You asked, we delivered

Holiday activities and local facilities

How are you ensuring that those with disabilities are able to access all facilities and activities in Stockport?

We're committed to ensuring accessibility for all. Our approach includes:

  • physical access: meeting statutory requirements for inclusive access to sports, leisure, parks, and fitness facilities. We're also exploring additional opportunities to improve historical challenges and communicate access information more effectively
  • opportunity access: through the Active Communities programme. We support activity providers and larger leisure organisations to offer opportunities that meet the needs of young people with additional needs. This includes training modules developed with Seashell and SEND families, now being rolled out across various organisations

Why are young people not attending any activities during the summer holidays?

Young people are attending activities during the summer holidays. Our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) provision is strong across Stockport. We encourage more groups to join the children and families directory, which helps families find activities. We're also looking for ideas to better advertise activities on the family hubs website.

How can you create safer and more inclusive activities for young people?

We're working with young people to co-produce activity offers that reflect their needs. This includes:

  • developing capacity with grassroots groups through the Family Hubs Network
  • making sure that activities are inclusive in terms of age, accessibility, and SEND needs
  • training our SAYS (SEND) youth group to become Young Inspectors to assess the inclusivity of clubs and activities

Education

How can support for mental health be improved in schools, so students’ needs are catered to better?

We're enhancing mental health support in schools by:

  • combining primary and secondary jigsaw teams for consistent support
  • developing networks for school staff to identify and support young people's needs
  • sharing best practices among schools

Which schools can be used as examples to demonstrate catering to complex needs?

Our schools showcase fantastic practices that are highlighted by Ofsted inspections. Examples include:

  • schools described as "havens of inclusivity"
  • schools where pupils with SEND thrive due to highly trained staff
  • we invite these schools to share their best practices at events for school leaders

How can vocational options in Stockport be improved?

We're working on:

  • providing more mental health support in schools
  • sharing extracurricular opportunities more widely
  • developing an attendance strategy that includes feedback from young people, parents, and teachers

Mental Health and Wellbeing

What can you do to raise awareness of the meaning of mental health?

We're focusing on mental wellbeing through initiatives like the Youth Summit and Children’s Mental Health Week. We're embedding Greater Manchester Mental Health In Education Standards and extending the Mental Health Support Team to more schools.

How can you improve accessibility for those with non-visible disabilities?

We're improving accessibility by:

  • providing training to increase awareness and understanding of non-visible disabilities
  • encouraging a culture of empathy and respect
  • implementing flexible policies and assistive technologies
  • ensuring physical and digital environments are accessible

Do the council think that education is accessible for all young people?

We focus on various aspects to ensure accessible education, including:

  • physical accessibility with ramps, elevators, and flexible classroom layouts
  • digital accessibility with assistive technologies and accessible online content
  • curriculum accessibility with differentiated instruction and inclusive content
  • support services like special education, counselling, and mental health support
  • more support for young people to be eased back into school when suffering with poor mental health

We're:

  • developing an attendance strategy focusing on support for young people to prevent absence or help them return to school
  • linking specialist schools with other services to support young people
  • updating the council website with services related to mental health

We've created a new area on the Healthy Stockport website with pages on children's mental health and wellbeing. We've also developed a Padlet for young people, bringing together useful resources and links.

We welcome feedback to improve it. For more information, visit: