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Accessible art, theatre and music activities, local youth groups and online communities for disabled people.
Children and young people can express their creativity by taking part in art workshops, plays, art performances or music sessions with other disabled people.
Museums and arts
Bristol Museums' Go to https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/communities-young-people/health-and-wellbeing/ (opens new window) staff are trained to help families with autism and M Shed Go to https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/blog/community/art-shed-museums-medicine/ (opens new window) has an art course for people with low level mental health issues using museum exhibits to inspire creativity.
Find inspiration by attending exhibitions by other disabled people:
- Artists First Go to http://www.artistsfirst.org.uk/ (opens new window) is an art group run by artists with learning difficulties, who exhibit their work regularly
Theatre and performance
- The Misfits Theatre Company Go to https://misfitstheatre.com/ (opens new window) is a performance art company with creative workshops led by people with learning difficulties, for young people aged 18+.
- Misfits also run the Rhythm of the Night Go to https://misfitstheatre.com/nightclub/ (opens new window) club night for people with learning difficulties, aged 18+
- The Travelling Light Theatre Company Go to https://www.travellinglighttheatre.org.uk/take-part/sen/ (opens new window) have two drama groups for children and young disabled people aged 7+ and 16+
Find inspiration from other disabled people performance groups:
- Extraordinary Bodies Go to https://www.extraordinarybodies.org.uk/about/ (opens new window) is a professional circus company by a diverse group of artists
Music
- MusicSpace Go to http://www.musicspace.org/ (opens new window) is a music therapy charity for disabled people of all ages helping them build relationships
- Drake Music Go to https://www.drakemusic.org/ (opens new window) have technologies to make music accessible to all
Local youth groups
Children and young people can join a local youth group to build confidence, make friends and learn new skills
- WECIL run youth groups for disabled and non-disabled people, aged 13 to 19 and young people with learning difficulties up to the age of 25
- WECIL offer a pen pal scheme to make friends with young disabled people in Australia
- Young Bristol Go to https://youngbristol.com/our-programmes/outdoor-activities/ (opens new window) run inclusive youth clubs and outdoor activities for 8 to 19 years olds in Bristol
Online communities
There are blogs and forums which are made by and for disabled people:
- Scope has a disability online community Go to https://community.scope.org.uk/ (opens new window)
- top 100 disability blogs by views on Equalitytime Go to http://equalitytime.co.uk/rankingdis/ (opens new window)
You can find tips and advice on the Online safety for young people with SEND web page.
A plan to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
What the children and young people's outcomes framework is
The pdf children and young people's outcomes framework (306 KB) is a plan that helps children and young people with SEND and their families write down what they want to happen.
Who is the framework for
The framework is for children and young people with SEND, and:
- their families
- their carers
- the professionals who work with them
Outcomes
The framework helps children and young people set outcomes. Outcomes are goals that are important to children and young people, such as:
- I want to be happy
- I want to have fun
- I want to spend time with my friends and family
There are 4 outcome themes, which are:
- independence: the child or young person should be able to do as much for themselves as possible
- relationships: the child or young person should have supportive family and friends
- health: the child or young person should be healthy and safe
- learning and jobs: the child or young person should be able to learn new things, and aspire to a job they'll enjoy
The framework helps the child, their family and the professionals working with them to write outcomes about these themes.
Help to understand outcomes
The Council for Disabled Children have created outcomes explainer resources, to help practitioners, parents and carers get a shared understanding of outcomes, outputs, and impact.
Other formats
We have the children and young people's outcomes framework in other formats.
- Audio version
- pdf Easy Read booklet (694 KB)
- Audio version of the Easy Read booklet
Tell us what you think
We'd like to review how the outcomes framework is being used.
If you've used it, email us on bristollocaloffer@bristol.gov.uk and tell us:
- how you're using the outcomes framework in your work
- the impact of the outcomes framework on your work
- the impact of using the outcomes framework with families
- how easy it is to use the outcomes framework
- anything else you'd like us to know
What a Designated Clinical Officer is, their role in SEND services, what they do and how to contact them.
What a Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) is
The NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board (ICG) plans and commissions health care and services to help people keep healthy.
Every ICB should have a Designated Medical Officer (DMO) or a Designated Clinical Officer (DCO).
The DCO works closely with the Local Authority (LA) and assists the ICB in meeting its responsibilities around SEND.
What the Designated Clinical Officer does for SEND services
The DCO provides a point of contact for LAs, schools and colleges who need advice or support about health for children and young people who have special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
They:
- can provide advice to education settings about their duties under the Department of Education's (2014) Supporting Pupils At School With Medical Conditions guidance
- can liaise with child and adult health services about specific children and young people
- attend the weekly LA SEND panels to review advice and provide information about health
- participate in EHC plan quality assurance exercises and feedback to health colleagues
- provide support and training to health colleagues about SEND
- can attend annual reviews for children and young people with complex health needs
- can identify children and young people who may require referral to Children's Continuing Care (CCC) or adult Continuing Health Care (CHC) services
- can work with partners in cases that need mediation services to resolve disputes outside of tribunals
- can review and provide evidence for First Tier Tribunal cases where there is a health element for determination
- work closely with parent carer forums and other support or voluntary organisations
- participate in SEND Local Area Inspections
- work with the LA to look at personal health budgets (PHBs) for those who have asked for a personal budget and who meet the children's Continuing Care (CCC) criteria or adult Continuing Health Care criteria (CHC)
Contact the Designated Clinical Officer
Email bnssg.send@nhs.net to contact the Designated Clinical Officer for the NHS Bristol North Somerset South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group.
Information and forms for professionals when requesting and contributing to an EHC needs assessment or an EHC plan annual review.
What an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is
An EHC plan is a personalised document for children and young people from birth to the age of 25 who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
An EHC plan makes special educational provision to meet the special educational needs of the child or young person. This:
- secures the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care
- prepares them for adulthood as they get older
An EHC plan:
- is a legal document
- describes a child or young person's special educational, health and social care needs
- describes what the child or young person needs to make progress towards their 'outcomes', which are what they want to achieve
The whole process from initial request to issuing an EHC plan (if we agree) should take no longer than 20 weeks.
Download an pdf overview of the timeframe (157 KB) .
What an EHC needs assessment is
If the child or young person is getting help in education through SEND support and, despite everyone's best efforts, still isn't making progress, you can ask us to carry out an EHC needs assessment.
We expect the education setting to have put in place any actions and support that are identified for the child and young person at the SEND support stage first.
The EHC needs assessment gathers information on:
- the child or young person's views and aspirations
- the child or young person's needs
- the support the child or young person may need to meet their long term outcomes
The EHC needs assessment helps us decide whether to issue an EHC plan.
Ask for an EHC needs assessment
To request an EHC needs assessment, fill in the following documents:
- document EHC needs assessment request form (209 KB)
- document family views form (79 KB)
- document child or young person's views form 1 (255 KB) or document child or young person's views form 2 (141 KB) (the child or young person can choose which form they'd like to fill in)
You may also wish to include:
- copies of reports from professionals within the last 12 months
- completed support plans (see the SEND support plan templates)
It's not compulsory to include any of these, but they can help support your request.
Email these forms to sen@bristol.gov.uk
Help filling in the forms
- pdf Education, Health and Care needs assessment: information for young people (170 KB)
- pdf Education, Health and Care needs assessment: information for parents and carers (124 KB)
- pdf Education, Health and Care needs assessment: information for schools and professionals (147 KB)
Find out more at Ask for an EHC needs assessment.
What happens when you request an EHC needs assessment
When we get a request for an EHC needs assessment, we have 6 weeks to decide if we'll do an assessment.
The process:
- We record your EHC needs assessment request.
- We email you, the parent or carer, the young person, education setting, health and social care services to tell you we've got the request.
- We contact you within 6 weeks of getting your request to tell you our decision.
If we decide to do an EHC needs assessment
If we agree that an EHC needs assessment would be helpful, we have 6 weeks to get information about the child or young person from professionals linked to them.
The SEND Assessment Coordinator will contact the parent or carer to confirm their views and aspirations submitted. We will share this with you when we ask for your ‘advice and information'.
We'll ask you to submit your advice and information:
- via the Professional Portal (external professionals), or
- via Work Trays (internal professionals)
The process:
1. We'll send a Professional Contribution form to you and your team via the Professional Portal or Work Tray.
2. We'll email you and your team copies of any information received before the start of the Assessment.
3. You will have 6 weeks to submit your contribution via the Professional Portal or Work Tray.
The contribution forms will:
- only ask questions relevant to your area
- link to the EHC plan document
Read about reviewing EHC plans and Key Stage transfers for children with an EHC plan.
If we decide to issue an EHC plan
We'll write a draft EHC plan using the information provided in the written reports submitted via the portal. We'll send you the draft EHC plan for your comments and you have 15 days to get it back to us.
document EHC plan template (419 KB)
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