News for SEND Families - Co-production Special

Manchester City Council sent this bulletin at 05-07-2021 12:27 PM BST

Local Offer - www.manchester.gov.uk/sendlocaloffer

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It's National Co-production Week! In this special issue of the newsletter, find out how parent carers and young people are having a say in the city and how you can join them.

The Local Offer Team

Email: localoffer@manchester.gov.uk

0161 234 1946

Twitter: Manchester Local Offer @MCRLocalOffer

www.manchester.gov.uk/sendlocaloffer

Co-production Week 2021

National Co-production Week is back for a sixth year from 5th-9th July 2021. It shares good practice and celebrates the contribution of people who help to make services better. Find out What co-production is and how how to do it.

In March 2018, we came together with Manchester Parent Carer Forum (MPCF), Manchester Parent Champions and many others from health, education, social care and voluntary groups to co-produce the SEND Co-production Charter. This highlights our shared values and principles and is a commitment from us all to make sure co-production underpins everything we do.

Manchester City Council

Maureen Howell

SEND engagement & Young Carers Lead Children’s & Education Services

Manchester City Council

'Co-production Week is a great opportunity to stop and reflect on the importance of working in partnership with our children & young people with SEND and their families. The last 15 months have been extremely challenging for our families, yet in the midst of a worldwide pandemic they took the time to work with us and help us find different ways to deliver support.

The success of the summer 2020 community offer can entirely be attributed to the input from families who came forward with creative and innovative ideas and even helped us to deliver the offer. Never has there been a better example of the positive impact of working in co-production. Over 500 families accessed a wide range of free activities, many taking the opportunity to try new things.

This summer we hope even more families will access our SEND Community offer which once again has been co-produced and builds on listening to families’ experiences.'

Feedback from some of the families who took part in the free visits to the Sensory Rooms in Redbank House - see more here

Manchester Parent Champions

Geraldine Hills

Manchester Parent Champions

'Hello everyone, it’s Geraldine here, Manchester Parent Champion Rep! I just wanted to show off a bit because I am so proud of all the collaboration the Parent Champions have been doing with SEND services since lockdown.

Currently, some parent carers are working in partnership with the council to co-produce the Healthy Eating scheme. We have also been co-producing our Local Offer Newsletter with the SEND team to make sure parent carers/young people are kept up to date with what’s on.

Some of our parent carers have been working on a community garden project in partnership with the Whitworth Gallery, helping to create a space where we will be able to connect with others, build friendships, and stay healthy.

Of course, I’m hugely excited about the work we have been doing on the SEND Family Community Offer and Holiday Activity Scheme and the results of this will been seen across our parks and city this summer.

So you see, Manchester’s Local Offer is so much more than a website! It’s about communities, sharing information and supporting each other.'

Manchester Parent Carer Forum

'Since the launch of the SEND Co-production Charter back in 2018, Manchester has come quite a way towards building a co-productive culture across Education, Health, Social Care, and universal services across the city. Not only has the forum been actively involved in co-production at the strategic level with service leads, opportunities for other groups and for individual parents/carers to get involved in consultations, listening sessions and focus groups have been made available more and more over the past couple of years.

Over the past year, in particular, we have been involved in plenty of partnership work, even through the difficult times brought about by the pandemic. Indeed, this was recognised as good practice by Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) during their interim visit to Manchester back in March. This is all very promising, as SEND services can only truly be at their best when developed and regularly reviewed together with the people who use them - parents, carers, children and young people.

However, the work is not yet done! We highlight great work this Co-production Week with the hope that it will encourage more services to adapt their way of working and make partnership working business-as-usual. Of course, parent/carer involvement is vital to making this happen, so we encourage you all to get involved by joining events & meetings, answering the occasional surveys, and otherwise giving us feedback about local services by reaching out to us via email or social media.

Together, we can achieve better decisions and brighter futures for Manchester families. You can help make this happen.'

GMYN Changemakers

The Changemakers are a group of young people aged 16-25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who meet regularly to share their views and those of their peers, influence services for other young people, and make new friends. They are supported by Greater Manchester Youth Network in partnership with Manchester City Council as part of their youth leadership provision.

Despite a challenging year, the Changemakers were able to contribute to the Manchester Healthy Schools programme to inform the Personal, Social, Health & Economic (PSHE) curriculum. They worked with the National Autistic Society and National Children Bureau to help shape services and resources for young people with additional needs. They also co-designed the children and young people’s SEND Lockdown Experience survey, which had over 360 responses from SEND young people across the city. You can see the findings here.

The Changemakers are at the heart of our efforts to influence and develop services. With their help, we are co-producing a programme of activities and training opportunities with a focus on improving wellbeing and learning new skills to benefit them and future participants.

The group is open to more young people who wish to join and make a difference, have fun and improve services for young people with SEND. Find out more in the ‘How To Get Involved’ section.

Some of the Changemakers sharing their views and thoughts

How You Can Get Involved

Manchester Local Offer

As part of Manchester City Council, we always welcome any thoughts or feedback from you to help make life better for SEND families in the city. You may just want to share your views on something or work with us to make changes – it’s up to you. Contact 0161 234 1946, localoffer@manchester.gov.uk.

Manchester Parent Champions

The Parent Champions raise awareness of the Local Offer in Manchester and offer peer support to other parent/carers. They also contribute to decisions made around services for SEND families in Manchester. To get in touch, contact them through their Facebook page or see this FAQ about Manchester Parent Champions on the Local Offer website.

Manchester Parent Carer Forum (MPCF)

As parent/carers themselves, the Forum understands the day-to-day challenges faced by parent/carers. Their aim is to give SEND families a voice and they do this by working in partnership with the Council and staff in health and education settings. They would love to hear about your experiences – ‘the good, the bad, and the stuff that makes you want to bang your head against a wall!’ You can become a member for free. Get in touch using this online contact form or through Facebook. www.manchesterparentcarerforum.org.uk.

GMYN Changemakers

Young people aged 13 to 25 are invited to join the Changemakers. The group is a way for young people with additional needs to have a voice about the things that matter to them and help to make positive changes to services. It’s fun too, with a chance to make friends and learn new skills. To find out more, message the Greater Manchester Youth Network Facebook page or contact Joseph on 07592 845246, joseph.cain@gmyn.co.uk.

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