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Welcome to the Families in Partnership Newsletter for September 2026 - supporting families with SEND

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Welcome to the Families in Partnership newsletter created for families with SEND across Gloucestershire. Here you'll find clear, up-to-date information on local support, news and developments, all shaped by what you tell us matters most. We'd love to hear from you, so please use the contact details below to let us know what you'd like to see in future editions.
Two older pupils, one in a wheelchair outside a large school being greeted by a teacher

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This edition includes:

A welcome from Gloucestershire Parent Carer Forum (GPCF) and a welcome to the new term! In this article, GPCF share news about the some of the local and national meetings they'll be attending during this month as they continue to champion Parent Carer voice, and that of their families, to ensure that Parent Carers' experiences and views inform service development and decision-making.  They also highlight events they'll be hosting  and extend an invitation for you to come along and meet the team!  Read the full article here.

Back to school: A few ideas to help the new term go smoothly. Gloucester Parent Carer Forum and SENDIASS have been supporting SEND families for several years. Helen, Chair of Directors at the Gloucestershire Parent Carer Forum, shares some thoughts here on how to make the new term go smoothly. Read the full article here
SEND reforms: Shaping the future of SEND support in Gloucestershire. This September marks the start of the next phase of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reform in Gloucestershire, as national SEND reforms and Gloucestershire's Local SEND Reform Plan begin to move from planning into delivery. Read the full article here
You Said, We Did 2026. The SEND & Inclusion Local Area Partnership (SILAP) are pleased to share The 'You Said, We Did' Annual Report for 2026 in this edition of the Families in Partnership newsletter. The report brings together what Parent Carers, children and young people have told us during this last academic year and how different areas of service within the Partnership have responded.  See the report and read the full article here

Thematic Review by Ofsted and CQC. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) announced on Monday, 7 September that will be visiting Gloucestershire to jointly review the arrangements in Gloucestershire’s local area for the Local Offer. Read the full article here

Assistive Technology Pilot – supporting young people to access education. In this article you can find out about the outcomes from the Assistive Technology Lending Library (ATLL) Pilot that has taken place over the past year, with 33 schools across Gloucestershire having taken part.  The pilot gave children and young people the opportunity to trial a range of Assistive Technology (AT) before schools decide whether it is the right solution for their needs.  Read the full article here

You Said, We Did: Improvements to Our Autism, ADHD and Neurodivergence Support pages. As part of the ongoing quality assurance and review work happening on the Local Offer website, families told us that finding clear, accessible information about autism, ADHD and neurodivergence can sometimes be challenging, particularly when waiting for assessments or trying to understand what support is available. Through surveys, engagement activities and focus groups, families told us what information mattered most to them and where improvements were needed. We listened carefully and used this feedback to redesign and update the pages.  Read the full article and find out more about the updates here

New Quality Assurance Framework to strengthen the SEND Local Offer website.  To help ensure our Local Offer website continues to provide families with accurate, up-to-date and helpful information about local services and support, we have introduced a new Quality Assurance Framework.  The framework sets out a clear process for regularly reviewing the Local Offer content and a key feature of the framework is its commitment to co-production with Parents Carers, children, young people and partner organisations and to this end introduces a new Parent Carer Approval Process, working alongside the Gloucestershire Parent Carer Forum (GPCF) to help ensure information is clear, accessible and meaningful from a family perspective.  Read the full article here

News from the SEND and Inclusion Local Area Partnership. In this article you will find some links to bulletins from across the Partnership.  Covering some of the latest news links from Education, Health, Social Care and our partners in the voluntary and community sector. Read the full article here

If you’re reading this newsletter for the first time, we hope you find it useful.  If there is a change we should make; or if you would like something to be featured; or if you have any questions then please email us - familiesinpartnership@gloucestershire.gov.uk  

You can subscribe  to receive the next SEND Families in Partnership newsletter as soon as it's published. You may even see your suggestion in the next edition!

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