Category: NNPCF Steering Group

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NNPCF NNPCF Steering Group

London region update

Ros Luff is one of the NNPCF regional representatives for the London region, and has now served nearly 4 years and has completed her first term in office. 

In line with our policies and procedures, we now have an opportunity to re-tender her position. Ros would like to continue in her role, and we need to follow our recruitment process and Ros will need to reapply for the role. 

If you would like to find out more and represent your region and contribute to the national work of the NNPCF, which will include working with the Department for Education, the NHS, and Ofsted (as well as many others) , please download this SG member job description.

The timetable for the recruitment process is outlined below: 

Thursday 30 November is the deadline for applications 

Week starting 4 December, the interviews will take place with a member of the NNPCF steering group and representatives from the London region. 

Monday 11 December there will be an announcement of the successful candidate. 

Anyone who is an active member of a parent carer forum in the London region can apply. 

Applicants must also have the support of their local forum.  

To apply, please email admin@nnpcf.org.uk for an application form.

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NNPCF NNPCF Steering Group

South East update

Sarah Clarke, the South East regional representative and steering group member for the NNPCF, has now served nearly 4 years and has completed her first term in office. 

In line with our policies and procedures, we now have an opportunity to re-tender her position. Sarah would like to continue in her role, and we need to follow our recruitment process and Sarah will need to reapply for the role. 

If you would like to find out more and represent your region and contribute to the national work of the NNPCF, which will include working with the Department for Education, the NHS, and Ofsted (as well as many others) , please download this SG member job description.

The timetable for the recruitment process is outlined below: 

Thursday 30 November is the deadline for applications 

Week starting 4 December, the interviews will take place with a member of the NNPCF steering group and representatives from the South East region. 

Monday 11 December there will be an announcement of the successful candidate. 

Anyone who is an active member of a parent carer forum in the South East can apply. 

Applicants must also have the support of their local forum.  

To apply, please email admin@nnpcf.org.uk for an application form.

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NNPCF NNPCF Steering Group

New Steering Group member for the East of England

We would like to welcome Jo Harrison, from Essex Family Forum to the East of England representative role.

On her appointment Jo said, ”I am excited to be joining the NNPCF steering Group, representing the eleven Parent Carer Forums of the East of England.

As well as working for my local PCF, Essex Family Forum, I have been lucky to be a national representative for the NNPCF working nationally and regionally for the last 3 years.  The East of England is a strong community and the passion from the regional PCFs  to ensure the voices of parents and carers are heard, never ceases to amaze me! 

I am excited to continue to work closely with them, building on the solid foundations we have as a region, which is largely in part to Mrunal’s commitment. 

As a mum of two amazing girls who are neurodiverse, I am hoping that my experiences will continue to ensure I can understand, empathise, and provide a strong voice for the region. I have big shoes to fill, but I am excited to take on the challenge and I am lucky to have such a supportive team and region behind me.”

We would like to thank Mrunal for all his hard work and commitment to the East of England regional representative role.

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NNPCF NNPCF Steering Group

New NNPCF Co-Chair

Sarah Clarke new NNPCF co-chair

Sarah Clarke appointed NNPCF Co-Chair as Mrunal Sisodia steps down

We are delighted to announce that Sarah Clarke, steering group member for the South East, has been elected as NNPCF Co-Chair by the board at a meeting on Tuesday 25 April. Sarah has served on the steering group for the last three years.

This means that after seven years our co chair, Mrunal Sisodia is stepping down from his role as NNPCF Co-Chair and East of England Steering Group member. Mrunal has been on the steering group since July 2016 and has served two full terms. He will be stepping own from both roles at the end of July.

Until then, he will be working with Sarah and Tina Emery, joint Co-Chair, to ensure a clear hand over of responsibilities.

The NNPCF will be contacting the East of England region to recruit a new regional steering group member later this week.

On her appointment Sarah said,

“It is a such an honour to have the opportunity to represent our families as the Co-Chair of the NNPCF.  Mrunal and Tina made an amazing team and I hope that Tina and I will have that same strength.  I am grateful that we have a network, of wonderful, committed parent carer forums, who never cease to inspire me with the work that they do.  The NNPCF also has a dedicated Steering Group and Management Team whose support for my appointment has been very touching and I can’t wait to get started.”

On stepping down Mrunal stated,

“I have very mixed feelings about stepping down from the NNPCF steering group. On one hand it has been such a pleasure and a privilege working with such a passionate, committed and positive group of people and second to being a dad, I suspect this will be the most important role I ever have. On the other hand, I know that after serving my two terms, seven years on the NNPCF steering group it is time for me to move on – the organisation will continue to grow and do even greater work without me.

On that note, I am so pleased that at yesterday’s NNPCF steering group meeting, we elected Sarah to take over the post of Co-Chair from August. I have worked with Sarah for the last three years and I have every confidence that she will move the NNPCF onwards building on the work done by all the steering group members and cochairs that have preceded her.

I will be working with Sarah and the NNPCF steering group and management team over the next three months to ensure a smooth handover and I know that I won’t be missed.”

Co-Chair Tina Emery added,

“I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Mrunal since 2017. He has inspired and taught the team loads over his tenure, offering his insights into the political world like no other.

Whilst he says he won’t be missed, he will.

When you take on the role of Co-Chair, you worry that you will leave the NNPCF in a worse place than where you started, Mrunal you need not have worried. I am in awe of what we have achieved together as a team, we now have a strong steering group and management teams and you were the driver of that change. We as an organisation are more independent than ever and we thank you for having that vision and drawing the team together to start that journey. We are definitely in a better place now.

Your new role in the East of England Ambulance service NHS Trust are really lucky to have your vision and your drive and we will wish you well.

I am really pleased that Sarah will be joining us as the new Co-Chair, she has experience in the steering group. Together with forums, Steering group and management team, we will strive forward with the coproduction message, working with partners across all agencies.”

We will be starting the process to replace Mrunal as the East of England steering group member ASAP.

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Department for Education Government Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing NNPCF NNPCF Steering Group NNPCF work

Meeting the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing

On Tuesday 10 January 2023, The NNPCF Steering Group (SG) met with the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Clare Coutinho, via Teams.

This was the first time the minister had met the SG and we wanted to inform her what we had been hearing from our forum membership.

It was an excellent opportunity to give an overview of the work that the SG has been involved in, what the challenges are to the SEND system, but also the good production work that has been happening.

We know that in order to make the change to the SEND system, it has to be done in coproduction.

We gave the minister a brief overview of the NNPCF, our membership and the number of forums that we have, their locations and how they are split into regions.

We then spoke to her about the top issues forums have been raising via our regional meetings.

The subjects included:

Access to community-based health services – including access to speech and language therapy (SALT), Autism and ADHD pathways and paediatricians.

Cost of living – how this affects parent carers differently. Not being able to work more hours due to caring responsibilities, the need to use electricity for live saving equipment, the need to keep the heating on constantly as some of our children cannot move independently or regulate their temperatures.

SEN Support and EHCPs – this included the lack of reasonable adjustments in school that can lead to the rise of low attendance, and the need for EHCPs. EHCPs taking longer than the statutory 20 weeks and having to wait months for annual reviews to be completed.

We then talked about the coproduction examples we have in our annual report

In Cornwall they were the first year of the key work project that is now in it’s 3rd year. They have just completed their evaluation. There have been no negative responses to the evaluation. Parent carers, young people and practitioners agree, that the keyworker project is not only needed, its life changing. We have cases of families who are risk of being admitted into tier 4 beds and families who are at risk of going into crisis- this project has saved them. We have children and young people who could have gone into tier 4 beds who are now at university.

In Telford & Wrekin – PODS Parent Carer Forum identified a gap in provision for families whose child was awaiting an assessment on neurodevelopment pathways.  They worked together with Educational Psychologist (EP) team and ran support sessions (in person and online) for families to support them with ‘Challenges at Home’.  These were based on feedback from families via Annual Surveys.  The sessions covered support around anxiety, routines, behaviour and wider concerns within the family. Further evidence was identified, and they have also ran 1:1 sessions.  Funding was agreed for two years for the project and this was made available from health

In West Sussex they have established a relationship with Chichester University where they train teachers and SENCo’s. They regularly join sessions and talk through what good practice looks like and what parents carers have encountered. Bringing real life stories to the classroom has had a huge impact on the trainees. They have now been asked to do the same with trainee social workers too.

The session concluded with a discussion on the next steps for the green paper. There is concern, not just in the system, but with parent carers too about what happens next. There is much anticipation for the green paper response and there is concern.

The minister fully engaged with the conversations and reassured the SG that SEND was a priority for her, as was the green paper response.

We are in communication with her office, and hope that she will join us in person at our conference, in Bristol on 28 February.

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Contact NNPCF conference NNPCF Steering Group NNPCF work Parent Carer Forums

NNPCF and Contact Virtual Conference news

January 31, February 1 and February 2

Our joint virtual conference with Contact has now been finalised

The details and booking links can be found below:

Tuesday 31 January

10am – 10.30am Introduction to the virtual conference

Join your conference hosts Tina Emery and Mrunal Sisodia from the NNPCF and Carolyn Deveney from Contact as they introduce this year’s joint NNPCF and Contact conference.

They will provide an overview the presentations, workshops and coproduction opportunities over the next few days and provide a lead into the face to face conference in Bristol on the 28 February

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88112873094

11am – 12.30pm Coming together on inclusion

A chance to get together with peers to share what works and what might challenge us when it comes to Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). This session focuses on interactive discussion, space to engage, challenging our own biases, understanding who is around us, and finding our ‘blind spots’.

Contact is offering all forums EDI training this year as part of the core support offer at the DfE’s request. We hope that by the end of the year all forums will have participated in the training.

Numbers for this session will be restricted, however, the session will be run another five times during the next few months.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82239692261

1pm – 2pm Planning the recovery in children’s community services

The NNPCF has heard throughout the year of the challenges faced by families accessing community based services including SALT, ASD / ADHD services and paediatricians in the wake of the covid 19 pandemic.

NHS England has created a new recovery team to address these issues around children’s services who have agreed to speak to NNPCF membership about what NHS data is telling them and the steps they are exploring to tackle the problems.


There will also be an opportunity to coproduce the latest thinking on what the model for recovery might look like.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86311272683

7pm -8pm NNPCF AGM

Join the NNPCF steering group to help coproduce the business plan for the coming year and shape our longer term strategy.

This session will include:

  • Review the first six months of our operation as a Community Interest Company from October 2021 to March 2022
  • take a look at what has happened in the world of SEND since April 2022 and put it into the broader context of political turmoil, cost of living and the NHS.
  • coproduce our priorities for the coming year 2023-24 that will form the basis of our business plan and longer term strategy.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82863344182

Wednesday 1 February

10.30am – 11.30am IPSEA SEND law

IPSEA, the SEND legal support charity, will lead a session that outlines the major pieces of legislation that protect children and young people with SEND including the Children and Families Act, Equalities Act, Chronically Sick and Disabled persons Act. They will cover the tools that families (and forums) have at their disposal to seek redress if they have concerns.

IPSEA will also cover the services and support that they offer and how forums can seek further help and training.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84618605173

1pm 2.30 pm Delivering Better Value for SEND (DBVS)

This interactive session will provide an opportunity for parents and carers to understand the DBV programme, ask questions, and contribute to how it is set up for success. We will explore:

  • What the DBV in SEND programme is and how it sits alongside other DfE activities
  • The progress made and findings to date
  • How to best connect parent-carers into the work of the programme

See the following link to the local authorities participating in DBV – https://nnpcf.org.uk/2022/10/19/dfe-update-delivering-better-value-for-send-and-safety-valve/

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87686199480

Thursday 2 February

10am – 11.00 am Developing the Parent Carer Forum handbook with Contact

Last year, Contact asked what forums wanted in the new forum handbook – In this session they will share the survey results and discuss how to take things forward to develop a handbook that works for all parent carer forums

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84457866707

Booking is open for our face to face conference in Bristol.

Bristol Conference Update
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NNPCF NNPCF Steering Group NNPCF work

New Steering Group member for the North East

We would like to welcome Jilly Russell, from Cumbria PCF (SENDAC) to the North East representative role.

Of her appointment Jilly said ”I’m really excited and pleased to be joining the fantastic team already at NNPCF and glad to represent Cumbria and the North East as their steering group member.

We all got involved for the same reason and it is great to share that passion with a group of such lovely people! I’m excited to bring some fresh and exciting new ideas to the plate and hopefully my experiences over the past few years with my own two daughters will really support me in this new position.

I can’t wait to meet as many of you all as possible, whether it be in person or virtually and am always happy to speak to anyone who wants to reach out, my email inbox is always open!”

We would like to thank Jo Gilliland for all her hard work and commitment to the North East Regional Representative role. We all wish her the best of luck in her new role with NHSE in the North East.

Jo said ”I have enjoyed my time as the NNPCF SG Member representing the North East & Cumbria region.  We have made great strides in developing the region and have a great regional team, I wish Jilly the best of luck when she comes into role representing a fantastic group of 13 parent carer forums.  

I will be working across the NENC ICS in my new position and look forward to continuing to work in co-production with the PCF network.”

Jilly is currently shadowing Jo and will be in post fully in January.

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NNPCF Steering Group NNPCF work Parent Carer Forums

DfE Update – Delivering better value for SEND and Safety Valve

The NNPCF are engaged in many streams of work with the Department for Education.  

As well as the longer-term changes like the SEND Green Paper and Schools’ Bill, we have been emphasising the need for work that changes things here and now for SEND families – we cannot wait years for new legislation.  

One of the workstreams is the Delivering Better Value in SEND (DBVS) which looks at the local area, with a focus on what services the local authority is providing and where. It looks at how well the local authority are meeting the needs of the families and where the gaps are. It focuses on the inefficiencies within the local area systems and try to get the local area function better.  

In doing so, it will influence the high needs deficit, as often they are running at a high overspend, with very little outcome for the families that they money should be supporting. 

Guidance for this intervention work has been issued and can be seen here 

Safety Valve 

Safety Valve is dealing with the top 20 local authorities who have the highest deficit. Work on this has been ongoing since 2020-21. The programme supports local authorities through a process with financial and SEND expert advisers. Together, local authorities set out proposals to the Department for Education (DfE), setting out how quickly they will reform their services to run them sustainably. 

We do not sit on the board dealing with Safety Valve; however, we are receiving feedback from forums who are part of this programme, and it is very mixed messages of involvement. 

The DfE have released data on 14 out of the 20 local authorities, the data can be found here: https://bit.ly/3UTH7Q7 

Delivering Better Value for SEND 

DBVS is a programme designed to identify local and national opportunities to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. 

The programme is being led by Newton Europe and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) https://bit.ly/3SNsfku and those leading on it say that in order to achieve the fundamental objective of improving outcomes it must:

  • have the child and young person at the centre of what they do 
  • listen to the challenges from the perspective of those receiving support from the system 
  • collaborate with LA’s that border, service partners and children and their families 
  • funding is a challenge and should be considered throughout the planning 

The programme focuses on two key approaches.  

Firstly, the short-term help, can they identify sustainable changes in each local authority, that can drive high quality outcomes for children and young people with SEND. 

Secondly, building an objective evidence base. The data will be then used to inform future policy, as well as to build and show best practice that can be shared nationally and inform future national programmes. 

PCFs should be part of this work and if you know work has begun and you have not had a conversation with the DBVS team, speak to your local authority contact. If conversations still have not happened after doing so, please speak to your DfE advisor and your NNPCF regional representative. 

55 local authorities have been approached for this programme. The programme is working in waves and tranches.  

Each local authority area has been designated a wave and tranches have been designated as to what workstream the local authority will be starting. 

The programme for tranche one has begun, with tranche two starting February 2023 and tranche three starting August 2023 

The whole programme will end April 2024. 

The tranches are set out below: 

Tranche 1 are the following local authority’s: 

Kensington & Chelsea, Southampton, Solihull, Dudley, Somerset, Hampshire, Stockton – on- Tees, Doncaster, Oxfordshire, Brent, BCP, Cheshire East, Bracknell Forest, South Tyneside, Cumbria, Suffolk, Stockport, NE Lincs, Bristol and Leicestershire. 

Tranche 2 are the following local authority’s: 

Newham, Sefton, East Riding Yorks, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Enfield, Redcar & Cleveland, Middlesborough, Hackney, Reading, West Sussex, Worcestershire, Windsor & Maidenhead, Oldham, Rochdale, Kingston-u-Hull, Rutland, Havering, Tameside and Swindon 

Tranche 3 are the following local authority’s: 

Tower Hamlets, Warwickshire, Durham, Thurrock, West Berkshire, Halton, Lewisham, Sunderland, Wirral, Birmingham, St.Helens, N.Yorkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall and Central Bedfordshire. 

The work is set out in modules:  

Module 1 (baselines & forecasts) This is used to build a baseline and forecast.  

Module 2 (root cause diagnostics) is about diagnostics with detailed analysis, with cases being reviewed and deep dives. 

Module 3 (implementation planning) Ensuring that the LA can practically implement the suggested solutions to the root causes discovered in Module 2. 

Module 4 is titled transitions with an opportunity to apply for a grant at the end of the programme. This an opportunity for local authority’s to securing funding to deliver the plan. 

Each local authority should involve PCF’s and there will be a DBV Diagnostic set up pack available to you at the start of the conversations. This pack clearly sets out when each module will begin and end for you. 

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NNPCF NNPCF Steering Group Parent Carer Forums

New Steering Group member for London

We are pleased to announce that Claire Richmond from the Richmond parent carer forum has been appointed to replace outgoing NNPCF board member Fazilla Amide.

Claire has worked successfully to establish the Richmond forum after a difficult period over the last few years and brings experience of building relationships, reaching consensus, and working across other local London boroughs to the role. Her background as a musician highlights her attention to detail and working as a team.

Of her appointment Claire said, “I’m delighted to be offered this opportunity to work with the NNPCF to support the amazing work of Parent Carer Forums in the London region.   The strength, commitment and resilience of this network has been an inspiration to me during my 3 years of running a local forum and I’m looking forward to promoting those voices to inform policy and decision making at a national level”

NNPCF co-chairs Tina Emery and Mrunal Sisodia said, “We are delighted to be welcoming Claire to the NNPCF board. Her application, her interview and her references all highlighted the very obvious strengths that she will bring to the team, and we are confident that she will do an excellent job representing the London region.”

At the same time, we are incredibly sad to be saying goodbye to Fazilla Amide who steps down from her role as NNPCF board member for London to go onto devote more time to her family and her important role at NHSE.

Fazilla Amide said, ”It’s genuinely been an absolute honour to be part of the NNPCF at a local, regional and national level.  The national and regional teams are so passionate to move our agenda forwards, it’s reassuring we are in such good hands! We’ve been on such a long journey and in this new economic environment, the focus and dedication of all our forums and individual parent/carers members is needed, more so than ever before. So, it’s not goodbye but “see you in a different guise!” I will continue our work within the NHS to raise the profile, our challenges, as well as the collaborative, creative and solution-focused nature of parent carers. I would also call on the DfE and the DHSC to review the sustainability and funding model for forums which is very much needed. 

I wish you all the best and also welcome Claire to her new role; Claire, you will be fab!”

NNPCF cochairs Mrunal Sisodia and Tina Emery stated, “Fazilla has been instrumental in the development of the NNPCF over the last few years. Her stamp is on every aspect of the organisation – the challenge she brought, the clear thinking and most importantly the rock solid values of championing SEND families in everything we do. This is without mentioning Fazilla’s professional skills which were so important as set up as a community interest company. She will be sorely missed but she goes with our best wishes and pride in another NNPCF alumni taking an important role in the world of SEND.”

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Bills and legislations Department for Education NNPCF Steering Group white paper

NNPCF Meeting with DfE Schools White Paper Team

Last week, members of the NNPCF steering group and management team met with officials from the Department for Education working on the Schools White Paper.

The DfE team covered the main tenants of the Bill outlined here Schools Bill: policy statements – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Key amongst these are the ambitions laid out in the Bill and the four strategies that underpin the legislation focussed on teaching, standards, targeted support and changes to the schools’ system.

The NNPCF are very concerned about the headline provisions in the bill around attainment, attendance and behaviour. When crude and simplistic approaches are taken, these are areas that can challenge children and young people with SEND. The overarching messages surrounding the Schools’ Bill are very troubling for our membership.

However, within the detailed provisions, there are many measures that we welcome and have been asking for over many years such as promoting an enriched curriculum and access to specialist support. But these more positive messages have been lost in the detail. The headlines around attainment, attendance and behaviour are dominating the agenda and we believe will come to overshadow the implementation of the Bill unless corrected.

The headlines from the Schools’ Bill are very concerning

The NNPCF expressed significant concerns to the DfE on some of the messages being promoted about the proposals, most notably:

Attainment

The White Paper lays out ambitions for attainment at key stage 2 (90% of learners to reach the expected standard in English and Maths) and key stage 4 (a rise in the average GSCE grade for English and Maths from 4.5 to 5). The NNPCF have several concerns with this approach

  • There is a danger that these “ambitions” for the whole system very rapidly become “targets” or “benchmarks” for schools, multi-academy trusts and local authorities. The DfE team took great lengths to emphasise that individual schools, trusts or local authorities will not be held to account for reaching these targets and Ofsted have confirmed that this will not form a part of their inspections. However, the NNPCF believes that these will become de facto measures of success and further incentivise schools to be less inclusive.
  • The focus on academic attainment devalues the more holistic success of many children and young people with SEND. We urged the DfE to look to broader, more individual measures of progress beyond grades.

Behaviour and Attendance

The legislation calls for a “relentless focus on behaviour and attendance”. Again, this poses significant risks for the SEND community:

  • This fails to take into account the underlying causes of behavioural concerns and lower attendance for children and young people with SEND. Unmet needs, blanket policies and emotionally or anxiety based issues are increasing in the SEND community and taking a harder line on behaviour and attendance will entrench existing concerns and cause further issues. Please see our recent post in response to the Attendance Audit by the Children’s Commissioner Children’s Commissioner’s Attendance Audit – National Network of Parent Carer Forums C.I.C (nnpcf.org.uk)

The regulatory system

The schools Bill proposes changes to the regulatory system for multi-academy trusts – namely a shake-up of the regional schools’ commissioners into new regional Educational Directorates with increased powers and the rationalisation of schools regulation into a single common rule book for academies.

  • However, there remains much ambiguity between the role and accountability of individual schools, multi-academy trusts, regional DfE directorates and local authorities. This lack of clarity carries significant risks for the most vulnerable children including those with SEND who may fall through the cracks (as many do now). You can find more on our concerns here The SEND Green Paper: NNPCF briefing – National Network of Parent Carer Forums C.I.C

However, there are some more positive details that we welcome

  • Most importantly, a strong multi-academy trust is defined as one that provides “high quality and inclusive education.” From the outset, we are pleased that there is a recognition that goods schools are inclusive schools.
  • The Bill contains measures for a diverse and enriched curriculum which will benefit many children with SEND in a way that a narrow academically based curriculum limits them.
  • Provisions on mental health and pastoral support are included which are so important to enable many children with SEND to flourish.
  • There are specific requirements on targeted support that is holistic covering academic, pastoral and specialist interventions (or a combination) where needed
  • Increased powers for a local authority to admit a pupil to a specific school
  • Greater controls on cases where pupils are moved between schools

The DfE will be launching a review into the new regulatory system proposed and a consultation into the new statutory pupil movement framework. The DfE agreed to engage with the NNPCF on both these activities.