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Parent/Carer Advice and Support

Wellbeing at South Camberley

Wellbeing is important for everyone. At South Camberley Primary & Nursery School we strive to promote positive wellbeing and mental health for all.  

Supporting and promoting your wellbeing and mental health comes in many forms.  We have created this page to help you access the different areas that we feel you and your families will benefit from.

Coffee Mornings for all

Our Coffee Mornings happen on the first Wednesday of every month. All are welcome!

Upcoming Dates can be found on our newsletter and school calendar.

Talking to Children and Young People about War and Conflict

Guidance from the British Psychological Society / Division of Child and Educational Psychology https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/supporting-children-manage-anxiety-over-war-conflict-and-crises

Mentally Healthy Schools has recommendations for talking to teenagers

How to talk to your teenager about the invasion of Ukraine : Mentally Healthy Schools

Ideas from the Place2Be Educational Psychologists to guide thinking about how to talk to children and young people about war and conflict https://www.place2be.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blogs/2022/march/talking-to-children-and-young-people-about-war-and-conflict/

BBC News website has an informative article by Lauren Potts called 'Ukraine Conflict: How to help yourself, your kids and others' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60557186

Helpful Information

Out of Hours Advice Line for Neurodevelopmental Difficulties

Our partners from Barnardo’s and NAS are now offering an advice and support telephone line which aims to support families outside of ‘traditional office hours’ with managing ASD and ADHD related difficulties, challenges and behaviours.

**PLEASE NOTE -  This is NOT a crisis line or crisis service – any urgent or crisis type presentations whether related to SEND needs or not, would still go through the usual Crisis Line.

However, this line is an opportunity for families to have someone to call in the evenings if they are struggling with any behaviour or challenges that may be related to an ND presentation (no diagnosis is needed!) and the services will offer practical advice and guidelines to families.

•  When is this available? The line will operate between 5pm and 11pm daily (including Saturday and Sundays), although they will stop taking calls at around 10.30 to allow time to respond.

• How do families access this support? All they need to do is call the usual A&A number - 0300 222 5755 – and after 5pm they will automatically be guided to options for this support 

Other reference:

Crisis line 24/7  - Please call 0800 915 4644 to talk with a professional who will provide advice, support and signposting to a range of community services. It’s open all day and all night, seven days a week.

https://www.mindworks-surrey.org/advice-information-and-resources/autism-autism-spectrum-condition

https://www.mindworks-surrey.org/advice-information-and-resources/adhd-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder

Update on the Neurodevelopmental Diagnostic Assessment Pathway for children

Background

We know that nationally children and young people are facing lengthy waiting times for neurodevelopmental assessments, and it is the case that children and young people in Surrey are waiting approximately 2.5 years. This is an unacceptable position and one we are working hard to improve.

Mindworks Surrey, alongside Surrey Heartlands ICB and Surrey County Council, would like to update you on the current neurodevelopmental (ND) diagnostic assessment pathway and the support and consultation available.

In October 2022, we piloted some service changes intended to be for an initial 6-month period followed by a review. At this time the Assessment of Need (AoN) form was distributed to schools accompanied by practical help, advice, access to consultation, information, and resources. The changes were intended to ensure that children and young people's needs were identified as early as possible so that the child, their family, and support network including education would receive support early on. Our evaluation of the pilot has identified that only two thirds of the AoN requests received indicated that there may be a neurodevelopmental need. The audit also identified we could improve the extent to which an “assess, plan, do” approach had been implemented.

Since the launch of the AoN pilot the team have received over 4000 requests for support. Total demand significantly exceeds the team’s contracted capacity. Alongside this there has been an unexpected reduction in workforce. We recognise that this situation is unsustainable, and we need to make some changes.

Where we are now

Children and young people’s needs should be appropriately supported, and this requires a range of actions to be taken wherever possible within schools, by families and by healthcare professionals. As commissioners of this service, Surrey Heartlands and Surrey County Council have agreed to work with Mindworks Surrey, and other stakeholders including Surrey schools and families, to develop an improved pathway that helps to avoid children and young people across Surrey experiencing lengthy waits, and – by drawing on skills and capacity across the wider system – reduces demand for the ND diagnostic service to a level that is manageable for Mindworks to deliver.

Additionally, you will also be aware there is a national shortage of ADHD medication which we are now expecting to continue into at least April 2024, and national guidance is not to initiate new patients on ADHD medication until supply issues resolve. There is currently an approximate 1 year’s wait for initiation of medication.

What this means for you

While the new pathway is developed with all key partners across education, health, and children's social care services, we are unable to accept any new AoN forms. We recognise this is an exceptionally difficult position to be in and not one we would want for our children, young people, and their families.

However, schools who are supporting a child or young person who is exhibiting challenging behaviours at school and are at risk of exclusion can contact the Spoke team to request a consultation appointment to discuss the case. Two pupils from each school (to ensure fair distribution of slots across all schools) can be discussed in each one-hour consultation appointment, and we ask that you prioritise the pupils of most concern for these sessions. The Spoke team can be contacted on: 01372 216555, Monday-Friday, 9am-12:30pm to book a consultation.

For requests for support made prior to September, the team are working their way through these and will be in touch in due course with the next steps. For those who have already implemented strategies and interventions, completed the forms and are ready to make a request for support, please continue to utilise strategies and interventions to help meet the identified needs. We would recommend that you take a look at our Neurodevelopmental strategies and resources section on the Mindworks Surrey website for more information. These strategies and interventions are developed by our clinicians to support families and have recently been updated.

The Learners' Single Point of Access (L-SPA) offers help and support if you have a concern about the development and/or learning needs of a Surrey child. Both parents and practitioners working with children in Surrey are welcome to call the L-SPA. It is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, all year round (except Bank Holidays) on 0300 200 1015 - https://www.surreylocaloffer.org.uk/lspa

If you are supporting a child who has severe mental health needs, you can continue to make requests for support via the online referrals portal - Secure Referral Forms by RIVIAM Digital Care (sabp.nhs.uk).

For families and carers, our out of hours advice line for ND runs from 5pm -11pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year and can be reached on: 0300 222 5755. We also have a free 24/7 mental health crisis line for children aged from six years, young people and their families or carers who are in crisis. The Crisis Line can be contacted on 0800 915 4644 to talk with a professional who will provide advice, support, and signposting to a range of community services. It’s open all day and all night, seven days a week.

This decision has not been an easy one to take and as a system we understand it is an exceptionally challenging situation, and collectively, we are working hard to ensure the new pathway is introduced as soon as possible. If you would like to contribute to the development of an integrated response, we do have some spaces available on the ND reference group, please email Freya.Keating@surreycc.gov.uk.

We will provide you with a further update in the new year.

Mindworks Surrey

Useful Links

Here is a list of online parenting support that is also available:

 

  1. Parent Wellbeing Service Flyer
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