I’m Rachel. My lovely and brilliant young son has Down syndrome. We have been lucky so far: he is in a really supportive mainstream primary school with an ECHP and the help of great teacher staff and a lovely teaching assistant. We came back to the UK quite recently having been living and working overseas. So I now really want work with the other parents and carers in this group to help create a constructive partnership with Local Authorities and make sure that all children and young people with SEND living in Staffordshire have the best possible support and can live their best lives.
Edel
Hi! My name is Edel and I am a wife and mum to a five year old boy and three year old girl. Our three year old has a diagnosis of autism and global developmental delays. She is non verbal and a sensory seeker. She has a blood clotting condition and has difficulties with eating, and has an exceptional talent for hearing music and rhythm in everyday things, a love for Yakka Dee and enjoys hanging upside down any chance she can.
I was a teacher at secondary level for twelve years, and so during that time worked with many children with SEND and a variety of providers and support people connected to them. For the last couple of years I’ve began my own journey through the system as a parent of a child with SEND, and realise nothing can truly prepare you as a parent for the struggles and difficulties that present themselves in so many unexpected areas of everyday life.
I do believe however that my experiences in the education sector, and my experience on this pathway with my daughter, place me in a unique position to be able to have a positive impact on the systems and processes in place to support families of children and young people with SEND in our area. My background in understanding learning, targets, teaching, and developmental progression have helped me understand where strengths in current systems lie, as well as areas for development. I truly believe that working collaboratively with all agencies and support systems, and with the voice of the child and their family at the centre of all decisions, can lead to life-changing outcomes for those that need it most.
Deb
Hi, my name is Deb and I am a SEND parent of two amazing boys, one of them has Autism.
I have real life experience of how our SEND children have to navigate around the NHS, mainstream Education, the LA and how hard it is for them to be accepted to fit in to ‘the norm’ and just letting you know we have all survived so far.
I joined the Staffs PCf to work together with this amazing group of like-minded parents and carers to try to take words like, ‘Battle’, ‘Fight’, and ‘misunderstood’ out of our lives for everyone and help turn it around to the words ‘listened to’, ‘understood’ and ‘accepted’ to make a brighter future for our wonderful unique children and their families.
Amanda
Hello, my name is Amanda and I am mum to three children 19,17 and 15. My 19 year old was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyscalculia. My 15 year old was born with a heart defect and at 10 had a diagnosis Autism.
I am now a full time carer for my son following an autistic burnout and we are in the progress of returning to school on a part-time timetable. I was an Early Years and Key Stage 1 teacher for 20+ years, and so during that time worked with a number of children with SEND and a spoke to variety of providers and support people connected to them. As a result of my experience I have an insight to the workings of the school system with regards to main schools and SEND.
As a parent of a child diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dyscalculia I attended SEN reviews throughout Primary and Secondary School. As a parent of a child diagnosed with ASD, I have experience of school refusal, autistic burnout and the struggles that come getting the right help and support for these.
Support Staffordshire
StaffsPCF run under the umbrella of Support Staffordshire – a local voluntary sector organisation. Support Staffordshire Consultancy deal with our administrative tasks leaving us to deal with the strategic side of sharing parent views to service providers.
