Care Management Group (CMG), a leading provider of residential care, supported living services and domiciliary care for people with learning disabilities, has launched a STOMP Best Practice Guide, which gives comprehensive guidance on ways to reduce the over-medication of people with learning disabilities, and/or autism through non-drug alternative methods of treatment.
Your child’s education is so important. They will get plenty of support at school, but in their early and formative years, it’s essential that they get support at home too. Thanks to the Internet, there is now a greater number of tools that can help your children learn, including online writing tools that offer a range of features to help improve your child’s writing skills. Take a look at these top 10 tools to help your child improve their writing skills.
1. Visuwords
Interview with Mark Cooper Sales Advisor i2o ltd & Little Miracles Sean Robson- Business Manager on Canopy's
How has Little Miracles benefited from having the canopy?
We are able to offer particular activities and equipment like the table football and pool table all year round now which we would only ever offer outside if we were guaranteed it was not going to rain. But, now we can just keep them out there rather than taking them out and putting them up and then packing them down again and bringing them in.
A care service in Penge is supporting four individuals with learning disabilities to make sure their voices are heard at the upcoming general election.
Crystal House is home to young people who are in transition from residential college, foster care or the family home.
Senior support worker Diane Liston says the service has made sure the group are all registered to vote on June 8.
“The election is providing us with a great opportunity to demonstrate to people with learning difficulties and mental health needs that they have a voice,” said Diane.
“Usually those who find decision-making difficult are in that position because they have never been given the opportunity.
A young man who was managing severe anxiety levels is making ‘great progress’ after moving to a residential service in Sittingbourne.
Lamar Romans-Smith, who is a 25 year old on the autistic spectrum, left the family home in July 2016 to live at Rhyme House in Chaucer Road which supports people with learning disabilities.
Ten months on Lamar enjoys going out and living alongside his house mates, and his key worker Chelsea Bosley supports him to manage his anxiety using a planner which is organised by Lamar himself to arrange his day.
“Lamar has his own magnetic photographs which staff support him to choose to stick on his planner according to what he is going to do that day,” said Chelsea.
Inscape House School has been praised by Ofsted for creating a safe haven for pupils where they can learn to be independent valued citizens.
Inscape is a non-maintained specialist school in Cheadle for pupils aged from five to 19 with autism spectrum conditions and related social communication difficulties.
The school has retained its good rating, with inspectors commending the ‘gripping leadership and crystalline vision’ of the senior team.
Ofsted inspector Jonathan Jones said: “There is no doubt that Inscape House is, first and foremost, a school.
“You have made teaching and learning the core purpose of all that happens here.
“This focus has resulted in a clever and effective synergy between the academic and therapeutic aspects of the school.”
Inscape computing teacher Tania Brooks has been presented with an Inspirational Educator’s Award for her dedication to improving opportunities for young people with autism.
Inscape is a non-maintained specialist school in Cheadle for pupils aged from five to 19 with autism spectrum conditions and related social communication difficulties.
Tania was nominated for the award presented by the Worshipful Company of Educators following her work to provide students with tailored learning experiences.
Her understanding of autism has enabled her to connect with students and nurture their interests in IT from working with robots and drones, to deconstructing computers – students can test their abilities and develop a broad range of IT skills.
Of the learning challenges facing students with dyslexia, reading difficulties are amongst the most prominent. It is believed around 10% of the population have the condition which usually sees suffers struggling to process information whether written or spoken, which can hamper their natural ability to share and document their creative ideas, knowledge and enthusiasm for a subject. This could potentially have an adverse educational and psychological effect on this group and possibly negatively impact their engagement with education. Encouragingly though, through dedicated study and research, great advances have been made in understanding dyslexia, how it affects individuals and what needs to be done to provide support for them from an early age.
Pupils at Wells Park School, a residential primary school for five to 11 year olds with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, are transforming an area of land into a brand new farm with the help of a compact tractor donated by machinery giant Kubota UK.
This exciting new initiative is part of the school’s commitment to help children with behavioural difficulties enjoy learning. All the pupils at Wells Park School are referred by Essex County Council because they have become disengaged from mainstream schools and learning.
Mum of two, Gina Wade spends all the time she can helping her daughter Sophie overcome the symptoms of spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Walking and moving is always difficult for Sophie because of her stiff, tight muscles, but the pony she loves so much eventually led her to trying a unique treatment that finally helped ease her symptoms...
UK autism expert and neuroscientist, Dr Lorene Amet has conducted a pilot evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the Alpha-Stim Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) device on children with autism. Her findings and experiences of this newly emerging therapy will be both surprising and reassuring for many parents...
Reece Sickling first arrived at Leeds City College on a taster day for a Childcare course. He was a quiet, anxious 14-year-old boy, the only learner from his high school in a room full of girls. His teacher was very nervous about leaving him, but he was determined that he wanted a career working with children. He joined in with the activities, worked hard on the tasks and was so shy that he barely spoke all day, but when his teacher returned to pick him up and asked him how it went, he grinned from ear to ear.
He has spent the last six years at Leeds City College developing into a confident and excellent childcare practitioner. He is a role model to his peers and to the children he cares for.
A school in Kent has installed Agrippa fire door holders to protect teachers and pupils in the event of a fire.
When the school’s existing sound activated door retainers were becoming damaged by pupils, the Weald of Kent Grammar School decided to replace all of the units with the Agrippa door holders.
Completely wire-free, the holders can be installed in just ten minutes and are supplied with two C cell batteries. The Agrippa holders are also fitted to the top of the door to prevent damage to the door and floor. Accepted by the UK fire brigade, the Agrippa fire door holders are the perfect solution to holding open fire doors, whilst ensuring they are closed automatically in the event of a fire.
The Together Trust family fun day will be taking place next month (Saturday June 10) with a host of activities for children and adults.
The annual event attracts more than 1,500 people from Stockport and Manchester and has a wide variety of attractions including a funfair, live music, arts, crafts and face painting.
Event and community fundraiser Julie Williams said: “The family fun day is always a great event for the Together Trust.
“It’s wonderful to see the community and the charity come together - the more people the better.
“All the money raised will go towards providing specialist services for children with complex needs.”
Since the start of the year, Langdon Park School in Poplar, London, has hosted a number of parent workshops centred on stress management, mental health and wellbeing. The workshops, some of which were run by Compass Wellbeing, guide parents through the skills needed in order to help them manage a number of challenges including stress, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem and confidence.
Bridge College has been awarded Good from Ofsted following a recent visit to the specialist college in Openshaw, Manchester.
Bridge College is an inspiring specialist college for 16 to 25-year-olds and is at the forefront of their field for developing skills, independence and confidence for each student with disabilities, complex needs or autism.
The college is run by the Together Trust, a leading North West charity which along with specialist education, helps support people with disabilities, learning difficulties and complex health needs through fostering, community and residential care and autism support.
For the first time, the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children will be shared with learners around the world, including policy makers, practitioners and carers, in a free online course. The course has been developed by academics and practitioners from CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland) with the support of Education Enhancement at the University of Strathclyde.
Across the globe, for many different reasons, hundreds of thousands of children cannot live with their parents. To address this, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously welcomed the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children in 2009 driven by two fundamental principles – the ensuring of both the necessity and the suitability of alternative care.
North West charity, the Together Trust, is supporting this year’s Foster Care Fortnight (8-21 May), the UK’s biggest foster care awareness campaign.
Led by The Fostering Network, the two-week campaign showcases the commitment, passion and dedication of foster carers.
The Together Trust supports over 2,600 people and families with a wide range of support services including special education, residential, community, family supportand fostering.
With over 400 referrals for placements coming through to the charity every month, the Together Trust’s fostering agency - which has been established for more than 19 years – is helping to spread the message that foster care transforms lives.
The Together Trust is supporting Children England to push the Children’s Manifesto in the run up to the general election.
Children can’t vote in the general election, but what would they say if they could?
What are the issues that we need to agree to ensure they have a safe, stable future?
Chief executive of the Together Trust and trustee at Children England Mark Lee joined members of children’s voluntary organisations across the UK to discuss a list of key demands ahead of the pre-election debates.
Everyone is welcome to bounce at Jump 360! Jump Support is our session dedicated for individuals with additional needs or disabilities.
Children and grown-ups can also enjoy giant foam pits, dodgeball courts and basketball slam-dunk lanes as well as trying their hand at a brand-new over hang rock climbing activity, which can’t be found anywhere else in the North East. Other exciting features include foam pit slides, rope ladders, log rolls and Aero Ball (think volleyball on the trampoline) as well as a designated area where Under 5s can bounce safely. This special area for mini-bouncers includes a toddler area and soft-play frame.