Link Newsletter May 2022 - Local Offer

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

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Nolan - SEND Youth Voice Assistant

I am really enjoying my job as a part-time special educational needs and disabilities youth engagement assistant. My job is interesting because there is a range of tasks to do.

The tasks I do include admin tasks such as working on spreadsheets of the views of the website, Checking the social media and updating the calendar for other council departments to find out when we posted something, checking emails, checking when the directory pages were last updated, fixing broken links and correcting spelling errors.

These tasks are very important because residents need to find relevant and up to date information. It is against the law for a council not to provide this. If the information isn’t there, people with SEND can’t get the support they need. There is a lot of false or outdated information about SEND on the internet, so it is important to have reliable sources.

The team are great to work with. They are friendly colleagues and are committed to SEND. The office is a pleasant environment and the IT is reliable. I enjoy meeting people and helping out with the tasks. I have various duties, so I’m going to give you some examples.

  • I visit sessions for people with special needs such as Carrington Riding Centre where people can go horse riding and I went to see the small animals such as cats, dogs, and rabbits. These centres offer alternative schools for children with SEND.
  • I went to a stay and play session at Delamere school where there were music sessions and a parachute game. I went to the Play Factore and went down a big slide, took part in laser tag and went on a trampoline game. So basically, I get to play while doing my job!
  • I visited a Down syndrome session at a school, where they did singing and signing and art activities, They also did speech and language therapy. I really enjoyed these activities. The students were happy and enjoying themselves, which helps their personal development.
  • I have written about my experience and have some videos on the Trafford Directory Local offer, I uploaded videos at the sessions to promote on social media so people can find out what the sessions are like before they go. This provides more information for residents of Trafford.

Trafford Council is a great place to work and I really enjoy it. The only problem is, it is a temporary contract – I wish it was permanent! I would recommend this job to anybody. It would be a great job to apply for.

Let's Talk SEND Youth conference inspired me in my job search

At the Let's Talk SEND conference for young people on 7 April 2022 I saw a speaker called Beth talking about her experience. 

I listened to her advice about asking for reasonable adjustments in the recruitment process and now put this into practice to help me with my interviews!

As soon as I found out I had an interview with the Council I got in touch with HR.

I liaised with the recruiting manager and arranged to meet about the questions an hour before the interview.

They have to keep the the process as fair as possible for everyone. However this gives me chance to think about the questions and prepare my answers.

I have also been able to take notes in to the interviews I've done since then.

It helps me feel more in control, calmer and equipped to be at my best!

With thanks to Nolan Barratt for the article

 

Alex - SEND Video Assistant

Still keeping up with the videos for now I have a video about the SEND chatty café for parent carers!

A lovely relaxed time where different parent carers can gather, talk and have brew,

Our SEND Local Offer Advisor Sarah also attends and she offers information and advice. She can help families sign up for activities and short breaks.

I’m still working on videos before I’m off to university and I hope to keep pushing out lots of content for everybody to watch!

I’ve got lots of videos in the editing phase: Carrington Riding Centre, Stay and Play Session at Delamere Primary School and a video from South Manchester Down Syndrome Group and a Family Event they run at Lancasterian School.

With thanks to Alex Heald for the article

 

Virtual BiteSize Learning

The SEND Local Offer includes all the services and organisations which are part of the support on offer for children and young people with Special Educational Needs or who are Disabled (SEND) in Trafford.  

We are pleased to announce that we have some more opportunities coming up to attend one of our 30 minute virtual lunch and learn session (via Teams).

We will guide you through the Local Offer and demonstrate ways in which you can make use of the resource.  

With thanks to Carla Godwin for the article

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Last updated: 26/05/2022

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