LPCF Achievements

Joint Local Area SEND Inspection

October saw the Joint Local Area SEND Inspection in Lincolnshire.
LPCF chaired a parent meeting where parents met with Inspectors to tell them about the services they are
receiving.
Volunteers also attended many meetings with Inspectors to discuss whether co-production is happening in
Lincolnshire.

Findings concluded:-

"The parent carer forum engages with parents and carers regularly to gain their views about the services in the local area. Over the last 18 months, the parent carer forum has contributed to the shaping and designing of services. They have supported parents to have a better understanding of how to apply for an EHC plan".

Building Communities of Specialist Provision:

A Collaborative Strategy for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Lincolnshire

6th November 2018

After being invited along with other partners to speak at Scrutiny about the proposals, a decision was made on 6th November that the strategy has been approved for implementation over the next 5 years.

As parents know we have been involved with the development of this strategy from the beginning and can reassure our members that we are and will continue to be fully involved both at strategic and workstream levels.

Please see our dedicated pages on our website for more details

Parents Voice Report

15th Oct 2018

Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care etc

This edition of our Parents Voice is again a large document demonstrating a wide range of feedback from parents.

Also a thought from our Chair thanking parents who gave up their time to represent the wider voice of parents in Lincolnshire during the recent Ofsted inspection.

Please see the report on the Library page of our website. The July - Sept report for 2018 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.

Signposting and Information Day

21st September 2018

LPCF hosted a Free Signposting and Information Event at “the Venue” in Navenby.

25 organisations attended providing a diverse range of information and support for parent carers.

The following organisations kindly supported our event:-
Bid Services Lincolnshire, Buckles Solicitors, Carers First, Childrens Links, Community Dental Services, ESCO, Every-One, Family Fund, HealthWatch Lincolnshire, Home from Home Care, Liaise, Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning groups(CCGS), LCC Promoting Employment Team/YPLP, LCC Transitions & Send Team, Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue, Lincolnshire Sensory Services, Linkage Community Trust, Nick Markham Travel, PAACT, Penderels Trust, Portland College, Ringrose Law, Ruskin Mill Trust, The Well Head Centre
And of Course LPCF!!

For a list of what each stand was offering please see the our listing

85 Parent carers and professionals attended the latest LPCF Signposting and Information event offering 24 information stands..

Parent Carers, Professionals and members of the public provided feedback at the event, which was according to one person “ the best event yet”

A special Thank you to Ringrose Law for supplying LPCF with lovely cupcakes!

Please see full report in our library for more details.

Volunteer Engagement Day

11th September 2018

LPCF held their third Volunteer/Trustee engagement day at the Supreme Inn, Bicker Bar, Boston on 11th September 2018.

A team of seven volunteers joined together for an update on priorities for LPCF for the forthcoming year.

Those attending learnt about the outcomes of the SENCo project LPCF have been involved in and the feedback from SENCos about their role. This included both positive & negative experiences and is captured in the September edition of our Parents Voice report.

Volunteers also took part in a discussion about volunteering for LPCF and highlighted the number of roles available to volunteers. Recruitment for new volunteers will begin in October and a new “welcome pack” was discussed.

The team were provided with an update on the proposed Strategy “Building Communities of Support” and a whistle stop tour of the admin area was given to volunteers to refresh their knowledge.

Discussions surrounding training available to parents and lunch concluded the day

SENCo Project

June - Sept 2018

The month of September saw the conclusion of our first project targeting SENCos in Pre- school settings.

Our aim was to raise awareness of LPCF amongst pre- school settings and reach more parents at an earlier stage in their parenting journey.

Feedback was also gathered during our visits, anonymised and fed back to service providers to help improve the provision of services to children with Disabilities/SEN.

Thanks to all those SENCo’s who took part in our first project.

We have been fortunate enough to secure grant funding for a second project so if you would like a visit from our Volunteer please contact us and we will arrange a FREE visit to your setting in the near future.

A visit from our volunteer can be used as evidence towards Ofsted as “working in partnership” with Lincolnshire’s Parent Carer Forum ( recognised by the DFE under the SEND COP (2015).

Please see the report on the Library page of our website.

Parents Voice Report

15th July 2018

Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care etc

This edition of our Parents Voice is again a large document demonstrating a wide range of feedback from parents.
It also included some feedback from LCC SEND Team in reply to the number of issues raised in the previous publication.

Also very interesting, for the first time, parents have commented on parents with some really positive feedback and some which is rather more challenging to parents about their role in the process around their child.

The April - June report for 2018 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

LPCF Volunteer Engagement Day

25th June 2018

LPCF held their second Volunteer/Trustee engagement day of the new year at the Supreme Inn, Bicker Bar, Boston on 25th June 2018.

A team of seven volunteers joined together for an update on priorities for LPCF for the forthcoming year.
Those attending learnt more about the new SENCo project LPCF have been trialling and the feedback from SENCos about their role.

They also took part in a discussion surrounding the results of the two LPCF surveys which have now been published and how they are going to address the findings.

The team were provided with an update on the proposed Strategy “Building Communities of Support” and training was provided on the new generic risk assessment form.

Discussions surrounding promoting participation and what representation means to LPCF concluded the day

LPCF Workshops on SEND Support and the EHC process

Presented by Liaise

15th June 2018

In conjunction with Liaise, LPCF offered their second in a series of workshops for parents at “Tonic Health” in Spalding.

A team from Liaise, specifically developed the training for parents at the request of LPCF, who have been told by parents that they need more knowledge and support to navigate the maze of SEN provision. (watch our website "events" for more workshops on SEND support in the Autumn/Winter 18)

Training was delivered in an informal , fun way but gave an overview of SEN support in schools, the EHC process with timelines and answers to many questions that parents brought with them.

Parents evaluated the events and learning very positively.

They told us "Brilliant presentations by the Liaise team giving us lots of information. It has empowered me to support my child. More of these needed.” Report

During lunch, a buffet with “Carols” homemade cakes, parents who had booked, were given a valuable opportunity of a one to one appointment with a team member of Liaise to discuss their own personal issues.

LPCF SEND Survey for parents and SENCo

Results

Jan-May 2018

Many of you took part in our 2018 survey and the results have now been published and are available on the library page of our website.

A big thank you to parents who completed the survey and for giving us their views on the services their families receive.

The winner of our £20 prize was Georgina Flaherty….. Congratulations.

A big thank you also goes to the SENCos who took time out to complete the survey.

Don’t forget school may wish to use your participation as evidence, to Ofsted of your establishments engagement with parent carers of SEND students.

Continuing Involvement in the HUB meetings

In January 2018 LPCF were invited by the Local Authority to take part in the weekly panel that decides whether a child/ young person needs additional special educational provision to be set out in an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC). The weekly panel is known as the “Hub”.

The Department for Education provided funding for a 12 week project to trial our participation in these Hub meetings.

We are delighted to report that our attendance has been noted as a valuable part of the decision making process and the Local Authority have pledged their support in continuing with our attendance. Our participation has enabled us to see first- hand that the process is transparent and that the decisions are made based on evidence provided by the services involved in assessing and preparing the EHC needs assessment outline i.e. the EHC plan submission.

Each case is reviewed by Education (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Manager), Educational Psychologist, ESCO (Early Help Care Co-ordination), Health, Social Care, Early Years, school SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) and a parent carer forum representative.

Our representative has been specifically chosen for this role due to having expertise in the field of Special Educational Needs, as well as being a parent carer.

The process is highly confidential and our representative has to adhere to very strict protocols and Data Protection regulations

SENCo Project

Jun-Sep 2018

The month of May saw the launch of our new project targeting education settings, especially pre schools.

We are trying to reach more parents at an earlier stage in their parenting journey.

If you are a SENCo / Headteacher and would like a visit from one of our volunteers please use the contact details on our website.

AGM

5th June 2018

LPCF held its AGM where the 2017-18 Annual Report and Accounts were presented. Annual Report - Accounts

Volunteers and Trustees were thanked for the amount of volunteer time given during the year.

3062 volunteer hours given to our forum last year.
269 meetings attended by our volunteers
17724 miles travelled annually to get to meetings etc. (monitored between Jan and March)
Trustees were elected for the forthcoming year.

LPCF Workshops on SEND Support and the EHC process

(presented by Liaise)

18th May 2018

In conjunction with Liaise, LPCF offered their first in a series of workshops for parents at “The Venue” in Navenby.

A team from Liaise, specifically developed the training for parents at the request of LPCF, who have been told by parents that they need more knowledge and support to navigate the maze of SEN provision. Training was delivered in an informal , fun way but gave an overview of SEN support in schools, the EHC process with timelines and answers to many questions that parents brought with them.

Parents evaluated the events and learning very positively.
They told us “Really informative workshop. I would definitely recommend to others. Plenty of useful advice to help in the future.” Report -

During lunch, a buffet with “Carols” homemade cakes, parents who had booked, were given a valuable opportunity of a one to one appointment with a team member of liaise to discuss their own personal issues.

Parents Voice Report

22nd April 2018

Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care etc

This edition of our Parents Voice has been one of our biggest with a large and wide ranging array of comments and views from parents.

We have adapted the PV to a new layout which should help people be able to find information on a subject of interest and see where people are commenting.

One new feature introduced with a parent providing a full personal account of her life bringing up a SEND child, demonstrating the trials tribulations and the constant struggles with systems, services and life.

The January - March report for 2018 can be found here
For other Parents Voice reports please have a look in our extensive library or check back through our Achievements pages

Volunteer Engagement Day

27th March 2018

LPCF held their fourth Volunteer/ Trustee engagement Day at the Supreme Inn, Bicker Bar, Boston on 27th March 2018

Eight enthusiastic volunteers attended to learn more about the Charities priorities during the next few months

and gain an insight into the new projects we have been involved in.

The team were introduced to the new experimental mapping of services sheets which it is hoped can be used to demonstrate the impact on parents of the constant need for information to be shared and provided repeatedly to a multitude of services.

Training was given to volunteers on the new data protection rules and how this relates to our membership.

Useful hints and tips were given to volunteers about presenting a Powerpoint

Signposting and Information Day

24th January 2018

On 24th January 2018 LPCF hosted a Free Signposting and Information Event at the Stanhope Hall in Horncastle.

31 organisations attended providing a diverse range of information and support for parent carers.
The following organisations kindly supported our event:-

Bid Services Lincolnshire, Buckles Solicitors, Children with Disabilities Team, Children's Links,
Community Links, Core Assets, County Care, Independent Living, Family Fund, FocusAbility Support & Care Services, Glasshouse Farm, HealthWatch Lincolnshire, Home from Home Care, Homestart Lincolnshire, Imps in the Community, Independent Travel Training, Liaise, LCC Promoting Employment Team/YPLP,LCC Transitions & Send Team, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Recovery College, Linkage Community Trust, Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning groups(CCGS), Lincolnshire Sensory Services,PAACT, Pelican Trust, Penderels Trust, Ringrose Solicitors,The National Deaf Children’s Society,The Well Head Centre, The Working Together Team, Your Day Your Say
AND of COURSE LPCF !!!

Over 100 parent carers and professionals attended the Signposting and Information event.

Parent Carers, Professionals and some members of the public provided feedback at the event which appear to be well received and useful.

Please see full report in our library for more details.

Parents Voice Report

3rd January 2018

Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHCs, Leisure, Social Care etc

People often ask why we are constantly looking for parent engagement and feedback.

Firstly have a read of what outcomes have been achieved as a result of feedback we have gathered. Then ask yourself, how would that been achieved if Lincs PCF were not meeting service providers and key decision makers in power to put across parent carers views.

The October - December report for 2017 can be found here

For other Parents Voice reports please have a look in our extensive library or check back through our Achievements pages.