PINS Project

What is PINS?

Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) is a national needs-led project being run by Parent Carer Forums (including ours) within NHS Integrated Care Boards and applies to those who are currently diagnosed and not diagnosed.

The programme brings together health and education specialists and expert parent carers through the Parent Carer Forum. 

Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) will bring health and education specialists and expert parent carers into mainstream primary settings to:

• help shape whole school SEND provision
• provide early interventions at a school level
• upskill school staff
• support strengthening of partnerships between schools and parent carers

The PINS project is testing a new model for supporting good outcomes in mainstream schools for Neurodivergent students and strengthen parent carer and school partnerships. The project will focus on strengthening knowledge, skills and improving environments to better meet the needs of neurodivergent children. Through a focus on supportive learning environments and well-equipped schools we can improve the outcomes for this group of children.

Each school in the programme will complete the nationally agreed self-assessment tool for schools to identify priority areas for support. Schools will collate the findings and use them to assess themselves against a number of high-level domains (including Leadership, Culture and Values; Mental Health; Readiness to Learn; Teaching and Learning; Environment and Communication).

The forums’ role is to introduce the principles of co-production with families. We shall:

• Facilitate parent carer participation group meetings with the identified schools. These will be open to all parent carers with children, in the school community. 
• Facilitate the collection and sharing of parent carers’ views and experiences of the services delivered by the schools identified.  
• Signpost information to parent carers to the providers in their local area, to inform their decision making and understanding of what support is available. 
• Work with the school to identify and respond to feedback from parent carers in a solution focused way.