Launch of Our Way Forward – Plan for Children and Young People 2021-26

Hertfordshire County Council’s Children’s Services is pleased to announce the publication of ‘Our Way Forward - Plan for Children and Young People 2021-26’.  It sets out the ambitions to improve outcomes for children, young people and families within Hertfordshire to support them to get their lives back on track following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  It is supported by the Strategic Priorities, which will be updated annually, and will contribute to the achievement of the ambitions outlined within the plan.

The plan has five ambitions:

• To meet the needs of Hertfordshire’s children within their local community;
• To plan, commission and deliver trauma informed services that meet the individual needs of our citizens;
• To support children and young people get their lives and education back on track;
• To have a skilled workforce who are proud to work for Hertfordshire;
• To work in partnership to deliver early help and support to children, young people and families and build life chances.

To view the Plan, Strategic Priorities and an animation of the ambitions visit: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/planforcyp

Many of our strategies contained within this Plan and other key Children’s Services strategies are publicly available at: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/csstrategies

 

SEND Strategy 2022 - 2025

In addition to Plan for Children and Young People 2021-26 we also welcome a new SEND Strategy for Hertfordshire. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in developing the new SEND Strategy.  Now for the fun part: implementing it! 

It centres on 5 ambitions.  Many of them resonate with the Families First Partnership approach.  A key focus in the action plan is about improving how we intervene early when SEND needs emerge, so please do have a look at the strategy, discuss it in your team meetings and let us know about feedback or questions you have by emailing us SENDstrategy@hertfordshire.gov.uk

 The 5 ambitions are:

Tailoring – we will plan and deliver services that are flexible, respect individual wishes and meet individual needs.

Enabling – we will continue to develop a skilled, learning workforce that strives for excellence and staff are proud of their own achievements and celebrate those of others.

Supporting – we will provide sufficient and appropriate provision in Hertfordshire and within their community to meet children and young people's wishes and needs.

Collaborating – we will work in partnership with other organisations to deliver the right services at the right time to prevent problems escalating.

Succeeding- we will support all children and young people with SEND to achieve success in all areas of life, understand the impact of the pandemic and work to ensure our young people achieve their potential.

The strategy provides a strong platform for our next local area SEND Inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).  If you support children and young people with SEND, it worth familiarising yourself with the current guidance and framework, together with our key messages and Hertfordshire’s Professional Promise, as we prepare together with colleagues in health, education and social care, for this inspection.

BeeZee Bodies Families 2022 Programmes

We are very excited to be able to offer the BeeZee Families programme across many areas of Hertfordshire in 2022, including St Albans, Borehamwood, Cheshunt, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, Stevenage, Watford and Welwyn.  

BeeZee Families is a free 12-week course run in the local community for 5 to 15 year olds and their families to learn about healthy eating, exercise, and wellbeing.

Courses will start a little later than planned due to the current Covid situation, commencing w/c 21^st  February, with spaces still available across all areas.

Please can I ask you to promote to your teams and share the attached flyers which provide further details and a link for referrals. 

If you have any questions about BeeZee Bodies programmes or making a referral, please don’t hesitate to contact us on number/email below.

Tel: 01707 248648, 07715 408824, Email: jodie@beezeebodies.co.uk

Download the flyers here:-

Full Programme

Harpenden BeeZee Bodies programme

Borehamwood BeeZee Bodies programme

Cheshunt BeeZee Bodies programme

Hemel Hempstead BeeZee Bodies programme

Hertford BeeZee Bodies programme

Stevenage BeeZee Bodies programme

Watford BeeZee Bodies programme

Welwyn BeeZee Bodies programme

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Relationship support available for parents – The Parenting Together Programme

This is FREE support available for parents living in or accessing services within Hertfordshire. If you are working with a family who is experiencing high levels of unresolved conflict in their co-parenting relationship, this could be a great programme for them to access and improve outcomes for themselves and their children.

We are keen to receive referrals as soon as you identify a parental need. This is so that we can process the referral and get parents participating in an intervention before the current Parenting Together programme closes in March 2022. The last date we can accept referrals is 16^th March 2022. Referrals sent to us in March will receive the relevant intervention and will progress as normal until their completion beyond March.

All details can be found on our website here including how to contact us with any questions you may have.

Email: Parentingtogether@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Keep up-to-date with online safety

The HfL 2022 spring term online safety newsletters for School Staff and the Parents and Carers edition both feature a range of guidance, news, links and updates about online safety for all phases, with particular reference to the current situation, recent developments and concerns.

Our newsletter for staff includes reviews and details about:

• Better Health’ Every Mind Matters - Every Mind Matters
• Reporting and removing abusive online videos - DfE advice for schools and colleges
• Report Harmful Content: Reporting button for websites - UK Safer Internet Safety Centre
• Make the most of Ollee: School Support Pack - Parent zone
• Inclusive Digital Safety hub - Internet matters
• Dates for your diary, including:-

Safer Internet Day 2022 – Tuesday 8th February

Fully funded anti-sexual abuse training courses for Secondary school staff in Hertfordshire.

New Hate Crime Awareness resources – available this spring for Hertfordshire schools

The 2022 HfL (cross-phase) Wellbeing Conference - Wednesday 15^th June 2022:

Building Futures: Growing pupil empowerment and agency

Our newsletter for parents and carers includes reviews and details about:

• #Ask the Awkward - Thinkyouknow
• New Internet matters resources
• ‘Squid Game - What Parents Need To Know’ -
• Online grooming and reporting online sexual abuse - Thinkuknow
• Keeping under 5’s safe online - The National Online Safety hub
• Inclusive Digital Safety hub - internetmatters

Please download and share these newsletter with your personal and professional networks as well as with your school or setting parent body where relevant

Online safety newsletters for School Staff

Online safety newsletters for Parents and Carers

For more information, advice and training about online safety across the curriculum and embedding this within a wider whole school approach to include mental health, positive relationships and safeguarding, please contact the Herts for Learning Wellbeing team at wellbeing@hertsforlearning.co.uk or visit Herts for Learning | Online Safety

 

Supporting Links - Free courses to promote to families

Once again Supporting Links are offering our Parenting Support Groups countywide and ONLINE for the SPRING TERM of 2022. 

We are pleased to bring you the details of 9 online courses starting in January and February.

Each course runs over 6 weekly sessions and is offered FREE of charge to parents thanks to funding from Herts County Council:

Talking Additional Needs (2 courses)

Talking Families (3 courses)

Talking Teens (2 course)

Talking Dads (2 courses) 

BOOKINGS FOR THESE COURSES ARE NOW OPEN

Further information on course content and suitability, along with details on dates and times, and how to refer a family to us, can be found in the attached flyers. We appreciate your help in ensuring that parents in need of targeted support are prioritised. 

These are County commissioned courses and we are not-for-profit organisation. 

Download a referral form

 

Please distribute these details far and wide within your organisations along with the referral form. Referrals can be made via email or phone to bookings@supportinglinks.co.uk 07512 709556. Like our FB page and find us on LINKEDIN for ongoing updates. 

Further online parenting courses can be found here:- Search results | Hertfordshire MarketPlace 

 

Could you support people with their Mental Health?

Mind in Mid Herts are working with local organisations to build a team of mental health peer supporters.

Mind in Mid Herts (MiMH) will train and support you and your organisations to embed Peer Support within your community. This will first involve attending a 2-day Peer Supporter training course. Then, we will facilitate a network for peer supporters by offering and running: de-briefing sessions, ongoing training/development and informal opportunities to collaborate, share resources and support one another.

If you are representing an organisation and are interested in this opportunity, please get in touch with the team to discuss further via:

training@mindinmidherts.org.uk

Or come along to the next information session date on Monday 7th February 5:30pm-6:30pm

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Every Mind Matters campaign

Most families have experienced upheaval in their daily lives during the pandemic. With children and young people now back at school or college, the new Public Health England (PHE) Better Health – Every Mind Matters campaign provides NHS-endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people’s mental wellbeing, and equip parents and carers with the knowledge to support them.

The new advice available on the Every Mind Matters website has been developed in partnership with leading children and young people’s mental health charities, including Young Minds, The Mix, Place2Be and The Anna Freud Centre. It is designed to help parents and carers spot the signs that children may be struggling with their mental health and support them, and also provides advice that can help maintain good mental wellbeing. The site also provides tools to help young people build resilience and equips them to look after their mental wellbeing.

We hope you find these resources useful in supporting the families you work with.

Wellbeing Drama for Young people - Aged 18 - 25? (Poster attached)

This FREE programme using theatre techniques is for those experiencing stress, anxiety, depression and anything else effecting their wellbeing. You don’t need any experience to take part, everyone is welcome from absolute beginners to the more experienced.  Starting Tuesday 1 February for 8 weeks 5.30 to 7.30pm at the Wellbeing Centre in Stevenage

Studies have shown that taking part in an arts activity has a positive influence on mental health and general wellbeing. It can increase self-esteem and confidence, reduce feelings of isolation and give those involved a sense of personal achievement.

The programme is being led by a professional Trestle artist and in partnership with Mind in Mid Herts. Each session will explore a combination of theatre and mask techniques.

Impact of COVID-19 on children’s physical development

The Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) has published a report reviewing existing research on the impact of the pandemic on children’s physical development in the early years (age 0–5). As UK research in this area is relatively scarce, many of the findings are taken from studies in other countries, and thus reflect a variety of national situations and responses. Overall, the evidence has shown that the physical development of children is likely to have been negatively impacted by the pandemic across a number of areas critical to early physical development, including decreases in physical activity and increases in sedentary behaviour (such as screen time), changes in diet (increases in processed foods, sweets and salty snacks) and increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.