Can your organisation support with the participation of young people with SEND?
I attended a participation event in Manchester run by the CDC (Council for Disabled Children) and KIDS. The focus was on the participation of young people with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) in shaping local services and contributing through co-production to future provision. It also covered how OFSTED use their local area SEND inspections to ensure this is happening in a meaningful way. You can find more about this in the SEND Code of Practice.
Examples of best practice from other areas were shared throughout the event. What transpired from the young people present was that they are often expected to engage and participate with different organisations and share their views but are not prepared or supported through this process.
Effective participation makes use of relationships already present in the young person’s life. Teachers, support workers, SENCOs, peer mentors, youth workers are more likely to understand the young person’s communication methods and so can adapt questions in a unique way that the young person can more easily understand and respond to.
Participation should be the young person’s choice and sometimes it can be hard for a young person to say no to something they feel is expected of them. Some young people at the event said it is easier to be honest with people that they already know, as with a stranger they sometimes say what they think they should.
At the last Linked-up meeting the voluntary groups present said that they would support the young people they work with to share their views but need clarity on what is being asked.
We recently run a parent/carer survey to find out what issues parents/carers felt were most affecting the child/young person in their care. The questions asked were taken from Wirral’s JSNA (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment) which you can read more about here and the answers are published on Wirral’s Local Offer which you can access here.
We have adapted the same questions for young people. The questions below are broad and intended as a guide for organisations to alter to suit the young people they are working with.
- What issues about your life most matter to you now and why?
- What issues about your life do you think will most matter to you in the future and why?
- What changes do you think would most help you now and in the future?
- Would you like to get involved in activities that help change services for young people with disabilities?
Young people can respond to these questions in any way they choose – words, videos, pictures, dance, drama, song are examples that may suit the young people you are working with. We will publish it on the local offer and ensure that it reaches commissioners and service providers through the JSNA.
If you are working with young people that enjoy dance and drama they might like to attend Wirral’s SEND Youth Voice Group which runs from Creative Youth Development in Birkenhead. Contact Seline Wakerley, Dance, Inclusion & Participation Worker on 0151 666 3707 [email protected] for more information.
If you need any support with adapting the questions or would like me to come along and speak to the young people you work with personally then please contact me on 0151 353 9700 or email me at [email protected]
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Click the following link to read Top Tips for Participation written by young people.
