Tymes Trust Alert 2013-02 Message from Jane 13 February 2013 ====== Follow Jane on Twitter @JaneCColby or read her tweets at www.tymestrust.org ====== FREE WEBINAR NEXT WEEK THURSDAY 21ST FEBRUARY: http://www.nisai.com/Articles/344067/Nisai/News/Learn_About_the.aspx ====== Next Thursday I shall be giving a free webinar about the Department for Education's new statutory guidance to Local Authorities on educating children with health needs. I am inviting you, your child's school and/or Local Authority to reserve a place on the webinar. To find out how to do this, click on the link above. DETAILS OF WEBINAR Date: Thursday, 21 February Time: Noon Where: Nisai’s Online Classroom In last month's Alert I discussed the new statutory guidance, which is called: “Ensuring a good education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs." The guidance describes what must be done by Local Authorities for children who cannot attend in the usual way, due to illness. I have already been told of a Local Authority which was not aware of the new guidance. Another has apparently put in place a policy which attempts to enforce school attendance, perhaps out of a mistaken impression that if the child can manage just a bit of attendance at school, the guidance will not apply to them. You may have found that your own Local Authority has an inflexible policy for children with ME or CFS. That too is against the guidance; each child must receive what is appropriate for them. As a former Headteacher myself, I know that it's not always easy to make provision for sick children, so I am happy to talk with schools about the needs of children with ME or CFS. To find out just how much the provision for your child could be improved as a result of this new document, in which I had considerable input, I do urge you to try and watch my presentation if you can. I have been impressed by how much the Department for Education has tried to put the child's needs to the fore. All good wishes, Jane Jane Colby FRSA Executive Director The Young ME Sufferers Trust PO Box 4347, Stock, Essex, CM4 9TE www.tymestrust.org Tel: 0845 003 9002 Holder of The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service: The MBE for Volunteer Groups ====== READ ALL PREVIOUS ALERTS AND SUBSCRIBE TO MY LIST AT www.tymestrust.org To unsubscribe, send an email via the website Contact Us form. ====== You are welcome to redistribute or reprint this email without seeking our permission provided: 1) you do not abbreviate, add to, or change the text in any way; 2) the authorship information is retained; and 3) www.tymestrust.org is credited as the source. Jane Colby is Executive Director of The Young ME Sufferers Trust. She was a Headteacher for nine years, a member of the government Chief Medical Officer's Working Group on CFS/ME and co-authored ME/CFS In UK Schools, the largest epidemiological study of ME to date. She is a life member of the National Association of Head Teachers and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Copyright (c) 2013 The Young ME Sufferers Trust