about us
WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO
We are a voluntary group of parent carers, all experts by experience, with a lived understanding of how challenging life can be raising a child with additional needs and / or disabilities.
Our aim is to gather the voices of Warwickshire parent carers and let these be heard to ensure that services meet the needs of our children and our families.
We do this by gathering views and experiences in a variety of ways to suit all circumstances. We then work in partnership with the local authority, education settings, health and other providers to highlight where local services and processes are working well or challenge when changes or improvements need to be made.
Although we are not a support group, we have lots of resources and information and our Facebook so you never need to feel like you are all alone.
We also provide training and signposting in the areas needed to provide information and empowerment to parent carers.
In a post Covid world we will be hosting events to give families an opportunity to come together. We will provide information, facilitate the sharing of stories and enable parent cares to support each other and create change.
Our Steering Group
Our Steering Group is made up of parent carers from across Warwickshire.
Elaine
Chair
Hello, I’m Elaine and I was excited to get involved as Chair of the new parent carer forum for Warwickshire as I have a passion for community development and making society a better place. I have four children aged 8-17 in mainstream schools, two with identified additional needs – one with an EHCP and the other on SEN support. In addition to being a parent carer, I work part time for a charity managing a community centre and am a trustee for a national charity.
Cathy
Hello everyone I’m Cathy and I’m mum to two neurodivergent teens (of all flavours!). It has been a tough few years, and I’m keen to bring about change so that others don’t have to go through what we did. I also run Autistic Girls Network charity, and am studying for a Masters in Autism in my ‘spare’ time.
Tricia
Hi I’m Tricia. I work in autism outreach, am a SEND Governor at a local Nursery, and have also been a local councillor for 7 years now. The reason I have volunteered to be part of the Steering Committee of WPCV is because I am passionate about ensuring parent carers have easier to navigate and supportive services, and that no family, or child is left behind.
Melissa
Hi I’m Melissa, volunteer Treasurer and love anything spreadsheets & data. I’ve volunteered to help ensure there is a mechanism for parent carer voices to be heard in the shaping of SEN services to be supportive and accessible to all.
Hayley
Hayley Williams-Hindle. Parent to 4 sons: ages 4-14, two are ASD and ADHD, as am I. I’m a coach, brain change practitioner, an artist (data visualisation) and researcher into autism and practical interventions to support ND wellbeing and co-founder of Siblings at the Same School movement (2012). Excited to be in the mix here – collaborating to shift into more productive, efficient and informed and compassionate connection with our children and young people.
About us
We are a voluntary group of parent carers, all experts by experience, with a lived understanding of how challenging life can be raising a child with additional needs and / or disabilities.
Our aim is to gather the voices of Warwickshire parent carers and let these be heard to ensure that services meet the needs of our children and our families.
Join Us
You can become a Member of Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice if you have a child age 0-25 with any Special Educational Need or Disability (whether they have a diagnosis or not) and you live in or access services for your child in Warwickshire.
OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR NUMBERS
Volunteer
We run almost entirely on volunteers, our Steering Group, our Parent Reps and those who help out at events or coffee mornings or with admin. We need you to help us build Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice into an organisation that can make a difference in shaping co-produced services, taking into account the needs and preferences of parent carers of children and young people with SEND.
Links & Support
Help us build this into the ultimate signposting resource so that the parent carers in Warwickshire can find all the information they need quickly.
What We've done
Find out what your Parent Carer Forum is up to and what’s been happening for families of children and young people with SEND in Warwickshire.
News & Events
Pilot SEND AREA Inspection
This briefing is to give parent carers a guide to what the pilot inspection is about and what will happen as part of this process. What is a SEND Inspection? Area SEND Inspections are jointly carried out by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who inspect...
Continence service
Hope the poo emojis catch your attention and make you smile but this is a serious request Following feedback received through our feedback form https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/WPCVGeneralFeedback/ we raised the issue of the lack of Continence Services for Children and...
SEND AND ALTERNATIVE PROVISION GREEN PAPER
We are working with Solihull Parent Carer Voice and Birmingham Parent Carer Forum to put on a session about the SEND Green Paper at 10am on Tuesday 14th June - if you want to know more, have any questions etc please do come along. To register please scan the QR code...
Carer’s Week
This week is Carer's Week and the theme is about making caring visible, valued and supported. So this is our 'big shout out' to all the parent carers in Warwickshire.
mileage rates
We are pleased to hear that following our enquiries into mileage rates paid to parents for home school transport the offer was increased to 45p per mile with effect from the start of the summer term, applied to everyone in receipt of travel payments.
Big Survey 2022 Results
Thank you to everyone who completed our survey - you can read the full findings in the attached report. Warwickshire-SEND-Survey-2022Download
Together with autism conference
We had a great time meeting parents at the Act for Autism Conference on Saturday. We asked parent carers what they wanted people to know about their autistic children and have gathered this in this graphic which we have shared with the commissioners.
Home School Transport
29th March 2022 10.30am-12pm Online (zoom) FREE Book here Find out more about your child's rights to home to school transport (including for post-16 and post-19)
SEND Survey
Our 2022 SEND Survey is now live. Local education, health and social care services work together to provide services for children and young people who have special education needs and / or disabilities (SEND) and their families. Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice wants...
SEND law for parent carers
We are really excited to be offering this IPSEA course for parents - scan the QR code to book your place.