HPCI Parent Network Update – 17 December

Welcome to the final HPCI newsletter for 2021.  I think we can all agree it has been a challenging year on so many levels but I am really proud of all the work our parent reps have done to represent Hertfordshire families: speaking up; working to drive change and improvement; and keeping the best interests of our children and young people at the centre of every conversation.

With that in mind, I was pleased to see the recent statement from Herts County Council (HCC), which recognised families’ frustrations and the need to make improvements.  Let’s hope 2022 is a year of change and delivery.

This newsletter has an update about how to contact the HCC SEND team and also a couple of surveys to take part in before the Christmas break:

Contacting the SEND team

You will all be aware that there have been ongoing problems this year for families trying to contact their SEN officer.  In response to this, the HCC main Customer Service Centre is now supporting the SEND Team with enquiries to their duty lines.  This team has been trained to use a new online information system, which means that they should be able to answer most queries straight away. For more complex queries you can book a call-back from your SEND officer.  The duty line numbers have not changed and can be found here.

ADHD and Autism survey

As part of Hertfordshire’s Children’s and Young Persons Autism and ADHD transformation programme, the team are seeking the views of parents and carers relating to the training currently in place for education professionals.  You can complete the survey here.

Services for Young People survey closing today (17 December)

You may recall that Hertfordshire’s Services for Young People (SfYP) is running a survey for young people with SEND aged 11-25. If you would like to share this survey with your young person, you can access it here: https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/YoungPeopleSENSurvey2021/

Finally, I just wanted to wish all our members a very merry Christmas.  Thank you for all the feedback and thoughts that you have shared with us this year.  Please do keep feeding in, and we will keep on pushing to ensure that the voices of families are heard.

All best wishes,

Kate Hudson

HPCI Membership and Comms Officer