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Welcome to the Summer 2025 edition of our newsletter.

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parent group - neurodiversity struggling to attend school

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Nessie is funded by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough County Council to support families of children and young people with emotional and mental health needs.

This project began with a specific focus on supporting families of children with self-harming behaviours in Cambridgeshire but we are pleased to announce that the funding was extended geographically in April 2023 to Peterborough to cover a range of emotional and mental health needs.

The aim of this work is to help parents/carers in developing a positive and more confident approach to supporting their young person, whilst offering a chance to gain peer support, useful strategies and practical tools .

Areas of support include, but are not limited to:

Bereavement and Loss (including divorce and separation)

LGBTQ+ and Gender Questioning

School Avoidance

Managing Meltdowns

To book one-to-one support, please complete this and a member of the team will be in contact to arrange a chat. Please note: there is an expectation that you will have attended relevant workshops before booking a 1-1 session.

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Cambridgeshire and Peterborough parents - NESSie IN ED, CIC

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Nessie is funded by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough County Council to support families of children and young people with emotional and mental health needs. This project began with a specific focus on supporting families of children with self-harming behaviours in Cambridgeshire but we are pleased to announce that the funding was extended geographically in April 2023 to Peterborough to cover a range of emotional and mental health needs.

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Parent and Professional  Occupational Therapy Helpline

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Parent and Professional  Occupational Therapy Helpline

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Supporting children for positive mental health

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Supporting children for positive mental health

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Generic Cambridge and Peterborough  Poster

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Peterborough Information Network | Peterborough SEND Information Hub (Local Offer)

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Peterborough SEND Information Hub (Local Offer)

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We are a mental health support team school.

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We are a mental health support team school.

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As part of a new national initiative we have signed up to be a mental health support team school.

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The Emotional Health and Wellbeing Service (EHWS) comprises of three separate teams, sitting under the Joint Venture between CCS NHS Trust and CPFT. Staff are employed by both organisations. The EHWS covers Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and operates within the 'Getting Advice' and 'Getting Help' iThrive quadrants. The EHWS is led by a Clinical Lead (Consultant Clinical Psychologist) and supported by an Assistant Psychologist and Administrative Lead. In January 2021 a Service Manager also joined the growing service.

The three teams within the service are:

Emotional Health and Wellbeing Practitioner Team: A multi-disciplinary team, with staff from a variety of professions, including School Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Paediatric Nursing, Health Visiting, and Social Work. They work to support the professionals to support the emotional health and wellbeing of CYP.

Children's Wellbeing Practitioner Team: They provide direct interventions to CYP with mild to moderate mental health problems. Staff have psychology related degrees and complete the Post Graduate Certificate in Children and Young People's Psychological Wellbeing Practice.

Mental Health Support Teams: The MHST's are part of a new national initiative that aims to increase the size of the CYP workforce and bridge the gap between Education and Health. Two teams launched in Huntingdon and Cambridge in January 2020, two more in January 2021 in Peterborough and Wisbech (see final page for list of schools), with a further two to launch in January 2022 in Peterborough and Fenland. Four further MHST's will be launched in Ely and St Neots in 2023 and two more in Cambridge in 2024, bringing the total to 10 by 2024 (fully operational by 2025). This will provide coverage for approximately 50% of the education establishments across the county.

Keep Your Head is a CCG commissioned website that brings together reliable information on mental health and wellbeing for children, young people and adults across Cambridgeshire & Peterborough. Visit the Keep Your Head website here.

Delivering excellence in Children and Young People's Services:
a partnership between Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

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The Emotional Health and Wellbeing Service (EHWS) comprises of three separate teams, sitting under the Joint Venture between CCS NHS Trust and CPFT. Staff are employed by both organisations. The EHWS covers Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and operates within the 'Getting Advice' and 'Getting Help' iThrive quadrants.

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Parents and Carers | Advice and Guidance | Anna Freud Centre

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Advice and guidance for parents and carers to help them support a child or a young person experiencing poor mental health or wellbeing.

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Hi, my name is Mrs Bloor. I am the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator  (SENDCO) at Queen's Drive. I work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

telephone- 01733 343914

email- office@queensdrive.peterborough.sch.uk

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We are excited to be starting Lego therapy at school.

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Claire Brodie and Vicky Mather, Specialist Teachers in East Sussex, discuss a Lego-based therapy project piloted in their school, which aimed to support pupils' social communication skills.
Lego-based therapy (LeGoff et al 2014) is an evidence based approach that aims to develop social communication skills in autistic children, such as sharing, turn-taking, following rules, using names and problem-solving.

In practice, children work in groups of three with each participant having a distinct role to build a Lego model collaboratively:

Engineers use the Lego instructions and ask the Supplier for the specific pieces of Lego needed.

Suppliers gives the Builder the pieces.

Builders follow the building instructions from the Engineer in order to construct the model.

Our project

When developing childrens' social skills we had always used social skill programmes, but were finding that these skills were very rarely transferred beyond the small group setting. Therefore the principle of using the more naturalistic setting of a club, with a clear aim of building Lego models using a resource that is so universally loved, was far more appealing to us.

Based in a Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) Facility serving a cluster of mainstream primary schools in East Sussex, we started our project with three Key Stage 1 (KS1) children and six Key Stage 2 (KS2) children, five of whom had a diagnosis of autism.

The Lego-Based Therapy project ran for a year, with weekly sessions for one hour which included:

a settling-in activity (a song or dance)

a game to develop Lego specific language

a Lego therapy building session and free play.

Outcomes of the pilot project

Challenges

Initially we observed a lot of frustration and upset during the sessions. It was felt that this was largely due to the language expectations of giving and receiving instructions, as well as the social demands of working as a group. To address these we introduced the following:

Games to explicitly develop the understanding of prepositional concepts such as 'in front', 'behind', 'on top of' which the children needed to use as Engineers and Builders.

Opportunities to develop and agree a shared language e.g. is it a 'slope', a 'slide' or a 'slanting flat bit'?

Visual prompt cards to help with asking for and describing Lego pieces - colour, thickness etc...

To provide motivation 'Lego tokens' were given when skills such turn taking, good listening, good use of words and seeking clarification were observed.

Positive outcomes observed

1. Significant development of listening skills, turn taking, joint attention, resilience, patience, perseverance and problem solving

2. The KS2 children began to develop their own systems based on the concept of turntaking, creating lists of music and games that each child wanted to play.

3. The children in both key stages began to spontaneously greet each other on arrival and showed a greater awareness of social expectations.

4. The children developed a team approach to problem solving, using mainly the strategy of turn taking.

5. An increase in the development of language associated with describing Lego pieces and instructing others how to use them when building models.

6. The children were incredibly motivated to understand and use language they initially found challenging, such as describing a Lego piece to someone else, and giving instructions. One child who had previously been working in 1:1 language sessions on a prepositional concept mastered the same target in one Lego Therapy session .

7. Improvements were observed in the length of spoken sentences and the grammatical structures of sentences used.

Other positive observations that we had not initially predicted included:

Increased self-esteem in majority of children.

Improvements in the flexibility of language used - if a child was an Engineer and the Builder was struggling to understand their instruction, the Engineer on many occasions used other vocabulary to give an alternative instruction.

Behaviour that indicated an increased awareness of the feelings of others - for example reassuring an upset child, explaining very clearly and gently that he would soon get a turn as a Builder.

Whether there had been a transference of skills was of particular interest to us. Class teachers and parents reported an observable improvement in social confidence and an increased understanding that problems and change sometimes occur and there are strategies that can used.

In addition, answers from the children's self-assessments indicated an increase in self-awareness and confidence. The majority of the children stated they had got better at turn taking.

Lego as a tool

Exactly how the Lego-based therapy had helped with the development of skills and strategies observed was an area that we constantly reflected upon. We felt that significant factors were:

Lego is a motivating tool and building as a team provides an immediate shared focus of attention.

The building of a model as a team provides the experience of the power of positive communication: the Engineer sees the Builder receive the correct Lego pieces and construct part of the model as a direct and immediate consequence of his/her language used.

The naturalistic setting with facilitation from adults rather than direct teaching, combined with the consistent and predictable format of the Lego build section, provides a relaxed, safe and secure environment in which language can develop.

However in order for these factors to be of significance the children had to initially develop a shared language specific to the task. Without the weekly tailor made activities and games to develop the necessary vocabulary, the children were unable to begin to have the tools to start to communicate even though the motivation was there.

It was also felt that as the sessions were run in a 'club' format with the children having a perceived ownership of the club, this gave them the confidence to suggest ideas on the organisation of the sessions and to contribute to problem solving situations that arose

Developments beyond the project

Halfway through the year, levels of Lego building were introduced:

Level 1- 'Lego Builder'. Be able to do the jobs of Lego builder, Supplier and Engineer as well as build a small Lego set on their own.

Level 2 - 'Lego Creator'. Be able to design a Lego creation, finding the Lego pieces needed for it and make the creation.

Level 3 - 'Director of the Lego Club'. Be able to share ideas with other children about Lego models and help solve other children's' Lego problems.

The levels to work through gave all the children an extra motivation. All the KS2 children became Directors, visiting the KS1 club to observe the children and offer ideas/support with problems. Two years after the project started, 2 Directors in year 6 ran their own Golden Time Lego club for a small group of year 3 children.

This was an absolutely amazing moment when we thought back to how they had started, with no shared language and limited social skills needed to be able to work in a group. It is hoped that now they are in Year 7 they will have the opportunity to use their increased social communication skills to run a small club at lunch time.

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Lego-based therapy project piloted with autistic pupils

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A variety of information, advice and tips and general resources to help with a child's everyday life skills.

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Learning to read with phonics? Click the '+' for advice.

Learning to read with phonics

If you live in England, your child will learn to read using phonics. Their school is very likely to use either the Letters and Sounds phonics framework or the Read Write Inc. programme. Check with your school if you're not sure which one they use.

Using Letters and Sounds?

If your child is using Letters and Sounds, you can find this list of eBooks by Letters and Sounds Phases useful. Bear in mind the following:

If you don't know your child's Phase, you can check with your school. As a guide, most Reception children will be on Phases 1-4 and most Year 1 children will be on Phases 4-5. Beyond Phase 5, your child will be able to decode most books.

In Letters and Sounds, there are 'sets' within the Phases - so your child might not know all the sounds in every book within their Phase.

Some series contain occasional 'tricky words' that your child can't decode using phonics. Use the inside front cover notes to teach your child these words before they start the book.

Find out more about Letters and Sounds >

Using Read Write Inc. Phonics?
If your child is being taught to read using the Read Write Inc. programme, you can find books suitable for them by clicking on the 'Levels' menu below and using the 'Read Write Inc.' filter to select the right level.

Find more support and resources for Read Write Inc. in our parents' guide to Read Write Inc. >

Looking for printed books for phonics practice at home?

Not reading to practise phonics?

Sharing books and independent reading

If your child is reading simply for enjoyment, comprehension, or practice, just browse the library or use any of the other filters. You can check which level is right for your child with this simple test from Read with Oxford.

Reading for pleasure

Are you a teacher? Find out about the Oxford Owl for School eBook library.

More available on Oxford Owl for School

Schools who are registered with Oxford Owl can provide pupils with access to an additional 30 Oxford Primary eBooks, plus a separate library of 50 Read Write Inc. titles all for free using a class login associated with their Oxford Owl for School.
How to set up a class login >

If you need more eBooks, Oxford Owl for School has introduced a new annual subscription of up to 550 titles. For more information, please visit the OUP website.

Are you looking for your class login?

Accessing your class eBook library from home

The class log in link has moved. If your teacher has given you login details to use your class library at home, please use the log in link at the very top of this page and select 'Students'.

sign up log in

Songbirds

Levelled phonics books from the fabulous Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo.

Read Write Inc. Phonics

A step-by-step phonics programme to support reading. Learn at home with Read Write Inc. Phonics

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Free eBook library | Oxford Owl from Oxford University Press

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Browse our library of free children's eBooks to read with your child including Oxford Reading Tree adventures with Biff, Chip and Kipper.

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Play along with the fun and friendly letters of the alphabet.

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Sing along and learn all about numbers with the Numberblocks!

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Short films to support teachers of pupils who have dyslexia, with a particular emphasis on 7-14 year-olds. These films offer practical suggestions on how best to support pupils, with lively graphics and clear advice from children themselves.

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Amazing Things Happen - by Alexander Amelines

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Newsround has made a special programme about autism.

It's a condition that affects the way you live your life and see the world around you.

Our presenter Rosie was born with it. She says even though living with autism is difficult, it makes her unique and who she is.

As well as telling her own story, you'll find out how Ben, Tony and Lenny are affected by the condition.

Lots of children with autism get bullied at school and find it hard to get jobs when they grow up.

In our special film Rosie wants to tell the world what autism is and help people understand what it's like to live with it.

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My Autism and Me - a Newsround Special - CBBC Newsround

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Newsround has made a special programme about autism. It's a condition that affects the way you live your life and see the world around you. Our presenter Rosie was born with it. She says even though living with autism is difficult, it makes her unique and who she is.

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NCMH (National Centre for Mental Health)

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Yoga Club For Very Energetic Kids (Week 79) ⚡ I  Cosmic Kids Yoga

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Madeline explains what happened when her daughter Eleanor, who has Down’s Syndrome, started primary school.

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Starting primary school - BBC Parents' Toolkit - BBC Bitesize

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Advice and games to help you and your child prepare for primary school, then thrive during their first year.

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Autism friendly play park-  Longthorpe Village Park has now got a new communication board making it more Autism friendly.

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Based on the 5 point scale - Download click the link below

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Autism Together is now one of the country's leading providers of services and support to people with autism and their families. We campaign on behalf of all individuals affected by autism, we encourage all our supporters to get involved with fundraising and volunteering with us and offer comprehensive training and job development to our employees.

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A better life for autistic people ABOUT AUTISM A better life for autistic people ABOUT AUTISM A better life for autistic

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The ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity - an integrated health and education service.

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YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People

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YoungMinds are a mental health charity for children, young people and their parents, making sure all young people can get the mental health support they need.

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Learn a new word every week and be inspired to get signing. The sign for 14th - 20th March 2022 is Lucky.

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Before children learn to talk they need to develop their early communication skills, such as: looking, joint attention, taking turns and listening. Some children have difficulties with social skills and interaction i.e. being able to use language and non-verbal communication including eye contact, facial expressions and body language.

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Welcome
Little Miracles is a multi-award winning registered charity that supports families that have children with additional needs, disabilities and life-limiting conditions from birth to 25.
We provide a non-judgemental environment where we use our holistic approach to support the needs of the whole family. We specialise in providing advice, guidance, support, activities, training and safe places to any family that has a child with an additional need, disability or life-limiting condition.

This includes providing support before they are diagnosed.
"I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone at Little Miracles. Myself and my son had become so withdrawn and were not attending any groups and then we discovered Little Miracles. It has been amazing for us both. My son is thriving having people around him who understand and is loving all the activities, always wanting to go back with a smile on his face. I have been able to talk to people in similar situations showing me that I'm not alone.
We wouldn't have felt this way if it wasn't for the kindness of all the amazing staff, they are incredible."

We are a charity and rely on donations so we can continue to be here for families when they need us most:

£10 could pay for messy play activities for children excluded from education

£20 could pay for an accessible Toddler Messy Play session for a disabled child

£25 could pay for a Counselling Session for a bereaved parent

£40 could pay for an Inclusive Sports session for a child using a wheelchair

£100 could pay for a Bowling Party for children who have recently lost siblings

£480 could pay for an Animal Experience day, where unusual animals visit children with complex needs in the safety of the centre

£1,150 could pay for 50 children on life support to go to the seaside, some of whom have never seen the sea before

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Little Miracles is a multi-award winning registered charity that supports families that have children with additional needs, disabilities and life-limiting conditions from birth to 25. We provide a non-judgemental environment where we use our holistic approach to support the needs of the whole family.

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About SENDIASS SENDIASS stands for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service. It's a free, impartial, and confidential service offering information to young people with special educational...

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We are a local registered charity who are actively seeking to improve services in all areas of the lives of children and young people with disabilities or additional needs. We are here for Parents and Carers of children and young people aged 0-25 years with a disability or additional needs.

We aim to work together with professionals and parents so that the services for our children and young people meet their needs. Putting parent carers and their children at the centre and helping them to be heard. You can click on the link for the your say form where your views will be captured. YOUR SAY FORM

We are currently involved and participating in the SEND reforms. FVP parent reps and trustees attend Strategic meetings in relation to various strands of the reforms. This is ongoing and parent carers can directly participate by contacting the council via the feedback page on the Local Offer. Click here to visit Peterborough City Councils Local Offer

The Services We Provide

Help parents engage with professionals across Health, Education and Social Care.

Facilitate participation in service delivery.

Provide a voice for parents at strategic level meetings.

Hold informative events.

Help parents and carers have access to the information about what services are available to them.

Signpost parents and carers to other agencies/ organisations who provide specifc services that we do not.

Provide family based trips and activities.

Run a community centre.

Provide short breaks.

You can click on all the documents below to see much more about who we are and what we do - from caravans through to Parents Forum

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We are a local registered charity who are actively seeking to improve services in all areas of the lives of children and young people with disabilities or additional needs. We are here for Parents and Carers of children and young people aged 0-25 years with a disability or additional needs.

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As well as the SENDCO other staff that support children with special education needs are

Mrs O'Hara - SEN Higher Level Teaching Assistant and Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA trainee)

*Miss Chamberlain- SEN Teaching assistant

*Mrs Worsdall- SEN Teaching assistant

*Mrs Dobson- SEN Teaching assistant

*Mrs Dawson- SEN Teaching assistant

*Mrs Stefanova- SEN Teaching assistant

*Mrs Jennings- SEN teaching assistant

*Mrs Malik- Teaching assistant

*Mrs Khan- Teaching assistant

*Ms Ali- Teaching assistant

Mrs Kiely Goodayle- Family Support Worker (FSW) is also available as a contact for parents everyday. She leads on all Early Helps.

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Keep an eye out on their facebook page and website as they run SEN evenings that are quieter sessions.

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GENERAL ADMISSION

We recommend booking online as there an additional £1 per person charge for over the phone and on the door prices. You also guarantee your space so no disappointed children :-)

TWILIGHT OFFER: Only £7.75 per child (ages 1-12) and £2.75 per adult at 4pm entry time for 2.5 hours play until 6.30pm. Valid online only.

Midweek after school term time from 3pm Only £6.95 per child and £1.95 per adult. Kids meal - any meal off our award winning menu for £3.95. Stay until 6pm.

Online standard times: weekends & school holidays. Online saver times: mid-week term time
All prices include 2.5 hours of play during online standard times, and 3 hours of play during online saver times. At the moment, we are unable to allow overstays. SPECIAL OFFERS! To see our special offers, click here!

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Soft Play Peterborough | Indoor Play | Children’s Parties | Safari Soft Play

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Safari Play - Soft Play & Children’s Parties | Milton Keynes & Peterborough

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SENIDASS- Parents advice and support service

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SENIDASS- Parents advice and support service

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Offering impartial advice

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SEND Partnership Service

Offers impartial information, advice and support to parents/carers of and children/young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Advises and supports parents, children and young people through the SEND processes

Advises and supports parents/young people to use their rights to make sure the educational needs of their child/themselves are met

Supports parents to work with schools, children's services, health and other professionals

Informs parents/young people about other support services and organisations

Advises and support parents/young people resolve disagreements

Provides information, advice and support on Mediation and Tribunal

Find out more on our dedicated page.

Who to contact

Contact Name

Marion Deeley

Telephone

E-mail

pps@peterborough.gov.uk

Where to go

Name

Sand Martin House

Address

Bittern Way
Peterborough
Cambridgeshire

Postcode

PE2 8TY

Notes

Staff will primarily meet service users in the community

SEND Partnership work with Family Voice Peterborough to run monthly Parent/Carer Hubs. For more details on these Hubs please see the Family Voice Peterborough website: www.familyvoice.org

Get directions to PE2 8TY

Other Details

Costs

Details

None

Availability

Age Ranges

0-25

Referral required

No

Referral Details

Self referral.

Parents, carers and young people can contact the service directly using the details provided.

Referrals can come from professionals with parental /young person's consent.

Local Offer

Description

Offers impartial information, advice and support to parents/carers of and children/young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Advises and supports parents, children and young people through the SEND processes

Advises and supports parents/young people to use their rights to make sure the educational needs of their child/themselves are met

Supports parents to work with schools, children's services, health and other professionals

Informs parents/young people about other support services and organisations

Advises and support parents/young people resolve disagreements

Provides information, advice and support on Mediation and Tribunal

Contact Name

Marion Deeley

Contact Telephone

01733 863979

Local Offer Age Bands

0 to 5 years
5 to 11 years
11 to 19 years
19 to 25 years

SEN Provision Type

Universal

Actions

Gallery

(Select image to view full-size)

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SEND Partnership Service Offers impartial information, advice and support to parents/carers of and children/young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

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Family voice- Supporting Your Neurodiverse Child

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Family voice- Supporting Your Neurodiverse Child