Welcome to West Berkshire Parent Voice's first Newsletter! We hope you find it informative, and would love to hear what you think of it. Let us know Here
Hi, My name is Fiona Worby, and I am a parent of a child with Special Needs. West Berkshire Parent Voice is run by parents for parents/carers with children with Special Needs and Disabilities, and our aim is to help parents have a voice to improve local services. As a parent or carer, services want our opinion on how they are doing to help them improve, and we really can make a difference. By giving our opinions about how what and we feel services provide for us, we can change things for the better.
You have received this email because you kindly gave us your email, and so automatically became part of West Berks Parent Voice. Please share this email with anybody you know with a child or young person who has Special Needs, everybody is welcome, and every Special Need is important. The bigger we are, the stronger we become!
I look forward to hearing from you, and hope you find the newsletter useful.
Happy Days Club
Happy Days runs on the second Monday of each month during term time, and during some holidays for special events. It is for children aged 5 – 10 years on the Autistic Spectrum, along with their siblings and parents. Costs per session are £2.50 per child. Parents free.
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Contact Kiri-Lynn Gardner for more details on 07940 100654 or email K.gardner@maryhare.org.uk
Happy Days Gamers Den
A new HD Gamers Den session is starting in September, It is for young people aged 11 -18 years, and is a gaming club for young people with autism, deafness or additional needs Contact Kiri-Lynn Gardner for more details on 07940 100654 or email K.gardner@maryhare.org.uk
Family Fund has launched its new website and brand following several months of development and consultation. The new brand, developed in-house and in conjunction with families, better reflects the diverse nature of the families the charity supports and the qualities that they value. They also wanted it to be a welcoming site where you can find everything you need and share your stories with them. ClickHERE to have a look at the new website and let them know what you think by completing the short online survey, clickHERE to access.
Parenting Special Needs – Time Out From ADHD Course
Parenting Special Children are a charity working with families of children and young people with special needs in Berkshire. Our facilitators are parents of children or young people with special educational needs and have a background in education. Time: 10am – 12pm Day : Thursdays Date : 5 Nov – 3 Dec 2015
Venue: Castle School Love Lane Newbury RG14 2JG
Cost :£10 course handbook
All other costs funded by West Berkshire Council Community Education Fund
NEW Looked After and Adopted Children with Special Needs Service
Looked After and Adopted Children with Special Needs Monthly Workshop and Support Group - Reading - Free Mondays from 10am - 11:30am or 8.30pm
For all Berkshire families who are foster carers, adoptive parents, special guardians or kinship carers and looking after children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities.
Topic based workshops
Questions & Answers
Opportunity to talk to other parents and carers
Please feel free to join us at 11 Glebe Road, Reading. RG2 7AG.
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In July this year, We hosted in conjunction with West Berkshire Council the Launch of the Local Offer, which was a great success!. Lots of local service providers had a stall to explain their services to the parent/carers and professionals that came, and everyone went away with lots of information. It was a fantastic networking opportunity for the local services, and for our Parent/Carers to find out what services there are in West Berkshire, and how to utilise them. It was a wonderful day, and we have asked to make it an annual event. So watch this space!
TheLocal Offer is a great one point service that sets out provision which is available for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), aged 0 to 25, including education, health and social care services in West Berkshire. All schools will have their SEN provision on it, and any service provider that can provide a service for SEND children and young people will also have their information there. Please do take a look, it's a source of valuable information.
Parent Participation
Parent Participation is when parents and carers get involved in service planning and decision making so that services meet the needs of families with children & young people with disabilities and additional needs so resources are not wasted on services which parents and families do not take up.
Effective parent participation happens when parents have conversations with and work alongside professionals, in order to design, develop and improve services.
Working with parents and carers helps professionals to understand what needs to happen to develop services that meet families’ needs and also helps parents and carers understand the complexity involved and the challenges faced by the professionals who have to bring about that change. Working together and sharing knowledge enables parents and professionals to find solutions that work.
West Berkshire Parent Voice want to encourage Parent Participation, and would like to hear from any Parent/Carer who has interest in improving local services. If you want to have a say in improving things, please click on the link below.
Swing And Smiles Halloween Party - Friday 30th October 4pm - 7.00pm £5.00 per child.
FREE upcoming free Parent Carers event: Coping with Sleep Problems in Children.
The event will feature presentations and workshops from Parenting Special Children to help Parent Carers:
Understand children’s sleep cycles and sleep needs
Understand the reasons behind night settling and night waking
Learn strategies to feel less stressed when sleep training
Gain new parenting strategies for settling your child to sleep, and staying asleep
The event will take place from 9.30 – 14.00 on Wednesday 4th November 2015 at Reading University, RUSU Building, Whiteknights Campus, Reading, RG6 6UR http://www.rusu.co.uk/contact/findus/
There is free parking at the venue in car park 4 on campus.
The nearest train station is Reading, which is a 35 minute walk from the Whiteknights campus. Buses from the train station = 21 Claret (every 10 mins)
Draft outline for the day:
9.30 – 10.15 Registration and Refreshments
10.30 – 12.30 – Presentations
12.30 -14.00 - Lunch and Information Stalls
14.00 – Event close
Please note this event is for unpaid Carers only from the Reading, Wokingham and West Berks areas. This is NOT an event for professionals or paid care workers.
Please feel free to share this information with clients, colleagues and other organisations who would benefit from the event.
Carers must contact the helpline on free phone 0800 988 5462 or email helpline@berkshirecarers.org by Monday 26th October to book a place on this event.
Parents coffee mornings, 9.30-11.30am (2nd Tuesday and last Thursday of every month) – next dates Tuesday 13th October and Thursday 22nd October (moved because of half term). These are informal sessions where parents can get together, have a chat and eat cakes.
Sibling support sessions – next one Friday 30th October from 3.30-4.30pm. Siblings can attend this drop-in session with Rhys Lewis from West Berkshire Council and Jeannie Garrett our trained sibling support worker. This is an opportunity for them to have a chance to talk about emotions and any difficulties to do with having a brother or sister with additional needs.
Our standard opening times are Monday mornings, 9.30-11.30am; Wednesdays and Fridays 3-7pm; Saturday 10-4pm; 1st and 3rd Sunday 10-12pm.
The Watermill Theatre want to make sure that everyone can enjoy a performance at The Watermill, so this year they are having a relaxed Performance is an opportunity for children and adults with special needs, including people with an Autism Spectrum Condition and sensory and communication disorder to see a show in a relaxed environment. It’s an opportunity for families to be able to come and enjoy the show together. They are able to accommodate some babes in arms up to 18 months who can come free of charge but they will require a ticket and will need to sit on a lap. For more details please click HERE
