SEND ‘Speak, Share, Learn’ day returns to Peckham after rave reviews
A free event which has had rave reviews for its work supporting Southwark clubs to improve accessibility for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will return next week for the final time this year.
Voice and rights charity VoiceAbility has hosted six ‘Speak, Share, Learn’ days at Cherry Garden School in Bellenden Road, Peckham since January, as part of Southwark council’s Thrive-to-25 project.
The event will return on Tuesday and is aimed at those who run evening, weekend and holiday clubs who want to ensure their activities are inclusive of children and young people with SEND.
How to plan for disability inclusion with auditing tools, accessibility plans and equality information, and how to put this into practice, will all be featured in the session.
Those attending also get to hear from Speak Out leaders who are part of Speak Out Southwark Thrive-to-25, made up of young disabled people, autistic people and people with learning disabilities, and their parents and carers.
Groups and clubs that attend can work with VoiceAbility on a plan to improve inclusion and, once complete, they can apply for up to £800 towards these improvements.
Following the last event, a survey found that 94 per cent of previous attendees had increased their confidence and knowledge on how to improve accessibility for children and young people with SEND as a result of attending. Whilst 59 per cent of responses rated their knowledge as now eight out of 10 or higher after attending.
Marine Bernier-Harrington – co-founder and director of The Neurodiversity Family Hub which offers a range of services for children and young people, including after-school clubs – was among those who attended VoiceAbility’s first event back in January.
She said: “VoiceAbility’s training was a great educational experience. Through engaging sessions and invaluable content, I not only acquired new skills such as Makaton sign language, but also gained a plethora of innovative ideas for interactive sessions with young people with SEND.
“Beyond learning, the training provided a unique opportunity for networking and fostering collaborations, and the team were warm and effective.”
The Tuesday session runs from 12.30pm to 5pm, with two more events to be held at the same times on January 30, and March 18, 2025.
For more information visit voiceability.org/speak-out-southwark – where you can book on to these events – or email thrivesouthwark@voiceability.org.
Pictured top: Speak, Share, Learn’ day at Cherry Garden School in Bellenden Road, Peckham (Picture: VoiceAbility)