OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2022-03-31-accounts

‘LITTLE DISCOVERERS’

WEST NORFOLK SCHOOL FOR PARENTS (WNSfP)

Charity Registration Number: 1125400

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 1

Little Discoverers WNSfP Our Aim Active learning for disabled children and their families Little Discoverers (West Norfolk School for Parent) aims, in partnership with parents, to provide quality, holistic early education opportunities for children 0-5 with motor learning difficulties, delayed development and other complex needs. Through use of structured play, the Early Years Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum and the principles of Conductive Education children are encouraged to achieve stepped goals that enhance skills for independence in everyday life and boost esteem in both child and parent. By working and playing together, families learn to celebrate success and recognise the potential in every child. Little Discoverers (West Norfolk Schools for Parents) will continue to seek to improve the accessibility to a suitable session, for all families particularly those from hard to reach groups. LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 Pago 2

CONTENTS

ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS .......................................................................... 4 WEST NORFOLK SCHOOL FOR PARENTS (WNSfP) ................................. 5 CHAIRMAN’s REPORT TO THE AGM HELD ON 12[th] May 2022 .................. 9 STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT ................................. 12 SAFEGUARDING ......................................................................................... 12 MONITORING OUTCOMES ......................................................................... 13 OUR TEAM LEADER’s ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS .......................................... 18 HOW WE COMMUNICATE .......................................................................... 21 OUR LOCATION .......................................................................................... 21 FINANCIAL REVIEW .................................................................................... 23 INDE PENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT AND EXAMINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ............................................................................................. 25 APPENDIX 1 – WHAT IS CONDUCTIVE EDUCATION ............................... 33 APPENDIX 2 – PARENT AND PROFESSIONAL OBSERVATIONS ........... 34 APPENDIX 3 – ENLARGED VERSIONS OF THE PARENT AND PROFESSIONAL FEEDBACK CHARTS ...................................................... 40

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 3

ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Charity Registration Number: 1125400

The following were Trustees of Little Discoverers West Norfolk School for Parents (WNSfP) during the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022:

Contact details for WNSfP:

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 4

WEST NORFOLK SCHOOL FOR PARENTS (WNSfP)

Background

Following a survey by Scope in 2002, work started to set up a School for Parents in West Norfolk and since 2005 we have been running a successful West Norfolk School for Parents for children and families in this region, eliminating the need for a long round trip to the closest other School for Parents in Norwich. In 2008 we registered as a charity independent of Scope but operating as part of Scope’s School for Parents network. By the end of the year under review we had been successfully running Conductive Education sessions for children with complex motor problems and their families in West Norfolk and surrounding areas for 17 Years.

We follow national School for Parents guidelines and have our own set of policies that are regularly reviewed and updated.

As a result of a suggestion made by the[1] parents West Norfolk School for Parents is known as Little Discoverers WNSfP.

Little Discoverers WNSfP

The Little Discoverers programme provides support to children under 5 with complex physical and emotional difficulties and their parents. Our aim is to enable each child to achieve their maximum potential. We do this by providing individually designed programmes for each child based on the ideas of Conductive Education from Peto in Hungary (see Appendix 1) and are the only people in the West Norfolk area working in this way, with this age group in a group setting.

Nothing the parents have learnt in their previous life has given them any indication of the complex challenges they will meet and how to overcome them. Families can feel very isolated when their child is diagnosed. Little Discoverers provides a safe, friendly and fun early learning environment for pre-school children with difficulties in movement and delayed development that puts parents at the forefront of their child’s learning and development and recognises that parents know their child best.

Our aim is to develop children’s abilities and confidence in the pre-school years, which will help them at home and later at school. We do this by supporting them to improve their physical skills, their ability to communicate and their social skills. To achieve this we create a three way relationship between parent, child and specially trained Little Discoverers staff. Each child has their own individual education plan.

When the parents and children attending our sessions get to know each other they form a support network of understanding friends. Parents of older children can reassure new families and help them through stressful times. Parents feel relaxed in Little Discoverers, working with families who face similar problems and who jointly celebrate even the smallest achievement of each child.

1 ‘ Parent’ refers to any adult with a parenting role

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 5

Who can benefit from Little Discoverers WNSfP

Little Discoverers is for children aged 0-5 within West Norfolk and the surrounding area. The children may suffer from physical problems, motor learning problems, delayed development and demonstrate a wide range of abilities. They may have learning difficulties, visual, hearing and communication problems. Often our children do not yet have a formal diagnosis, but an example of some of the conditions we work with are: Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome, hydrocephalus, global development delay and genetic disorders.

Children may have physical problems such as being unable to hold up their heads, focus their eyes, roll, sit, stand or walk. Children may be unable to open or close their hands, use them for play or self-help activities. Some children have sensory problems, not wanting to touch different textures or being upset by noises. Many children have feeding problems, such as choking, being unable to finger feed or use a cup (rather than a bottle).

Some children are deaf or have partial hearing. Many children are unable to communicate; unable to point with their eyes or hands; unable to make noises, sounds/words; unable to use sign language. Many children find it difficult to interact, smile or laugh, be sociable or have fun. They may not be able to make their needs known.

A child can be referred to Little Discoverers in a variety of ways, for example by a Health Visitor, Therapists, GP or by parents themselves. After first contact, the parent and child will be[2] visited at home and invited to visit the group. Parents are then given time to consider whether this is the right service for their child. If a Conductive Education approach is not the most appropriate for the child, staff will suggest other support.

We aim to reply to any referrals within 5 working days and we have been achieving this.

We had 8 new referrals over the course of the year, and we have been able to offer places to all of these children.

During this year, despite the challenges of the pandemic, we supported 27 vulnerable families in need in the West Norfolk area and from adjacent areas of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. This year we have supported 14 female and 13 male children with ages ranging from 8 months to more than 4years.

We are inclusive of all nationalities and ethnicities and have families who use English as an additional language.

How we support the children and their parents – under ‘normal’ circumstances

Parents are key to their child’s development and the early years have been shown to be vital in stimulating the brain to enable the child to maximise their potential. Parents of children with complex health needs and impairments can feel physically and socially isolated leading to increasing emotional difficulties for the parent and the child. Attending a Little Discoverers group gives children therapy for 36 weeks a year in all aspects of their development, regular input that is vital for stimulating the development of new pathways in the brain.

Our approach is based on a unique form of early education focussing on all aspects of child development inspired by methods developed at the Peto Institute of Conductive Education in Hungary (see Appendix 1). This is a multi-sensory approach, stimulating the child’s senses and encouraging self-learning through activities and experiences that are fun for both children and their parents.

2 If our ability to hold face-to-face visits and meetings is impacted by external events then we use other methods of communication to ensure all enquiries and referrals are responded to

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 6

At Little Discoverers’ sessions parents and children learn the skills needed to provide motivation, communication and enjoyment of early learning through play. They are supported to break through the isolation barriers of disability and learn to communicate their emotional journey through contact with supportive professionals and other families on a weekly basis.

Children can start with us from birth and many children come to Little Discoverers under the age of twelve months and stay with us until school age. The average time that children stay with us is about 3 years. Progress is measured in small changes, for instance making eye contact, moving heads towards toys, progressing onto clapping and smiling.

As they attend our sessions children show increased independence, ability to communicate, confidence and self-esteem. Observations of older children include listening skills, playing alongside other children, sharing / turn taking, co-operative play and their response to the Team. At the end of each session we list the achievements of each child and clap these.

Some of our children attend nursery school and continue to come to Little Discoverers for a session each week.

The families learn the skills necessary to transfer the learning taking place in the session into the home and into the wider community of everyday activities including making the transition and integration into nursery. They receive information in many different formats - through physical activity, through illustrated information sheets and through exchanging knowledge with other parents about their child's impairment and how to empower their child in many everyday and formal learning areas.

The parents support each other and the children make friends in an environment where they are having fun while they learn new skills. The staff work with referring professionals and monitor the outcomes of the children on a daily basis and twice a year create updated Individual Education Plans for each child.

We support up to a maximum of 24 families at any one time in 3 sessions a week with a maximum of 8 children per session, for 36 weeks a year. Each session lasts approximately two hours including a short break for a drink and a snack.

A slow, structured session gives children time to try and to practise new skills, challenging themselves and maximising their potential. Parents feedback that large groups of active children can be intimidating, being fast moving and noisy.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 7

Each of our sessions is planned to involve the children in programmes that look at all aspects of their development - physical, social, emotional and understanding. Themes are chosen to make these sessions fun. Development is encouraged through play, songs, art and craft. There is continuity in the staff members, encouraging attachment and attunement, the staff understanding what the child's needs are and the child learning what is required of them.

As a result of generous donations we have been able to purchase specialist sensory and other equipment. This equipment is invaluable and continues to make a big impact on the way we are able to deliver our sessions.

As well as the regular sessions, we run a number of sessions to provide family and sibling support when the wider family is invited. These days help our groups of families keep in touch and help provide wider support to the children and their siblings. By putting on six sibling sessions a year, we hope to include the entire family in learning and involve the siblings in all aspects of their brother’s or sister’s development. It also gives the sibling a chance to be involved and feel important. The inclusion of the whole family is fundamental to the core values of the Little Discoverers approach and family sibling sessions are held during school holidays.

We encourage professional and parental feedback at all times and we operate an annual formal feedback process and analyse professional and parental feedback forms to help us identify areas for improvement – these feedbacks continue to be highly positive (see Monitoring Outcomes).

How we supported the children and their parents – impact of COVID related restrictions

COVID continued to impact our ability to operate ‘normally’ and during the year we faced challenges to how we could operate including holding face-to-face sessions but with restrictions in place.

Instead of our ‘normal’ schedule of 8 families per session we started the year continuing with the previous restricted two-week rota so that families could attend face-to-face sessions in groups of 4 every other week and we ran online sessions alongside these for the families at home that week. Technology continued to play a massive part in allowing us to offer our services and support remotely to the families. In September 2021, a year after our restricted re-opening to families face-to-face, we made the decision to return to 8 families per session. Covid restrictions in place and new risk assessments completed, we welcomed the families back to weekly sessions, with an outpouring of positive feedback. As time went on, we were able to relax some of our restrictions and adapt them as necessary, according to government guidelines and local case numbers

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 8

CHAIRMAN’s REPORT TO THE AGM HELD ON 12[th] May 2022

West Norfolk School for Parents / Little Discoverers has now been providing a very much needed free service to parents and their children aged 0-5 years old with complex developmental needs for 17 years. This is a huge achievement and has only been possible because of the wonderful work our staff and our voluntary Management Committee do. To read the wonderful comments we get through our anonymous feedback forms sent to the parents and professionals makes us feel proud of what we do and makes all our efforts so worthwhile.

We would also not have been able to provide this service without the financial support that we receive from the NHS and NCC in the form of grants worth £10,000 each but this does leave nearly £18,000 to find. Happily we have had some magnificent support again this year from the Queen, Rotary, local companies such as Ryan Hawkins and many more groups and individuals.

Very sadly Covid is still with us but since September we started running full (up to 8 children), face to face sessions, at the Dutton. We kept up strict Covid preventative measures, buying an air quality device, doing deep cleans, wearing masks, taking temperatures and using hand sanitiser. These have been successful measures and the parents felt safe in sessions and we have not had an outbreak of Covid in the groups. As the situation has changed so have our measures and the Health and Safety document is being regularly updated. Parents found that many children really disliked them wearing masks, so this was stopped. Interestingly research has shown that country wide young children are finding it more difficult to recognise facial expressions as a result of mask wearing. The families really appreciated having a safe space to which they could come and help their children and meet others. This was especially important as so much other support that families would have normally expected to receive, stopped or was just at a distance. We feel we provided a very important service in this difficult period of the pandemic.

The Staff Team

The staff have shown great resilience and dedication and continued to provide excellent sessions during this difficult year, with Covid still causing many varied problems.

Kat Hunter went on maternity leave in May and had an overlap with Hazel Colley who took over as Team Leader. We thank Hazel for all her hard work and she has been very instrumental in helping us update our technology. To enable us to fulfil our DSP (Data security protection) requirements, Hazel has enabled us to get our laptops encrypted and start the process of keeping sensitive data on the “cloud”. Pauline Bennett and Lauren Tuffs have given excellent support to Hazel and they run excellent sessions in their own right. The Team have continued to do an excellent job in looking after our Facebook pages and web site, keeping information up-to-date, allowing easy access to our Just Giving account and advertising events. We welcome Kat back to the Team in April and being a mum will give her a very valuable extra dimension to her work with our parents. Now that we have a new Treasurer, Emma Fendley, Kat’s extra role helping Gordon Penny with the finances has now come to an end. She has taken on instead 5hrs of fund raising a week for the next 6 months. This will then be reviewed in consultation with Kat.

Pauline and Lauren both had excellent appraisals and in recognition of this they have both been given a salary increase. Kat was also awarded an increase. We realise that our staff are our greatest asset and when the finances of the Charity allow, we reward the staff with increases and so far this has been annually.

The excellent work that the staff do in helping the parents to learn skills to maximise their children’s physical, communication and social skills is shown by the fantastic comments the

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 9

parents write on their feedback forms and for example, to the questions “My child has learnt new physical, social and communication skills” 80% strongly agreed and 100% agreed with the statement “positive feedback is given on my child’s achievements”. Summaries of the responses to the feedback forms are included in the section Monitoring Outcomes of this report and Appendix 2 includes an extract of parent and professional observations.

The Management Team.

We continue to have a wonderful Management Team who work for Little Discoverers on a voluntary basis, giving hours of their time with a smile. We have not had an unpleasant meeting in 20 years, a real accolade to their desire to help others. We continued to have meetings online[3] .

We have had some changes to the Trustees. We sadly said goodbye to Gordon Penny but intend to keep in contact. The other Trustees have remained and at present we consist of Andrew McShane (CEO of a company), Emma Fendley Treasurer (business woman), Sue Williamson (retired teacher), Penny Sheerin (solicitor) and Katie Fisher (retired paediatric physiotherapist and Chair).

The Committee has had a few changes. We said goodbye to Mandy Marston but welcomed Hazel Colley back as a parent representative, now with all her extra knowledge from acting as Team Leader. We also welcomed Thomas Graves a wheelchair user, who can give us insights into accessibility in the new Hub and much more. He works at Lynnsport. We were also very fortunate to recruit Lynn List (business woman) to the role of Secretary and we are enjoying working together. The other members of the committee have agreed to stand again and are Dave Carter (PR designer), Jean Hale (business woman and grandmother of a child who attended Little Discoverers), Kevin Parker (businessman) and Alex Hudson (teacher). All members bring their own unique skills, which makes for a wonderfully diverse and successful team.

Quality control

The staff have continued to do excellent case studies throughout the year and these give a good picture of the staff’s working and the progress the children are making. These are included in our quarterly feedback to the NHS and Norfolk County Council and all of them have expressed that they really value these. Our feedback to these bodies has been very well received and we have been complimented on our work, especially during the difficult times of the Covid pandemic. At present we do not have a Children in Need award as we did not apply for this last year as we felt we had sufficient funds in the bank. We will however be putting in an application in the near future as we are now running at a deficit.

Annual feedback forms were filled in by the parents and professionals. Sadly with Covid very few professionals were able to visit but those that did were complimentary about the work we do.

Sue Williamson and I continue to hold staff meetings on the basis of once every 6 weeks of sessions. We go through the annual timetable, looking at and updating policies, auditing data and data protection, checking the children’s learning journals and discussing the running of the groups.

The staff have been given their annual Back Care and Facilitation training and worked through DVDs on Manual Handling, Using a Computer and Fire Safety. We are hoping that Pauline and Lauren will be able to attend a course on Conductive Education at the Pace Centre and Kat is doing a course on Fundraising in July.

3 We really enjoyed meeting up again in person in April this year and hope to continue to carry on like this

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 10

The future.

A lot of work this year has been going on with respect to the possibility of having a purposebuilt new home for Little Discoverers. Andrew McShane and myself have been having regular meetings with a group of people involved with the Pelican Hockey Club. The project gradually evolved into something with a much wider vision than the original one of a space/ home for Little Discoverers and The Pelican Hockey Club. This vision was of a Hub that would also support adapted sports and people in the wider community that needed help to get active and fit while having fun. We would provide first rate changing facilities, sadly lacking in the majority of Norfolk. We would enable groups, especially charitable ones, to hire space for work with people from the community. To this end it was decided to set up a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) called the Adapted Sports Hub Trust with its own logo. This is a mixture of that of Little Discoverers and the Pelican Hockey Club. The CIO would have 3 Foundation Trustees, who would be responsible for the building of the Hub and consequently for hiring out space to Little Discoverers, the Pelican Hockey Club and other interested parties. The CIO would develop a business plan for the building’s ongoing costs. The CIO has now been set up with Paul Searle, Michelle King from Little Miracles in Peterborough and Katie Fisher as Foundation Trustees. The CIO constitution has been sent to the Charities Commission and is awaiting confirmation of charitable status[4] . There have also been very positive meetings with the Borough Council. Lady Dannatt, Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, this week visited a Little Discoverers session and the site and was full of enthusiasm and support for the project. With this project we hope to help reduce barriers, tackle inequalities, level up opportunities and provide early experiences to build lifelong activity habits, as well as providing a wonderful new home for Little Discoverers and the Pelicans.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us over this last year and we look forward to another exciting year.

Katie Fisher BEM – Chair

4 Charity status subsequently confirmed with Charity Number 1200560

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 11

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The Trustee and Management Group are all volunteers and receive no payments. Our main costs are associated with employing and maintaining the skill levels (training) of the 3 part-time members of the Team, the costs of room hire at Lynnsport and the running costs of the sessions including purchase of resources and equipment. The voluntary Trustee and Management Group is responsible for the quality of our service provision, fundraising and approving all expenditure. All our Policies are reviewed annually on a rolling basis by the Trustee and Management Group to ensure we continue to reflect and demonstrate best practice. In addition, our staff are subject to annual appraisals the outcomes of which contribute to decisions on any pay increases that we decide we can afford to pay.

Lynnsport provides direct support by charging a reduced room hire cost and indirectly supports us by the provision of help to establish and maintain the room we use and by organising their activities to ensure they do not disrupt our activities.

Our sessions with the children are planned and run by our Team Leader and the two Team Members who each take it in turn to plan and run sessions on a three-week rota. These are all part time roles aligned to the timings of the individual sessions with the children.

The Trustees and members of the Management Group monitor feedback from families and professionals and from nurseries and schools when children transfer to them. All the feedback continues to be very positive and constructive.

Trustees and members of the Management Group also observe some sessions and provide feedback. Trustees attend 6-weekly staff meetings and carry out staff appraisals.

There are monthly Trustee / Management Group meetings that the Team Leader also attends. The focus of these meetings continues to be on maintaining standards and establishing stable funding to ensure our long-term ongoing viability and as part of this, raising our visibility in the Region as an independent charity.

We work closely with the NANSA Centre in Norwich on staff development and we sometimes attend their centre meetings.

SAFEGUARDING

There were no safeguarding issues to report during the year.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 12

MONITORING OUTCOMES

The majority of children leave Little Discoverers to attend mainstream nursery and mainstream schools and our feedback indicates that we are continuing to successfully deliver in the key ‘Outcome’ areas of:

Children attending Little Discoverers sessions have varying abilities due to the nature of their disability and age. Progress is very individual to each child so each child has an individual programme and their achievements are celebrated at the end of each session and then recorded in each child’s individual learning journal.

In addition, we encourage informal feedback through comments in our Visitors Book and formal feedback through questionnaires designed to capture Parents’ and Professionals’ views on the effectiveness of our approach to supporting each child’s development.

The continuing impact of COVID meant that 2021-22 continued to be especially challenging for our children and their parents and carers, the Little Discoverers staff and the Professionals from various Services with whom we have contact. Our inability to hold regular face-to-face sessions for a large part of the year continued to challenge us to find ways to engage remotely. To enable us to assess the impact of our video sessions and the precautions taken at the Dutton for the COVID secure sessions that we were able to hold, we again included 3 additional questions in the Parent questionnaires. As can be seen from the Parent responses to our questionnaires, our staff responded magnificently. Unfortunately, Professionals’ contact continued to be very restricted, in fact we were able to obtain only 3 completed Professionals’ feedback forms and again this year their feedback was dominated by their inability to comment on our contribution to the progress of the children they were monitoring.

The results of this year’s parent and professional questionnaires feedback are shown below.

Parent Feedback - Responses to our usual 10 questionnaire statements. 10 (12 in 202021) questionnaires were completed and returned to Little Discoverers by parents. In total, in response to the 10 statements in each of the 10 complete questionnaires:

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 13

Parent Feedback

----- Start of picture text -----
100%
90%
80%
% Strongly Agree
70%
% Agree 60%
% Neither Agree Nor Disagree 50%
40%
% Disagree
30%
% Strongly Disagree
20%
10%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
----- End of picture text -----

Comparison with previous years Parents’ responses

We identified and were able to address the reasons for the increase in Parents’ ‘Neither Agree Nor Disagree’ responses in 2018/19 and 2019/20 and the subsequent actions of our staff and the engagement of our parents and their children during the following 2 pandemic affected years meant that, as shown, we were able to continue providing an effective service even when we had to operate remotely.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 14

We again included 3 additional questions in the Parent questionnaires to help us understand better the impact of our approach to organising and running remote sessions and the response to our COVID secure sessions.

Responses to our 2021-22 additional three special COVID related questions. The questions were responded to in all the 10 completed questionnaires. In response to the 3 questions:

Those parents and children who were able to access and engage with our remote sessions have been enthusiastic and complimentary in each of the last 2 years. The increase in those who did not / were not able to engage remotely in this last year has generated learning that we will incorporate into a future approach to remote operations if that ever has to happen again.

----- Start of picture text -----
Parent Feedback - COVID Impact
100%
90%
80%
% Strongly Agree
70%
% Agree 60%
% Neither Agree Nor Disagree 50%
40%
% Disagree
30%
% Strongly Disagree
20%
10%
0%
1 2 3
----- End of picture text -----

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 15

As previously, it is clear from a Parent/Carer perspective that COVID secure face-to-face sessions continue to be the preferred method of service delivery. However, we continued to have a high level of success delivering our sessions live online and via YouTube.

Professional Feedback - Responses to our 11 questionnaire statements. Only 3 (7 in 2020-21) questionnaires were completed and returned to Little Discoverers by professionals who, in most cases, had not been able to visit Little Discoverers to view the children and their parents in sessions. In total, in response to the 11 statements in each of the 3 questionnaires:

----- Start of picture text -----
Professional Feedback
100%
90%
80%
% Strongly Agree 70%
60%
% Agree
50%
% Neither Agree Nor Disagree
40%
% Disagree
30%
% Strongly Disagree 20%
10%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
----- End of picture text -----

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 16

Comparison with previous years Professionals’ responses

The Professionals’ feed-back in this last year and in the previous also pandemic impacted year, highlights the difficulty they face in judging the benefits we deliver when they are unable to view the children in the Little Discoverers setting. The very low number of questionnaires returned to us and the reported lack of ability to respond to the questions highlights the challenge of ensuring they are as engaged with our on-line approach as they are in face-toface sessions with families they and we are supporting.

(NOTE : See Appendix 3 for an enlarged version of the ‘standard’ Parent and Professional charts above).

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 17

OUR TEAM LEADER’s ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS

Introduction

Another strange year for the World, Little Discoverers and all our families. During this year, we have had 8 new referrals. These have come from a variety of sources, including several selfreferrals and from the community paediatric nursing team. Some of our families have found us through Facebook; more about that later. From April 2021 until March 2022, we have supported 27 vulnerable families in need in the West Norfolk area and from slightly further afield in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire too. We have supported 13 males and 14 females. This has all happened whilst the unprecedented pandemic continued. The current ages of the children, range from 8 months to above 4 years. We have already said goodbye to some families, for various reasons - some have started school full time, others have moved onto nurseries and playgroups. In September 2022 a further 7 of our current children will be moving onto school, both specialist and mainstream. It is so wonderful to see the children make the move on from Little Discoverers but it is tinged with sadness as we will miss the smiles and witnessing the progress of the children. We wish them all the very best of luck for their next adventure.

Sessions

We started the year in April, with the rota of families still in place, so that they could attend sessions in groups of 4, every other week. We also ran online sessions alongside these for the families at home that week; once again technology has played a massive part in allowing us to continue to offer our services and support to the families. We made a move from GoToMeeting to Zoom as this seemed to be what families were most familiar with and as we move forwards now (with hopefully less online contact needed), we are using Microsoft Teams. In September 2021, a year after our limited re-opening to families face to face, we made the decision to return to 8 families per session. Covid restrictions in place and new risk assessment completed, we welcomed the families back to weekly sessions, with an outpouring of positive feedback. As time went on, we were able to relax some of our restrictions and adapt them as necessary, according to government guidelines and local case numbers. I would like to say a massive “thank you” to our families for their support and understanding whilst we have had to have restrictions and adaptations in place. We have made some changes due to Covid, that we have decided to keep in place long term, as they have proved to be beneficial. This includes the use of individual trays for each child, with their own hoop and sensory objects for stamping their feet in. We are also routinely cleaning all shared toys and equipment, and this will also continue, regardless of Covid.

YouTube

Although we haven’t made many new videos for our YouTube channel this year, we have directed lots of families towards it; we now have 42 subscribers and over 9000 views. We have made videos showing the Covid restrictions and changes that we have put in place, and these have been shared on YouTube as well as through our Facebook Page.

Facebook

A big challenge this year has been increasing our social media presence on Facebook. We now have a public business page, with 170 likes, and posts on there are often reaching over 1000 people. We are also ‘friends’ with our current families and have a group for past attendees too. Most of our families are choosing to use Facebook to communicate with us, using the Facebook messenger service as the primary source for contact. Several parents have shared events or posts on both our current and past attenders’ pages, which are relevant to all families. It is lovely to see the support that our families give each other via the social media platform, and to see that it continues long after families have moved on from Little Discoverers.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 18

Fundraising

Fundraising has remained difficult this year, not just for Little Discoverers but all charities. Our increased Facebook presence has ensured that more businesses are aware of us and what we do. We have been Charity of the Month for Radio West Norfolk and Poco Lounge, who hosted some events over Christmas, with the proceeds being donated to Little Discoverers. We have also received donations from local businesses, including Recipharm, in the form of money or raffle prizes. Once again, both the Priory Rotary and King’s Lynn Rotary Clubs have supported us with donations in order to keep our vital service running. The Arts Society also funded some craft-based sibling sessions for us. A massive thank you to all the individuals and businesses who have supported us this year with donations, it genuinely makes so much difference to what we do and what we can offer for our families.

Families

Once again, the families have been at the very centre of everything we do. We are so fortunate that our families have supported all the changes we have had to make during this challenging

year. The children have embraced our sessions this year, exploring rice, cereal and mud to name a few, as well as water and crafts activities. They have worked hard and persevered with their physical skills, with some taking their first steps this year. One of the joys of Little Discoverers is the fact that siblings and past attenders are not forgotten about. This year we have played under the sea at Little Sharks soft play, explored the farm and made lots of mess during our Sibling Sessions. We also had a Christmas Party, again at Little Sharks, as requested by our parents.

Learning

We haven’t had as much time for learning this year, with the focus being on returning safely to face to face sessions (it’s a good job, we had all that free time during lockdown to do some the previous year!). The staff have completed all their mandatory training for the year and have some exciting plans for training they would like to complete during the next year. During the usual two-hour session, we use a holistic approach of singing, signing, sensory involvement and a healthy mix of adult and child led activities. This way of learning allows the children to succeed and progress without ever realising that they are ‘working’. What is fun for the children is always fun for the adults too and so many laughs and good times are shared in our Little Discoverers sessions.

Here are a few of the children’s achievements we have witnessed this year: Child 1 is 2 years old with a diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome. Having attended Little Discoverers virtually during lockdown, it was lovely to see his confidence grow when sessions resumed, and the relationships he developed with his peers as restrictions were lifted. At the start of the year, he was non mobile and during sessions we have helped him develop these skills; just a few weeks ago he took his own independent first steps – WOW! Child 2 is 2 years old with a diagnosis of William’s Syndrome and a tracheostomy in place. When she started with us, 9 months ago, she was unable to sit without support; within a matter of weeks, she was sitting independently. Now she is able to take steps when supported by an adult and pull herself to stand independently at the ladders. She has started to wave ‘hello’ to her friends and adults in the sessions and happily claps her hands when praised, but also when her friends are praised too.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 19

She has lots of smiles for everyone during sessions and we can’t wait to see what the next 9 months bring. Every one of our children, and their families, have a success story; we would be here all night if I shared them all. The parents (and any other carers we see!) also deserve a mention. They have adapted to all the changes, not only during sessions, but in an everchanging world, and have continued to use everything they have learnt at Little Discoverers to help their children reach their potential. We have seen some lovely friendships blossom between parents and have noticed the support network that they give each other; sometimes it’s these little things which make a big impact.

Conclusion

As we finish our year 2021-2022, we are delighted to welcome Kat back as Team Leader, having completed her maternity leave. The families are all excited to see her back and can’t wait to see what adventures she has instore for them during sessions. As I leave my Team Leader role and resume my place on the management committee, I would like to say a huge “thank you” to Pauline and Lauren for their support over the past year; I couldn’t have done it without them. I’d also like to say thank you to our families who welcomed me into sessions and made everything so much easier with their many smiles. Finally, to the committee and trustees, thank you for your support over the past year, not just with my role, but for everything you do to enable Little Discoverers to continue to offer the amazing service that we do. It has been lovely this year to welcome families back to the Dutton and see all the progress that they have made over the past year. 2022 is already shaping up to be an extraordinary year and with the support of everyone, Little Discoverers will continue to flourish and evolve, providing support for the families of West Norfolk and beyond.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 20

HOW WE COMMUNICATE

OUR VIDEO

The College of West Anglia Film Department produced our current video to provide a good understanding of what we do in a session, so useful for potential families and people wishing to refer a family. We continue to receive positive feedback and are very pleased that the video has been so well received.

The families taking part have all given their written permission for the video to be used on our website.

OUR WEBSITE

www.littlediscoverers.co.uk

The web site was designed and is maintained for us by Simon Adams, son of Linda Adams who was a Member of the Management Group.

Photos of children taking part in sessions are included on the web site where parents have given written permission for this purpose.

The web site and video show clearly what takes place in a Little Discoverers’ session and how the children and carers benefit. The web site continues to be very helpful to potential families and funders.

OUR YOU TUBE CHANNEL

We launched our very own Little Discoverers YouTube Channel primarily to provide something that parents can access at home if they are unable to attend our sessions and to provide parents with wonderful memories, advice, and tips for activities they can do at home and a way of sharing the hard work they are doing in sessions with family and friends. This has been invaluable in helping us mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the families and the service we provide to them. We created around 50 YouTube videos that show parents activities they can try at home such as speech skills, story massage, fine motor skills, Makaton signs and so much more. They are not only informative but continue to be a great success with the children.

FACEBOOK

A big challenge this year has been increasing our social media presence on Facebook. We now have a public business page, with 170 likes, and posts on there are often reaching over 1000 people. We are also ‘friends’ with our current families and have a group for past attendees too. Most of our families are choosing to use Facebook to communicate with us, using the Facebook messenger service as the primary source for contact. Several parents have shared events or posts on both our current and past attenders’ pages, which are relevant to all families. It is lovely to see the support that our families give each other via the social media platform, and to see that it continues long after families have moved on from Little Discoverers.

OUR LOCATION

This has been Little Discoverers 11[th] year at the Dutton Pavilion at Lynnsport in King’s Lynn and we continue to be very grateful to Lynnsport and its staff for their support. However, we are facing space constraints at the Dutton for running sessions and for the storage of our materials and equipment and we continue to have discussions with Lynnsport and others to identify accommodation that will enable us to accommodate additional numbers to meet the increasing demand for our services. As a result of these discussions we have identified the possibility of having a purpose built ‘Hub’ that would meet our and others needs in West Norfolk and

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 21

surrounding areas. The vision is of a Hub that would support adapted sports and people in the wider community that needed help to get active and fit while having fun. Work is proceeding to determine if the Hub can be constructed on the Lynnsport site and how the £3m+ funding can be obtained. If built then Little Discoverers and others would rent space in it.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

FINANCIAL REVIEW

This has been a challenging year for Little Discoverers, which is shown by the deficit of £10,397 (2020-2021 £17,332 surplus), we have closing bank balances of £92,250 (2020-2021 £102,647).

Income

During this period income received totalled £41,359 (2020-2021 £57,759).

From the graph you can see that a substantial part of our income has been in Donations (2020-2021 £27,618). This is down on last year but last year included a one-off donation of £12,725 from a local charity which no longer runs. We hugely appreciate all donations, whether by local businesses, clubs and those who have fundraised on our behalf - 30% of our donations is via Just Giving pages.

We did not apply for any funding from Children in Need during this period, which previously has been £10,000.

Norfolk County Children’s Services have funded us £10,000 and NHS West Norfolk CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) have also funded another £10,000, which is the same as the previous year.

Investment income is down to £16 with the reduction in interest rates (2020-2021 £38).

Expenditure

Our total expenditure for the year is £51,756 (2020-2021 £40,427). Our largest expense, as always, is salaries at £37,282 (2020-2021 £29,649) significantly up on last year. This is due to maternity pay for our team leader, which will be refunded in the next financial year and maternity cover costs, this has also decreased the NEST pension contributions to £499 (2020-2021 £599), which we continue to pay as per the Government legislation.

Rent payable is £5,370 (2020-2021 £1,895) with £895 still outstanding for this financial year.

Computer and website costs are £725 (2020 – 2021 £753), this includes encryption of all the laptops.

All other costs are within acceptable levels and as expected at this time.

Budget analysis

We produced our first budget for this financial year. Income was budgeted at £37,193 and we achieved £41,359 an increase on budget of £4,166. Expenditure was over budget by £6,885 - our budget was £44,871 with actual expenditure of £51,756. Overall, we were £2,719 over budget for the year.

For next year, our expenditure costs are budgeted at £50,299, income is £50,092.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 23

Summary

Financially, we have made a loss this year but this was not unexpected, as we made the decision not to apply for the Children in Need grant and we have had the added salary costs due to maternity.

Our total funds available to spend, without restrictions, are £90,608. This includes a contingency of £10,000, less our restricted funds balance (the musical session fund) of £1,642.

It has been another unusual year, not so much due to Covid restrictions, although this has caused issues but maternity leave has added extra costs and pressure. Everyone has worked brilliantly together and many thanks goes to the staff for all their support.

The trustees and management team will continue to carefully and regularly review the position and will strive to find ways to continue the good work.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Stephenson Smart who provide our monthly financial statements, manage our payroll, administer our pension scheme and audit our annual accounts. They have endorsed our financial management and accounting practices and are confident that they meet all the requirements as set out by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Financial Reserves Policy

We face a number of areas of financial uncertainty, including:

and at the same time

As a response to the challenges facing us the Trustees have confirmed a decision to formally allocate a Reserve amount from our unrestricted funds. The amount of Reserve will be reviewed annually to enable us to manage short term shortfalls in funding, ensure we have the funds to manage an orderly close down if that ever became the only responsible action for us to take and to ensure we can fund a move from the Dutton Pavilion if we have to with minimum impact on our operational activities. During the reporting period it was set at £10,000 and our Reserves Policy and amount is under review for the current period.

Emma Fendley MAAT Treasurer

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 24

INDE PENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT AND EXAMINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 25

Llttle Dlscover•rs, W￿t Norfolk School for Parents Organlsatlon Infomiatlon Yfrar ended 31 March 2022 Règlsternd Charty nam& Litle DisCove￿r$. Wesl Norfolk S¢h¢)ol for pa￿nts Charlty roglstratlon number 1125400 Principal offlcè do Alive Lynnsport Greenpark Aven King's Lynn Nortolk PE30 2N8 Tru8tee8 Mrs K Fisher (Great0￿XI S Williamson Mrs P Sheerin Mrs E Fendley MrA M¢Shane Accountants Mr D Jaslrzebski Stephenson Smart (Easl Anglial Limited Chartered Accountsnls 22-26 King Street King'$ Lynn Norfolk PE30 1 HJ Bankers CAF Bank Limited 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill Wesl Malling Kenl ME19 4JQ LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 26

Little Discoverer8. West Norfolk School for Parents Flnon¢ial Statements Year ended 31 March 2022 Content$ Page Independent examiners report Receipts and payments account Statement ol assets and liabilitl8S Notes lo the a¢counls Detailed receipts and payments account LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 27

L5tt18 Ol$¢ov•r•rs. Wost Norfolk School for Par•nts Ind•pond•nt Examln•¢• R•port to th• Trwht••¥ of Littl• DiK¢v•rers, We$t Norfdk S¢ho¢l for Parnnt• Y•ar •nd•d 31 Morth 2022 I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Liltle Discoverers. West Norfdk School for Pafents I'the ¢harftyl for the year ended 31 March 2022 which comwise the summary ol ￿ceIpts and payTnents and the stalement ol assets and liabilitias. This report is made to the charity's trust8es, as 8 body. in 8£cordanc8 with séction 145 of the Chariti8S Act 2011. My work ha5 been undertaken so that I rn￿ht stale to the thanty's trustees those matters l am required to state to Ihem in this report and for no other purpose. To the ltsllesl exl•nt pemiitted by kw. I do not cept or assume responsibility io anyone other than the charity and the charity's trustees as a boty, for my xk, for this iepor( or ￿ the opin￿￿ I have l(wme¢J. Responslbllftles and basrs of report As th8 truste￿ ol Ihe charity you are respongble for the preparatv)n of the acccwnts in acctydarKe vrith the rwjtsirements of the Charit￿S Act 20111'thg kt'l. I report in re5pecf of my examinati￿ of the charity's &counts carried ¢)ut under secth)n 145 of the Acl and in Carr￿n9 out my èxamination I have folowed all the applKable Directions gNen by the Charity Commission ndef section 145(Sllbl of the Acl. As permrfted by th'rection 2. issued by the Chacity Commlssion the rim) lorwhkh I work has provbyed the ¢hanty ￿th tKK)kkeeping servKes during the year ended 31 March 2022. As a consequence I have folkxyed the requirement ol the FRC'S Eth￿1 Standard when undertakiNJ this assKJnmenl. An independent examination does not invO￿e gathering all the evidence that woukl be required in an audit and nseqvenuy doe$ not cover all the matter5 Ihal an auditor considers in giving th￿r opinion on the accounts. The plannirrfJ and conduct 91 an aL¥Jit goes beyon¢J the Iimrte<l assucance that an independent examinalion ¢an provide. Consequently l express no audrt ¢Jpinion on the a￿Oun15 and my report is limited to those specffic rnatters set out in the inde￿ndent examine<s statement Ind•pendont oxamln•rf$ Statsmènt I have completed my examknats'on. I confirm thai no malerkgl matters have come to my attttnlion in connection th the examination giving me cause to believe that in any matenal respecL accounb.ng records were not kept in Tespecl of thè Charity as required by section 130 of the Act." or Ihe accounts do not ￿COrd with those records. I have no c￿cernS and have come across no othw matleTS in connection wilh the examination to attention shoufvj be drawn in this reptsrt in order to enab￿ a proper vnderstsnding of the ac¢ounls lo be r*ached. Dan Jastrzebski ACA CTA Stephenson Smart IEast ATrglia} Limited 22-26 Kmg Slreel Q'ng's Lynn Norfolk PE30 IHJ 20 January 2023 LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 28

Uttl• Dl8co¥•r•rn. W•$t Norfolk S¢hool for P•r•nt8 Rèc8lpts and PayrYnts A¢count Yoar endod 31 March 2022 2022 2021 Unrestrkted Rostrlctod Funds Funds Totsl Funds Tot•1 Funds Receipts Denats'ons Funding Grants Receipts Irom furbJralng a¢ti¥illes Investment Incorne Other IrKowe 17,092 20.IX)O 17.092 20,000 27,618 20.000 10,000 103 38 4.173 16 78 41,3Sg 4,173 16 78 41.359 57,759 Paym•nts Charitable activit￿$ Governance ¢osts 50.081 1,536 si.e17 139 50.220 1.536 51.756 39.227 1.200 40.427 139 Net rec•lpt8llpaymonts) 110.2581 11391 110.397) 17.332 Fund transfers Surplu81{deficltl ft>r year 110,2581 11391 110,3971 17,332 Cash f￿dS at 31 March 2021 1[￿],886 1.781 102.647 Cash fund$ at 31 March 2022 90,608 1.642 92,250 LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 29

Llttle Dlscoverers. West Norfolk School for Parents Statsment of Assets 1rNI Liabllltlos Y￿r ended 31 MaTch 2022 2022 2021 Unr•8trlctgd Ro¥trl¢tsd Funds Fund$ Tot¥1 Funds Total Funds Monetary ass¢ts CAF Gold Account CAF Cash Account ),105 503 1,642 91,747 503 98.536 4,111 Totsl cash lunds 90,608 1,642 92,250 102.647 Other monetsry assets PAYE & NI 171 171 Llabllltl¢8 Penston contributions 132 CLIENT APPROVAL We approve the financrdl slatemenls for the year ended 31 March 2022 and confimi Ihat ￿ have made available all relevant recoids for their p￿paration. 20 January 2023 Mrs K Fisher IGrealorexl on behalf ol Little Discoverers, West Norfolk School for Parents LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 30

Llttle Discovfrrws. W•st Norfolk School lor Parents Not¢$ to the ac¢ounts Yearended 31 PAavch 2022 1 Restrlcted Funds Balance at 31 Ma￿h 2021 eal•nce at 31 March 2022 Re¢elpts Paym•nts Transf•rs Snetb'sham CP Musical Seswon$ Chlkyren in Need Chik1ren in Need CovKI-19 1,768 11261 1,642 13 1.781 139 1,642 Fund Sneitisham CP Mugcal Sessions Chlklren in Need Chihjren in Need Covid-19 Purpose and restrictton To provide equipment To provide mus￿81 sessions To provide part funding lor team leadeis salary To covei CO￿￿-19 expenses LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 31

L￿￿ D15covoMrn. Wost Norfolk S¢hrw)I loi Pai•ni D•ithir•d r•¢•lpts •nd wym•bts 4c¢¢un¢ Y•ar•nd•d 31 Mlreh 2022 2Q22 2D21 Llnr•trlct•d Roitrl¢t•d Fund¥ Tcéal Total Ftsrtd• rhxat￿n8 dirg.. NHS Wesl Norfdk CCG Vancofftr Chldren Cènlie HuThsiaMon Chkltyl Certr8 N Lynn, GwoDd 14B & w001t￿ Clibjten Centre DLwrlwn Maikel Chren Centre Emneth CNdr8n'J Cenire NCC Cmlren's ser¥￿es l>anl¥.' CINbJtEn ￿ Need Chiklren ￿ Need Covkl-19 R￿elp1S frtyn lunorsvw a¢￿¥￿6 Inve5tfflenl Income.. B￿k Iriwesl 17.iV2 17.092 27.618 101pY) 10.0(N) 10.000 10.(#J) loo 10.000 7,500 2,$00 10) 4.173 16 78 76 41.3S9 41 359 57.7Sg PwTh)nt• Costs of r￿laNe adNrts.' Waoe$ s$Liie$ PeTrsK)nC0nlr￿xJI￿Xl5 Sttial se￿ntY eynse 37282 37.282 29.849 195 1.895 528 672 91 30 Rent payabk Equi￿eN and mLwal sessK Inourzn Traini￿ expe lees 5.370 1221 750 5.370 1347 750 254 75 458 725 Z13 2J)71 97 IZ5 177 254 75 458 725 213 2,071 97 125 190 Travel Prin1￿0. wsiage and staliL¥ co[n￿e[ar¥] releph Gener81 exwstS anwThbenl ex4)￿Se$ Apaplive expen5e¥ Cowd.19 Expense5 ¢￿eman￿ co&l$'. PayTDI and aGcow4oncy cost• 753 1565 44 13 2.467 1.536 1.536 1.200 151M17) {139) (51.7561 140.4271 Il•t r•¢•lpWpoyM•ht•l 110.2581 (10 3971 17.332 LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 32

APPENDIX 1 – WHAT IS CONDUCTIVE EDUCATION

Conductive Education (CE) is a holistic integrated therapy/education system which is primarily useful for children with physical disabilities that have impacted on a wide area of their development. Conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome and genetic conditions.

Andras Peto, the founder of CE, viewed children with neurological conditions as a whole, focussing not only on the body but also on the personality. He therefore chose methods of facilitation that not only made actions possible, but also developed the personality, the wish, desire and ability to be active and increased their confidence. CE perceives these children as facing a challenge of learning rather than needing treatment for a medical condition.

CE is based on the premise that despite damage to the nervous system, the brain has a degree of plasticity which gives it the capacity to form new neural connections which may take over from the damaged areas. However an active learning process stimulated by a multi sensory approach, using Rhythmical Intention (the staff use a phrase such as “I put my feet flat” to trigger a number of cognitive processes) and working in groups, is needed for this to happen.

Children without disabilities often learn quickly how to make use of their environment, how to connect with it and use it as a tool in their development. They learn to adapt and respond to the environment and its demands; in addition they learn to influence it, thus having an active interaction with the environment.

This situation however is different for children with neurological conditions. Disturbed mobility is accompanied by a challenge in their ability to perceive and understand. The impeded movement can restrict or prevent interactions with people and objects which would normally assist their development. This can result in negative experiences and frustrations which in turn affect personality. The dysfunction of the personality in turn restricts physical development and so a circle begins. CE aims to break this circle using group working, multi sensory input, facilitation using aids and equipment and programmes specific to the needs of the individual children.

The learning environment is critical to the success of skill development. The programme/sessions are structured, supportive, designed to maintain interest, to motivate, to reinforce learning, to praise and to challenge. It is important to also focus on transferring what is learned to the home environment by giving the parents the necessary skills and confidence.

Conductive Education is fun for both child and parent/carer.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 33

APPENDIX 2 – PARENT AND PROFESSIONAL OBSERVATIONS 1. Extract of Parents’ Observations

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 34

A selection of comments from the Parent Feedback Forms

To enable us to assess the impact of our video sessions and the precautions taken at the Dutton for the COVID secure sessions that we were able to hold, we included 3 additional questions in the Parent questionnaires – they are the first 3 questions in the extracts below.

The following are comments from our ‘standard’ Parent assessment questionnaires.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

  1. Soclal skill$ My child has leamt new social skills (such as smiling, turn taking, interacting) which have increased their confidence and sense of wellbeing. Comments:
  2. Th• Unique Child At Little Discoverers. my child is supported and encouraged to develop as an individu818nd a positive sense of seK. Comments: dLk fvy ? I
  3. Posltive relatlonships As parents we are spoken lo, engaged, and involved for the benefft of our child'5 leaming and development. Comments: CoMI(i e LKJkncJ tr coTh8iie 8UIJ&Thce, ond +fa CKfe (kLw
  4. Learning ènvironrnon Little Discoverers provides planned routines, experiences and activities that $upport and challenge my child. s re Ct)mments: kl- Wps %)(￿& ecth sessiLXTr LUIE Ch
  5. Feedback Al Little DISCOVe￿r$, my child is gwen helpful feedback about his I her efforts and a¢hievements. Comments: OL
  6. Support for the Child At Little DisCove￿r$. all a8P8Cts of my child's learning and development are considered equally important. His I her strengths and 8r8as development arg reco ni5ed and su ¢omm•nts:
  7. Confidence of Family Unlt Attendance at Lthle Dis¢overers has helped our family grow in confidence lo help manage the challenges we meet. Comments: Loi)QIJ 4Fcxk Qk)0r￿￿L £0 af LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 36

2. Professionals’ Observations

The Professionals’ feed-back in this last year and in the previous also pandemic impacted year, highlights the difficulty they face in judging the benefits we deliver when they are unable to view the children in the Little Discoverers setting. The very low number of questionnaires returned to us and the reported lack of ability to respond to the questions highlights the challenge of ensuring they are as engaged with our on-line approach as they are in face-toface sessions with families they and we are supporting. However, included below is a response from an experienced professional based at the King’s Lynn Queen Elizabeth Hospital who is familiar with our approach and some of the children we are supporting.

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 37

  1. Support for the Adult Parenucarers have benefited from sUPPOrt given from ix)th staff and peers. Comments: Enabling parents to have the opportunity for w support is often a big factor in ¢ncouraging f2milses to Lonsider a referral to Little Discovers. What is abundantly clear is the.￿ignificant positive impact this has when families start to attend as th¢y widerst8nd they are not alone. S. Support for the Chlld The child has benefited from working within a group setting. Comments: on ence Attendan￿ has helped the family grow in ¢onfidencelskills to help them manage their child's disability. Comments: Famili¢s n¢twork and we see that families arc Tnore receptive to their child having inlcrv¢ntiong, for example an enteral feeding tube when it is nomialised amongst peers. This enables thcm to share fears and ask questions to others from a lived perspective ajid this is invaluabl¢.
  2. Therapy Input Attendance at Little Discoverers means that the family receives an increased level of therapy input. Comments:
  3. Management Attendan￿ supports the management ofthe child's needs. Comments: I I LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 38

ccess quipment The child has use of a greater range of equipment than would otherwise possible. Comments: 10. Development Attendance has ac￿lerated the child's progressldevelopment. Comments: er nvironment Attendance has had a positive impact on the level of weekly input reqUI￿d from Iherapisls. Comments: LittlÈ Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22 PagÈ 39

APPENDIX 3 – ENLARGED VERSIONS OF THE PARENT AND PROFESSIONAL FEEDBACK CHARTS

----- Start of picture text -----
statements, 3% Neither Agree Nor Disagree
ARENT FEEDBACK – 97% Agree or Strongly Agree with the questionnaire
P
----- End of picture text -----

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 40

Little Discoverers WNSfP 2021-22

Page 41