Children and young people in Warwickshire are to benefit from a new educational project to improve autism support in schools.
Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice are working with Peopletoo to deliver the Autism in Schools project, funded by NHS England, that will help school communities work better together with pupils and families to meet the needs of neurodivergent pupils now and in the future.
This project will involve working together to co-produce training resources regarding identity, and also training packages for schools to help autistic pupils understand their identity. The project will explore people’s experiences and encourage schools to adapt their environments so that they are inclusive to all. The project is working with parents, carers, children and young people to strengthen relationships and the ways these groups work together to improve learning experiences for Autistic pupils.
The project is taking place jointly with Birmingham City Council, Coventry City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and will see eight schools involved from the four regions. In Warwickshire, the two participating schools are Kenilworth School and Sixth Form, and Kingsbury School.
Councillor Jeff Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families at Warwickshire County Council said: “I am pleased to see this collaborative working taking place in Warwickshire to improve support for autistic children and young people in secondary schools. This project has empowerment at its heart and will help these children and young people celebrate their amazing individual identities. I look forward to following the progress of the Autism in Schools project and understanding the impact it makes.”
Cathy Wassell, Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice said “Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice is pleased to have been involved in the Autism in Schools Project from the beginning, providing a neurodivergent voice in the co-production of the project. We will be helping to set up mini Parent Carer Forums in the participating schools, to enable schools and parents to have a better working relationship and setting the foundations for co-production in the future. We hope that the learning from this pilot will bring better understanding to schools which can then be cascaded out across the region.”
The project is set to run from November 2021 – July 2022.