SEND Advice and Support

Upcoming events

London Borough of Bexley event:

Parent and carer drop in advisory service for Autism

Wednesday 15th January 2025, 10 AM - 12 PM

Crayford Community Centre 175 Townhall Square DA1 4FN

Please see the flyer below for more information.

London Borough of Bexley event:

Emotional based school avoidance (EBSA) parent / carer support group

Monday 24th February 2025, 10 AM - 1130 AM

Bexleyheath Central Library in the Dickens room

Please see the flyer below for more information.

Resources for Students & Families

1: Bexley SEND Local Offer: Very useful website for all things SEN in Bexley
https://www.bexleylocaloffer.uk/

2: Bexley Voice: The parent / carer forum for parents of children / young people with SEND in Bexley. They run events and give useful information.
https://www.bexleyvoice.org.uk/

3: Local services in Bexley: for children and families.
https://connectedbexley.co.uk/

4: Bexley Speech and Language Service have lots of resources for families – follow this link: https://bexleysandl.sla-portals.co.uk/

5: From CAMHS: Resources for children, parents and professionals.
https://www.camhs-resources.co.uk/

6: Girls on the Spectrum: A support group, part of the National Autism Association. Based in Bexley https://www.bexleynas.co.uk/gots.html

7: ADHD – a very comprehensive site including resources as webinars, podcasts, booklets

https://www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/

8: ADHD – books recommended by an EP

‘The Teenage Girls’ Guide to Living Well with ADHD’ by Sonia Ali (really helpful for girls to help them understand their ADHD)

‘The ADHD parenting guide for girls’ by Richard Bass

9: Kooth: Support for teens to manage their wellbeing / anxiety. A website and app.
https://www.kooth.com/

10: APP - Me+ Daily Routine, Planner – Self Care and ADHD Habit Tracker.

11: Book: Outsmarting Worry – by Dawn Huebner

12: Book: The anxiety survival guide for teens – Jennifer Shannon. (CBT skills, workbook)
Good for young person and adult to work through together.

From exploring the internet!

https://www.daniel-wong.com/start-here/
A coach who offers strategies and advice.

https://www.empoweringparents.com/about-us/
‘Why don’t consequences work for my teen?’ by Megan Devine, which had some useful advice.

“Remember, the right privilege should be an activity that your child will actually miss. Withhold that privilege until your child completes the task you’ve set for them.

James Lehman suggests that you sit down with your child and come up with a list of privileges and consequences together. The advantage here is that you are working as a team to solve the problem. It can help you identify things or activities your child truly values. It also clarifies what the consequences will be for certain infractions—for everyone involved. Not only will your child know what will happen if they break a certain rule, but the parents don’t have to spend time coming up with something in the heat of the moment.”

The Skies We're Under - A podcast by parents of disabled children for parents of disabled children.

It's completely free, and provides weekly moments of reflection, humour, solace and practical tips.

One listener said:

"Phew, finally a parenting podcast I can relate to! Thank you so much ladies for creating a space where my life feels like the norm - although what even is that!"
https://www.bornattherighttime.com/the-skies-we-are-under-podcast/

** Sometimes links stop working or content changes – if that happens please do let the SEN Department know and we can find other resources.

** If you or your child find any useful websites or resources that you would recommend, please do let us know and we can add them to our Resource page. .

SEN and dyslexia

Here is a really interesting website with some great resources for KS4/5 students who are dyslexic. You may want to use some of these to support your child with dyslexia or similar difficulties:

https://dyslexia-assist.org.uk/for-parents/what-can-i-do-to-help-a-teenage-child-student-revision-and-exams/

This website has several blogs with good tips about study skills:

https://www.dyslexiauk.co.uk/learning-how-to-learn-revision-strategies/

Reading – it can be a challenge for some children to read regularly; reading aloud with them is an approach that might work or listening to audio books or poetry.

This site has a range of poems for children.

https://childrens.poetryarchive.org/

New Forest Parenting Programme
Help and Advice for Parents and Carers of Children with ADHD.

WHY JOIN OUR GROUP?

We know that parenting any child can be hard work, but parenting a child with ADHD can be additionally challenging.

Parents can sometimes feel embarrassed, frustrated and angry when dealing with their child's needs. They may feel frustrated and exhausted.

The NFPP Parent Support Group allows our parents and carers peer support, the opportunity to share ideas, discuss and learn from other parents’ personal experiences, whilst having the opportunity to learn new ideas, develop practical strategies and techniques to deal with the challenging aspects of parenting a child with ADHD.

A support group prevents parents from feeling isolated and alone and can help overcome the negativity and struggles a parent faces.

It helps to make parents feel more empowered, have a better understanding of ADHD, more confident and have a more harmonious life balance.

TOP TIPS AND HANDY HINTS

The NFPP Parent Support Group focuses on common challenges often experienced by parents of children with ADHD.

A programme of sessions targeting topical issues are delivered over a 6-week period.

The programme helps parents to learn about ADHD and how it may affect their child. It helps them to learn the skills needed to promote self-regulation, reduce inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and difficult behaviours in their children. The 6 principles include: Understanding ADHD, Behaviour Strategies, Assessing abilities, Regulating emotions, Teachable moments and Planning ahead.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

To ensure our sessions include the most suitable strategies for children of all ages, our facilitators have completed the New Forest Parenting Programme for facilitators training and are all qualified practitioners to deliver the NFPP course.

This is not a programme that teaches parents how to parent, but a support group that offers help and advice through fun interaction and group discussion.

WHERE IS THE GROUP BASED?

To ensure our support group is accessible to all parents and carers, the programme will be delivered from their child’s home school. We do also offer 1:1 basis support.

CAN CHILDREN ATTEND THE GROUP?

To allow opportunities for parents and carers to fully engage in uninterrupted sessions, we are unable to accommodate children within the group.

HOW LONG IS THE PROGRAMME?

The NFPP Parent Support Group is a 6-week programme and sessions take place once each week.

To allow time for parents and carers to take siblings to school, the sessions start at 9.00am and finish at 11.00am.

Refreshments are available throughout the morning.

For more information and enquiry form please see the 'Parent Support Group - ADHD July 2024' attachment below.