2023 & 2024 PCT Events - Parent Carers Together

Future Events in 2024

TBC-Keep checking this page!

Past Events in 2024

6th July-Winchelsea Summer Fair

Families were invited to come along to enjoy food and games at the local school.

Parent Carers Together had an information stall and spoke to a number of parents.

15th May- Paint Your Own Pottery

This event was hosted by Parent Carers Together exclusively for our members and their families at: All Fired Up, Bournemouth.

Photos to follow shortly…

Feedback from the night included:

“We all attended the pottery session… Omg it was truly amazing…it meant so much to us, as we would not have been able to afford this without your help. This was the only time that everyone was quiet, and we were able to sit down as a family. So, i thank you from the bottom of my heart, I am so so grateful”.

“We all had a lovely time this evening, Thank you 😊”.

“My boys had the best time. ***** said, ‘I love this place because I can paint stuff AND I can eat stuff!'” 😆

“Can we say a big THANK YOU, for our lovely evening session at the pottery cafe”.

“I am writing to say thank you so very much for giving us the opportunity to go to ‘Fired Up’. We had a wonderful time and it was so great to be able to take all the kids out and do something together…

Thank you from 4 very grateful people”.

15th May- Parent Carers Together with Jude from BCP

Jude Nash (BCP SEND Project Delivery Lead) was on hand to talk about her role and speak about the future of the SEND service.

The session was held at: Kinson Community Centre, Kinson, Bournemouth

30th April- Parent Carers Together Coffee Morning with Watkins Solicitors

People were invited to join the forum and Emma from Watkins Solicitors and ask her SEND related questions around EHCPs and appeals. The forum were on hand to signpost to local services and to talk about our role within the SEND community.

The session was held at:

Tesco Community Room, Tower Park, Poole.

26th March- Parent Carers Together Poole Coffee Morning

The session was open to all BCP parents and carers of children and young people with SEND (with or without a formal diagnosis).

It was held at:

Tesco Community Room, Tower Park, Poole.

8th March- Start of our Healthy Parent Carer 2024 Programme

This is the second time we have run this FREE HPC programme to BCP parents and carers. The course is to be delivered virtually consisting of 6x 3 hour sessions.

5th March- Parent Carers Together Poole Coffee Morning

BCP parents and carers of children with SEND were invited to join us for a cuppa and a chat.

We were joined by Victoria Connor from BCP Council who told us more about her role as an Information, Advice and Guidance Officer within the Early Years and Family Hubs Team.

The session was held at:

Tesco Community Room, Tower Park, Poole.

27th Feb- Volunteering with PCT Session

Parents were invited to come along to our recruitment session on 27th Feb and find out more about the volunteer roles we had available.

The session was held at:

Tesco Community Room, Tower Park, Poole

22nd Feb- Parent Views on Preparing for Adulthood Guide

We invited people to come tell us what they thought of the ‘Parent Guide to PfA’ document we have been developing. Once published, the guide will have links to local and national services and groups to help parents help their young person on their journey in preparing for adulthood.

Session was held at:

Bournemouth Library

6th Feb- Parent Carers Together and SENDiass4BCP

This event gave an opportunity for BCP parents and carers to tell SENDiass4BCP what they thought of their service. Any comments and suggestions were taken on board and will be used to shape the service to better meet need.

One parent commented:

“Sendiass were instrumental in providing me with the right information so that I could fight for my daughter. She’s now in a sen school!”

25th Jan- Parent & Carer Coffee Morning with BCP Council’s Preparing for Adulthood Team

BCP parents and carers of young people with SEND- were invited to come and meet the Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) Team.

There were presentations, a Q&A session and refreshments.

Pearl, a member of our steering group was also present if anyone wished to speak to someone from the forum.

10th Jan- Manual Handling Course

Hosted by Parent Carers Together, the Dorset Carers Hub delivered a manual handling course to 7 BCP parents and carers at Bournemouth library following a request for more specific training how to safely move their child/young person with SEND. Each attendee will receive a certificate that will last for 3 years and is professionally recognised.

Past Events in 2023

Dec 4-Paint Your Own Pottery at ‘All Fired Up’, Bournemouth

Our second paint your own pottery event of the year was held at All Fired Up pottery painting studio.

This is an event for the whole family to take part in and being held in December, there were plenty of unpainted Christmas related items for people to choose.

Some of the comments from parents included:

“Thank you so much my daughter and I had a lovely time today”

“We all had a lovely time tonight at all fired up, thank you” 😊

“A big thank you from my two kiddies and myself, to… the PCT team for a lovely evening at the Pottery Cafe. We had a super chillaxed time. It was very relaxing and it was great to chat with your colleague volunteering at the event too. Thanks for organising and donating this event for us, it was just what we needed”.

“A massive thank you for putting on the event. We had a lovely time”.

Below are some photos taken on the night (photos framed using the Picframe app).

BCP Council held a series of SEND Local Offer events which parents and carers of children and young people of SEND were welcome to attend.

A member of Parent Carers Together was present at all three events.

Nov 22-1pm-3pm, Boscombe Family Hub, Boscombe.

During the final event of the Local Offer Live series, members of BCP Council were on hand to answer your questions about the graduated response, educational psychology service and support for those with speech and language difficulties.

Parents were invited to find out what to do if you are worried about how your child is progressing:

· who to talk to

· what to expect

· what it means to have special educational needs and what help should be provided

Graduated Response-

I am worried about my child or young person (BCP Council’s graduated response) – following co-production with parents and carers the Council have a brand new booklet and web pages showing how the Local Offer can support your child or young person with their learning and development. Dr Joanna Bispham took attendees through the process and answered any questions they may have had.

BCP Council Educational Psychology Service (EPS) –

Vanessa Grizzle, Principal Educational Psychologist explained what the service provides, how they go about it and why. She demonstrated the new EP service web pages on the Local Offer so attendees could understand in more detail how they can support your child or young person.

Support with Speech and Language Difficulties-

Christine Rainsford, from Dorset HealthCare Children and Young People’s Speech, Language and Communication Service, explained the specialist skills and knowledge they provide to parents, carers and other key people involved in a whole system of support to your child or young person.

This covered: speech, communication, language and specific physical needs and she demonstrated the ‘The Balanced System® Speech and Language Communication Pathway’ website which has been designed to provide a personalised journey to help support children and young people and improve their lives.

Nov 2-Rossmore Library, Poole.

The second event focussed on Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) & Transitions and was hosted by Natalie Pycroft from the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) improvement team. Natalie’s role is to provide you and your young person with advice and guidance regarding their education plans and transitions from year 9 and above. During the session, Natalie addressed the following points:

Community inclusion
Health
Employment
Friends and relationships
Independence

OCT 19- Somerford Family Hub, Christchurch.

This was the first of the three SEND Local Offer Live events and was hosted by the special educational needs and disabilities information, advice and support service for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole also known as SENDiass4BCP.

SENDiass4BCP talked about who they are, what they do and how they support young people (up to the age of twenty five) with SEND and their parents.

There were speakers from the Parent Champion Project and Young People’s Participation who conducted a question and answer session.

Nov 21- PCT Virtual Recruitment Event

We are always looking for people to join our lovely team of volunteers.

On 21st November, we held two virtual sessions between 10am-noon and 6pm-8pm for anyone who wished to chat about the volunteer roles we have available.