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).   

Currently the group meet on the second Wednesday of each month at 5.30-7.00pm (sessions are a mix of virtual and face to face). 

 

For more information or to receive a link to the virtual session on Microsoft Teams, please contact: Participation Advocacy and Engagement Team. 

Tel: 0191 643 8215

Email: participation@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:

Early Years SEND Hub - North Tyneside SEND Transformation Teams invite parents and carers to hear proposals and share their views in the development of an Early Years 0-5 SEND Hub.

The Early Years 0-5 SEND Hub aims to provide a single point of access for professionals and parents/carers of children under 5 years who have or may have SEND. 

We want to ensure:

Every child who has or may have SEND in North Tyneside is known with a single point of access to targeted services.

Every child will have their needs identified and will be supported in their pre-school years.                                                                                             

Every Child is accepted and included into Early Years settings in North Tyneside with the right support.

Every parent and carer feels confident about their child's journey and knows how to access advice, support and guidance.

If you have a child 0-5 years, or have lived experience which could help to shape future plans for the Early Years Hub come along to hear the proposals and share your views with us. 

 

When: Tuesday 4th July 2023 - 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Where: Linskill Centre, North Shields NE30 2AY – Trevelyan Hall

Register interest at local.offer@northtyneside.gov.uk

 

 

Regional:

 Exploring Disabled Young People’s Lives is a research project exploring the experiences of disabled young people as they grow up.  

Are you a disabled young person, aged 16-29? Do you live in the North East? Would you like to participate in a research project? 

We are interested in all kinds of things you experience during this important time in your lives. We will share what we learn with people who make policies designed to support you.  We would like to hear from young people with different kinds of disabilities. This includes young people with a learning disability, a physical disability, a long-term illness or health condition (mental or physical), and autistic or neurodiverse young people. We also want to work with people from different backgrounds. This includes race and ethnicity, sexuality and gender, class and living situation. 

There are different individual and collaborative ways you can take part in the project, such as interviews and a range of creative activities. We will give you a gift voucher for the activities you participate in. 

You can find out more from the project’s website: disabilityandyouthtransitions.co.uk 

You can also call to chat with Katie Salmon, who is the project’s main North East-based researcher, on 07552 008 870 or email her via katherine.salmon@newcastle.ac.uk 

 

 

National:

SPaCE Project are seeking the views of parents and carer of children or young people aged up to 25 with special educational needs or disability.

Parent carer mental health is often overlooked. The SPaCE Project aims to learn more about how parent carers look for and get access to support for their mental health. We hope to use this information to develop ways to improve access to mental health support. 

What will I be asked to do?

A link to the survey can be found below with more information about the study, an opportunity to decide whether to take part, and a brief survey to complete. You will be asked if you would be happy to be contacted to potentially take part in an interview as well and to hear the results of the study. Taking part in the survey and interview are both optional. If you would like to just take part in the survey and not the interview, that would still be very helpful in helping us to understand more about this area of research.

To open the survey and read the participant information leaflet please click here: https://bit.ly/spaceparentcarer

This research is NHS-funded and led by Dr Gretchen Bjornstad at the University of Exeter Medical School, in collaboration with a team of co-investigators including parent carers.

For more information, please see our study webpage, email the team, or ring Gretchen on 01392 727416.

 

 

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 Network News brings together information for families about services and opportunities in North Tyneside