This information is intended to help with choosing a Secondary School for your child with additional needs. It is particularly useful for parents whose children are due to start secondary school next year (date of birth between 1.9.15 and 31.8.16) but should also be helpful if your child is currently in years 4 or 5 and you want to start thinking ahead about the transition. 

Our Voice will be holding two online workshops this September/October in conjunction with SENDIASS and the Enfield SEN Team, looking at choosing a secondary school for children with SEND – what to think about and what the processes are - the dates for these sessions will be confirmed shortly. 

Key information and dates

(see also Local Authority’s website page

• Children whose date of birth is between 1.9.15 and 31.8.16 will be due to move to Secondary School in September 2027.
• Enfield mainstream schools are holding open evenings between September and October 26 – dates are available in this booklet. Talk to the individual schools directly if you need more information and to check if you need to register to attend. 
• The Local Authority will hold a 'Transition to Secondary School event' for parent carers and students on Thursday 10th September at Cineworld Southbury Road. There are 3 x 90-minute sessions to choose from between 5 - 8.30 pm. Details on the flyer here.
• For children with an EHCP. A letter and preference form will be sent to you with your child’s proposed amended EHCP. We will confirm the dates for this process asap, and provide additional information about the process. 
• For children without an ECHP, applications must be submitted between 1st September and 31st October 2026 and offers will be confirmed on 1st March 2027.
•  For more information about all special schools and other specialist provisions in Enfield see the Local Offer for SEND here. 
• More details of mainstream schools in Enfield will be added to the Guide to Secondary Schools booklet which will be available online from September at School admissions and applications | Enfield Council

Information and Resources 

You can see the presentation from our 2025 sessions on choosing a secondary school here. This also includes links to lots of other relevant information (especially slides 19 to 21).

You may also find it useful to look at these resources for preparing for the transfer to secondary school.

• Information from Contact (the Charity for families with disabled children) on Applying for a school place,  Finding the right school and  Top tips to help when your child changes school.
•   Guide for parents  from the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities
•   Guide for children from the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (Easy Read) 
•   Downs Syndrome Association Easy Read Guidance on Transitions 

Additional guidance:  

•   Guide for teachers preparing Autistic children for the transfer to secondary from the Advisory Service for Autism 
•    Guide for teachers supporting children with SEND to transfer to secondary school
•    Things I could say to start a conversation when making new friends

As we head towards the new academic year, many families will soon be busy preparing uniforms, school bags and thinking about stationery and packed lunches. But for parents of disabled children, there’s often a lot more to think about before the first morning back at school.

To help make the transition smoother, Contact (the Charity for families with Disabled children) have put together a back-to-school checklist for the next academic year. It covers everything from education support plans to transport, medical needs and sensory support.

Every child’s needs are different, and every family’s situation will be different. So we understand that not everything here will be relevant to you. Use the checklist as a guide and adapt it to suit your family.

For more information, visit the education pages on Contact's website.

And if your child is moving to secondary school, have a listen to Contact's Podcast episode on the subject.

The government has launched a call for evidence on Carers Allowance, inviting unpaid carers and organisations to share their views on how to improve Carers Allowance.

Carers Allowance is currently £86.45 per week paid to individuals providing at least 35 hours of care to a family member who is disabled or has a long-term health condition (or is older). The call for evidence will gather views on: 

o   Changes to the earnings limit and earnings taper to reduce the impact of the current cliff edge and reduce the number of overpayments

o   Improve predictability for carers with varying incomes

o   Improve the interaction between Universal Credit and Carer's Allowance for carers receiving both.

o   Review the 21 hour study rule

o   Look at wider issues that carers want to raise.

You can access the call for evidence at Carer's Allowance: call for evidence - GOV.UK

The call for evidence will close at 11.59 pm on 18th August. 

More information can be found on Contact's website here and the Carers UK Website here.

The government has also launched a new unpaid carers action plan, which aims to improve the lives of unpaid carers, looking at the role unpaid carers play, how they can access the support they need, and helping them to reach their full potential. 

You might also find it useful to look at: 

Carers Assessment: your needs as a carer - how to ask for a carers assessment, what it looks like and what happens next 

Benefits - you may be entitled to certain benefits that may help with the extra costs you face as a carer.

Flexible working and time off (your legal rights to take time off or request a change to your working pattern). 

As the Government's SEND reforms continue to be discussed and progress locally and nationally - they are now asking for views on how to better support children whose EHC Plans detail that they should be educated outside a school or college setting (EOTAS), including those who cannot attend school because of health needs, up until the 18^th September.

This was flagged as an area that had not been covered in enough detail throughout the broader SEND Reforms Consultation, and so any parent-carer that is looking after a child /young person with an EOTAS package currently, has had one previously, is in the process of establishing one or has input to conversations around EOTAS support, now has an opportunity to contribute their experience and views.

With summer break here, we wanted to keep it simple for you to navigate this opportunity and the information that accompanies it.

We will be running events on September 8^th and September 10^th to discuss this topic in more detail so please do save the date and join us then,  to discuss the proposals and get more information to help you respond directly and/or give your views to feed into the Our Voice response to the consultation. 

FOR THINKING ABOUT:

FOR DOING NEXT

•          You can input your experiences and opinions on the areas above to the consultation directly here

     Alternative format details can be found here

• And/or you can join one of the Our Voice EOTAS consultation group discussions on:

1. 1. Tuesday the 8^th September at 20:00
   2. Thursday the 10^th September at 12:00

Save the dates for now - joining details to follow. See our events page. 

These events will also be an opportunity to recap on the SEND reforms so far and other areas that are being considered in relation to funding SEND.

We are pleased to publish our play and leisure guide for the school summer holidays.

You can see the booklet here.

We will be adding more to this over the next few weeks, so please do check back for updates.

Enfield Local Authority have also published a guide for summer activities. This includes Universal Activities (activities suitable for all children and young people), Universal Plus Activities (activities for children and young people with SEND who need some additional support) and Specialist Activities (for children and young people with SEND who have complex needs). 

You can see Enfield Local Authority's booklet here.

Summer Uni is a local programme of free activities across the school summer holidays, for young people aged 11 - 25 (or up to 19 if they do not have Special Educational Needs or Disabilities - SEND). 

The programme of events for summer 2026 has now been agreed and you can see details in the brochure here. 

ECYPS teenscheme booklet is here (see our play and leisure guide for more details) 

Cheviots Sleep Service offers drop-in sessions on the first Tuesday of every month, from 10 am to 12 pm at the Cheviots Disability Service in Cheviots Close. 

The next session will be on Tuesday 6th October. 

Full details are on the flyer here. 

You can also see some useful tips from Cerebra about supporting your child's sleep in this guide. 

Positive Behaviour Support information and resources

Following our successful Positive Behaviour Support project last year, Our Voice periodically runs our  Introduction to Positive Behaviour workshop. We don't currently have a session scheduled but will update this page when the next session is confirmed. 

Our last session was on Thursday, 7th May 26, and you can see the slides and other resources from this session below. 

The Cheviots Team (part of the Joint Service for Disabled Children) are continuing to run monthly Behaviour Support Drop-in sessions for families, giving you an opportunity to discuss individual questions regarding your child/young person's behaviour. 

The next session will be on Friday 4th September at Cheviots Children's Centre, 10 am to 12 noon. You do not need to book, but if you would like Cheviots to provide creche facilities and/or a translator for the session, please email them to confirm clare.redrupp@enfield.gov.uk, giving as much notice as possible. A flyer for this event will be added nearer to the time. 

You can see the slides for the Introduction to Positive Behaviour Support workshop here, along with the 'Capable Environments reflection tool' that we use in the session. 

Links for services referred to in the session, and additional useful resources: 

• Enfield Advisory Service for Autism - Home
• What do we mean by quality of life? factsheet from BILD
• Managing Anxiety factsheet from BILD 
• The Impact of the Environment factsheet from BILD 
• https://eric.org.uk/advice-for-children-with-constipation
• Information sheet on spitting

• The National Autistic Society website has a useful section on Behaviour which includes: Information about distressed behaviour, Anger Management, Meltdowns, and Dealing with Change.

• The Educational Psychology Service offers a telephone support helpline  which you can use to book a call to discuss concerns or issues relating to your child
• You might also like to have a look at this video - on Supporting Children's Behaviour at Home. 

The 24-25 Positive Behaviour Support Project 

Our Voice ran a joint Positive Behaviour Support Project from April 24 to April 25, as part of the Empowering Families and Networks in Enfield Project, delivered jointly with the Joint Service for Disabled Children (Cheviots team): 

• We ran six Introduction to Positive Behaviour Support workshops - you can see the presentation from these sessions here. 

• We co-delivered Positive Behaviour support drop-in sessions, giving parents a chance to discuss individual questions relating to their child/young person's behaviour. All the joint sessions between Our Voice and the JSDC have now been completed. 

We have been asked to share details of a study on parents' experiences of getting support for children with Learning Disabilities from ethic minority backgrounds. 

Participants will receive a thank-you voucher. 

You can take part if you:

•           Are older than 18 years old.
•          Live in England.
•          Can speak English.
•           Are from an ethnic minority background.
•         Have a child with a diagnosis of learning disability or known care needs relating to their learning and development who is younger than 25 years old.
•          Have had support or thought about getting support for your child before they turned 18 years old.

       More information is available on the study recruitment poster. 

      If you are interested, please read the participant information sheet or the Easy Read version. 

IIf 

Coming up – three monthly opportunities to catch up with other parent-carers of children with SEND, in a relaxed and welcoming environment. No need to book – just go along. SEN Consultants join most sessions to offer their insights and guidance. 

SEN consultants join most sessions to offer insight, guidance and support for you and your children. 

If you have any questions, please contact Elena at senwithelena@hotmail.com 

You can see more information about SEN with Elena and all the relevant contact points on this flyer. 

• The next event will be a workshop with the Enfield Service for Disabled Children on the Short Break Grant, which will be from 10 am to 12 noon on Monday 29th June. Details are on the flyer here. 

• Coffee and play mornings - next session Monday 7th September  9.45 -11.15 am at Playbox, Palace Exchange Shopping Centre, Enfield, EN2 6SN. These sessions offer a relaxed, welcoming environment for you to connect with others who truly understand the journey. You'll have a chance to share stories, exchange advice and talk openly about both the challenges and the triumphs in a supportive, non-judgemental space. These sessions are not just about information - they are about your emotional well-being. 
• Coffee and Well-being mornings- next session Friday 11th September 9.30 – 11 am at Costa Coffee in Cockfosters EN4 0DN. These sessions offer a relaxed, welcoming environment for you to connect with others who truly understand the journey. You'll have a chance to share stories, exchange advice and talk openly about both the challenges and the triumphs in a supportive, non-judgemental space. These sessions are not just about information - they are about your emotional well-being. 
• SEN coffee and chat afternoons for parents supporting neurodiverse young people aged 14 plus – next session Wednesday 9th September 12.30 – 2 pm at the Dugdale Arts Centre, 39, London Road, Enfield EN2 6DS. These sessions offer a relaxed and welcoming space for parent carers of young people aged 14 and over with SEN to meet others who are navigating similar experiences and preparing for the transition into adulthood. The sessions are a place to receive support and to look after your emotional well-being. Discussions around your young person's post-14 transitioning journey, including sixth form, supported internships, college and supported learning, further education pathways, day services and post-education options. 
• Stories, Songs and Chat with SEN with Elena takes place on Wednesday 8th July at the Edmonton Green Library (Children's Area). 10 am to 10.30 - stories and songs session, 10.30 - 11 am connect with other SEND parents and find out about local support and services.

  More information on the flyer here. 

We have been notified that Enfield is about to undergo an ‘Area SEND Inspection’. This means that, from 29^th June until 3^rd July, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will jointly inspect how well the Local Authority, Health Services, and other partners are working together to improve the experiences and outcomes for children and young people with additional needs.

This is different to a school inspection as it focuses on all the support for your child/young person across the Local Authority, Education, Social Care and Health (rather than on specific schools).  

It is a really important exercise, and it is essential for parents and carers to make sure that their voices are heard by the inspectors so that they get a full picture of families’ experiences.

As part of the inspection, parents and carers and children and young people are invited to complete a short survey. You can access the surveys at https://ofsted.smartsurvey.co.uk/p/AreaSend/10436557

You should complete the survey if you have a child or young person aged 0-25 who has a Special Educational Need or Disability, whether or not they have an EHCP, are on SEN support or have a formal diagnosis. If you have more than one child with additional needs, please complete one survey for each child.

You can complete either this Parent/Carer Survey or the Easy Read version: Parent/Carer Survey (Easy Read)

You should be able to complete the survey in about 15 minutes or so, but there are several open questions, so it may take longer if you have a lot to say!

There is a separate survey for your child or young person to complete, which you can find at Children and Young People Survey. Please encourage and support them to give their views using this form.

You will not be asked for your name.

The surveys will close at 9 am on Tuesday 23^rd June so please don’t delay!

This page Area SEND inspections: information about ongoing inspections - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) gives more information about what the Ofsted and CQC inspections are about and includes versions of the information for parents and carers, and for children and young people, in Easy Read, video and British Sign Language versions.