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PODS Parent Carer Forum Spring 2025 Update
I am pleased to be able to share with you an update from PODS Parent Carer Forum. I will share these updates with you on a regular basis. There is lots of information in here for a wide range of ages, but please look under each heading where there is a link to more information.
What is your local Parent Carer Forum?
“Parent Carer Forums are representative local groups of parents and carers of children and young people with disabilities who work alongside local authorities, education, health and other service providers to ensure the services they plan, commission, deliver and monitor meet the needs of children and families”. Para 1.13 SEND Code of Practice 2015
Jayne Stevens, Strategic Leads is responsible for the Parent Carer Forum and direct contact details are as follows:
jayne@podstelford.org / 0777 534 2092
Website Update
Our website is undergoing a refresh with some key information – please check out these pages:
Forum role & key themes: https://www.podstelford.org/forum/about-the-forum/
Parent Reps: We are delighted to welcome a new ‘Parent Rep’ Sian to the team of volunteer parent reps who help support our forum work around Telford & Wrekin. You can find out more about all our wonderful Parent Reps, who all have a key role to play in the collating and sharing of experiences across a wide range of services:
https://www.podstelford.org/forum/parent-reps-2/
Activities: To keep up to date with activities, information and opportunities to get involved check out our ‘activities’ calendar, including our Challenges at Home support sessions for families on the Neurodevelopment pathways:
https://www.podstelford.org/activities-workshops/calendar-of-events/
Last Year in Review (shared in printed newsletter)
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Supported Living Survey – Have Your Say
We want to hear from parents and carers of young people and adults (age 14 and over) about supported living and independence.
Your views will help shape Telford’s new Specialist and Supported Accommodation Strategy. The current plan ends this year.
This survey is run by PODS Parent Carer Forum, working with other local groups like Families of Learning-Disabled Telford. All answers are anonymous.
We may get in touch later to ask if you would like to take part in a workshop or share your story—this is optional.
What is a learning disability?
Mencap says it means someone has a reduced ability to understand or learn new things, and they may need help with daily life, like socialising or handling money.
Thank you for taking part. Your input really matters.
If you have any questions, please contact Jayne Stevens at PODS: jayne@podstelford.org
PINS (Partnership for Neurodiversity in Schools)
You will know that we have worked with twenty schools over the past year, and we will continue to do so as part of our legacy project that will focus on our ‘Working Together’ workstream.
“Current” schools are listed here – if you have any experience of how the PINS project has helped to make a differenced at your child’s school we are very interested to understand more about this or if you want to share your experiences in general - My contact details are at the end of this bulletin.
Donnington Wood CoE, Milbrook Primary, Newport Juniors, St Georges CoE, Holmer Lake Primary, Dawley CoE, Donnington Wood Infants and Nursery, St Matthews CofE, Tibberton Primary, Windmill Primary, St Patricks Catholic Primary, Lantern Academy, Muxton Primary, Shortwood Primary, Old Park Primary, St Mary's Catholic Primary, Woodlands Primary, John Randall, Wombridge Primary, Lightmoor Village Primary School
More information about the fifteen new schools that we will are planning to work with for the next 12 months will be shared very soon.
Transport
A parent carer transport workshop has been arranged for 28th April, and the information has been updated on Local Offer too. You need to email localoffer@telford.gov.uk to book a space.
Information has also been updated on the Local Offer now, using all the feedback you have shared with me.
Have a look: Travel Assistance
Conference Feedback
Thank you to everyone who attended our conference at the end of February. We’ve had lots of brilliant feedback, and we’ve pulled together the ‘wishes’ comments from families into reporting here:
Local Offer
We’ve been working with Telford & Wrekin Council to review the information on the Local Offer and wanted to share a few key highlights with you here:
“New to SEND”: extract “Finding out you or your child has special educational needs, or a disability can be an overwhelming and daunting time. It can be a whole new world of language, information and services and leave some feeling unsure of where to begin. On this page you will find essential pieces of information designed to guide you and provide reassurance for you and your family”
https://www.telfordsend.org.uk/info/9/new_to_send
“You Said, We Did”: We regularly share information and feedback based on what you are telling us, you can see responses here:
https://www.telfordsend.org.uk/info/1/home/11/you_said_we_did
Learning Disability
We continue to raise awareness of the lack of a Learning Disability pathway locally and discussions are ongoing. Information below is from Dept of Health and Social Care definition:
The Department of Health and Social Care defines a learning disability as “a significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information, to learn new skills (impaired intelligence) with a reduced ability to cope independently (impaired social functioning), which started before adulthood”.
The difference between learning disability and learning difficulty.
- A learning disability affects a person’s global learning and intellectual ability and requires ongoing support from others to enable the person to function in most aspects of day-to-day life.
- A learning difficulty affects one or more specific areas of learning; it does not affect the intellectual potential of the person. It can be overcome through changes to learning styles, the presentation of information, or giving people more time to understand and complete tasks.
If you want to contact us more about this workstream, please do so as we are looking to set up a specific experience group.
Kooth – Online Emotional and Mental Health Support for Young People
How Kooth and Qwell support SEND & Neurodivergent students:
Watch here: https://vimeo.com/1066919672
E Learning (external link): Sensory Processing E-learning Opportunity
This new e-learning introduces sensory processing: what it is and why it matters. It is delivered through the RISE (Research and Improvement for SEND Excellence) Programme, a contract funded by the DfE.
The course covers the following topics:
- Sensory systems and sensory processing differences
- Practical application of the theory and where to go for support
- Sensory environments
To view and complete the e-learning, please follow the instructions on this link. This course should take around 90 minutes to complete.
https://learning.research-improvement-send-excellence.org.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=389
E Learning (external link): Moving from Children to Adult Services
This e-learning has been developed to help people to think about Preparing for Adulthood for young people with additional needs. The course considers what needs to happen to ensure young people who move from receiving support from children’s services to receiving support from adult services do so in a thoughtful and supportive way.
There is an audio from a young person who shares her experiences as well as a video and several audio recordings from a parent carer.
This course should take you around 1 hour to complete, including making notes in your learning log that you can download through the course.
Contact info on Welfare Reforms
Contact, national Charity have pulled together a series of question and some information the Welfare Reforms announced in March. Full details of the Government’s plans are not yet available, so answers are based on information currently available.
NHS England Announcement
Extract “NHS England will be brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care to put an end to the duplication resulting from two organisations doing the same job in a system currently holding staff back from delivering for patients. By stripping back layers of red tape and bureaucracy, more resources will be put back into the front line rather than being spent on unnecessary admin”
Please see below more information and a statement from the National Network of Parent Carer Forums:
Announcement on NHS England being brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care – National Network of Parent Carer Forums C.I.C
Tell us more about local services here (chance to win £25!)
Please share your experiences here and you will be added into a prize draw to win £25 voucher that will be drawn quarterly. Use link below or the scan the QR Code.
https://forms.office.com/e/QmaTXwBbm8
Thank you for reading. Any questions or comments about any of these subjects can please be sent to Jayne Stevens, Strategic Lead: jayne@podstelford.org. 0777 534 2092.
Thank you and Best Regards
Jayne
Next time: Communication Boards, PINS Updates, Working Together Charter, Annual Survey ‘you said/we did’, Parent Carer Forum outreach groups.
Please note the above material is subject to copyright, please contact PODS before sharing any of the information in this PODS Ebulletin.
Thank you for reading our latest Ebulletin, please stay safe & well.
Kerrie Seagrave, Member Support Co-ordinator
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.
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