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Keep up to date with Parent Partnership Service news or other news relating to special educational needs by regularly visiting our news section. Also check our newsletters or contact us to be added to our mailing list.
Wednesday Evening Drop-In Sessions are Changing!! - 31 March 2009
From 1st November our weekly Wedneday Drop-In Session at Clarendon Chambers will change to an Advice Session. This means that parents will need to book an appointment to come in and talk to an adviser rather than being able to just drop in, as happens now.
Appointments will be available each Wednesday evening, except during school holidays, between 5.30 - 7.30 p.m. and the session will close at 8.00 p.m.
Please book appointments for the next following Wednesday by 9.00 a.m. at the latest on Monday morning - this is to enable advisory staff to change their diary details if necessary.
We will still run our Wednesday evening helpline as usual.
A website for teachers, parents, young people and others with an interest in dyslexia - 31 December 2008
Sir Jim Rose asks parents and children for personal experiences of dyslexia.
A website for teachers, parents, young people and others with an interest in dyslexia has been launched by Sir Jim Rose as part of his review into how children with dyslexia learn best. Sir Jim is asking for personal accounts and experiences as well as details of published research to help inform his development of recommendations to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. The website will also contain regular updates and information about the review.
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0148
Website: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/jimroseanddyslexia/
Counselling Sessions for parents/carers - 31 October 2008
We are now pleased to be able to offer free counselling sessions to a limited number of parents, supported by two students from Nottingham University. Sessions will be held in our Nottingham office, and can be booked on Mondays to Thursdays, including some evenings. Students are required to cover 100 hours of counselling as part of their coursework and are closely supervised throughout by a qualified counsellor.
If you are interested in registering for counselling please contact Amanda Fletcher or Lorraine Fitzpatrick on 0115 9482888. They will also be able to give you further information about the sessions.
A parent's perspective, from a parent who has taken advantage of the counselling sessions.
Often it is information, advice and support that parents need most from the Parent Partnership Service in order to get the best provision they can for their children, who have special educational needs.
There can also be strong feelings around the additional obstacles we face in raising youngsters whose needs are often not met easily by existing provision. At times we have been given the information and yet are still unsettled by our sometimes conflicting feelings. These are times when counselling may provide the space we need to recognise and explore those discomforts.
There are currently two student counsellors offering free sessions to parents through the Parent Partnership Service. I took advantage of this opportunity by arranging a series of six counselling sessions over a seven week period of major transition in the provision for my son. This gave me an opportunity to clarify and express my fears around that change and its consequences for me and for him.
If anxieties are intruding on your sleep and / or waking hours and you’re already doing the best you can to do all the practical things, it could be worth contacting PPS to check whether it may be appropriate for you to sign up for some free counselling sessions.
Name witheld.
Nottinghamshire Short Breaks Pathfinder Project - 31 August 2008
This important project is now launched and underway, and will make a significant difference over the next two years to the landscape of short breaks provision for families with a child with a disability. The project steering group is very clear that the participation of parents and of children/young people to inform and guide development will be crucial in producing services which effectively deliver what they want and need.
This participation will take place by:
We recognise that parents/carers do not always find it easy or comfortable to sit on ‘professional’ groups – transport, child-care, time and venue of meetings can all be barriers to parent participation, and the difficulty parents sometimes experience in finding their ‘fit’ in a group of professionals is perhaps the biggest barrier of all. The short breaks steering group is committed to making it possible, feasible and even enjoyable, for parents/carers to play a key role in directing the project development and will make every effort to address the difficulties that seek to detract from this. For example, meetings of task groups will be at times and venues accessible to parents who may have children to take or pick up from school; help with transport and child-care will be considered and the Parent Partnership Service is planning a series of support groups for parents taking part in these groups to address any issues with confidence and understanding of the group processes.
If you would be interested in being a part of this exciting project please contact Glyn Connolly, Lead Officer Service Development, 0115 8465550, or Edwina Cosgrove, Parent Partnership Service, 0115 9482888. You may wish to be a member of one of the task groups, or you may already be a member of a parents’ support group and seek involvement that way. It is vital that parents and children/young people express their views to inform and guide the development of the project – how else will it be able to match your needs and wishes?
Contacting Parents! - 01 April 2008
PPS would like to build up a list of parents’ email addresses, so that we can contact you quickly to pass on information that might be helpful to you, or to invite you to take part in a consultation or other event. There are too many parents on our database for us always to send out material by post, mainly because of the time involved in preparing the mailout (printing, labelling envelopes, franking etc). We try to post as much information as possible on this website, but a list of email addresses would enable us to contact you individually with the greatest efficiency.
If you would be willing to let us have your email address please send an email to our general service address : enquiries@ppsnotts.org.uk
stating your name. Please note that this will be a separate list from that used to send out our newsletter, Partnership Matters; our electronic circulation list for PM does not include parents’ names, just email addresses so that you will need to email us again even if you already receive PM via email.
If you are not already on our database, and would like to be, please state this in the email so that we can contact you for further details.
Best wishes,
Edwina Cosgrove,
Parent Partnership Officer
Parent Consultation Information - 18 January 2008
Parent Partnership Service is frequently asked to facilitate consultation groups to provide the parents’/carers’ perspective when new strategies are being planned or current policies reviewed. We believe that parents in this situation are equivalent to volunteers, giving their time and expertise freely to benefit a wider group across the community. Organisations using volunteers to help deliver a service should ensure that those volunteers are not out of pocket as a result, and generally this means that they can claim expenses relating to travel and child-care. For the purpose of any consultations facilitated by PPS involving parents/carers we will therefore pay expenses on that basis.
All expenses are paid via cheque made out to the person attending the consultation session.
Travel costs
Child-care costs
Parents - take the opportunity to influence the development and direction of services for families. Make your voice heard!! - 30 August 2007
It is now widely acknowledged that parents, as users of the many and diverse services aimed at providing support for children and families, are well-placed to offer constructive and thoughtful advice for their planning and development.
PPS is frequently asked to provide names of parents willing to take part in consultations, or sit on steering groups, panels or other bodies providing direction to strategic services. Parents who have taken up these opportunities have found it deepens their understanding of service roles and engenders a real sense of being able to shape the way services operate.
Some examples are :
We are proposing to set up a register of parents who are interested in this kind of opportunity in general, as we are sometimes asked to produce the names of interested parents at quite short notice! The idea is that parents on this list will be offered appropriate opportunities as they arise, depending on the nature of the input involved, times and venues etc. We plan to offer training in how to make the most of group work and ensure that involvement is most effective.
If you would be interested in having a greater say in how services that affect you and other families should develop, please contact Edwina Cosgrove at the Parent Partnership Service on 0115 9482888, and we will be pleased to discuss this with you. Details will remain confidential to the Parent Partnership Service and will not be passed on to any service or group without your prior knowledge and consent.
Ask ACE - 31 December 2009
The Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) now provides free, independent advice over text message through our new service - AskACE. This is in addition to our advice line, exclusions line, exclusions information line and website.
This service enables parents to contact ACE simply and quickly. All a parent has to do is text the phrase AskACE to 68808 and follow instructions. They will be asked what subject their enquiry is about and will be able to choose from a series of options. They can also ask their own specific question, request lists of tips and ACE information booklets. All texts are free to send and receive.
If parents follow the instructions for the automated service via text they can access advice at any hour of the day and night. Alternatively, if they ask a specific question, it will be answered during office hours by our experienced ACE Advisors. As all texts are free to send and receive, parents can be engaged in a ' text conversation' in order that their questions are answered fully.
Has support for parents improved over the last 10 years? - 31 January 2009
The Handsel Trust has launched a large-scale on-line survey to explore how the support for parents of children with disabilities has changed over the past decade.
10 years ago, the first SOFTY (Support Over the First Two Years) survey asked 500 parents about their experiences. The results were used widely to inform national policy development and local service development.
What’s changed? We’re doing it all again to find out!
We want to reach the parents of children with any disability or special need as long as it was diagnosed when the child was aged under 6 years of age. If you are a parent, please have a look at the survey - it is anonymous and only takes a few minutes to fill in.
If you can help us to make the survey available to more parents, please direct people to our website. If you would like a link and logo to add to your own website or newsletter, please email me Gudrun@handseltrust.org or call me on the number below.
To see The SOFTY survey, please click on the logo above or visit our website: www.handseltrust.org/ The results of the first SOFTY survey can also be downloaded from the site.
Thank you!
Gudrun Limbrick
Trustee of the Handsel Trust
0121 373 2747
Autism Friendly Holidays - 21 November 2008
Dear Parents/Carers
My name is Emma Ryland. I taught children with autism and Asperger Syndrome in Sheffield for 12 years and I now live in Dordogne, France.
I am establishing a holiday service for families with children with ASDs. Obviously, I’d like to be able to respond as fully as possible to what families actually want, and so I’d be very grateful if you could complete a questionnaire to give me your views.
To receive a copy of this questionnaire please contact Parent Partnership Service on Tel: 0115 948 2888 or e-mail amanda.fletcher@ppsnotts.org.uk
Any answers are just to help me plan appropriately and won’t commit you to anything!
The closing date for returning questionnaires is: Friday, 21st November 2008.
DCSF Bulletin - 14th October 2008 - 11 November 2008
New Vetting and Barring Scheme for safer recruitment
Recent legislation created a new scheme, and a public body, to support safer recruitment. This will have a major impact on recruitment and monitoring practices for people working or volunteering with children. From October 2009, the new Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) will replace current schemes: List 99, PoCA, PoVA and Disqualification Orders. Under the VBS, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will take the decisions on barring unsuitable people from working or volunteering with vulnerable groups.
The National Child Measurement Programme : guidance for schools
The NCMP weighs and measures children in Reception and Year 6. From 2008 parents can receive feedback on their child's results and advice on how they can maintain a healthy weight. This guidance sets out information for primary and middle schools on the NCMP and what they should do to support the programme.
Ofsted
As signalled in the Children's Plan and the guidance on well-being, the DCSF and Ofsted have been working to develop strong school-level indicators of pupils' well-being. These indicators will improve the information available to schools to help them assess the well-being issues that pupils face and find appropriate ways to respond to them.
Ofsted will be looking for evidence from all schools on well-being and the indicators will apply to all maintained schools, including special schools, Pupil Referral Units and academies.
BERCOW REVIEW: SPEECH, LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE MUST IMPROVE - 31 August 2008
Children and young people must be given the support they need to overcome speech, language and communications difficulties so they enjoy the same opportunities to learn, socialise and succeed as anyone else, according to an interim report presented by John Bercow MP to the Secretaries of State for Health and for Children, Schools and Families.
The Bercow Review, which the Government commissioned in September 2007, aims to improve services for children and young people from birth to 19 who have speech, language and communications difficulties, which could range from a delay in speaking to a severe stammer, or could be related to other disabilities such as autism or cerebral palsy.
The interim report highlights the main issues and has identified five key themes:
Implementing Aiming High: Together for Disabled Children (England) - 08 August 2008
Extract from Contact a Family : Newsletter June 12th 2008
The parent participation strand of the Aiming High work has kicked off with a needs assessment of each local authority area across England. This will be conducted by the team of consultants who will carry out face to face interviews with Children's Services and Primary Care Trusts looking at both the current short breaks provision and parent participation.
In order to get as full a picture of what parent participation is currently happening we will follow this with a survey of parents groups and forums. The results of these surveys will lead towards plans for the development of parent participation in each local area. We envisage these being formulated with input from parents, groups and professionals.
The survey of groups will happen later in June. If you are a member of a support group or parents' forum please look out for the survey arriving with you. It would be really helpful if you could take the time to give us as complete a picture of current work as possible. The DCSF will be looking at the results from each local area. We need to ensure that future work is based on an accurate measure of current work.
We are still working out how the programme will be rolled out. We will let you know more details as soon as we can. To contact us about this work please use participation@cafamily.org.uk or give me a call on 020 7608 8784.
Education Maintenance Awards (EMA) - 01 August 2008
Extracted from the DCSF News Bulletin
Pupils should apply for an EMA as soon as possible, either now before the summer term ends or when they call into school on GCSE or A Level results days.
Young people can obtain application packs from schools, colleges, work-based-learning providers and Connexions. They can also get more information and EMA application packs by calling the free helpline, 0800 121 8989, or at the EMA website (www.ema.direct.gov.uk)
School Admission Advice Service - Nottingham City - 07 September 2007
There are a number of families who find the secondary admissions system difficult to understand and therefore difficult to operate in the best interests of their child. There is also a small number of parents who, for one reason or another, are unable or unwilling to engage with the process. Failure to express a choice or return the paperwork can place their child at significant risk. Choice Advice is about offering advice that is independent, i.e. in the best interest of the child, and supporting families, including mothers, fathers, adults with caring responsibility and children, to make the best and most realistic choice of secondary school. Choice Advisers will advise parents but not decide for them.
The service is aimed at all parents but we know some parents find it more difficult than others to choose a secondary school, maybe:
Choice Advice will be offered by The Nottingham City Council’s Children and Families Information Service (CFIS) from September 2007. Parents and carers who may need extra help understanding the secondary admission process can be supported in the following ways:
Parents or carers can contact us on Freephone: 0800 458 4114 between 8.30am and 5pm, five days a week.
School Admissions Advice Service - Nottinghamshire Children & Young People's Services - 03 September 2007
The Children's Information Service and the School Admissions Team will deliver an 'Admissions Advice Service' from September 2007.
This is to help parents make better-informed choices about schools for children just starting nursery or infant school, transferring from infant to junior school, or transferring to secondary school.
Each year around 10% of families do not express a preference at all and risk being allocated a school which is not suitable for their child.
The new service is for families who either have a complicated decision about schools to make (perhaps because of where they live or because their child has special or additional needs) or who need help to use the information which is available. It is not intended for all families.
Training has been given to office staff in most primary schools so that they can help in providing advice and in reminding families to complete a preference form.
Parents can use the free helpline from September 2007 for advice about school admissions, Tel: 0800 781 2168
For further information about the service please contact Claire Wilcoxson on Tel: 01623 433376.
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