Bristol Parent Carers are partnering with 20 local Bristol primary schools on an exciting new project, known as Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools or PINS.
PINS is a national initiative led by the Department for Education, Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England. Bristol Parent Carers will be working with the Integrated Care Board and the Parent Carer forums in North Somerset and South Glos to deliver this project across the area.
The goal of the project is to ensure that neurodivergent students can succeed in school, they they feel included and understood, and that their families also feel well-supported. This means offering families access to resources, information, and guidance to help them navigate the educational system. It also involves creating strong communication channels between families and schools, and providing opportunities for parent support groups and community involvement, so that families feel empowered and confident in supporting their children’s needs.
Teachers, parents, children, young people and practitioners will come together to create and use strategies that help support neurodivergent students needs. PINS will bring health and education specialists alongside parent carers into mainstream primary settings to:
- help shape whole school SEND provision
- provide early interventions at a school level
- upskill school staff
- support strengthening of partnerships between schools and parent carers
Schools will receive up to £5000 in support which will be tailored to each individual school and delivered over 5 days or equivalent from September 2024 to March 2025. The school support offer will be determined following a range of school self-assessments that have been completed by children, staff, governors and parents. The support available to each school will be decided by each school and provided by organisations on a “Menu of Support” which will be available to all schools involved in the project across Bristol, North Somerset and South Glos.
These schools will be involved in the initial project and so far over 500 parent carer responses from these schools have been received.
- Avanti Gardens School
- Badocks Wood
- Cabot Primary School
- Easton CE Academy
- Elmlea Infant School
- Elmlea Junior School
- Fairlawn Primary School
- Filton Avenue Primary School
- Frome Vale Academy
- Greenfield E-ACT Academy
- Hannah More Primary School
- Hareclive E-Act Academy
- Holy Cross Catholic Primary School
- Ilminster Avenue E-ACT Academy
- Nova Primary School
- Perry Court E-ACT Academy
- Sefton Park Infants & Junior Schools
- St Anne’s Infants School
- St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
- St Ursulas E-Act Academy
- St Werburgh’s Primary School
If you have a child at any of these schools and wish to share your thoughts on the support your child receives, please compete this short form: https://forms.office.com/e/UpJQyjicyX