WEEKLY/FORTNIGHTLY UPDATE 15 JULY 2021 - GOVDELIVERY

Welcome to our weekly/fortnightly update on 15th July 2021 from the Sensory Support
Team 0-25yrs for children and young people with a hearing loss or visual impairment and
their parents, carers, school staff and professionals.

Weekly/Fortnightly Update 15 July 2021
Dear Families,
Who can believe we are heading towards the last week of this
academic year. It has been a very different year for us all but
hopefully with 'freedom day' on Monday we will return safely to
normality. I hope you all have a very enjoyable summer.
If there is something you would like to discuss or anything, we may be
able to support you with, please feel free to contact your QToD/QTVI
or myself.
I look forward to hearing from you with anything you would like to share with our Sensory
community.
My warmest wishes to you all
Sibel
Copies of our newsletters can be found at
Weekly update on 24th June 21.pdf
Weekly update on 10th June 21.pdf
We would also love to be able to share your stories, videos and real-life experiences so
please drop me a line. We are happy to help with the technology side of things!
sibel.djemal@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Sensory Support Team 0-25yrs Parent/Carer Survey
Responses

An absolutely massive thank you to all of you who took the time to complete our parent/carer
survey and our school survey. Your feedback is incredibly important in helping us determine
what we do well and want to keep and ideas for helping us to evolve.
The large number of incredibly positive and kind comments bought a tear to many an eye.
Thank you.
Feedback from the parent/carer survey is below
Survey Response Summary Parents Carers.pdf

Year 6 Moving-Up Event – 30th June 2021
Three weeks ago, twenty-two year 6 pupils from primary schools across Cambridgeshire joined
us for the Sensory Support Team’s virtual Year 6 Moving-Up Event. Our year 6’s introduced
themselves to one another on screen, before taking part in a quiz that covered some funny
do’s and don’ts for the classroom. We looked at who in your new school is there to support
you and explored ways to approach your teachers for help. Finally, we heard from D/deaf and
vision impaired year 7 pupils who told us how much they enjoyed secondary school and gave
us their top tips for moving up.

Many thanks to the year 6 pupils and everyone involved in making this event a success.
Some comments for year 6 pupils:
 • “I really enjoyed it. It gave me some tips and made me feel more confident”.
 • “Makes me feel better about going to secondary school”
 • “I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed watching the older pupils talking and it’s made me
 feel more confident.”
 • ‘It’s made me less nervous because I now know that there are people there to help us’
 • ‘Now I’m aware of who to talk to if I don’t hear something. And what to say’

Sensory Support Team, Family Support Group
**LIVE**
We are really excited to announce our plans for the Family Support Group to meet face to face
for the first time since March 2020 on Tuesday 20th July!
Date: Tuesday 20th July Time: 11am
Venue: Milton Country Park https://www.miltoncountrypark.org/ (Cambridge Road, Milton,
CB24 6AZ) .
We will gather in the Orchard area which is to the right beyond the playground area. It is an
enclosed space with a large lawn area and apple trees at the back. There is a café and toilets
available before you reach this area.
The plan is to start with some songs and a story, then families are welcome to stay as long as
they like to chat, have a coffee, eat a picnic lunch, feed the ducks or play at the playgrounds.
Please note that parents will remain responsible for their own child/children at all times.
There isn’t a wet weather plan – we will be there regardless!

Getting There
Car
There is a car park available at the Cambridge Road entrance - £3 for up to 2 hours, cards only.
Bus If you are travelling from Cambridge the bus to catch is the Citi 9 which stops outside
Tesco. The entrance to the park is opposite Tesco on the roundabout. Continue to the end of
this road where it opens out into the Park's car park.
Park & Ride The Park & Ride bus travels from South Cambridge, stopping in the centre of
Cambridge then continuing out to the Milton P&R site. Buses run approx. every ten
minutes. To get to the Park from this stop walk across the A10 bridge, continue down Butt
Lane, turn right onto the High Street and keep going until you reach the Tesco roundabout
where you turn left. The park is at the end of this road.
Bike The park is just a few minutes from cycle route 11 which links Cambridge to Ely. It is an
attractive bike ride following the river Cam path leading to Baits Bite lock. When arriving in
Milton via the river Cam towpath, follow Fen Road over the railway crossing. Just after the
houses start there is an entrance to the park via a gate on your left.

We are really looking forward to seeing you there with your little ones and siblings 

For more information please contact Bridget, Jo or your QTOD/QTVI or message us via the
WhatsApp group
Bridget.Joyce@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Joanna.Brass@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Touch Typing Certificates
Well done to all my students for achieving their Touch Typing
Certificates:
Milly and Grace for learning the top row keys, Ethan now
knows the whole alphabet, Leonel for learning the numbers
keys and finally ‘Mission Accomplished’ to Thomas, Kaileb and
Zinovia
Have a great summer break.
Chris

Dance with Oti

 TV dance celebrity Oti Mabuse has released a children's book,
 and one character has hemiplegia! Oti said "I wanted my book
 to make all children feel included and show that dance is for
 everyone!" Martin's hemi is not explicitly mentioned in the
 book, which also has a character with a cochlear implant.

NDCS – Summary on school arrangements from the
19th July
A message from Ian from NDCS

Dear all,
As colleagues will have seen, DfE (England) published new guidance earlier this week on school
arrangements from the 19th July. In case it is helpful, below is my summary of what’s changing
and how this might impact on deaf children.
 • Face coverings will no longer be required or recommended within schools or on school
 transport
 • Where there is an outbreak in the school, a Director of Public Health may advise they
 be reintroduced. For this eventuality, the new guidance retains some of the text
 around transparent face coverings, face shields and the need to make reasonable
 adjustments that was already in DfE guidance on face coverings.

• The new guidance acknowledges that remote education may still be necessary in some
 cases. It includes a line around the need to make reasonable adjustments for those
 with SEND.
 • Schools will no longer be required to maintain bubbles. There is already some flexibility
 around this in current guidance for children requiring access to specialist SEND support
 (e.g. in resource provisions) though we know, in practice, this could vary.
 • There’s nothing specific in the guidance that I could see around provision of external
 specialist support and therapies in schools and colleges – so the default assumption
 should be that this should be provided as usual.
Below is a key line on overall policy that I pulled out from the DfE guidance:
As COVID-19 becomes a virus that we learn to live with, there is now an imperative to reduce
the disruption to children and young people’s education - particularly given that the direct
clinical risks to children are extremely low, and every adult has been offered a first vaccine and
the opportunity for two doses by mid-September. Our priority is for you to deliver face-to-
face, high quality education to all pupils. The evidence is clear that being out of education
causes significant harm to educational attainment, life chances, mental and physical health.
The full guidance can be read at:

Actions for schools during the coronavirus outbreak
Many thanks,
Ian

Sight Village Central Event
Please find link to flyer here giving information on Queen Alexandra’s College upcoming Sight
Village Central event on Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th August
at Cranmore Park Conference and Events Centre
Cranmore Avenue, Shirley
Solihull, B90 4LE.
Pre-registration is essential.

Careers Advice COVID catch - up service from Thomas
Pocklington Trust (TPT)
TPT have launched their Careers Advice COVID catch-up service for children and young people
with vision impairment. This service offers free specialist Careers Education Information
Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) support to those who may have missed out because of
disruption to their education caused by Covid-19. The service works by connecting children
and young people with a level 6 qualified careers adviser with specialist knowledge of vision
impairment. It is aimed at students in years 10 to 13 attending mainstream schools and
colleges in England. Sessions will focus on helping individuals to make the right moves towards

achieving their future career goals, linking with other sources of national and local support as
appropriate. Find out more on the TPT website: https://www.pocklington-
trust.org.uk/student-support/careers-advice-covid-catch-up-service/

Holiday, Activity and Food (HAF) Programme –
Summer Holidays 2021
Below is a link to a Parent publicity flier in relation to funded holiday places in the summer
holidays, for pupils who receive benefit related Free School Meals
Cambridgeshire

Summer Activities
Dear Families
we are getting very close to the summer break so I thought you may like a few links to
activities for your children/young people.
The list is not exhaustive, but this is what we have so far:
https://www.ndcs.org.uk/our-services/our-events/

Summer Fun for the Family
Musical Fun for the Family
Let’s Talk About Starting Secondary School
www.ndcs.org.uk/our-services/our-events/events-for-parents-carers-and-families/family-
events

RNIB:
Over the summer break, the RNIB are encouraging families to get out and about and get away
from the computer scream.
They will be posting ideas and suggestions on their website so keep checking
 RNIB - See differently -

Online battery requests
Online battery request for the Emmeline Centre is live now. Go
to https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/our-services/ear-nose-and-throat/emmeline-centre-for-hearing-
implants/battery-issue-form/

READY
The READY STUDY is a research project with ambitious plans to shape government policy, help
services plan better to meet young people’s expectations and improve our understanding of
what will help future generations to thrive. Please follow link to read Tomas Gerrard’s story as
a Young Dead Researcher for the READY study at
Tomas Gerrard: Find out more about READY, a major research study on young deaf people |
The Limping Chicken

The study is still looking for more people to sign up. You can do so here (information in BSL
and English): https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/thereadystudy/for-young-people/

 If you would like a copy of this text in large print, Braille, audio tape, or in another
 language contact: Sensory Support Team 0-25yrs, Amundsen House, Stocks Bridge Way,
 St Ives PE27 5JL
 01480 373434 or Sensory.SupportTeam0-25@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

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