Joint introduction and welcome to the Families in Partnership Newsletter
Hello and welcome to the new look FAQ for Parent Carers.
The new look is brought to you by:
- Helen Bond, Coordinator at Gloucestershire Parent Carer Forum;
- Amanda Henderson, Head of Services for Children with Additional Needs (GCC); and
- Jess Glenn, Head of Integrated Commissioning – Children and Families, GCC / Gloucestershire CCG.
At the start of the Covid pandemic Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Gloucestershire Parent Carer Forum (PCF) worked together as Strategic Partners to respond to the challenges faced by families in lockdown. We all recognised that families with disabled children or those with Special Educational Needs would need information quickly in a recognisable format from trusted sources. Since April 2020 we've issued 5 editions bringing information to you from Education, Health and Social Care.
As we begin to move out of the current restrictions, we've been looking at how we might continue to bring information to Parents and Carers on a regular basis and address any questions which might arise. Our plan is to issue shorter, more frequent, editions of this repurposed Newsletter, "Families in Partnership" during the school year to bring you relevant and timely information.
In this latest edition, for example, we've a section from the Police Service on how to keep our children safe online. As schools return and some of our youngsters move up to Secondary School, we want to bring you information and advice on what to look out for and how to help your children navigate what for some is a new space.
Our aim will always be to respond to the issues raised by Parent Carers whilst bringing you up to date news about the things we at the Parent Carer forum are working on, on your behalf, with Gloucestershire County Council, the NHS and other partner organisations or agencies. GCC and CCG provide joined up services a part of the Children and Families commissioning hub, this service and all other services strive to ensure that services are joined up across health, social care and education, and we are delighted to work in partnership with the Parent Carer forum so that we actively co-produce in order to shape services for the future.
Don't forget that membership of Gloucestershire Parent Carer Forum is free to all parents of children aged 0-25 with a disability or with special educational needs. You can join us via our website and if you're on Facebook you can be part of the conversation. Come and join us working together to make things better for our children and young people.
We'd welcome your feedback on this new format so please do get in touch.