic survey and 6 focus groups. 43% of respondents were parents/carers 28% current provider staff 34% public | Majority of respondents said:
| The proposed lead provider model will have:
|
| Phase | Plans for engagement |
|---|---|
| Third phase Sept 23-Oct 23 |
|
| Final consultation October 2023 | The final phase of engagement of the Short Breaks services has commenced before advertising the opportunity to potential providers to deliver the new vision of short breaks services. This is now your final opportunity to share your views on the potential new model of short breaks services for the future. We want to encourage you to complete the survey. Your view is very important to us and your feedback will help us get the short breaks services right for the future. We recognise that this is a very difficult time for parents and that you may have more questions. With potential change on the horizon this can bring out a range of emotions, some may be positive but also there may be anxiety and concern about how this will impact you and the services you receive in the future. This is why it is important that we involve you in this final stage so that you can help to shape what the services look like going forward. Nothing has yet been decided for certain yet, feedback given over the next 6 weeks from all stakeholders will be used to inform decisions about the way forward for these services. The proposals that we are consulting on have been developed through engagement with families and providers including their staff. These discussions have shaped the proposal and we want to make sure that everyone has one last chance to have a voice before the final model is advertised to providers. Final Engagement Opportunity
This survey will close on 19 November 2023 |
August 2023
West Northamptonshire's new Local Offer launched in August 2023.
West Northants Council needed a new SEND Local Offer. The Send Local Offer is part of the SEND Support Services. The SEND Local Offer needed a new directory, as well as new webpages and content.
A group of partners from the local authority, health and the Northants Parent Forum Group (NPFG) recruited a new member of staff to run the project. The SEND Local Offer Manager started in Spring 2023.
A development group for the SEND Local Offer started in June 2023. Membership is from interested partners including health, social care and parents. School staff have volunteered to join the planning for the new academic year in Autumn 2023. This group will report to the Improvement Board. The SEND Local Offer development group said that families wanted a printed magazine as well as a new e-magazine to replace the popular SNIX magazine.
Parents took part in iterative testing of the custom-made directory for the Local Offer during the Spring of 2023. 8 people each gave up an hour of their time to help the Digital Team with the design. Another 2 representatives from the NPFG met with the team to give a strategic parental view.
4 different groups of young people met with the SEND Local Offer Manager to explain what they thought other young people would want to find. The 'preparing for adulthood' topics guided the conversations. They also said the Local Offer should be colourful and have photos of local people and places.
Parents described what information would be useful at each stage of their child’s development. Parents represented NPFG, a Dad's group, the Down's Syndrome Group and a Special School.
The web team built the new website and pages with all the content and links. The Digital Team listened to all the feedback and created a new directory and office systems.
There is a SEND strategy for the next 3 years, agreed with partners, including parents. The planning sessions offered an opportunity for the attendees to comment on a new SEND Local Offer.
We will publish feedback from all contributors for the Local Offer in this section. It will be populated monthly, with agreement from the Local Offer Steering Group.
Last updated 18 October 2024