Helping access special needs education
W: www.norfolksennetwork.org E: norfolksennetwork@hotmail.co.uk Helpline: 01603-300178 9.30am to 12 noon Monday to Friday answerphone at all other times
Annual Report & Accounts
2019-2020
Thank you to Claire and Dale Brooks of the Walnut Tree Shades for their support
Registered Address: 2A Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0UE
TRUSTEES REPORT
Like most charities, this has been a very difficult year with regard to funding, but one of our busiest year’s yet. Since lockdown in March 2020 the charity has been inundated with requests for support from parents desperately needing someone to help them obtain the education that their child needed. Our Development Workers have been lodging Tribunals consistently over the year, together with a new way of working – Tribunals by Google meets. There has not been any consideration given for those parents who do not have adequate technology to do so. We are most grateful to AVIVA’s Community Fund for helping us raise £1,000 to produce a video for parents on the procedures over the internet.
Having been chosen as the City of Ale’s Charity of the Year for the second consecutive year, we were looking forward to helping promote the event again, but like all our other activities, lockdown put an end to this event. The last events we were able to hold were Christmas events in December 2019.
Its thanks to our long-term funders the Yapp Charitable Trust who doubled our grant and the Norfolk Community Foundation for their Covid 19 grants that we were able to continue to fund the salaries of our staff and look forward to additional workers joining us alongside the opening of our first office to help us cope with the increasing demand for our support.
Special thanks to Claire Brooks, our Ambassador, who continued to raise funds for us at the Walnut Tress Shades through Quiz Nights, Musical Bingo sessions and a collecting tin on the bar from when pubs opened in May until their closure again in December.
A special mention also to Kay and her team at the Duke of Wellington who also had collecting tins on their bar and gave us the contents of their wishing well.
Special thanks to Nikki and Clare for their dedication in helping families through the minefield of legislation. Nikki has now completed her Level 3 IPSEA training and Claire Level 2.
Thanks to Chris Jay and Kim Mayfield for preparing and auditing our accounts.
Patricia Brickley
______ Chairman Patricia Brickey
___ 12 March _____2021
Registered Address: 2A Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0UE
NORFOLK SEN NETWORK
Membership @ 31.10.20 : 66 supported members 52 free email members
Ambassador: Claire Brooks of the Walnut Tree Shades
Trustees: Liam Corcoran (Chairman) Jane Merrett (Vice-Chair) Chris Jay (Treasurer) Toni Harrison (Newsletter Editor) Pat Brickley (Fundraising) Stewart Grant Annika Musgrave Joanne Manners Employees: Nichola Corcoran Development Worker Claire Cumberlidge Development Worker Bankers: Barclays plc, St. Stephens Branch, Norwich
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❖ Norfolk SEN Network has been supporting parents of children with special educational needs throughout Norfolk since 1987. Since the changes to the law through the Children & Families Act 2014, we now also support young people themselves (16 to 25) who have special educational needs to find the right educational provision.
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❖ Our Committee is elected in accordance with our constitution from our Membership each year at our Annual General Meeting
Our aims: are to help all parents of children with special educational needs to find the education which is right for their child and to support young people 16 to 25 to also find the right provision to meet their needs.
Registered Address: 2A Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0UE
Development Workers
“Without your help I couldn’t have done it, together we got the EHC Plan” - Jo W.
Our Development Workers give support and advice to parents of children with special educational needs on a wide variety of issues including:
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➢ Checking through their draft EHC Plan to ensure it meets the child’s needs
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➢ Attend Annual Reviews and other meetings
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➢ Attend Mediation meetings
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➢ Lodge Tribunal papers and represent parents at hearings
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➢ Disability Discrimination appeals
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➢ Exclusions and Independent Review Panel meetings
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➢ Transport and Admission appeals
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➢ A Spanish child through the European Convention of the Rights of the Child whose parents wanted him to start off his education at his local village school
During the last year they have supported parents of:
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➢ 2 under 5’s
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➢ 26 children under 11
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➢ 5 young people 11 to 16
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➢ 4 adults with SEN over 25
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➢ A total of 37 individual children of whom 5 were girls and 32 were boys
They have attended:
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➢ 6 Annual Review meetings
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➢ Amended 6 EHC Plans
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➢ Helped with 3 Secondary transfers
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➢ 24 parents looking for Special School placements for their children
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➢ Supported 4 children who were out of school
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➢ Supported a Spanish child through the European Convention of the Rights of the Child to obtain education in his local village school in Northern Spain
Registered Address: 2A Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0UE
They have attended Local Authority meetings:
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➢ Ofsted and Working Statement of Action meetings on Co-Production, EHC Plans and 18+ provision
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➢ Covid 19 meetings with the LA and other voluntary organisations
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➢ PEASS and Transition review meetings
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➢ The Local Offer Forum
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➢ SENDIASS
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➢ NASMA
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➢ Voluntary Sector Forum
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➢ SEND Roadshows
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➢ SEND Strategy
Helpline
Is manned from 9.30am to 12 noon Monday to Friday Answered 105 calls from parents who wanted advice on
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➢ how to help their child when things were going wrong at school
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➢ advice on how to obtain specialist provision or their child
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➢ support at a meeting
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➢ their child had been excluded
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➢ their child was coming up to transition
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➢ they were moving to Norfolk and had a child with SEND
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➢ they needed help lodging their case for a tribunal hearing
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➢ they needed support at Mediation
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➢ where a professional wanting to help a child with SEND
We also took enquiries through our Webmail, Facebook and emails
Facebook: 1233 likes an increase of 10% on 2018/19 Webmail: 60 enquiries an increase of 45% on 2018/19 Emails: 136 new enquiries
Registered Address: 2A Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0UE
Tribunals
“Thank you for all your support throughout this very difficult journey” - IH
- ➢ Lodged 21 + 1 DDA appeal
Of which:
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➢ 15 were for Special School places
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➢ 2 were for Independent placements
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➢ 1 was for a Residential placement
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➢ 1 was on Transport
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➢ 2 were refusal to issue a Plan
Training
Our thanks to the Geoffrey Watling Charity for funding our training programme, which we were unfortunately not able to carry out live but have been continuing through zoom with ACE Education as trainers.
Awareness Raising
Twitter: 786 likes @NorfolkSENnet
Fundraising
Like most charities we lost around 1/3[rd] of our income from March 2020. We weren’t able to take part in our usual events over the summer or our usual Christmas Fayres, which reduced our income by a further £1,000. The last events we held were in December 2019 which raised approximately £700.
Special thanks to the Norfolk Community Foundation and our long-term funders the Yapp Charitable Trust who doubled our grant to help us maintain our staff through Covid 19.
Registered Address: 2A Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0UE
Thanks to the Geoffrey Watling Charity for funding our training programme.
Thank you to the AVIVA Community Fund for helping us raise £1,000 to make a video for parents about how tribunals are conducted on zoom.
Thank you to Claire Brooks, our Ambassador, for continuing to fundraise for us through May to December 2020 raising £ 420 through Quiz Nights, Musical Bingo and in their collecting tin.
Special thanks also to Kay Edwards and staff at the Duke of Wellington who raised £181 in their collecting tins and emptied their wishing well raising an additional £81.
Thank you to Liam Corcoran, our Chairman who ran a virtual London Marathon raising £1,500
Thank you to 2 special little girls Esmee and Beth for raising £29 for the charity with a book sale outside their house.
A Christmas gift of £5,000 from the Paul Bassham Charitable Trust helped fund salaries in lockdown.
A trust, who wishes to remain anonymous, donated £2,000 towards the running of our Helpline.
Registered Address: 2A Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0UE
Future Plans
It has been our ambition to open an office from which our Administrator/Helpline Worker can work permanently.
We also need to recruit an additional Development Worker to take on some of the workload and reduce Pat’s level of case work to enable her to concentrate on stabilizing funding for the charity.
We hope we will be able to get back to holding events during the 2020/21 financial year.
Patricia Brickley
________ Patricia Brickley, Chairman
12 March_____2021
Registered Address: 2A Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0UE
NORFOLK SEN NETWORK Receipts and Payments Account 12 months ended 31 October 2020 Unrestricted Restricted Total Last Year Funds Funds Fund8 2019 Note Reeeipts Subscriptions Tribunal fees Delete fees Donations Fundraising and other income Interest received 675 675 550 430 150 550 17,422 4,(KJ5 12 9,553 26,975 4,005 12 21660 1,752 Total recetpts 22,114 10,103 31217 249% Payrtnents Wa%eg and payroll fees Commission Professional fees Fundrais2ng costs Insurance Subscriptions & membership Books and leaAets Telephone Postase Stationery & printing Travel R(M hire, Training & focKI Sundry 9,424 9,424 975 599 424 537 70 6.880 338 303 535 537 412 299 1,006 l(K) 2,102 1,419 1,58A 195 15,710 975 29) 424 300 537 70 1,054 134 536 1,054 50 1,830 47 1,227 53 4,975 2566 735 2367 53 18,788 1,140 Sub total 13,813 Asset and Investment PUTchases Sub totol Totrflpayments 13,813 18,788 15,710 Net re£eipW(payments) Transfers between funds Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end 17,139 (8,124) 9,288 18,303 3.710 8,124 951 5,365 13,429 10,239 23,668 953 10,239 Page l of 3
NORFOLK SEN NETWORK Notes to Receipts and Payrncnts Account 31st CktoEEr 2020 Unzestrtcted Re8trACted Total Funds Fwids l. Donation8 Dave Chaplin Sandie Cst-martinez Yapp Charitable Trust Paul Bassham cr Professor Rayner Norfolk COmmulty grant Anonymous TTUSt Haken Torungullari Geoffrey Watling Charity aaire Jackson WTS collection tins Duke OE Wellington collection tins City ot Ale5 collection tins Aviva Crowdfunder Other 478 15 478 15 6000 5000 40 7980 2000 3000 60 3500 35(K) io 420 181 95 I(XYS 193 io 420 181 95 1003 50 143 17422 9553 26975 2. Fundraisins and Other Income Marathon Stalls City of Ales Duke of wellin8t( wishins well Duke of Wellington fishng day Other 1572 175 1862 84 240 73 1572 175 1862 240 4005 Page2 of3
NORFOLK SEN NEfwoRK Statement of A&sets and Liabilities as at 31 October 2020 Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Tot Cash Funds Bank Aecounts 18,300 5,367 23.667 Total ca8h fimd6 18200 5J67 13,667 Assets retatried for the charity's own use At cost Website Gazebo Total assets retained for own Use 1,069 329 113 I11 449 1,518 329 744 91 631 Cunent Assets Debtors Total debtors Liabillties enses Patricia Brickley. Chaimia -2021 Page 3 of 3
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Norfolk SEN Network On accounts for the year endod 31 October 2020 Charlty no (if any) 1044353 Sat out on pages One to Three I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (he Trust.) for the year ended 3111012020. Re8ponslblllties and As the charity trustees of the Trusl, you are responsible for the preparation basis of roport of the accounls in a¢Gordance wrth the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act'i I rèport in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commi8sion under section 14515){b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. accounling records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord wth the accounting records Indopendent examinetrs statsment I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the aGcounts to be reaGhed. Signed: Dats: 1210312021 Name: Mr Kim Mayfield Addrots.. 10 Hillside Chedgrave Norwich IER October 2018