Hello %FirstName%

January News...

Ebulletin Update...

You will now be receiving our weekly Ebulletins on a Monday, please keep a look out for them, they will still have lots of information, upcoming events and family group news, you will just receive them at the start of the week.

​PODS & Face 2 Face New Weekly Drop In Sessions...

PODS and Face 2 Face will be holding weekly drop in sessions at the Information Hub at Stepping Stones. Every Thursday from 12pm till 2.30pm, Face 2 Face will be holding a weekly drop in session, where parents are able to access information about the befriending scheme, talk confidentially to trained befrienders, access and gain support to make personalised practical resources to use in the home. Every Tuesday from 9.30am till 12pm, PODS will also be holding a weekly drop in session where you can access information and find out about local services.

Our New Family Group at Pirates and Princesses!!

We are very excited to announce that our new family group is being held at Pirates and Princesses on the last Monday of the month, starting on Monday 29th January from 5pm-7pm.

• Free family group
• Food will be available to purchase
• Squash available
• Siblings are welcome

We look forward to seeing you there!

Parent/Carer SEND Workshop on Wednesday 31st January 2018

The workshop is being held at the Ramada Hotel, with 60 free places. The workshop is specifically for families who DO NOT have an EHCP but are receiving some support for their child. For more information on what the workshop will look at and how to book your place, please see the flyer below.

​

Weekly Update from Jayne Stevens (Participation Co-ordinator)...

“I'm sorry I've not done a weekly update for a while - just getting back into it all - nearly halfway through January and still lots of paperwork to sort through and notes to write up from conferences we attended towards end of the year - including the BASE (British Associated of Supported Employment) which has led to a meeting been organised with our local DWP disability advisor - not until February so more will follow on that. I was also asked to be part of a SEND Inspection Peer review programme - we've had our inspection but the knowledge of this will hopefully help other forums across the country so great to share good practice. Our own SEND actions are updated regularly and are available to look at on the Local Offer - demonstrating the key work areas. Some legal training was undertaken by health and LA teams led by IPSEA in December that I also attended and the slides from these are now available - if you want to drop me an email to jayne@podstelford.org I can share the link with you.

We've held our first Participation Steering Group of the year for our Trained parent reps to come together to discuss our key areas of work - they've all been given Kindle Tablets which can be used to showcase PODS website, alongside local information and use them for emails and information sharing. We also welcomed Kath Bromfield to talk to us about using "Planning Tools" to support ourselves as families and our children and young people with our hopes and dreams for the future - whether these be long term or short term - we are looking at this been the focus of our annual conference but in a workshop format, before the end of March. Our Parent Reps have begun representing families at meetings across the council and health partners and wider voluntary groups too.

I'm really sorry not to have seen you at the family groups so far this year - family illness and subsequently my illness has meant that I've missed them but will return as soon as possible!

This week has also seen us run a Wills and Trusts workshop (via Contact and Anthony Collins solicitors) which was very useful for all families who attended.

Coming up we have the SEN Support workshop (31st Jan) and also the CAMHS workshops that you will have no doubt seen the invitations too already. Alongside the CAMHS workshop is also a Government led Green Paper on CAMHS services that I will share with you next week.

Thank you to you all for your continued support of our forum.

Jayne Stevens (Participation Co-ordinator)”

Come and join us at our Family Groups...

Wednesday 17th January 2018: Your Voice + Family Resources from 9.30am-11.30am at Hollinswood Community Centre, 7 Downemead, Telford, TF3 2EW. 

Friday 26th January 2018: Your Voice + Family Resources from 9.30am-11.30am at Dawley Town Hall (opposite Langley School/CAMHS) New Street, Dawley, Telford, TF4 3JR.

Monday 29th January 2018: Your Voice + Family Resources from 5pm-7pm at Pirates & Princesses, Unit 17, Cedar Court, Halesfield 17, Telford, TF7 4PF.  

Monday 5th February 2018: Your Voice + Family Resources from 10am-12pm at Admaston House, Admaston, Telford, TF5 0BN.

Thank you for reading our latest bulletin.

Kerrie Seagrave

Project Administrator on behalf of PODS Parent Carer Forum.

We hope you enjoyed reading our latest e-bulletin - we hope you continue to find it useful. If you have any suggestions to make it better feel free to let me know.