LPCF Achievements

LPCF Wellbeing sessions

January 2022 - March 2022

A series of "virtual" Wellbeing sessions with Nicole from Hummingbird Hypnotherapy.

After the success of our last series of Hypnotherapy sessions with Nicole, members of LPCF were excited to start on the next series.

LPCF Members were given the opportunity to attend these FREE sessions taking place during the evening.

Five fortnightly sessions were held covering topics such as New year-same me but better!, Living with pain, Motivation, Becoming more aware and dealing with powerful emotions.

An evaluation form was completed by members so Trustees could monitor whether to add more sessions.
Due to the positive comments and success of the sessions more sessions are being held in 2022.(see events page for more details)

One member commented about the session on motivation "Another fab session on motivation. Lots to try, little steps, setting goals, Do you!!
Love Nicole's relaxed delivery and engaging nature.
Always fun sessions, made all the more fun by other parents sharing their stories. Thank you"

Another member commented "Much needed relaxation tonight!
Nicole made so much sense again, sometimes it takes someone else guiding your thought process to make things seem a lot more obvious. And as usual, lots to work on....Thank you".
Another member commented " Brilliant session with Nicole. Lots of useful strategies on becoming more aware.
Keep asking myself throughout the day - what do I need?
Measure on a scale of 1-10 and ask what can I do differently and take a small step towards it.
These sessions are so much fun, with a likeminded group of people wanting to learn strategies to improve their daily lives whilst also having fun. Reduces isolation - not sure why more parents aren't signing up as there is no cost to parents and they get the same information from Nicole that you would in a one to one session.Lovely to see a new parent there this week.

Special LPCF wellbeing page
LPCF have developed a private page on the website just for LPCF members who attend the Hypnotherapy sessions. On the page are the links to the sessions, Nicole's PowerPoints and some useful resources to keep members informed between sessions. We will also add recommendations and helpful articles and video.

More feedback is included in this report

Parents Voice

Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care, Covid- 19 etc.
In this edition we have thoughts from the chair about the Green paper, LPCF Week of SEND and the Local offer, plus parents views on:-

Hidden Disabilities

Workshops on childrens behaviour

EHC Plans

LPCF win award

Max Cards

Child anger & lost school time

Seeking groups for a child

Week of SEND follow up

Medical reasonable adjustments for surgery

Genetic testing

Private treatment funding

Holiday clubs in Lincoln area

Specialist footwear

Autism pathway

Physical therapists

Bromhead Charity

Plus much more
Also in this edition we have the details of our Local Offer Event- add the date to your diary now!

We have again used our "Feedback Friday" polls to gather more information from our closed parents only Facebook page. This simple polling system means that more people can give us their feedback.

The January to March 2022 report can be found here.
For other Parents Voice reports please have a look in our extensive library or check back through our Achievements pages or our library page.

Chance to talk to Indra Morris

(Director General for families at the DFE)

LPCF are proud to announce that we were invited by the Local Authority to talk to Indra Morris the Director General for families at the Department for Education to discuss the transformation in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Sector.

LPCF were able to showcase the positive work around SEND and LPCF volunteers were invited to talk about parents experiences on the ground.

LPCF feedback the challenges that parents of children with SEND face through the evidence gathered from the membership and also gave examples where co production led to better outcomes for everyone.

St Peter at Gowts Primary school also hosted a visit to their school.

Promoting positive behaviour

January/February 2022

In partnership with LPCF, Chris from Aspens delivered two workshops for parents and professionals about promoting positive behaviour.
This subject had been identified by parents on our membership as an area that they would like workshops on especially over the challenging year of Covid-19.

During both of the two hour workshops Chris covered:-

• Common Causes
• Behaviour as a form of communication and how to establish what they are saying
• High Levels of anxiety & behaviours of concern
• What are behaviours and behaviours of concern
• Putting a plan in place and how to help

The interactive sessions gave attendees a chance to ask about the difficulties they were experiencing and gain some useful strategies and techniques to explore after the workshop.

One parent commented "This is the best training course I have ever been on. The most relevant to my family and for once I didn't feel so on my own with my kids behaviour. Some of their tips and advice was very useful".

LPCF

24th January -29th January 2022

A successful second virtual "week of SEND" was held by the LPCF team.
The aim of the event was to provide as much information as possible on as many subjects as possible during the week and also to give organisations the chance to showcase the enormous amount of support available in Lincolnshire.

The sessions were held all day, during the evening and at the weekend to ensure that as much flexibility for attendance was given to parents and professionals.

There were 26 sessions in total, including 68 organisations who showcased their offers of support in 10 minute slots or presented in one of the sixteen interactive workshops held during the week.


Participants were asked to complete an evaluation to provide feedback to LPCF about the event, which has been collated in the report herewith for your information.

LPCF would like to thank the 500+ people who attended throughout the week and everyone who was involved in making the event a success. We couldn't have done it without you.
Roll on January 2023!

Reaccreditation of Carers Quality Award

LPCF are proud to announce that we have been re accredited with the Carers Quality Award.


Assessor Every One

Well Done Team

Hypnotherapy with Nicole

September 2021 - December 2021

A fifth series of "virtual" Hypnotherapy sessions with Nicole from Hummingbird Hypnotherapy.

After the success of our fourth series of Hypnotherapy sessions with Nicole, members of LPCF were excited to start on the fifth series.

LPCF Members were given the opportunity to attend these FREE sessions taking place during the evening.

Eight fortnightly sessions were held covering topics such as "Dealing with Change", Sleep, Body Confidence and being kind to ourselves, to name but a few.

An evaluation form was completed by members so Trustees could monitor whether to add more sessions.
Due to the positive comments and success of the sessions more sessions are being held in 2022.(see events page for more details)

One member commented about the session on dealing with change "I found this session based on dealing with change very interesting. I often find myself thinking about my 'stress bucket' and how to eliminate things in it to feel more relaxed".

Another member commented "Wow what a lot of information on sleep. Lots of reasons why parents don't sleep and lots of ideas and strategies to help. Also highlighted the fact that some people are morning people and some people are night owls.
Going to think about the 3 p's and think more positively. Thank you for an interesting thought provoking session".
Another member commented "So - regardless of my denial - I am a control freak! I can see how my daughter tries to control situations to feel safe, but never considered that I was doing the same a lot of the time, especially in situations where I am trying to prevent her from feeling anxious or having a meltdown. It's given me a bit to think about"

Special LPCF wellbeing page
LPCF have developed a private page on the website just for LPCF members who attend the Hypnotherapy sessions. On the page are the links to the sessions, Nicole's PowerPoints and someuseful resources to keep members going between sessions. We will also add recommendations and helpful articles and video.

More feedback is included in this report

Parents Voice

Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care, Covid- 19 etc.
In this edition we have Winners of the LPCF Excellence awards plus parents views on:-

St Lawrence School – Horncastle

Feeling low

Boston Endeavour & St Bernards school

Gymnastics groups in Bourne

Swimming classes – Boston

Inclusive football clubs

Specialist nursery provision

Christmas Burnout

Plus much more
Also in this edition we have the details of our 2022 Week of SEND - add the dates to your 2022 diary now!

We have again used our "Feedback Friday" polls to gather more information from our closed parents only Facebook page. This simple polling system means that more people can give us their feedback.

The October to December report for 2021 can be found here.
For other Parents Voice reports please have a look in our extensive library or check back through our Achievements pages or our library page.

Excellence Award Winners

July to December 21

Congratulations to Tattershall Farm Park & Stickney Primary school who came joint first place in the LPCF Excellence awards.
Anwick Garden Centre were also awarded a commendable 3rd place as voted on by the LPCF Trustees and Volunteers

Nomination details were as follows:
Tattershall Farm Park
Tattershall farm park is my nomination for excellence award. They have kind caring staff who go the extra mile and always talk to my son when he asks lots of questions about past and present animals.

Also when my son had an accident and cut his foot, they couldn't have been more helpful and apologetic. One lady even got up on the back of Bella the cow to make my son laugh whilst he was having his cut seen to to distract him.

Such a wonderful place and lovely staff!

Stickney Primary School
I would like to nominate my son's school - Stickney Primary school - for an SEN hero award. He started last year in the pre school and transitioned to the primary school in September 2021.

My son has many, varying SEN needs and a disability and they have taken everything in their stride. They have asked for additional support from the visual impairment team so they can properly identify and support his needs. They have accepted all help from outside services like physio and OT with their normal cheery disposition.

My son has excelled since starting at Stickney. He is included in every activity; they strive to make everything accessible to him. Every member of the team makes him feel so valued and loved. He absolutely loves school and that is because of the tremendous effort the whole team have gone to, to ensure his needs are met. We have never let his needs prevent him from achieving anything and the school wholeheartedly support that ethos.

I wanted to nominate them for this award to show them how grateful I am that they have made my son so comfortable and embraced him fully with open arms. I wanted their hard work and dedication to supporting my son and all the other children with SEND to be recognised.

Well done to all nominations for going above and beyond for families of children with SEND. For full details of all the listings click on the blue link and scroll down to July-Dec nominations

Heroes of 2021: Coralie Cross, Lincs Parent Carer Forum

Nominated by Leo Jones Director of Impower

'Heroes of 2021' is IMPOWER’s annual end of year celebration, acknowledging the fantastic individuals and teams we have worked with this year. We are inspired by the passion and commitment of all our partners to deliver better outcomes for their citizens, but IMPOWER colleagues have nominated clients who have particularly stood out to them this year.
Coralie is Chair of the Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum (LPCF), and the parent of a child with a disability. We have worked with Coralie since early 2019, and she has been a huge positive force for change in the special education needs and disabilities (SEND) system in Lincolnshire.

Decision making around High Needs is often emotive, and can be confusing for parents who are trying to navigate the system and get the best possible support for their children. Having the support of other parents is essential, and this is why Parent Carer Forums are so important. Lincolnshire County Council and the Parent Carer Forum have a fantastic working relationship, and this helps to ensure that parents are genuinely involved in the planning of services in the county.

The relationship between local authorities and parents and carers can often become strained, particularly when changes to services are needed. Coralie has worked hard to build and maintain that relationship, and gives up so much of her time to represent the views of her fellow parents and carers tirelessly and effectively. Working alongside a capable and engaged team of volunteers at LPCF, she has ensured that parents and carers have a voice in every decision that is made in the county about support for children with SEND. This has meant that changes and improvements have not only demonstrably had impact, but have been shaped and owned by parents themselves.

We have appreciated Coralie’s advice and support throughout our work in Lincolnshire, and we know that parents in the county are lucky to have her representing them – she is truly one of our Heroes of 2021.
For the link to the webpage click here.
For more details of the work around transforming SEND in Lincolnshire click here