What is a Parent Carer Forum?
“We are the independent voice of SEND families, representing their experiences with the aim to improve day-to-day lives."
A Parent Carer Forum is a formal group of parent carers of children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who work with local authorities, education settings, health providers and other providers to make sure that the services they commission, plan and deliver meet the needs of SEND children and families in their area.
Parent carers can join their local forums by signing up to become a member and then getting involved. Parent Carer Forums are required in every local authority area and there are 152 Parent Carer Forums across the country make up the National Network of Parent Carer Forums ( www.nnpcf.org.uk), which means that we are able to ensure that the voices of parent carers in Wokingham reach decision-makers in national government. Forums do not campaign.
You can find out more about Parent Carer Forums and what they do by watching this video: You Tube: What is a Parent Carer Forum and what do they do
Meet the Team
SEND Voices Wokingham have a small team of dedicated staff, who are responsible for the day to day running of the charity. This includes working with the local authority, education settings, health and social care providers to make sure that the planning and provision of services for children & young people with SEND takes full account of parent carer views and experiences, so that those services can be effective, timely and the best use of resources. They also organise training, events, consultations, share information and signpost.
Sarah Clarke - Joint CEO
I am a mother of two, both of my children having a variety of SEN needs. The reason why I joined SEND Voices was to help improve the lives of those families who struggle with SEN. So many of us share the same common story of struggling to obtain the support our young people need. My aim is to improve those experiences for our families.
Sarah is also the CoChair of the NNPCF and the SE19 National NNPCF Representative
Terri Walsh – Joint CEO
I joined SEND Voices Wokingham at the end of 2014 to support the committee in all aspects of the work that the forum is involved with. I organise our events and training, send out information to parents, partner organisations and liaise with the Council and Health Services.
I have 3 children who have a collection of diagnoses, I hope to be able to help improve the lives of families in our area.
Debbie Jacobs - Participation Lead
SEND Voices Wokingham has always been my source of support and information as my children grew up. They guided and directed me to the best information and I attended many helpful courses they hosted. I shared everything I learned with as many families as I could in my own personal and school community but I found myself wanting to know more about where all this great info came from and how to help more families. After finding out SEND Voices Wokingham work extensively with WBC to coproduce many of the local SEN offerings and guide them on the views and needs of local parents. As participation Lead I hope to to help families in our borough to the get the best support and services they deserve. I love working with the team who as passionate as I am to get the best for all SEND children.
Jacky Mackenzie - Financial Officer
I found that most of the support and information locally was geared towards ASD as this is the conditions the majority of SEND children in this area have. However, I think it is important to have representation from as many different areas of SEND as possible. As a Mum to a child with Down Syndrome I feel I can be part of that wider representation.
I have joined the team so that I can share information and my family's experiences.
Our Trustees
SEND Voices Wokingham's work is overseen by a board of four trustees. They share legal responsibility for governing the charity and direct how it is managed and developed. Our Trustees have a diverse range of knowledge and skills, which ensures the charity is run efficiently.
Matthew Booth - Chair of Trustees
Lynn Boba - Trustee
I am Mum to one child with a variety of diagnoses. Like many families, we've faced struggles along the way so I joined the Board of Trustees as I wanted to be able to help others have an easier journey. I've found the coffee mornings, training sessions and AGM's really helpful and informative and hope others will too.
Tim Bharucha - Trustee
Jenny Hooper - Trustee
Parent Representatives & Parent Participation Group
Our Parent Reps and Participation Group get involved to represent the parent carer voice in meetings and work on specific projects or join focus groups to improve. Examples of where they help:
· SENDIASS Steering Group
· Strategy and policy feedback e.g. EOTAS Policy, Home to School Transpoty Policy
· to produce relevant information for families e.g. Short Breaks Statement
Get Your Voice Heard - Membership is FREE
As a member of SEND Voices Wokingham we offer you the following:
REPRESENTATION: The most important aspect of what we do is to ensure that your views are collected and shared anonymously with key representatives in health, education and social care in the Wokingham Borough, to help improve services now and shape provision in the future. So letting us know what your experiences are, good or bad, will help influence future services.
SUPPORT & TRAINING: We host training for parents to enable them to work better with professionals who provide services for their children and young people. SEND Voices Wokingham host SENDIASS training sessions on the EHCP Process, Annual Reviews, Preparing for Adulthood and SEN Support in Schools as well as running information events such as the annual Local Offer Live Day.
INFORMATION: We provide our members with information about relevant local and national services helping you have every opportunity to participate in the decision making process. Well-informed parents are then better placed to give opinions on the services that really matter to their families. We aslo provide information guides about SEND Services that are available locally.
Membership is FREE to parent carers living in the Wokingham Borough with a child or young person aged 0-25 with any Special Educational Needs or Disability. You will receive our email updates on our work, events, consultations and relevant information that may affect you and your family.
Please email:info@sendvoiceswokingham.org.uk with the following; your name, address, disability & year of birth of your child and we will add you to our list. You will then be amongst the first to hear about events, training, information and consultations we are running.
The more members we have the stronger our voice when we talk to the Council, Health or Education about the issues that are affecting your family.
