Engagement

The team supports a number of children and young people such as the Elected Young Mayor, Elected Member of UK Youth Parliament, Youth Council, Children in Care Council, Children’s Council and a variety of  Youth Council themed committees which are  Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health, Environment, Increased Opportunities, Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME), Equalities and Education and Enterprise. These forums give children and young people the opportunity to tell the council and its partners about what life is like growing up and going to school in North Tyneside.

There are also opportunities for those children and young people who are not part of these forums to get involved in decision making through other work with services and schools around participation.

The team also provides advocacy to children and young people in care to help them tackle difficulties they are having regarding decisions being made about them.

The Participation, Advocacy and Engagement team uphold the rights of children, with a focus on Article 12 of the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child), which states that children and young people have the right to be heard and involved in decisions which affect them.

The team support North Tyneside SEND Youth Forum, link with North Tyneside Parent Carer Forum and engage children, young people and families in the development and review of the SEND Local Offer.

Contact

North Tyneside Council, Quadrant East, Cobalt Buisness Park, Tyne & Wear, NE27 0BY

email: participation@northtyneside.gov.uk

tel:0191 643 8215

North Tyneside SEND Youth Forum is open to children and young people aged of 11-25 with Special Educational Needs and /or Disabilities (SEND) living or attending education in North Tyneside.  

The group discuss issues that affect their lives, raise awareness about SEND and are supported to work with North Tyneside Council and other organisations (who provide services for young people). 

North Tyneside SEND Youth Forum 11-16 years group meet on the second Wednesday of each month at 5:00 - 6.30pm at Howdon Family Hub (11A Howdon Lane, NE28 0AL)

North Tyneside SEND Youth Forum 16- 25 years group meeting dates: Wednesday 30th of December 2024, Wednesday 26th February 2025  at Howdon Family Hub (11A Howdon Lane, NE28 0AL)

For more information, please contact: Participation Advocacy and Engagement Team. 

Tel: 0191 643 8215

Email: sendyf@northtyneside.gov.uk 

Facebook: North Tyneside Participation and Advocacy Team

North Tyneside Parent Carer Forum - A group of parents and carers of children, young people and adults aged 0-25 who have special educational needs and/or disabilities who live in North Tyneside. Our aim is to support parents and carers in our community enabling them to access services and give them a voice in shaping and developing these services.

We work with relevant providers on a strategic level to help improve services available to families. We also work closely with the local authority, health and social care and with our local SENDIASS team as well as other agencies.

To capture the wider voice of parents and carers, we have established a network of representatives from: 

• Parent carer led organisations / groups (SEND)
• Family support organisations / groups (SEND)

The network represents the voice of parents and carers of children and young people with SEND related to key themes. 

Representatives from each network will meet on a monthly basis.

If you lead an organisation or a group (SEND) and would be interested in joining the network or want to find out more then please get in touch via the Local Offer inbox Local.Offer@northtyneside.gov.uk and someone from our team will be in touch with you shortly.

Local:

North Tyneside Parents and Carers - We need your voices!  

In person Safety Valve update and question opportunity on Thursday 19th September 2024 at 11am, Howdon Family Hub, 11a Howdon Lane, NE28 0AL

More information to follow...

National:

Council for Disabled Children research team are looking to talk to children and young people (11-25) who have had a social care assessment and would like to have their voice heard around this. 

Are you a disabled young person who has had a social care assessment in England? Then we need to hear from you for our Living Assessments Project.

 The project looks at these questions:

· how decisions are made about giving social care support to young people and families

· what difference that support makes and

· what it is like to have those types of assessments?

This group meets about once every 10 weeks for 90 minutes (1.5 hours).If you join this group you will come to meetings (either by Zoom or in person) to talk about how the researchers do their work, what they find out and how they will tell people about what they find. You might also like to take part in data analysis (what the research findings are telling us), help write about the findings or talk about them at conferences or events. You can choose what you would like to do as we have lots of jobs that need to be done.

If you join this group you will get a £20 voucher for each meeting that you come to. You will also get help, support and training, references for your CV or for when you are looking for a job, and have a chance to take part in team building activities and events (to be decided by you!). All travel, accommodation and food will be paid for by NCB. If you need someone to come with you to meetings or to help you travel NCB will pay for those too. Anyone who has communication challenges, SEN or who is lacking confidence will also get support. We will work with you to ensure you have the support you need to take part.

Please visit the NCB website to find out more by following this link:Living Assessments (ncb.org.uk)

You can apply online here: https://iassn.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/experts-by-experience-application-form

Please contact Teresa Geraghty if you have any questions – tgeraghty@ncb.org.uk or 07432 739865

North Tyneside SEND Local Offer newsletter brings together information for families about services and opportunities in North Tyneside.  Please tell us about any topics you would like to see in future newsletters by emailing local.offer@northtyneside.gov.uk

SEND Network News Spring 2025