SENDIASS Parent Carer Survey Report

As our training offer is new to HW SENDIASS we wanted to gather the views of parent carers of children with SEND within Herefordshire and Worcestershire on the training that would be of benefit to them. This survey focussed on the areas that people would value training in and how and when they would like it to be delivered. 

We have had over 100 responses from people across all areas of both counties. There were a range of responses regarding children’s SEN/disability within all age groups. Of these, most children attend a mainstream setting. 

Form of training 

We asked people how they would like training to be delivered. The options available were face to face, online sessions, webinars, or a blend of all three. Most people stated that they would like a blend of all three types of training session. So, this is how HW SENDIASS training will be delivered going forward.  

Timing

Time	Number of people
9.30am to midday	48
Midday to 3.00pm	32
4.00pm to 6.00pm	14
6.00pm to 8.00pm	57
Saturday 10.00am to midday	47

We asked people when they would like training sessions to be held. The options available are within the times stated in the table above. There was a range of responses across all time frames. So, this is how HW SENDIASS training will be delivered going forward. We will aim to provide training sessions at various times. The length of time for each course will vary and will be stated within the outline of the session. 

Training Topics

We asked people what type of training they would benefit from. The options available are within the table below. There was a range of responses across all options with the most popular responses being ‘What does a good Education Health Care Plan look like?’ and ‘Parental engagement with schools (including how to have an effective meeting)’.  HW SENDIASS will focus on delivering the most popular training sessions first but will cover all options over time. 

Topic	Number of people
Supporting children and young people to share their views	40
What is SEND?	18
SEN Support/Graduated Response	37
My child has been diagnosed, what now?	42
Parental engagement with schools (including how to have an effective meeting)	56
Support in school around medical conditions and/or disabilities	40
School exclusion	12
Elective Home Education/EOTAS	20
Early years	9
Moving from Early years to school	10
Moving from Primary to Secondary	25
Post 16 choices and help to prepare for adulthood	45
Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment	50
The family conversation	24
What does a good EHCP look like?	66
Annual review of an EHC plan	49
Mediation/solving a dispute	20
SEND Tribunal	24
Transport	18
Meet the professional	27

Comments 

We received several additional comments in the survey. Here are our responses to those.

Training for Professionals

Some respondents highlighted the need for SEND training for professionals.

Our training offer is available for free to all local education, health, and social care professionals as well as parent carers and young people. 

Challenging behaviour 

A few people requested training in managing challenging behaviour. 

Our training will refer to SEND law – we are not experts on parenting or particular conditions.

Training and support for managing challenging behaviour is provided by Positive Parenting in Herefordshire and the parenting support teams within the Starting Well Partnership in Worcestershire. Further information is available from The Challenging Behaviour Foundation.

Diagnosis Requirements

Some respondents expressed concern that training would only be available to parent carers of children and young people with a confirmed diagnosis. 

At HW SENDIASS our training offer is open to all. Our sessions will be available to all parent carers and there will be no requirement for evidence of diagnosis. 

Health Training

Suggestions were given for other training topics that we could cover. Many of these were related to specific conditions or therapies.

At HW SENDIASS our training will refer to SEND law – we are not health professionals or experts on particular conditions.

Training related to specific conditions can be found by visiting the websites of the relevant local and national charities. Links to these websites can be found in our A-Z of Support.

Training Videos 

Several people requested the option to be able to watch training sessions again online. 

Our face-to-face training sessions will not be recorded to ensure that they remain confidential. However, as we plan to offer a blended approach to training, all courses will also be available on our website as pre-recorded videos (webinar). Individuals attending training will also be sent PowerPoint slides after the event. 

Accessing training 

Concerns were raised that not everyone is able to attend or access training. 

We will ask people to inform us if they have any accessibility requirements prior to attending training. This will be done through our registration system. We will comply with these wherever possible. We will also make our training available in video or webinar form on our website to be accessed at any time. 

However, we acknowledge that our training offer will not suit everyone, and we encourage people to contact our advice line, to speak to one of our advisors if they require individual support. 

Training for other family members 

Some people requested training for other family care givers such as grandparents.

Our training is available for free to all carers. A carer is anyone who provides care or support for free to an individual who can’t manage without their help. This can include other family members such as grandparents. If you need any further support in your role as a carer, information can be found on the CarerLinks Herefordshire and Worcestershire Association of Carers websites.

Benefits Training

Suggestions were given for other training topics that we could cover. Some of these referred to benefits. 

Some of our training sessions may refer to benefits but we are not experts in this field. We aim to improve the information around benefits on our website, but more specific information can be found on the Citizens Advice website. To discuss specific circumstances individuals can contact Better Off Herefordshire, DIAL South Worcestershire or DIAL North Worcestershire. 

Our Young Person Advisors can help young people to share their views and complete forms.  

SEND Law

Many people expressed an interest in specific SEND Law training.

All HW SENDIASS training sessions will be based on, and refer frequently to, SEND law. Our sessions will focus on how best to use the information about the law to support children and young people. Anyone wishing to have more in depth knowledge and understanding of SEND law can find further training on the IPSEA website.  

Dealing with discrimination 

Dealing with discrimination was raised as a possible topic for training.

Dealing with discrimination will be covered in our ‘what is SEND?’ course referring to the Equality Act 2010. Further support and information can be found on the Equalities and Human Rights Commission Website.

Questions 

Some people requested the opportunity to ask questions in training sessions. It was also requested that we give people the option to submit questions in advance of training sessions. 

All of our sessions will be interactive and will include opportunities to ask questions. 

All of our courses will be coproduced with families and people will be able to send questions in advance. This will be through email to SENDIASSTraining@worcestershire.gov.uk

Choosing a school 

Choosing a school for a child with SEND was raised as a possible topic for training.

Choosing a school is a very personal decision, specific to the needs of the individual child. This topic is something that will be covered briefly in several of our training sessions, but further information can be found in our factsheet Choosing a school for a child with SEND (PDF). 

Sign Language Training

An interest was expressed in sign language training.

This is not something we can provide and so we will direct people wishing to learn Sign language, to other available courses. At the time of writing, courses are available at Herefordshire and Ludlow College and Heart of Worcestershire college

Mental Capacity Act (MCA)  

The Mental Capacity Act was raised as a possible topic for training.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 will be referred to in our ‘What is SEND?’ course. Anyone wishing to have more in depth knowledge and understanding of SEND law can find further training on the IPSEA website.  

Our Young Person Advisors can support young people to understand their rights. 

We encourage people to contact our advice line, to speak to one of our advisors if they require individual support.

Post 16 options and support

Post 16 options and support was raised as a possible topic for training.

We will be developing training around post 16 options and support. In the meantime, we have information in the Young People section of our website and our Young Person Advisors are available to support young people to understand the options available to them. 

Training Topics

Some people were unsure what some of the course titles, that we suggested in our survey, meant. 

We will provide detailed outlines of what each course will cover so that you can determine whether a course is relevant to you. If you are new to SEND, we recommend our ‘What is SEND?’ training session. 

Individual circumstances 

Some comments referred to individual circumstances.

If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances, please contact our SENDIASS advisors via our helpline or email. They provide free, impartial, and confidential information advice and support on all matters relating to children and young people with SEND. Our contact details can be found at the bottom of this page.