Young Person's Champions

What are we doing? 

Swindon is one of the Local Authorities (LAs) taking part in the CPP. We are seeking to gather pupil voice on what is most important to them about the programme and its reforms. 

Why are we doing this? 

Consulting children and young people with SEND on matters that affect them ensures that their perspectives and voices are included in decision-making processes.

What children and young people told us?  

• “I would like smaller classes”
• “Stop focusing on uniform rules and more on my learning” 
• “Understand that my abilities and disability can differ each day” 

What have we done and what’s next?

• Working collaboratively with Gloucester Councils young person representative on engagement with children and young people 
• Created a digital questionnaire that aims to gather pupil voice around the CPP
• Shared resources with Gloucester
• Continual contacts and collaborative work with Gloucester 

Next steps for this line of work include active engagement with children and young people as well as gathering important pupil voice from our digital questionnaire. We will continue to work collaboratively with our joint partners in Gloucester Council and propose to ensure that children and young people fully understand the CPP. 

Feedback

A small group of children and young people in Swindon have already identified the three most important reforms of the programme:

1. Transitions 
2. The right support in school
3. EHCP Standardisation 

Progress update

We are awaiting next steps on the progression of the CPP – DfE to inform of its movements. It was suggested at the previous steering group that Martha and I work together to create a video with an update on what the impact has been from the result of them providing their voices - what has the impact been?

We have provided the steering group with our current methods of communicating with children and young people and families in both LA’s – this way we can show the steering group what the destination for proposed video’s would be for example, newsletters, Local Offer, social media.

What are we doing?

We aim to create graphic/animated videos for children and young people with SEND that are co-produced and fully decided by them. 

Why are we doing this? 

• To further develop and up-skill service users on the services that are available to them
• To spread awareness of SEND services and pathways

What children and young people told us?

• “Information about SEND Law and how it relates to me”
• “Exam support and how I can get it”
• “Colourful and interactive”

What have we done and what’s next?

• Recurring meetings to discuss the destination of the project – early stages 
• Deciding how we will engage CYP? 
• We worked on gathering and collecting feedback from CYP and drew on common themes that could be represented via the graphic, bite-sized videos Continual support from stakeholders for development of project 
• Sought feedback from young people at our STEP Shadow Board to begin the process of engagement 

Considerations for the next steps of this project would be to research videos that are similar in their style and content and create a resource list as examples for engagement.

We will continue to work in collaboration with CYP Champions to bring this project to life - create proposed agendas, think about ways of engaging with young people, think of conversation starters when engaging and continue to develop understanding of graphic design platforms.

We are awaiting the beginning of the engagement phase to be signed off.

Feedback

• "We would like 4-6 video created”
• “The videos would need to include subtitles” 
• “Young people sharing their lived experiences to help others cope” 
• “Educational content”

Progress update

• Young Person's Champions work alongside SIAS CYP Coordinator to create proposed agendas for engagement at schools and settings 
• Awaiting approval of email and agendas to be sent to schools ahead of engagement 
• Have decided on schools we seek to engage 
• Began CPD on graphic designing via Animaker (basic understanding) 

What are we doing?

• We are working on improving  the current 
• ‘This is Me’ annual review contribution forms that are used to gather pupil voice within statutory assessments

Why are we doing this? 

CYP were asked to provide feedback on the current forms and the responses revealed the need for change.

What children and young people told us?  

• “We need to scrap this and have a new one altogether” 
• “Really childish, disengaging and belittling”
• “I’d like it to represent me because that’s what it’s about”

What have we done and what’s next?

• Analysed feedback for need for change Contacted SENCOs and participation groups for CYP involvement 
• Visited 9 different schools and settings to co-produce new forms 
• Analysed feedback and drew upon common themes 
• Began amending and putting forms together 
• Started creating multiple versions from the level of feedback received 

After the amending process, we will go back to the CYP that helped us and tell them what we’ve done due to the impact of their voice within the co-production process. Subsequent to this, evidence of co-production and new, co-produced contribution forms will be presented at board for their implementation into the service. 

Feedback

• “We need a section on health, it is so important” “I don’t want many colours, preferably black and white”
• “I want to be able to do the form on my iPad”
• “Easy to understand”
• “Use happy and sad scales”

Progress update

• Partnership board revealed the need to have schools/settings on board therefore the project is in the piloting phase 
• Forms being piloted by five different schools and settings with ARs between now and April 2025
• Brunel Academies Trust – working on building more awareness of other means of gathering pupil voice (the contribution form is not the only way) 
• Gathered resources from Advisory Teachers
• Visited settings to develop understanding of gathering pupil voice for more complex needs 
• Working on creating a ‘Methods of Engagement’ booklet that contains resources and best practise guides for gathering pupil voice for a larger percentage of need 

What are we doing?

We propose to create a SEND social media to make CYP feel like they have a space to share their voices and be able to share similar experiences with others in SEND services.

Why are we doing this? 

Feedback acrosss the service has emphasised the need for an online platform where CYP can share their experiences, connect with others and have access to information that is relevant and important to them.

What children and young people told us?  

• "A place where there is better understanding because I feel like the minority and people don't understand me"
• "It would be good to have tips from people who go through the same things as me, like how to deal with school or find the right support"
• "Support around mental health and wellbeing"

What have we done and what’s next?

• Analysed direct feedback from CYP and drawn upon ideas that can be implemented and improved due to a SEND social media platform 
• Created a comprehensive SEND social media strategy
• Created a questionnaire with the aim of gathering CYP voice about this project  
• Researched other local authorities and their successful campaigns via social media   
• Created a poster to involve CYP in the decisions about this 

Next steps for this project include gathering pupil voice on what their thoughts are on creating this online space. We want you to influence our decisions and content we propose to post online. It’s about your voice, and we want to listen and to act upon what you tell us!

Progress update

• Created a comprehensive Social Media Strategy which highlights key factors when considering launching – this will need to be signed off and sent to Corporate Comms
• Gathered feedback from STEP Shadow Board and Kingsdown school – we are still awaiting responses to gather more feedback 
• TikTok/Instagram are current ‘front runners’ for a proposed social media 

What are we doing?

We are trying to improve children and young people's experiences on SEND Travel to and from school/education setting each day. 

Why are we doing this? 

Evidence from feedback from children and young people with SEND from focus groups and the Annual SEND Survey results show improvements could be made. 

What children and young people told us?  

26 children and young people were surveyed on their travel experiences. You can view a few common answers below:

• 61.54% believe communication between staff travel team and parents could be better
• 11.54% of children like to have their own space when on transport
• 15.38% of children would like to have a set seating plan
• 15.38% of children believe that having an aid or a tool with PAs on transport would help
• 11.54% of children would like to have the opportunity of potential route changes
• 38.46% of children said that the bus arrived frequently on time

What have we done and what’s next?

After meeting with the SEND Travel Team to look at what could be improved, the following actions were agreed:

• Email will be sent out as a reminder of what is expected from PAs and travel team whilst they are working. Completed
• A lot of routes have seating plans or children will pick a seat and use that same seat
• Any aid or tool on the journey is allowed to support them, however the parents or school must provide them, this is not the PAs responsibility. The SEND Travel Team can send out emails and information about this. 
• Unfortunately, the transport routes are laid out in a certain way in order to keep timings for children and young people on transport for the minimum amount of time, as well as having the maximum efficiency. It is planned to share with children and young people and families information about why routes are set as they are in the Summer Term 2024-25. 
• Make sure that when the bus is going to be late the PAs know to ring the office as soon as possible to keep them updated 

The Young Persons Champion has created a questionnaire to gather feedback on SEND Travel assistance, through the thoughts and voices of children and young people from schools in the Swindon Local Area. Feedback was analysed to gather the most common themes.

Alongside this, the Young Persons Champion has updated some travel FAQS for young people that have been placed on the Local Offer website.

Finally, a report was created that brings together the results to make change happen.

What are we doing?

Our overall objective is to promote the Local Offer website as much as possible whilst also ensuring that the information provided on it is accessible to everyone.

Why are we doing this? 

• Ensure that language on the Local Offer website is clear, concise, accurate and free of over-complicated language by co-producing information with parents, carers and young people
• Work together with professionals to ensure that information on the Local Offer website is correct and up-to-date
• Make sure the Local Offer website is accessible to disabled users via technology such as AbilityNet that employs accessibility best practices to help everyone have the same access to information

What have we done and what’s next?

• Create a plan on how to create a survey  
• Made a survey to gain the feedback of young people and children around the Local Offer
• Began creating how to guide for professionals/adults who are writing for young people
• Attended a board meeting along with other young peoples champions 
• Carried out a stock take for LO merchandise 
• Contacted people on SEND Families circulation lists to check they still wish to subscribe to the newsletter
• Monitored the LO inbox and front door spreadsheet
• Working with page owners of the Local Offer website that receive few views, to work through what needs to happen to their information for example, update, remove, marketing
• Finalising ‘How to guide’ on how to communicate with CYP, using CYP feedback to influence the guide, and then share with service areas and professionals
• Having a schedule of visits to Specialist Schools, SRPs and SEND Units in Swindon over the next three months, for the purpose of holding focus groups with CYP to gain their lived experiences of using SEND Services

Feedback

The feedback we have received so far shows that very few if any young people and children have heard or are familiar with the Local Offer website. Young people have also expressed that they prefer to work in small groups and they would like people to talk to “who just get it, they don’t have to explain”.

Progress report

• Updating Newsletter circulation lists ensure we are complaint with Data Protection Act, as well as ensuring those who wish to receive newsletters do so
• Keeping LO Front Door log updated ensures we can easily see analytics to measure that we are meeting our targets in relation to response times to enquiries
• We have established YP who do not know about or do not use the LO website, feeding into the Social Media Strategy to try to gain a platform more suited to YP.