We are committed to putting children’s and families’ voice at the heart of all service design and delivery. We strive to create a culture where those we support are listened to and are involved directly in decisions that affect their lives.
The videos in this section show the positive impact of participation and co-production; providing examples of how working together can improve services. They show how children, young people and their families are actively involved in the development of services at all levels.
One-page written summaries of these short films have also been created as ‘story boards’ and can be found on the You Said We Did page.
Young people who attend the STEP SEND groups were asked the question, ‘what is important to you?’. They agreed that they would like to be listened to more and decided to create a film to remind adults that young people do have a voice.
The group created some questions to ask each other about the importance of being listened to and what makes a good listener. They also created questions about what it feels like to be listened to and not listened to.
When the film was complete the young people created some top tips for listening. These were aimed at professionals, services and other adults who may be supporting them. They also created a leaflet and the top tips were added to the film.
This video was created by Swindon SEND Families Voice, the parent carer forum for Swindon representing parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
The video highlights the sunflower lanyards that can be used at the GWH and by most GPs in Swindon, and was produced to raise awareness not only in our local health settings but everywhere.
In order to make the annual SEND survey as accessible as possible for young people, STEP's Thought Tank Group took the adult survey and spent time re-wording it, making questions more appropriate, and generally making it more suitable for young people.
Cygnet is a licenced Barnado’s parenting support programme for parents and carers of children and young people aged 5 to 18 who are awaiting or have a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC).
Feedback from parents attending the Cygnet programme indicated that they would find it helpful if one of the course facilitators was also a parent of a child diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Condition themselves, so they could provide a 'lived experience'.
This short film explains how the feedback was used and the impact this has had on parents attending the course.
This short film, recorded at the Planning for Adulthood Transitions Roadshow in 2019, is a conversation between Ben, a young person with a disability who is thinking about university and adult life, and Jo, his link worker from the Transitions team who worked with Ben to prepare for this transition.
Lorraine works at the Swindon Carers Centre and is also parent of two young adults with additional needs. In this short film, recorded at the Planning for Adulthood Transitions Roadshow in 2019, Lorraine talks about her experience of finding opportunities for employment and training for her children, and the impact that work has had on their lives.
Parents and carers took part in a virtual workshop to develop a new SEND information, advice, and support service website. They were involved at the beginning of the process to make sure that the website would meet Swindon service users’ needs.
The workshop asked parents and carers opinions on the layout and content of the website, so that information would be easy to find and accessible to all.
This film about Planning Live was made by young people and staff at Commonweal school. Planning Live is offered by Commonweal school, and also by Swindon Borough Council to looked after children aged 16 to 18 years, care leavers aged 18 to 25 years and young adults aged 18 to 25 years open to the Transitions Team.
It allows young people to set the agenda for their care and support. The Planning Live event belongs to young people, they choose who will join them and choose whether to shout from the rooftops about what they want from their life or explore and discover what a better life might look like for them.
Planning Live is not a social work assessment, the young person will be telling people what they want from their life. If you are interested in finding out more about Planning Live, or if you would like to take part in a Planning Live event, please speak to your allocated worker or team.
Our Children in Care Council regularly help to recruit members of staff to work at Swindon Borough Council, for example, they supported the appointment of our Director of Inclusion and Achievement.
This short clip talks about how they do this work and contains the words of a Council Member who has taken part in this work.
The SEND capital investment project funding was launched in 2017 and allocated money to improve SEND places across Swindon Borough Council. Schools, pupils, and parents were all consulted about how they felt it would be best to invest the money.
It was decided to match the funding with educational settings (75% to settings 25%) meaning that the funding could be used for a wide range of different projects. This included specialist IT equipment, well-being centres, sensory rooms, outdoor learning environments and even shepherds’ huts.
The project is now in the process of evaluating the projects, asking for feedback from the community.
Children should be given opportunities to participate and have their voices heard by all service providers and in all areas that affect their lives. An example of co-production with children within a school environment can be found on the Southfield Junior School website.
The pupils co-produced the school values and then created a film introducing the school and those school values. The pupils also wrote and recorded a song about the school values, this can be listened to through the link on the school website.
In an inclusive primary school, this is a really good example of children’s participation and co-production.
