Norfolk SEN Network R•Bl•t•fvd ¢hvlty no. I044J55 Helplng to access special needs education Annual Report 2022123 Fine City Chorus at St. Peter Mancroft- Charity of the Year 2023 44111 Brundall Coop Charity 2022123 City of Ale Charlty of the Year 2023 Thankyou so much for ev8rything. Yoursupport with tha SHCPprocess has b•en invalu8ble and wa vèrymuch 8ppreciata whatyou andyour team do to support famllles.- . The O'sulllvans 1 St Floor Portal House, 7B Alkmaar Way, NoTrvich, NR6 6BF Helpllne: 0330 043 0225 www.norfolksennetwork.org
TRUSTEES REPORT 2022-23 2022123 was one of our most successful years for fundraising. Thanks to a 4 year grant from the National Lottery we have been able to move into much larger offices, which will enable us to offer 'in house, training ft)r parents at low cost and hold Mediation and Tribunal hearings in comfortable surroundin85. Three organisations chose us as their Charity of the Year for 2023- The Cooperative, The City of Ale & The Fine City Chorus We very much enjoyed worklng with them all and thank them forthe funds raised for us. It's thanks to The Fine City Chorus and Jeanette and Tony Fairweatherchoosing our charity to benefit from their Christmas Lights Switch On 2023, we were able to purchase a large interactlve screen for training and tribunal use. Funding received from our Charity of the Year at Brundall Coop enabled us to increase our Helpline hours by an hour a day enabling us to cover parents lunchtime period. This October sadly saw the end of our relationship with the Yapp Charitable Trust who have supported us for a number of years. We thankthem for their support, especiallyfor doubling our 8rant durin8 lockdown. Staff salaries are now secure for the next 3 years thanks to the National Lottery. We thank Danielle, Nikki and Karla for their dedication in supporting families. Thank5 also to Julie, Lucy and Tara for comlng on board as trustees and helping steer the charlty. Thanks also to Chris Jay for finalising our accounts and Kim Mayfield for audltin8 them. Kim will be retiring next year, we wish him a happy retirement and thank him for being our auditor for a number of years. Our most sincere thanks to ourAmbassador, Claire Brooks of The Brickmakers on Sprowston Road for her enthusiasm in fundraising and for promoting the work of our charity through Quiz Nights, Musical Bingo and Chalrty day5. Our most grateful thanks to the Paul Bassham Charitable Trust for their long term funding and the Norfolk Community Foundation for always being there to give advice. Thanks also to the Alan Boswell Charitable Trust and the Bally Thomas Charitable Trust for fundlng to help us keep our costs down to parents. Thanks to Liam and Easy Bathrooms for or8ani5ins a m055lve fundraisin8 raffle ai the Norfolk Show. Special thanks to Katy Shoot for allowing us to share her office for 3 years. th As we move into our 38 year of supporting parents throughout Norfolk we look forward with great optimism that we will be able to support many more families to secure better provision for their chlldren. Pot Brickley... Chairperson th Dated: 11 March 2024
NORFOLK SEN NEfwoRK Membership @ 31.10.22- 57 31 Purple supported members 17 members io Green members 74 Free email members Ambassador: Claire Brooks of The Brlckmakers, Sprowston Road Trustees: Pat Brickley (Chairperson) Julle Playford (Vlce-chairl Chris Jay {Trea5urer} Dawn Alexander (Resigned Feb 24) Tara Durrant (Trusteel Dan8uoliukas Jev5iukova (Trusteel Lucy Pollard {Trustee} Employees: Nichola Corcoran Development Worker Karla Cooper Development Worker Danielle Cann Administrator/Helpllne Bankers Barclay's plc, St. Stephens Branch, Norwich ¢+ Norfolk SEN Network has been supporting parents of children with special educational needs throughout Norfolk since 1987. Since the introduction of the Children & Famllies Act 2014, we now support young people themselves {16 to 251 who have special educational needs to find the right educational provision. s+ Our Committee is elerted 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 ri8ht for their chlld and to 5UPPOrt young people 16 to 25 to find the right provision to meet their needs.
ANNUAL REPORT 22-23 "Words cannot begin to explain how thankful we are. What an absolute star Nikki hos been throughout the past 12 month5. She has been such a huge help to me and myfamily. Nikki is a weolth of knowledge and speaks with great confidence about it, something I struggle with so it has been a weight off my shoulders hoving her there to speak on our beholf and has put my mind at ease. She saw my sonfor who he is andfor what he deserves, afull-time education. Thanks to Nikki s hard work he has been offered a placement in ourfi'rst choice of schooll Nikki we can't thank you enough we couldn't have done it without you. Thank youl Bethany Development Workers Unfortunately our aim to increase the number of Development Workers has not yet been fulfilled. It is a steep learning curve and not something many people wish to take on. Our current team nevertheless continue to go above and beyond to ensure children's needs are met. This year we have supported parents with Governor5 and Independent Review Panel meetings, permanent exclusions and complaints as well as applying for EHC Plans, checking draft and final plans, attending Annual Reviews, Mediation and Tribunal hearings. Our Development Workers helped with: Tribunals 12 Mediations Annual Reviews Provision Applying for an EHC Plan 6 Checking draft Plans Permanent Exclusions Independent Review Panels Disability Discrimination Appeals
The children they supported had a variety of diagnosis, the main ones being: ASD 29 Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia ADHD Sensory processing Hearing Difficulties SEMH PDA Down Syndrome Chronic Fatigue syndrome They supported 47 children an increase of 3 % on last year The ethnicity of families this year were: White British 41 Eastern European 5 Scandinavian The age range of children were: 5 years 6 years 7 years 8 years 9 years 10 years 11 years 12 years 13 years
14 years 15 years 16 years 17 years 18 years 20 yea r5 The highest number in any age group wa5 10 year olds, probably because of secondary transfer. The number of young people we supported over 28 were boys and 19 were girls Thanks to RC Snelling Charitable Trust, Alan Boswell Charltable Trust and the Bally Thoms Charitable Trust for funding to help us keep costs down to parents. Exclusions "l Just wanted to drop a message to thank for all your help and making time to attend our son's Independent Review Panel following a pem)anent exclusion we felt was unfair to his SEN. NorFolk SEN Network are a shining light for parents who may be experiencing difficult times. We really appreciate the response and support when we were struggling to navigate our way through the legalities of the system. What a fantastic charlty" Syretta We helped several parents prepare their cases for meetings with Governors and also attended Independent Review Panels. Tribuna15 Tribuna15 5ti11 tend to take up a lot of our time. Preparing a case for registration, additional evidence, amending EHC Plans take a considerable amount of time, but it is necessary so that we can match
Barristers put up against us at hearings. Most take around 9 months to come to a hearing, even then they can be adjourned or postponed. There was a slight increase in the number of Tribunals which went to hearings last year. Hel line Runs 9am to Ipm Monday to Friday. Over the past year it has taken Thanks to an Anonymous trust for funding the running of our Helpline. Our Helpline received calls on 20 different subjects with enquiries for help in applying for an EHC Plan and problem with support in schools being the most popular: Help with applying for an EHC Plan 12 Support with difficulties in school 12 Provision 12 School not meeting need Help with a Tribunal 11 11 Problems with placement 10 Non-attendance at school School meetings Secondary placement Mediation Early Annual Review Refusal to assess Support with behaviour Annual Review meeting support Adult Advocacy Reading a draft Plan Refusal to issue a Plan
Transferring an EHCP from one county to another I Soclal Media Facebook followers: 2163 followers 18% increase on last year Twitter Followers: 828 followers 7% increase on last year Trainin Training of our Development Workers was kept up to date with Karla updating her First Aid Training and Pat completing Safer Recruitment training. Our Development Workers also did additional training on Exclusions and DDA appeals. Our Office Our opening hours were increased to Ipm during the year thanks to funding from the Coop. Special thanks to the Alderman Norman Charitable Trust for funding our office rent for the year. Newsletter Our bi-monthly newsletter was produced throughout the year being circulated to both members and non-members and contained a variety of useful information for parents.
Fundraisin We were delighted to be the City of Ales Charity of the Year for 2023. A raffle at the launch event raised £ 376. We had 36 collecting tins in pubs across the city which raised £539.95. Sheldrakes Walk raised another £103 and The Rose Treasure Hunt £125. Fine Cit Chorus Charit of the Year The support of the Fine City Chorus has been magnificent, the highlight of which was the concert at St. Peter Mancroft with Norwich Harmony and the Carol Singing by Mustard, in all they raised almost £2 000. The Coo , iBeing the Charity of the Year for the Brundall Coop helped raise £1451.99tole ngthen the opening of our Helpline. On Valentines Day we gave out sweets as a mark of appreciation. The Brickmakers Special thanks to our Ambassador, Claire Brooks for her enthusiasm in raising funds for us through Charity Days, Quiz nights and Musical Bingo which raised £ 1,044.
Lottery Tickets bought in the Broadland Community Lottery have helped raise £600 to assist with funding towards Independent reports. Breakfast on the Riverbank In December 2022 we were invited to Breakfast on the Riverbank when very brave swimmers took to the icy water. Thank you to Cliff Oakey for organising this and raising £141. We took the challenge and dressed as elves! Lin ood Care Farm Special thanks to Sally, Peter and Andrew Medlar for thinking of us at th their 10 Anniversary party and donated £92 from the raffle held.
Wroxham & Hoveton Lions Kindly donated £250 to our charity. Eas Bathrooms me a Norfolk Show raffle Thanks to Liam and Easy Bathrooms for raising £1,200 in a mega raffle at the Norfolk Show. Town & Parish Councils We received several donations this year from Town and Parish Councils in support of the families we support in their area. Cromer Town Council, Thorpe St. Andrew Town Council, Newton Flotman Parish Council, Rackheath Parish Council, Stoke Holy Cross Parish Council and Mulbarton Parish Council.
Books We continued to sell books Outside our office in Catton and at Car Boots raising £ 33 for the charity. Car Boots & Gara e Sales Special thanks to the Rudling family who held a Garage sale at Mundesley raising £100 and the Shoots for raising £31. Future Plans We are going into a new era with optimism and enthusiasm as we plan a programme of training for parents over the next year and introduce Coffee Mornings so parents can come and talk over their problem over their child's education with our Development Worker5. Pat Brickley Chairperson th Dated: 11 March 2024
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Norfolk SEN Nelwork On accounts for the year ended 31 October 2023 Charity no lif any) 1044353 Set out on pages One to three I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trusl'l for the year ended 3111012023. Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounls in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 1"the Act"). I report 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 Commission under section 145(51(b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. l confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examinalion which gives me cause lo believe that in, any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance with seclion 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no contsrns and have come across no other matters in conneclion with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding ofthe accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: Name: Mr Kim Mayfield Relevant professional qualiflcationls) or body {if any): Chartered Accountant Address: 10 Hillside Chedgrave Norwich IER October 2018
NORFOLK SEN NETWORK Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at,31 October 2023 Unrestricted Funds RestrÉcted Funds Total Cash Funds Bank Accounts 6,041 21,917 27,958 Total cash funds 6,041 21,917 27.958 Assets retained for the charity's own use Atcost to and Website Gazebo Brochure stand Mobile hone Laminator Shredder Total assets retained for own use rinters 1,2i7 .329 449 1,706 631 744 193 65 90 536 3.663 65 90 96 2.143 440 1,520 Current Assets Donati()n - Fine Ci Total debtors Ch()TUS 946 946 946 946 Liabilities National Lntte.r Grant 21,606 21,606 Page 3 of 3
NORFOLK SEN NETWORK Statement of Assets and Liabtlities as at 31 October 2023 UnTestsicted Funds Restrieted Funds Total Cash Funds Bank Accounts 6,041 21,917 27.958 Total cash funds 6,041 21,917 27,958 Assets retained for the charity's own use At cob* and Website Gazebo BTochure stand Mobile hone Laminator Shredder Total assets retained for own use rinters 1,257 329 113 193 65 90 96 2.143 449 1,706 ,329 744 193 65 90 536 3,663 631 440 1520 Current Assets Donation- fine Ci Total debtors Chorus 946 946 946 946 Liabilities National Lotter Crant 21.606 21,606 Pat Brickley. Chairperson Date." 11° March 2024 Page 3 of 3
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Norfolk SEN Nelwork On accounts for the year ended 31 October 2023 Charity no lif any) 1044353 Set out on pages One to three I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trusl'l for the year ended 3111012023. Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounls in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 1"the Act"). I report 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 Commission under section 145(51(b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. l confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examinalion which gives me cause lo believe that in, any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance with seclion 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no contsrns and have come across no other matters in conneclion with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding ofthe accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: Name: Mr Kim Mayfield Relevant professional qualiflcationls) or body {if any): Chartered Accountant Address: 10 Hillside Chedgrave Norwich IER October 2018
NORFOLK SEN NETWORK Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at,31 October 2023 Unrestricted Funds RestrÉcted Funds Total Cash Funds Bank Accounts 6,041 21,917 27,958 Total cash funds 6,041 21,917 27.958 Assets retained for the charity's own use Atcost to and Website Gazebo Brochure stand Mobile hone Laminator Shredder Total assets retained for own use rinters 1,2i7 .329 449 1,706 631 744 193 65 90 536 3.663 65 90 96 2.143 440 1,520 Current Assets Donati()n - Fine Ci Total debtors Ch()TUS 946 946 946 946 Liabilities National Lntte.r Grant 21,606 21,606 Page 3 of 3
NORFOLK SEN NETWORK Statement of Assets and Liabtlities as at 31 October 2023 UnTestsicted Funds Restrieted Funds Total Cash Funds Bank Accounts 6,041 21,917 27.958 Total cash funds 6,041 21,917 27,958 Assets retained for the charity's own use At cob* and Website Gazebo BTochure stand Mobile hone Laminator Shredder Total assets retained for own use rinters 1,257 329 113 193 65 90 96 2.143 449 1,706 ,329 744 193 65 90 536 3,663 631 440 1520 Current Assets Donation- fine Ci Total debtors Chorus 946 946 946 946 Liabilities National Lotter Crant 21.606 21,606 Pat Brickley. Chairperson Date." 11° March 2024 Page 3 of 3