News

Parent Carer Conference

2nd September 2010

  • Around 100 parents and professionals attended the Forum’s 3rd Parent Carer Conference. The event took place on the 11th of October 2010, at St. Mary’s Church and Conference Centre in Sheffield.

    The morning session featured a presentation by Mary Collins, Principal Educational Psychologist, about a proposed new strategy for meeting additional needs in Sheffield’s schools (the Inclusive Learning Strategy). Parents then got together in groups to discuss different aspects of the strategy and note down key points. The outcomes of these discussions were fed into the Council’s consultation on the Inclusive Learning Strategy, and also the government’s call for views for a forthcoming Green Paper on SEN.

    A workshop on SEN law led by solicitor Mhairi Walker from law firm Irwin Mitchell provided an alternative session for those parents who had already filled in their consultation questionnaires.

    Over lunch, parents had an opportunity to browse a wide range of information stalls provided by organisations such as Parent Partnership, ACCT, Sheffield Carers Centre, Mencap, SIGN, Epilepsy Action, and others.

    The afternoon featured a “Meet a Manager” session, which gave parents an opportunity to talk to managers of services for children with disabilities and special educational needs. Short Breaks, SNIPS, Speech and Language Therapy, Direct Payments, Educational Psychology, Transport, Transition, and LDD Strategy were all represented.

    Download conference report (400KB)