The Brook School had an action-packed end of term in which many special events took place...

Christmas lunch 
Their catering team, led by Fernanda Kutu, provided the whole of their inclusive community (over 800 people) with a traditional Christmas lunch that would have made Jamie Oliver proud. It was said to be ‘utterly scrumptious'.

Carols by Candellight
A Carols by Candlelight event took place with all sharing in the Christmas story, everyone experienced the smells and tastes of Christmas and enjoyed singing popular festive songs. Their African choir opened and closed the event, and world famous African drum master, Abbas, played for them too.

Christmas Fayre
The Brook School holds various charity events throughout the year, so that the children can make a contribution to their local community and global charities. In December, they held their Annual Craft Fayre in aid of the mental health charity Young Minds.  Classes worked hard to produce hand-crafted items and there was also an array of tempting edible treats. They were very well supported by parents, visitors and staff, and were able to raise £300 for the charity.

The Christmas Movie
Maria Preftitsi, The Brook’s Expressive Arts Lead, has worked with the children to create more than 12 movie projects in the past, producing at least 2 movies per academic year.

The aim of this movie project is to develop pupils’ communication, literacy, self-esteem, confidence and empathy. It also helps to raise their understanding of the world and awareness about sustainable development goals.

Often the theme of the movies has been 'traveling' the world, and pupils have learned to greet and introduce themselves in different foreign languages for their appearance in the movie. 

The Brook School’s latest ‘Christmas Movie’ saw pupils create their own soundtrack and sound effects too. Parts of this movie featured animations of pupils’ drawings.

This successful Christmas movie project witnessed the collaboration with 3 more schools, the SEND School, West Lea SEN in Enfield and Laholms SEN in Sweden. The script, filming and film compositions were completed at The Brook, with 2 short videos and 1 film composition created in Sweden. The Swedish school was one of their Erasmus+ partners.

The Brook’s movies have been awarded nationally, and internationally, by the British Council and eTwinning and they have invited, and collaborated, with many schools across the globe. 

All children now look forward to attending the movie premiere. The school will also organise a 'cinema day' with several viewings during the day for all classes, parents and visitors. The age group of the pupils involved ranged from 7 to 17 years old.

An Autism Seminar for parents/carers of children 5 years and under, with a recent diagnosis of autism, will be held on: 

Date: Tuesday 31 January
Time: 9.30 - 11.30am
Location: Woodside Children's Centre, 59 White Hart Lane N22 5SJ. 

The seminar will be held in person and will help families to:

• Develop an understanding of autism
• Discuss experiences of getting a diagnosis
• Identify how autism can affect families
• Explore practical ideas for developing communication strategies
• Clarify support that families may be entitled to and ways to access it

“Having an autistic child is not easy to assimilate, but when I did this session and met lots of parents in the same situation as me, my feeling changed positively and I look at my son's situation in a more simple way.”

A quote from a parent who recently attended a family seminar programme.

DFN Project SEARCH and Ambitious College are hosting an open event at the Whittington Hospital, giving members of the public an opportunity to learn about their exciting, supported internship programme.

The programme is designed to empower autistic young people, aged 16 - 25 with an Education and Health Care Plan, with the skills and confidence needed to find competitive full-time employment.

The programme is based at the Whittington Hospital, five days per week, with a variety of roles available, including administration, facilities, and hospitality.  
 
Graduates have made great strides, grown in confidence, and transformed their lives by working - just ask them!
 
Meet recent graduates, current interns and the team who manage the programme at the open event on:

Date: Wednesday 11 January
Time: 4 - 6pm
Location: The Whittington Hospital

If this event sounds interesting and relevant to you, or to someone you know, please contact admissions@ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk to book your place. 

Haringey is celebrating the second Great Mental Health Day on Friday 27 January 2023.

Appreciating that 2022 remained challenging for many of us, Great Mental Health Day 2023 will celebrate the ‘power of community kindness’ and tell the story of how we’ve come together for one another across London.

The aim of the day is to get Londoners talking about mental health, destigmatise asking for help and raise awareness of the great support available.

With 2 weeks to go until the Great Mental Health Day (GMHD), the countdown is on! Plans are taking shape for what promises to be an action-packed day and there’s still time to get involved.

How do I get involved?
1. We’d love to hear from you – if you’re making plans for the day or have any questions, please get in touch. Want to plan a Great Mental Health Day event but not sure where to start? Thrive LDN have got some tips and easy, low cost suggestions.

2. Use the hashtag #GreatMentalHealth to share your own stories, experiences and plans for the day across all social media platforms.

3. Feature in the Haringey video campaign by sending us a 10 second clip sharing how you show kindness to others, find out how using the button below.
 
4. Pop along to a GMHD event on 27 January. The Haringey Council website has information about the events taking place in the borough as part of the day.
 

'Smart home' technology has huge potential to help people live longer in their own homes independently as they get older – or if they have other needs.  
 
The council is running a project to look at what kinds of smart technology are most useful when it comes to maintaining health and independence, but we need to talk to people to find out what works for them and what doesn’t. 
 
If you live in your own home (owned or rented) and need help living independently - or think you might do soon, we would like to hear from you.  
 
It’s really important that we hear from people who are not 'tech-savvy', so if you find technology daunting, please don’t be put off. If you are interested you can fill in this short form, or ask someone to fill it in for you. You can use the same form if you are the friend or carer of someone who is interested but can’t fill it in for themselves.  

Could you spare a few minutes to fill out a short online questionnaire on what you think of our Local Offer?

We are really keen to gather your thoughts on our Local Offer to ensure we give you the best possible experience of our service. The feedback you provide will be passed on to our Local Offer Steering Group for review and refinement purposes.

Also, this questionnaire gives you an opportunity to tell us what you think about the design, layout and contents of our monthly SEND Newsletter.

• SENDCo Bi-Weekly Drop-In Session booking form 

• 25 January 2023 (3-5pm)
• 8 February 2023 (3-5pm)
• 22 February 2023 (3-5pm)
• 8 March 2023 (3-5pm)
• 22 March 2023 (3-5pm)

• Type 1: A subject expert with professional experience of learning disability/autism. This person will be the lead trainer. It could be someone with lived experience of autism/learning disability but does not have to be.
• Type 2a: An expert with lived experience of learning disability. 
• Type 2b: An expert with lived experience of autism. 

• Name
• Job title
• Employer
• Which “Trainer type” you are (i.e., Type 1, Type 2a, or Type 2b above).

• lunchtime mindfulness sessions
• Sanjuro Martial arts
• afternoon social drop-in sessions
• music making with George
• Friday 'tea and chat' sessions
• tapestry with Elliott and much more!

• Child and family health services
• A friendly place to play and learn
• Meet other families and carers
• Access to family friendly support services
• Support on looking for work or training
• Become a volunteer in the community

We now have a dedicated page for all SEND events.

The Haringey Special Educational Needs Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) is a free, confidential service for parents and carers. The service is commissioned by Haringey Council and provided by Markfield, an independent charity.

We provide parents of children and young people aged 0 to 25 with accurate, impartial information about SEND systems and processes, aiming to empower them to be actively and constructively engaged with education, health and social care services.

• until 7pm on Wednesdays
• until 6pm on Thursdays

• EHC needs assessments and EHC Plans
• Local Authority processing of Annual Reviews of EHCPs
• School/college placements for children with EHCPs

General service feedback
We would appreciate any feedback you have on the service we provide. Please use our dedicated SEND feedback form to tell us what you think about the Haringey SEND Service.

Newsletter feedback
This is your newsletter! Get involved by sharing your stories and events.
If you would like to suggest any changes to this newsletter, see additional information, and/or give feedback, please email sendnewsletters@haringey.gov.uk

SEND Service

Telephone:
020 8489 1913

Email:
sendnewsletters@haringey.gov.uk

SEND Statutory Assessment Teams

• For Early Years and up to and including Year 6: 
  SENDTeam1@haringey.gov.uk
• For children in years Years 7-11:
  SENDTeam2@haringey.gov.uk
• For young people in Year 12 onwards:
  SENDTeam3@haringey.gov.uk

Useful Contacts

• Alena Lerari - Statutory assessment Team Manager
  Phone: 020 8489 3267
• Kathy Mahoney - Performance and Finance Manager
  Phone: 020 8489 4819

Transport Team

• Vivienne Austin - Assistant Escort Team Co-ordinator
• Phone: 020 8489 4376 
• Ilhan Abdurrahmanoglu - Travel Buddy Co-ordinator
• Phone: 020 8489 1729
• Mathew Fisk - SEND Transport Manager
• Phone: 020 8489 2729 
• Kathleen Johnston - Charge Person
• Phone: 020 8489 5692 
• Ricky Morris - Transport Liaison Co-ordinator
• 020 8489 6937 
• Pembe Hippolyt - Escort Team Co-ordinator
• Phone: 0208 489 5629

Email: School.Transport@haringey.gov.uk

The Disabled Children's Team (DCT) including the Short Breaks Service

The DCT duty team office is open Mondays to Fridays, 9am - 5pm (contact by telephone only). 

Telephone:
020 8489 3671 | 020 8489 3672

Emergency telephone number (out of hours):
020 8489 0000

Stay up to date

We will be distributing the SEND newsletter on a monthly basis.

This email has been sent to educational settings - please sign up so you can keep up-to-date. 

Keep updated on our improvement journey through our SEND Transformation pages.

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