Planning and review (Respite)
The Children’s Disability team have a variety of ways that they review the needs of a family and the short break offer. This can be via the allocation of a social worker, the expectation of regular child in need reviews and the need to see the children direct and gather their views. This will always be done in the best interests of the child, young person and their family.
As part of our planning process for the strategic development of our short breaks offer, we must understand more about the number of children and young people with disabilities in the local area, and how many there are likely to be in the coming years. We also need to know what types of disabilities they have and what types of activities are popular.
To do this we collect information from a range of sources including, early years, schools, health and social care. We have two dedicated SEND Participation Officers and SEND Outreach and Inclusion Officer who listen to the views of children and young people with SEND and their parents / carers.
North Tyneside Council is committed to working in partnership with children and families. In 2021 and 2022 we held a range of engagement sessions with children, young people and their families to understand what the need was around short breaks. This is a continuous process and over 2023 we have worked closely with parent carers and families to develop holiday provision. We plan to engage again on the offer again in 2025 via the new engagement hub and direct sessions with families.
We also welcome feedback on our short breaks at any time.
Contact us:
Email: local.offer@northtyneside.gov.uk
Telephone: 0191 643 8216