My Child, My Story

Guidance notes

How to use your child or young person’s

‘My Child, My Story’ information pack

Contents

The ‘My Child, My Story’ pack

Introduction

What is it for?

When should I complete the information in the pack?

Tips for completing the forms

Using the pack

My Child, My Story guidance notes

My One Page Profile

My Circle of Support guidance notes

‘My Child, My Story’ pack

Introduction

This pack has been designed to make your life easier.

The information and forms in this pack have been developed in consultation with Bournemouth Parent/Carer Forum of children and young people with Special Educational

Needs and Disabilities.

Feedback received by parents/carers in the city revealed that they have to repeat information about their child or young person too many times, to a range of different professionals and services. We recognise that this can be both time consuming and

emotionally draining so have designed this pack in order to help reduce the pressure on you.

What is it for?

It’s for you and it’s owned by you.

We’ve developed a variety of different forms that you can choose to fill in. Some of the forms have been designed to appeal to younger or older children and young people. Your child or

young person can choose which design they like best.

When completed, these will help give professionals working with you an overall picture of your child/young person and family. You’ll be able to agree to have these shared if your child or young person is undergoing Integrated Assessment of Needs. You might want to share these with any new professional/services that you come into contact with so that you don’t have to keep

repeating your story.

When should I complete the information in the pack?

That’s completely up to you.

You can decide when and which pieces of information you’d like to complete. If your child is undergoing an integrated assessment we’d recommend completing this form at the beginning of the process. Your Planning Coordinator will be able to explain the documents and provide support

for completing them.

The more you complete now, the less you’ll have to repeat yourself in the future. We want professionals who are meeting with you or assessing your child/young person to have as clear a picture of your child/family as possible. So, the more you fill in the better!

. My Child, My Story guidance notes

Use the first page to give us the personal information about

your child i.e. name, address etc.

1. History

1a. You might like to tell us in this section about your child/young person’s history; including pregnancy, birth, developmental milestones, what age these were reached and when you noticed any delays, information about stays in hospitals etc.

1b. What was your child like as a young baby; were you happy about progress at the time; when did you first feel things were not right; what happened; what advice or help did you receive and from whom; what else do you remember about the early years that might help?

2. Important things professionals need to know

about your child

2a. If your child has been diagnosed with a specific condition(s) or disorder(s) tell us here what

this is. If your child doesn’t have a diagnosis, tell us what their additional need is.

2b. Tell us here about any medication your child/young person takes and how often. Give

information on any aids or devices they use/require.

2c. If your child has any allergies, tell us what these are.

2d. In this section let us know what your child eats, whether they have a balanced diet or rigid eating habits. Does he/she need support to feed them? Can they use a spoon/knife/fork

independently? Are they tube fed?

2e Tell us about your child’s sleep. What time do they go to bed and how long do they take to settle? Do they sleep during the day? Do they wake during the night? How often? How many hours a night would they typically sleep?

2f. Tell us here whether your child can use the toilet independently, dress themselves, keep

room tidy, follow daily routine, general independence or whether they need pads/assistance etc.

2g. Give us some information here about your child’s behaviour. Do they present behaviours that challenge (e.g. moods, temper tantrums)? Do they form rituals and get upset when these are broken? Tell us about their ability to co-operate, share, listen, carry out requests, help in the house, fit in with rules.

2h. Tell us about their relationship with siblings, friends, adults at and outside of home. Does your child mix well or stay on his/her own?

2i. Tell us here about how your child communicates; How does your child

communicate? Are they verbal? Do they use BSL, PECS or Makaton?

2j. Tell us here about any dislikes your child may have. i.e. loud noises, crowded space, the colour green.

2k. Tell us here about any interests your child has; does he/she have a favourite toy/ character etc.?

3. Your views

3a. Tell us here what you think your child’s strengths are. We don’t want you to always have to focus on the ‘negatives’ and we want those working with you to have an overall picture of

your child. You might like to use this section to tell us the positive things about your child.

3b. Tell us here about the things that you feel your child has difficulties with. You might want

to include how this affects them and the impact this has on you e.g. Sleep deprivation.

3c. What does your child worry about? Is he/she aware of difficulties?

3d. Tell us here what you feel your child’s key area of need is. What support do you feel they/you need in order to reach their full potential?

3e. How do you think your child’s needs affect the need of the family?

3f. If you feel comfortable, tell us here what your worries and concerns are. This might be concerns about your child’s future. It’s entirely up to you how much you’d like to tell us.

3g. How do you think your child’s SEN are best provided for?

3h. Is there any other information you would like to give about the family? Perhaps major events that might have affected your child?

This is your form so we want you to tell us what’s important to you.

5. Useful contacts

5a. Give us information here for two emergency contacts for your child/young person.

5b. Give us information of the nursery/school/college your child attends.

5c. Give us the information of any other professionals that are working with your child/family.

4. Your aspirations for your child

4a. Tell us what your hopes, dreams and aspirations for your child in the short term and in the future?

My circle of support

Guidance notes for families

‘My circle of support’ is a visual tool that you

can use to help you map out the different

kinds of support that your child/young

person has around them on a day to day

basis.

This can help you identify what support you have and

where you might need more. Completing this form can

also give professionals a clear picture of the support

you have in place and help them recognise any gaps.

Note: This exercise might be quite disheartening for you if feel that you don’t have much support around you and your child/young person. Just try to keep in mind that this will help professionals working with you to identify the gaps, who will hopefully help you to work on filling them!

Tips for completing “My circle of support”

If your child has a good relationship with their

ndparents who live in Scotland and can’t offer you much practical support, you might put their names towards the outer line of

the “My Family” section.

‘My family” section

This might include:

• Mum, dad, step parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents

“People whose job it is to support me at home and other places” section

This might include:

• Short breaks worker, therapists, “buddy” that helps your child/young person go places/take part in

activities etc.

“My friends” section

This might include:

Your friends (who offer you support, visit often etc.)

Your child/young person’s friends

“People who support me at work, school and training “section

This might include:

• Teachers, LSA’s, therapists etc.

One Page Profile

What are they?

A one page profile is a summary of what matters to the young person and how to support them well.

Why use them?

• One page profiles capture important information to enable teachers to personalise

learning for each young person. This information enables teachers to be aware of the strengths, interests and specific support needs of their pupils. One page profiles can be used to inform action planning and target setting, so that these reflect what is important to the young person and how best to support them. This can make targets more meaningful and relevant to the young person.

• They are a way for the young person to have a voice in how they are supported in school,

and to have their strengths and what is important to them as an individual acknowledged.

• One page profiles are also a way for parents/carers to share their knowledge and

expertise on how best to support their child.

• They are a way to share information between staff, for example when supply

teachers have to cover a class, and to create a smooth transition from one class to another by giving the new teacher strategies to get the best out of each and every pupil. This is really useful in building up positive relationships, as the teacher has a prior knowledge of interests and strengths.

One page profiles grow and develop over the school year and can be the basis for

more detailed person centred plans.

They can be customized to reflect particular areas of a young person’s life.

How can you develop them?

• A one page profile is developed by bringing together contributions from the young

person, their parents/carers, teachers and teaching assistants. This creates a rounded picture of the young person that reflects the young person’s views and everyone’s expertise. One page profiles can also be developed from the information gathered at a person centred review.

• Once the one page profile is developed, it can be updated and shared at different points in the school year, culminating in a new version ready to go home with the end of year reports.

Teachers and teaching assistants add their insights and knowledge to the information gathered from the young person and parents/carers.

What’s important to me....

How best to support me...

What people like and

admire about me...

My One Page Profile

This section lists the positive

qualities, strengths and

talents of the young person.

This is a list of how to support somebody at school, and what is helpful and what is not. It can

include any specific ‘buttons’ that get pushed, and how to avoid or handle them.

The information in this section includes what people need to know, and what people need to do.

Examples:

- Laura can perceive a negative comment as a ‘big telling off’

- James struggles to ask people to work in pairs with him. It helps if you suggest people for him

to work with and use other ways to pair children up.

This is a bullet list of what really matters to your

child from their perspective (even if others do not

agree). It is detailed and specific.

It could include:

Who the important people are in their lives,

and when and how they spend time together,

for example ‘Sitting next to my best friend

Lucy in class, and going to her house after

school on Tuesdays’

Important activities and hobbies and when,

where and how often these take place, for

example, ‘Playing on my X box as soon as I get

home from school every day’.

Any routines that are important to the young

person, for example ‘Getting to school early so

that I have time to play football with James

and Lucas in the playground before the bell

goes.’

Important and favourite

lessons and school activities,

for example, ‘Singing and

playing the guitar at school,

and being in the school

band’

Things to be avoided that

are particularly

important to the young

person, for example ‘That

people do not take things

from my pencil case without

asking.’