Young people aged 12-25 years with SEND and parents and carers are invited to share their views to help shape the SEND Local Offer.
Young people aged 12-25 years with a special educational need and/or disability (SEND) and parents and carers are invited to a special event to have their say and help shape the information available to support families in Warwickshire.
The free event offers a unique opportunity for young people to learn about the SEND Local Offer, the importance of participation and to give direct feedback to help make information more easily accessible to them and their families. Parents and carers are also encouraged to attend, whether that be in support of their child or young person, or by themselves to share their own views.
Taking place on Tuesday 30 August, 10am to 3pm, in Leamington, the event has been organised by Warwickshire County Council in partnership with Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice and KIDS.
During the day, young people will be introduced to the Local Offer and will learn how they can get actively involved in matters that have an impact on their everyday lives. Interactive sessions will look in detail at the online Local Offer and help young people to identify what is important to them and encourage them to share their ideas for improvement. Following their initial discussions, young people will then be given the opportunity to share feedback and suggestions directly with Council officers.
Parents and carers are welcome to come along to support their young person for the whole day. They can also drop in at any time to have a chat with members of Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice, to find out more about the work they do to ensure the voices of parent carers are heard in Warwickshire.
Talking about the event, Cllr Kam Kaur, portfolio holder for Education at Warwickshire County Council said: “Participation is a key element of the Local Offer and supports young people to act, make their own decisions and advocate for themselves. This event is a fantastic opportunity for young people with SEND to find out how they can make a valuable contribution to help improve the support available to them and their families.
“We are committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND in Warwickshire and this event is another way that we hope to encourage more young people to engage with us and share what matters most to them. We'd like to hear from as many young people and parents and carers as possible to learn how we can improve our online Local Offer so I encourage everyone to come along and share their views.”
Tabatha Ayres, Young People Participation Coordinator, KIDS said: "This session has been developed to inform young people about their right to participate and engage them in the Local Offer. It will provide an opportunity for young people to share, and their voices be heard by senior staff from the Council.
“KIDS are facilitating this event with funding from the Department for Education’s ‘Making Participation Work’ project, having been partnered on national participation contracts for approaching a decade. We're really looking forward to helping Warwickshire on their participation journey and facilitating young people's voices to be heard at a strategic level."
The event takes place on Tuesday 30 August, 10am to 3pm at St. Paul’s Church, Leicester Street, Leamington Spa, CV32 4TE. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
The venue has ramped access and is all on one level and has accessible facilities. For help with any specific access needs please email samcraven@warwickshire.gov.uk.
Anyone who would like to attend for the day should register their attendance:
Parents and carers can register to attend the event here.
Young people can register to attend the event here.
Parents and carers not staying for lunch can drop in anytime between 10am and 3pm.
You can find more information about the Local Offer on the SEND webpages here. You can also keep up to date with the latest SEND Warwickshire news by following the Local Offer Facebook page and by signing up to the SEND Warwickshire newsletter.
Families can give feedback at any time about their experience of SEND services in Warwickshire, including their views on the Local Offer, using the Live Feedback Form.