ForDisabledChildren

seftondirectory.com/localoffer

Autumn 2019

Breaking down barriers with Helen Clarke AutismSee Page 4

Kyle’s BlogSee Page 3

Buddy Up Digital Summer SchoolSee Page 2

Local Hero in Blind Football Euro Championships See Page 11

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IntroductionHello all and welcome to the Autumn edition of the increasingly fantastic Aiming High Newsletter.I must say I was hugely impressed with the bumper Summer edition and some of the very helpful and evocative articles within its pages.As ever, our steadfast Short Breaks Team have been busy over the past few months putting together this year’s Autumn programme and recuperating from an exceptionally busy Summer – I am so proud and delighted to see the incredible impact the Short Breaks team have on our young people.Don’t forget to take advantage of the new Active choices card

in association with Sefton Leisure Services, which we have launched earlier this year and be sure to check out the special Quiet Night sessions at Dunes Splashworld.With the colder nights drawing in we have everything you need within these pages to make sure you are all set for the autumn and winter months and we are delighted to be able to showcase the Atkinson in this edition with their amazing cinema and film offer.So let’s all look forward to a warm and wonderful winter! Happy reading.Rosanna StanleyLocalities Service Manager

Buddy Up Digital Summer School During the summer holidays Buddy Up worked in partnership with Mako Create to provide a Digital Summer School for young people accessing their service who have an interest in digital media. Mako Create provided 6 workshops where the participants were able to try a different digital activity each week. The sessions included using Lego to create a stop motion animation, coding a drone, designing their own video games, creating music using a software package, creating a silent movie using a Green Screen and using Lego to design a maze then coding a Sphero to complete the maze.The participants developed a wide range of skills in digital media and creativity, as well as in life skills such as problem solving and communicating clearly. It was fantastic to see the young people’s confidence grow each session. Many of them were able to download the software they had been using in the sessions on to their own digital devices and continue to develop their skills at home. They were keen to showcase their skills and creations to their parents and to the staff from Mako Digital, who were all impressed with how much they had achieved in such a short space of time. The workshops were lots of fun and gave the participants the opportunity to spend time with friends and other young people their own age. The school holidays can often be a difficult and isolating time for young people with additional

needs, so the summer school provided a great structured activity for the young people to take part in and provided their parents with a short break from their caring responsibility. Buddy Up are hoping to work with Mako Create again in the future and are excited to develop more digital skills. Over the autumn the Buddy Up choir is working with singing instructor Bernie Whelan to develop some performing arts skills. The choir will be learning songs from popular musicals The Greatest Showman and Mama Mia, as well as some Christmas Carols. The Buddy Up Choir are looking forward to performing at The Shining Stars Awards Ceremony in December. For more information, contact the Buddy Up Coordinator – Emma Lambert on 0151 920 0726 or email emma.lambert@seftoncvs.org.uk

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Kyle’s Blog – have a ball at prom! Hi everyoneWell what a busy time it’s been since my last blog, I have completed my exams, been on holiday and started collage. Regarding my GCSE’s exams, it went as well as it could, it was a bit stressful. We made a rule between myself and my parents not to discuss exams while I was at home and this helped. Once I completed my last exam, I was allowed to leave school forever. I then had about 10 weeks to enjoy and prepare for my next journey. But in the meantime, we had a holiday planned for last week of August to Scotland. We headed for Sefton Sands Holiday Park Just outside Edinburgh, it was a Haven Park and was lovely and was very peaceful and not a lot of noise like some parks can be. We went into Edinburgh which was about a 30-minute bus ride, thought we would go on the bus instead of the car it was fun going on the bus, but the bus driver was really grumpy and unhelpful.Edinburgh is really nice but really busy and very hilly especially the zoo and the castle, we had a good explore around the shops then later in week visited the Zoo it was fun but involved a lot of walking up and down paths and it is a very big zoo with lots of interesting information. We ate out a few times and it was fun, and I enjoyed the food lots. Returning home there was a about a week before I started Collage so it was nice to relax and get ready on the Sunday 1st Sept I went with my dad to watch Everton at Goodison park we played Wolves we won for a change 3-2 good end to the week, as next day I was stating Southport Collage.Well how has it gone you ask, it’s been ok hard mixing with new classmates new teachers or lecturers to give them their proper title. My anxieties have been quite high but with help from

my parents and others it’s not been bad I attend 4 days a week and Thursday is a rest day. Friday is treat day as I go out at dinner so far I have been to Subway and Harpers fish and chip shop and sometimes I eat in the restaurant and have chips, fish mushy peas bread and butter and a cup of tea. It’s fun going out and having a bit of responsibility I go out with my friend it’s so much cooler at collage than school and more fun and I feel grown up I am loving it at the moment. Bye bye for now Kyle

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Parent Sleep Awareness Workshop - For Parents and Carers of Disabled Children We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to the above event. This workshop covers:

■ Understanding your child’s sleep needs ■ What can impact on your child’s ability to sleep ■ Helping your child to ‘self-soothe’ themselves

back to sleep ■ Avoiding disturbed nights ■ Encouraging independence at bedtime ■ Developing good sleep routines for your child

Date: Wednesday 4th December 2019Venue: Formby Library and Family Wellbeing Centre,Duke StreetFormbyL37 4AN

Time:9:30am – 12:30pm

All places on the workshop must be booked in advance. You can do this by sending an email to Catherine.blevin@sefton.gov.uk, or ringing 07967 426794

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Breaking down barriers with Helen Clarke Autism Helen Clarke Autism is a specialist autism training and consultancy service, dedicated to improving the lives of autistic children, in particular autistic girls. Helen provides educational and consultancy services for schools, parents, health services and other organisations that support autistic children. As an autistic woman herself and having previously worked with autistic children for over twenty years as an Art and Design teacher, Helen is passionate about sharing her own life journey to improve the experience of others.Her mission is now more important than ever, with recent reports suggesting that the number of autistic women and girls may have been severely underestimated due to historic gender biases. Experts explain that early assumptions of the condition meant that it was predominantly thought to affect men, with the real ratio in fact coming in at approximately 3:1. This means that the number of girls and women with the condition has been vastly underestimated with thousands going undiagnosed. As might be expected, this has taken its toll on the mental health of many girls and women across the country as living without a diagnosis often means that people are not accessing appropriate support in terms of health and education. Thankfully, there is now a growing recognition of the issue and Helen is one of the professionals at the forefront of this battle to help autistic women overcome the barriers they face and improve the services available to them.With such an important task at hand, Helen decided self-employment was the best way for her to reach and support as many girls as possible – and so she founded Helen Clarke Autism consultancy services. Having worked with business advisor Huda Mamoun from The Women’s Organisation to start her business, Helen was able to put together a business plan and attend

a range of courses to help get her started in business. After a successful start it wasn’t long before Helen needed to put a strategy for growth in place, returning for further Enterprise Hub support to help grow her young business. She says: “I am indebted to The Women’s Organisation who have provided me with valuable support, guidance and high-quality training. I learnt an incredible amount thanks to their expertise, with specialist training covering business planning and how to set up my business, as well as useful sessions on book-keeping and marketing.“I’ve also been very fortunate to have the guidance of my business mentor, Huda Mamoun, and have greatly benefitted from her knowledge. She has encouraged me to succeed and has believed in me from the very start, encouraging me to keep going and guiding me through the aspects of business which I found particularly difficult.” (mentioned expertise twice…do you want to change to another word?)Just one of Helen’s aims is to make sure the needs of autistic girls are better understood in schools. Having an autistic daughter herself, Helen has experienced the education system from ‘both sides of the fence’, so she is fully aware of the issues that autistic girls face both in gaining a diagnosis and receiving an education that fully meets their needs. She says: “Many autistic girls are labelled “school refusers” because they find it hard to cope in

schools, resulting in having a poor attendance or having to drop out of school completely. I

want to work with schools to help them better understand the needs of autistic children - the school system needs to change, not the autistic child.”

With a master’s degree in education, Helen is well equipped to tackle these issues first-hand. Helen believes that autistic people possess many strengths including

an ability to see the world from a different perspective and to

be able to pay extraordinary attention to detail. Many

autistic people are highly creative and

others very logical, each being

unique and individual.

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that people are not accessing appropriate support in terms of health and education. Thankfully, there is now a growing recognition of the issue and Helen is one of the professionals at the forefront of this battle to help autistic women overcome the barriers they face and improve the services available to them.With such an important task at hand, Helen decided self-employment was the best way for her to reach and support as many girls as possible – and so she founded Helen Clarke Autism consultancy services. Having worked with business advisor Huda Mamoun from The Women’s Organisation to start her business, Helen was able to put together a business plan and attend

autistic girls face both in gaining a diagnosis and receiving an education that fully meets their needs. She says: “Many autistic girls are labelled “school refusers” because they find it hard to cope in

schools, resulting in having a poor attendance or having to drop out of school completely. I

want to work with schools to help them better understand the needs of autistic children - the school system needs to change, not the autistic child.”

With a master’s degree in education, Helen is well equipped to tackle these issues first-hand. Helen believes that autistic people possess many strengths including

an ability to see the world from a different perspective and to

be able to pay extraordinary attention to detail. Many

autistic people are highly creative and

others very logical, each being

unique and individual.

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“Spectacular Girls” – Helen’s

series of well-being workshops

– was designed to help autistic girls understand how autism might affect them as individuals, while equipping them with valuable life skills and helping to build strong, personal identities. Helen explains how these sessions are working to improve the lives of autistic girls: “The current academic curriculum often doesn’t include many of the important topics that autistic girls need to explore, such as how autism affects them as individuals, about their own identity and about safety. “Autistic girls are at greater risk of exploitation and abuse, according to current research in this field, and so I wanted to work directly with girls to address this concern. What’s more, adolescent girls are also most likely to self-harm and in Sefton this number is higher than nationally. I’m working to improve the mental health of girls by helping them to better understand themselves and equip them with practical strategies.”She has also worked with organisations like The Atkinson in Southport to help promote inclusion in its services and has compiled an adapted

Community and Life Skills Curriculum for autistic children. So, how has Helen found the process of starting and growing a business? She says: “Being autistic there are many aspects of setting up a business that have been daunting. Many autistic people have social anxiety for example, but business depends on developing contacts and networking so I’ve had to push myself far out of my comfort zone and will continue to do so.”“There are also many positive aspects to running a business; being a role model for my daughter so she sees that even individuals can help bring about change in society, helping autistic girls to better understand themselves, improving their mental health, as well as challenging stereotypes of autism and what autistic people are capable of!”To find out more about Helen’s consultancy services, you can visit her website at www.helenclarkeautism.com or find her on Twitter using @HelenAutism. She can also be contacted directly at helenclarkeautism@gmail.com.If you’ve been inspired by Helen’s story and are interested in starting or growing a business of your own, then Enterprise Hub could help! Get in touch if you’re thinking of starting a business in the Liverpool City Region, or have a new business under three years old. You can speak to our team via enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk or 0151 706 8113.

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Bookstart Additional Needs packsBookstart is a fantastic service available for every child in the borough.In Sefton families are entitled to a Bookshine, Booktouch or Bookstart pack in addition to the standard packs, which babies and toddlers receive from their Health Visitor, at the 4-6 week check or via nursery when they are 3-4years old.Bookshine Packs for children who are deafThere are two packs: Bookshine Baby (0-2 years old) and Bookshine Toddler (3-5 years old). Each pack has two books, a rhyme place mat (with babies signing) and guidance around sharing books. The toddler pack also includes a bookmark showing British Sign LanguageBooktouch for children who are blind or partially sighted

There are two packs: Booktouch Baby (0-2 years old) and Booktouch Toddler (3-5 years old). Each pack has two touch-and-feel books and guidance around sharing books with blind and partially sighted children.Bookstart Star for children with conditions affecting their fine motor skillsThis pack is available for children aged 3-5 who have disabilities that impact on or delay the development of their fine motor skills. Each pack has a copy of Off to the Beach! And a board book, plus a finger puppet for playing along with the story.If you would like a pack contact; library.service@sefton.gov.uk and we will arrange for a pack to be sent to your local library for collection.

Relax in style at The Atkinson’s fun and friendly film screenings The Atkinson Theatre in Southport has launched a brand new series of their Relaxed Film Screenings.A series of films will be presented in a relaxed environment, open to everyone including parents with young children, people with learning difficulties and people with sensory or communication difficulties.

Low lighting will be kept during the film screening. ■ The audience is welcome to move around

the Theatre, talk and sing along to musical numbers!

■ Children under 12 months go free. For more information about visiting The Atkinson with babies and children, please see our Practical Information.

■ Carers go free. Carer’s tickets are available at Box Office or over the phone 01704 533 333.

Upcoming films:Fantastic Mr Fox (PG) Wed 18 November, 11amThis animated classic is based on the book by Roald Dahl.Director: Wes Anderson Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill MurrayTickets are £3.50 ( Plus £1 booking fee online/phone)Find out more visit our website www.theatkinson.co.uk or call 01704 533 333

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Parent Carer team eager to hear your view on serviceThe Sefton Carers Centre Parent Carers team are asking parents to complete a short survey about transitions from primary to secondary school for children with additional needs.This survey will help to inform the development of support systems for parents and schools to enable positive and meaningful transitions for children with additional needs moving from primary to secondary school in mainstream education.

By completing this survey you will be giving Sefton Carers Centre vital information to support developments in this area.Please only complete the survey if your child has a disability or additional need (diagnosed or undiagnosed) and you wish to give feedback about the transition process.To complete this survey please visit: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Q75MH

Class of 2019 – volunteers Firstly, we’d like to say a huge thanks to all our volunteers that helped make the Aiming High Short Breaks Team deliver a successful summer holiday programme. With your help, support and valued time, you helped a lot of children and young people engage, have fun, try new leisure activities for the first time and help build a positive relationship both with their peers, staff and volunteers.Here’s an insight of what one of our volunteers thought of their experience over the summer holidays with Aiming High Short Breaks Team…Hi. My name is Noah and I am 16 years old. I started Aiming High when I was 10 years old.I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome at 10 years old. I struggled to focus in school, although I was very well behaved and I had problems communicating with others. I would get very upset at home as I couldn’t control my emotions. The teachers at my school were not sure whether I would be able to attend a mainstream high school.When I first joined Aiming High in the summer of 2013, I was very nervous. However, the staff were so kind and friendly. I quickly started to enjoy myself. I made a whole new set of friends and gained more confidence.With the support of my parents and some nice teachers, I joined Holy Family Catholic High School. Despite struggling academically, I worked very hard both at school and at home. I continued to enjoy

attending the Aiming High clubs and activities and build new friendships.I had some ups and downs at school but I was determined to succeed. During my GCSES, my mum and I worked together as a team. I found the exams very stressful and I did them in a quiet room but I never gave up.I was delighted when I got my results on 22nd August 2019. I passed 5 GCSES and even got an ‘A’ in Spanish! Everybody was so happy for me.During this summer, Aiming High offered me the opportunity to work as a Volunteer for them. I absolutely loved my time as a Volunteer. The staff were very kind to me and I enjoyed helping the children as I understand what it is like to have special needs.On Friday 6th September, I start my new college course and I am really excited. I want to thank Aiming High for always believing in me as I am sure without their support, I wouldn’t be as happy as I am today.Noah Asensio - 02.09.2019The Aiming High Team are always looking for volunteers throughout the year to work on regular weekly sessions and holiday programmes. If this is something you would be interested in please contact Leanne Connor at the Aiming High Team on 0151 228 6820 or leanne.connor@sefton.gov.uk.

Class of 2019 – volunteers attending the Aiming High clubs and activities and

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If you answered yes then we have the perfect opportunity for you to get involved in our first residential in partnership with the National Citizenship Service (Catch 22).Aiming High Short Breaks will be there to support you throughout the whole project. The residential will be taking place at Kingswood Activities Centre, Doncaster. You will take part in fun outdoor activities ranging from Archery, ZIP wiring, camp fires, and many more.The residential was originally due to take place during the October Half Term of this year, however due to a short fall in course numbers and a staff restructure we haven’t been able to secure booking for this date and will now run the residential during the Spring Break Half Term 2020. The cost will be no more than £30 per person. This is a great opportunity for you have fun, gain confidence and increase self-esteem and build positive friendships.

There will be three workshops to attend after the residential has taken place, followed by 30 hours of social action, which will include planning and delivering a fundraising event for your chosen charity. Aiming High Staff will provide support and NCS staff will lead on the social action sessions.

Once completed there will be a graduation where you will celebrate your achievements

with your friends and family, this will take place later on in the year.If you are interested in accessing this residential/project, please contact me on the number or email above and I will

then forward a consent slip out to you to secure place on the residential, as places

are filling up fast.Many apologies to the young people that have

already secured their space and having to wait until Spring next year. We just want it to be perfect! For more information, contact Leanne Connor on 288 6820 / 07816338416 or email leanne.connor@sefton.gov.uk

Residential Opportunity in partnership with Aiming High Short Breaks Team and NCS (National Citizen Service)

however due to a short fall in course

Once completed there will be a graduation where you will celebrate your achievements

with your friends and family, this will take

secure place on the residential, as places are filling up fast.

Many apologies to the young people that have

Council staff prove it’s never too late to learn Staff from Sefton’s Special Educational Needs and Disability service have recently completed additional training regarding Education, Health and Care plans for residents.Colleagues from across Sefton’s education, health and social care units joined together to attend the training on how to write and include specific outcomes into EHCP plans.This was an enjoyable and informative session, including practical activities and theoretical input.There is a further session planned for October to follow up themes from this session, as well as a session planned focussing on Personal Budgets.

Are you over 15?Would you be interested in accessing a three‑night/four day residential?Would you like to participate in a wide range of outdoor activities?

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Aiming High Summer Respite for Children 0-5 with Additional Needs 2019We know that respite arrangements are very important and are valued by parents and their children. Respite offers parents the time and space to devote to other family members and to deal with everyday life. It

also provides the opportunity for children and young people with a disability to experience new opportunities and make new friends.Respite sessions this summer for the 0-5-year-old children with

disabilities were offered to families co-ordinated and delivered by Sefton Carers Centre, Aiming High and the Family Wellbeing Centres. There were three sites across the Localities Family Wellbeing settings where parents could drop off and leave their children for two hours twice a week for two weeks of the summer holidays. Each child was either on a 1-1 or 1-2 staff support to

meet their needs. At all sessions, a variety of activities were available including messy play, sensory toys and crafts. All the children who attended had lots of fun, met new people and tried out lots of different things.Here are some comments from the parents;“I think its amazing Bobby has loved his time here”“We have really enjoyed Rory coming”“Jason loves the respite sessions, it’s a great help for the whole family”“My daughter loves these sessions and seeing friends see doesn’t see often”“Everything was catered for the children in a relaxed atmosphere”“The key workers are very good

Are you registered with the Disabled Children’s Database?The Disabled Children’s Database aims to provide parents/carers with information on the services available both locally and nationally for the families of children and young people with Special Education Needs or a disability.But are you signed up to make the most out of it? The database can help children with:

■ Developmental delay ■ Physical disability ■ Chronic illness/Medical Condition ■ Moderate to severe learning disability ■ Hearing/Visual Impairment ■ Communication difficulties

But what will you get?A newsletter will be sent directly to you three times a year, either electronically or through the post. It will provide you with information about services, events, benefits and support available locally and nationally.You can register your children via www.seftondirectory.com/kb5/sefton/directory/register.page or for more information please email dcr@sefton.gov.uk You can log into at any time by using the link below to update and amend your child’s details. https://www.seftondirectory.com/kb5/sefton/directory/sign_in.pageWe encourage you to regularly log into your account for you to maintain your details.

Are you over 15?Would you be interested in accessing a three‑night/four day residential?Would you like to participate in a wide range of outdoor activities?

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New Beginnings for our Aiming for the Stars Group Aiming High Short Break’s Team would just like to take this opportunity to thank Shine Theatre School, on behalf of our Aiming for the Stars group, for providing our venue for the musical theatre session since it very first started back in 2016. The group has gone from strength to strength, growing in numbers and confidence amongst our performers. We had another successful summer camp at Shine, four weekly sessions of fun filled musical theatre based activities, enjoyed not just by our regular attenders but some new faces too! Due to Shine Theatre School moving on to new pastures we are pleased to be working alongside St Oswald’s church who will be providing our new venue. It is the perfect place for our group to learn

new routines, spend time with their friends and we are excited to see what the future has in store for our stars. Panic not our group will still have plenty of opportunity to display their talents, we will still be working in partnership with Shine and taking part in their future shows and any other performances. If your child enjoys any aspect of musical theatre; singing, dancing, drama please contact the team for more information about the Aiming for the Stars session, we have a session either end of the borough. Contact details: Joanne Pringle 0151 288 6819, joanne.pringle@sefton.gov.uk

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Sefton backs Redbox project to help young women in need Sefton Council is lending its full support to the Red Box project to help young women across the borough with their periods.Schools and family wellbeing centres in Sefton benefit from regular donations of ‘red boxes’ filled with gifted period products to help young girls to tackle period poverty.Bootle Town Hall is the latest location to become a designated donation point for sanitary products and Sefton Council is working with the

Sefton Red Box Project to set up more over the coming months.Residents are encouraged to donate various items to the scheme, including pads, tampons, underwear, deodorants, pants and sanitary bags to a drop off box, which will then be distributed to those most in need.To find out more about Red Box Sefton or to get involved email redboxproject.sefton@gmail.com.

Sefton Lights up with Constellation Display An arts project designed to inspire local communities to rediscover their local neighbourhoods and spend time stargazing is being launched across Liverpool City Region.Constellations Presents brings a different artist to Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral to present a work inspired by a specific constellation and its relationship to local stories.It is the follow-on from the award winning ‘Lost Castles’ which saw six extraordinary cardboard box structures being built and then demolished by communities in locations across the six boroughs in 2018.Constellations Presents the Parabolic Lightcloud at Crosby Coastal Park, Sefton from November 8-10.The project was instigated by Wirral’s Borough of Culture year, which will launch the season with a spectacular installation by Studio Joanie Lemercier in West Kirby between the 18-20 October.

The final project – in Knowsley – will see local artist Sam Wiehl reimagining local residents and community groups as stars in a disused shop in Huyton village centre between 21-23 November.

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Local Hero in Blind Football Euro Championships Rainbow Mbuangi (16) from Sefton is part of the 10 man squad who aimed for Euro glory in Rome this month. England had been drawn in the group stage with Russia, Germany, France and Greece.The competition started well with a 1-0 victory against Germany on Tuesday 17 September, 0-0 against France and 1-1 against Russia.Sadly for Rainbow and his teammates, the England team got through to the semifinals but lost on penaltiesRainbow trains with the England squad in Hereford and hopes to continue to make a career from football. He has already met some of his footballing heros. He can be seen in conversation with Marcus Rashford on youtube. Rainbow shows Marcus a video of him scoring a goal in Belgium in June and

listens to Marcus talk about his World Cup experience.Marcus is keen to understand how Rainbow scores, when he is registered blind. Rainbow explains that he hears his guide behind the goal. There are ball bearings placed inside the ball that make a noise to allow the players to locate the ball. Rainbow also describes the feeling of having a blindfold on and ‘running towards someone full blast’ in his first football training session.Rainbow lives with his Nan Lynn, brother Kenzo and guide dog Drake. He has been supported in his passion by his Nan who has taken him to training and matches throughout his childhood. She also wants him to concentrate on his education. Rainbow attends St Vincent’s school in Liverpool

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Another bumper summer for disabled kids in Sefton from The Aiming High TeamThe Aiming High Team have recently finished another successful Summer short breaks programme. More than 230 young disabled people between the ages of 5 and 19 enjoyed a wide range of activities which included sessions at Presfield, Rowan park and Bishop David Sheppard schools as well as Kings Leadership Academy. The children also enjoyed science, football and dance camps as well as trips to Inflatanation, CHET, Crosby Lakeside and Waterside Lodge. The usual Family Fun Days were a big hit as usual with 260 people enjoying the finale to the summer at Netherton activity Centre at the celebration day.Other families were given the opportunity to visit Chester Zoo and Blackpool Pleasure Beach with support of AH staff.The programme offered activities every Monday to Friday throughout the month of August.There were close to 2000 individual visits from the children totalling over 7000 hours and when the parents and siblings are included totals are nearly 2500 visits over 8750 hours.The team have already had plenty of positive comments and feedback from parents and children and are now working hard to put in plans for October half term. Some of the comments included:

‘Staffing structure was brilliant and A was teamed up with staff that understood his needs which helped him very much in achieving an enjoyable session.’‘It was nice to see our son have fun and have something to tell us about and it was good for him to be at the session on his own. He learnt that he can do things on his own. It was also nice to have a few hours to ourselves to do things which we can’t always do when caring for him.’The team had closer links with the family wellbeing centres this year and provided staff for support the early years sessions held at NAC and Southport and Litherland F.W. Centres.We were once again indebted to a wonderful team of volunteers from local schools, colleges and universities, without whom the delivery of the programme would not be as smooth. Some of the volunteers were young people with disabilities who have attended the Aiming High programmes themselves over the years and now having become too old have volunteered. Indeed we had two previous attendees who gained paid work with us over summer and are now taking on extra hours with us.Contact details: John Doran – 288 6817 / 07463786276 john.doran@sefton.gov.uk

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Seven Sefton schools make the Educate Awards 2019 shortlistSeven schools from Sefton have been shortlisted for this year’s Educate Awards!From inspiring teachers, dedicated support staff to innovative projects across the curriculum, the awards recognises the work of schools and colleges which are delivering outstanding education and helping students achieve their full potential.The awards, in partnership with Copyrite Systems and Ricoh, is in its eighth year and is the largest education awards in the North West.With 21 categories in total, the following Sefton schools have been shortlisted:

■ Bedford Primary School for the Eco School Project of the Year and Outstanding Arts in a Primary School

■ Formby High School for Mental Health & Wellbeing Award and Outstanding Commitment to Sport in a Secondary School

■ Hillside High School for Outstanding Arts in a Secondary School

■ Netherton Moss Primary School for the Most Inspirational Primary School

■ St Oswald’s CE Primary School for the Spirit of Enterprise Award

■ St Thomas CE Primary School’s Katherine Lockley for the School Support Star of the Year

■ Valewood Primary School for the Most Inspirational Primary School

Since launching in Liverpool in 2012, the awards has grown rapidly, now recognising schools and colleges right across the Liverpool City Region, Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester.A new category has also been introduced this year, recognising schools’ commitment to mental wellbeing. The Mental Health & Wellbeing Award will be awarded to a school with a strong commitment to promoting social and emotional wellbeing, mental health and wellness.This difficult task of shortlisting the entries fell upon the esteemed judging panel which includes Michelle Dow, managing director of All About STEM; James Tartt, Merseyside track athlete and architect; Councillor Gary Millar, assistant mayor & mayoral lead for business & international trade; Chris Walker, regional managing editor of Trinity Mirror North West and North Wales; Lesley Martin-Wright,

chief executive of Knowsley Chamber; Andrew Pimbley of Wirral’s Claremont Farm; Sue Cronin, head of teacher education at Liverpool Hope University, Suzanne Ramsey former partnership manager at Liverpool School Sports Partnership and Allan Williams, learning manager at Everyman and Playhouse Theatres.Kim O’Brien, founder of the Educate Awards, said: “Congratulations to the Sefton schools shortlisted for the Educate Awards 2019!“Every year, the judges’ job gets harder as the entries from schools get better. Whether it is the arts, careers, sport or their commitment to mental health and wellbeing, we aim to recognise all areas of education and shine a spotlight on all the hard work that goes on in schools and colleges each academic year.

“We look forward celebrating with all the finalists and winners on the 15 November.”The winners will be announced at the annual awards ceremony, which takes place on Friday 15 November at Liverpool Cathedral.Associate sponsors include: All About STEM, Angel Solutions, CER, CPMM Media Group, DMR David M Robinson Jewellery & Watches, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool Diocesan Schools Trust, Liverpool Learning Partnership, LSSP, Progress To Excellence Group, Satis Education, School Improvement Liverpool, Signature Living and Winstanley College.

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