Views sought on sensory and communication service in South East Wales
Parents in South East Wales are being invited to attend any one of a number of meetings being held to seek views on the provision of sensory and communication services in the region, as part of an independent review.
Known as SENCOM, the service is currently delivered regionally across Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport, Monmouthshire and Torfaen. It supports additional learning needs in specialised areas including speech, language and communication, and visual, hearing and multi-sensory impairments. About 1500 children and young people currently receive support from SENCOM, across the five authorities.
In May 2019 the partner local authorities involved in SENCOM requested the WLGA to commission an independent expert to review and report on the service to explore a more sustainable way to deliver the regional model. The independent consultant, Mark Geraghty, has since arranged a number of meetings to consult with parents and stakeholders as part of the review.
Mark Geraghty said:
“An important part of the evidence gathering process is listening to the views of children, young people and the families who receive a service from one or more of the SENCOM’s teams.
“In all the meetings I’ve attended so far across all levels, the passion and desire to ensure children and young people with a speech, language and communication, hearing and visual impairments receive high quality support and appropriate resources, has been manifestly apparent.
“As such, I look forward to welcome parents to any of the meetings arranged to discuss with us their experiences of SENCOM. These views will be vital to the review in order to ensure evidence-based decision making.”
The dates and locations for all meetings are as follows:
12th November, 1.30pm and 6pm - Newport Centre, NP20 1UH
14th November, 10am and 6pm - Cwmbran Stadium, NP44 3YS
15th November, 11am - County Hall, Usk, NP15 1GA
15th November, 6pm - Tŷ Penallta, Ystrad Mynach, CF82 7PG
19th November, 9am - Tŷ Penallta, Ystrad Mynach, CF82 7PG
19th Novembe, 6pm - County Hall, Usk, NP15 1GA
21st November, 10am and 6pm - Ebbw Vale Action Learning Centre, NP23 6JG
Parents and stakeholders are also welcome to provide their feedback via a questionnaire, which can be found on this link: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SenCom