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Early Years Inclusion Project – National Parent Board Induction Session

September 15, 2022 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Transforming Early Education for Children with SEND By Building Inclusion

With the support of Comic Relief funding, Dingley’s Promise are working with 30 local authorities (including Manchester) over 5 years to provide training support to Early Years staff to improve inclusive practice when working with children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).

Dingley’s Promise will ensure that throughout the Comic Relief Early Years Inclusion project, there is co-production with families and each local stakeholder group will be expected to include parent/carer representation. Representatives will be given support through an induction session and regular communication. Representatives will also be able to join a National Parent Board to help oversee and steer the project, as well as enabling representation at our National Steering Group.

This session on the 15th of September, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, will serve as the induction session for the National Parent Board. It will be an informal meeting to bring all of the parent representatives together (online via MS Teams), to share understanding of the parent/carer representative role and help shape it.

If you would like to get involved but can’t attend the induction session, please read on to learn about the different ways you can get involved.

Join the National Parent Board

How else can parents/carers get involved?

If you would like to get involved but can’t join the National Parent Board, there are other ways you can contribute:

  1. Answer a short, 2-3 minute survey to tell us what is working and what could be better in Manchester.
  2. Become a parent/carer representative in our local stakeholder group. Representatives will be given support through an induction session, resources, and regular communication. Please see below for more information.
  3. Tell your child’s Early Years setting (e.g., nursery, pre-school, childminder) about this project.

The role of parent/carer representative

We are committed to ensuring the voice of parents and carers are central in the design and delivery of this project. In order to achieve this, Dingley’s Promise has designed a supportive and rewarding role which involves:

  • Acting as a local area parent representative in our Manchester stakeholder group, which will meet twice in year one, and annually in subsequent years.
  • Collaboration with other parent/carer representatives across the country through participation in a Parent Board which will meet quarterly.
  • Representing the views of parents and carers on our national steering group which will meet twice a year.

All meetings will be held remotely and held at a time or day that suit the needs of our parents and carers.

We appreciate that the role entails both commitment and confidence. We are keen to support genuine engagement as well as (we hope) a great opportunity to part of positive change.

What Dingley’s Promise will offer: 

  • An informal induction meeting to bring all of our representatives together (online), to share understanding of the parent/carer representative role and help shape it.
  • Skilled and sensitive facilitation of all meetings to support participation.
  • A confidential Parent Board where honest feedback can be shared and agreed messages and actions taken forward.
  • Regular communication throughout the programme.
  • A highly skilled, experienced, knowledgeable and passionate team working with you throughout.
  • Representation at a national and international level in feeding back key learning and your challenges to decision makers whenever the opportunity arises.
  • A project which listens and will adapt as we inevitably learn more about you, your area, and what makes a difference to children and families.
  • A great opportunity for professional development in being part of an international project.

What you can offer:

  • That you are a parent/carer of a child or children with SEND (who are preferably under the age of 5 years), living within the LA area you will represent
  • Time to commit to the meetings (as far as anyone is able!).
  • The confidence and ability to share your experiences as a parent/carer of a child with SEND.
  • An objective and respectful approach to engaging in meetings.
  • A commitment to keeping open communication with us to keep us informed if your ability to take part changes.
  • A positive, can do, solution focus to help us deliver a brilliant project and improve outcomes for children and families.
Become a parent/carer representative
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Manchester Parent Carer Forum is a group of parents and carers of disabled children who work with Manchester Local Authorities, Education Settings, Health Providers and other providers to make sure the services they plan and deliver meet the needs of disabled children and young people (0-25 years), as well as their families, in Manchester.

We have a steering group of parent and carer volunteers who lead this work and listen to the views of other parents and carers in the local area to make sure they know what is important to them.

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