Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) Programme

The purpose of the PINS programme is to improve the experience of mainstream school for ALL children who have an additional educational need, undiagnosed as well as diagnosed. Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools will bring health and education specialists and expert parent/carers into mainstream primary settings to:

• Help shape whole school SEND provision.
• Provide early interventions at a whole school level.
• Upskill school staff.
• Support the strengthening of partnerships between schools and parents and carers.
• Ascertain the needs of families with neurodivergent children and provide supportive training and information.

Schools will participate in an Environmental Sensory Audit looking at the impact of the school's communal areas and classrooms from a sensory perspective. Audits are led by Sensory Education Specialists who will make appropriate recommendations to improve the environment for neurodivergent children. For more information on Environmental Sensory Audits, see ......... link? 

Parents and carers will be invited to coffee and chat sessions in September to discuss their school experience, support needed, the roll out of the PINS programme and the expected offering of information sessions to support parenting a neurodiverse child ranging from Understanding Neurodiversity to more specialised areas such as Dyslexia awareness. 

Dear .....

Following on from our introductory email at the end of the last school term outlining our involvement with your school in the PINS programme, thank you for forwarding our information onto your Parents and Carers. We would now like to arrange the first PINS coffee and chat session with your parents/carers and have attached the parent invite for this for you to send out to them as soon as possible this week.

The Coffee and Chat session will take place on: 

Can you please provide an available room for this session to take place in, we will provide the refreshments!

We very much look forward to coming to ................ and meeting your parents/carers and supporting your school during the PINS programme.

Dear All,

Thank you so much to everyone who has attended the parent/carer meet-ups over the last 5 weeks, the information we gathered has been fed-back to the schools to support their training for PINS (Partnerships for the Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools). We know it's difficult for parents/carers to take time out to attend in-person meetings and many weren't able to, but we hope those who couldn't attend are still able to participate in the information sessions we will be arranging over the course of the programme.

We now have a plan in place for the information sessions we will be offering from the end of November up to the end of March 2026. (These are separate to the additional sessions provided by the main PINS programme for schools which we'll be notifying you about on a separate email before half-term.)

As we discussed in our meet-ups, can you please notify us of your preferred 3 sessions in order of preference, 1 being your first choice etc. in order for us to work out which in-person training your school will receive. If a number of schools request the same in-person preference, we will draw straws to make it fair!

All these sessions will be available to everyone as a virtual session to include Q&A time and a recording will be available on the PINS link on our website once they have been delivered (without the Q&A). 

Please respond with your preference by Wednesday 22nd October via email to: parentcarervoice.pins@gmail.com

• Understanding Overwhelm, Meltdown and Shutdown

  (how it can present and how to support)

• One Page Profiles

  (a tool to highlight a child or young person's individuality)

• Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)
  (how your child can be affected)

• Sensory Processing Differences
  (what are they, what is the impact and how to support)

• Using Play as a Support Strategy 

  (how to engage positively to support neurodivergence)

• Inclusive Practice Framework

  (what should be available for all children at school as ordinary provision)

• Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
  (when are they necessary, how to request and evidence gathering)

• Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
  (SMART targets, review meetings and tribunals) 

• Barriers to School Engagement and/or Attendance

  (overview and how to support)

• Understanding Neurodiversity
  (how to help others understand and support)

• Parent/Carer Emotional Resilience for Wellbeing 

Many thanks

Catherine & the PCV team

Parent Carer Voice North Yorkshire

Registered Charity  - 1201947

Facebook: Parent Carer Voice North Yorkshire

Dear All

Many thanks to those who have responded with their preferences for the in-person information sessions at your schools. We will notify you about which school is receiving which session and when at the end of November once we have confirmed dates with the providers etc..  In the meantime, I know you have been forwarded the following information regarding upcoming Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board sessions, but here they are again, as a reminder...

Workshop Title: Autism with a Demand Avoidant Profile

Provider: KIDS Yorkshire & Humber

Duration: 2.5 hrs

Dates: Tue 2 Dec and Mon 2 Feb

Booking Link: Autism with a demand avoidant profile: A workshop for parents/ carers (KIDS Hull)

Workshop Title: Sleep Support for Parents/Carers

Provider: KIDS Yorkshire & Humber

Duration: 2.5 hrs

Dates: Tue 2 Dec and Mon 9 Feb

Booking Link: Sleep support workshop for parents and carers

Workshop Title: Dyslexia Awareness

Provider: Dyslexia Sparks

Duration: 2 hrs

Date: Fri 10 Jan

Booking Link: Dyslexia awareness: a Dyslexia Sparks workshop for parents and carers.

To keep you updated on what is happening with the Partnerships for the Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme, Sensory Audits are now being undertaken throughout the 11 participating schools and recommendations are being given by North Yorkshire's Sensory Specialists. During these audits every classroom and common area is reviewed by the sensory specialist and, where required, adjustments are recommended. These adjustments can be anything from minimising window glare to changing classroom layout or lighting, recommending matt surfaces, raising awareness of smells and background noises. Everything is considered! Some of the recommendations will be quick to implement, others will involve more planning and preparation. All the audits that have taken place so far have confirmed the schools desire and willingness to provide as supportive an environment as they are able and PCV and the sensory specialists look forward to reviewing the improvements next Spring.

All schools participating in the PINS programme have been offered on-line support with the following:

• Neurodiversity Awareness - 30mins overview - on-line

• ADHD Awareness & Practical Classroom Strategies - 2hrs - 13th Nov @ 2pm

• Edusleep - 2 hrs - 17th Nov @ 3:30pm (Supporting sleep awareness)

• Neuro-inclusive Environments - 2hrs - 17th Nov @ 3.45pm (inc reasonable adjustments & language)

• Demand Avoidance - 2 hrs - 26th Nov @ 1pm (PDA)

• Tics and Tourettes - 1.5 hrs - 3rd Feb @ 3.45pm

• Child to Parent abuse - multi-agency approach - 1hr - 4th Feb & 12th March @ 3.45pm (PEGS - Parental Education & Growth Support)

And North Yorkshire schools have been offered additional in-person training on more generic neurodiverse awareness & classroom support and Barriers to School Engagement and /or Attendance, in line with Parent Carer Voice's own Parents/Carers offering.

The project team are looking for additional support for ARFID, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and Bullying and will advertise those as soon as they are confirmed. 

If you would like to access any of the school specific sessions, do please let me know and I will make a request on your behalf.

We wish you all a good half-term.

Catherine & the PCV Team

Parent Carer Voice North Yorkshire

Registered Charity  - 1201947

Facebook: Parent Carer Voice North Yorkshire

Dear All

Our PINS site is now up and running!    

Thank you very much to those who sent in their information session requests. Three proposed sessions were favoured by all the schools who responded which made it a little challenging deciding which session to offer at which school so the lucky dip bag had to be used I'm afraid! That said, you are welcome to attend any of the in-person sessions if you are available and able to travel to them, everyone will be invited to the on-line sessions and recordings of the on-line sessions will be available on our website so no-one will miss out.

The following is a list of which parent carer session is going to be offered at which school (we are still in the process of confirming dates for the sessions but they will take place between the end of next January and the beginning of next March). 

New Park Primary - Understanding Overwhelm, Meltdown and Shutdown
(how it can present and how to support)

Harrogate (location tbc)

Hookstone Chase - Using Play as a Support Strategy
(how to engage positively to support neurodivergence)

Harrogate (location tbc)

Richard Taylor - Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
(Draft Plans / SMART targets) Tribunals and Annual Reviews being covered by SENDIASS later)

Harrogate (location tbc)

Hutton Rudby - One Page Profiles
(a tool to highlight a child or young person's individuality)

Stokesley (location tbc)

Kirkby & Gt Broughton CofE - Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
(when are they necessary, how to request and evidence gathering)

Stokesley (location tbc)

Filey CofE - Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)
(how your child can be affected)

Selby Comm Primary - Sensory Processing Differences
(what are they, what is the impact and how to support)

Pickering Community Junior - Inclusive Mainstream Toolkit (was Inclusive Practice Framework)
(what should be available for all children at school as ordinary provision)

Barrowcliff School - Barriers to School Engagement and/or Attendance (overview and how to support)

Richmond Methodist Primary - Understanding Neurodiversity
(how to help others understand and support)

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary, Northallerton - Parent/Carer Emotional Resilience for Wellbeing

Do please check out our PINS link (this page) where you'll also find useful information on the recent sensory Environmental Audits that have been completed at all the schools, links to training and information sessions and recordings which will be constantly updated and and how to provide feedback on the programme so far.

Dear All

We're fast approaching the end of the year and have almost confirmed all the dates for the PINS parent carer information sessions for next term as well as the online sessions.

We have extended the EHCP information sessions after consulting further with SENDIASS who are hosting these. Instead of the two sessions we were expecting, they would like to offer 4 sessions as there is so much information to impart and to enable greater parent carer discussion.  

Our Barriers to School Engagement and/or Attendance session has also extended to two sessions at the request of the presenter but will only be available in person, due to the personal information she will be sharing during the discussions. This is therefore now going to be held in a central North Yorkshire location and open to all at the beginning of March (date tbc) and we will have a 10 top tips to support families experiencing BtSEA to share on-line.

 As BtSEA is now going to be at a central location, an Introduction to Self Advocacy will be offered at Barrowcliffe School in the middle of March (which was something many parents and carers felt they would benefit from during feedback from our many parent/carer meet-ups). This will also be offered on-line and a recording made available.

I've listed below the dates for the in-person sessions confirmed so far. But - and this is a big BUT! If you are able to travel and would like to attend any of the in-person sessions and not just the one scheduled for your school, do please come along if you can - perhaps a few of you could come together and car share?

Confirmed dates for your diaries:

• Thursday 22nd January, 9:15am - 1pm, Stokesley (location still tbc), One Page Profiles and EHCPs, (when they are necessary, how to request and evidence gathering) Brunch will be provided at 11am.

• Friday 6th February, 9:15am - 11:15, Richmond Methodist School - Understanding Neurodiversity 

• Thursday 12th February, 9:15am - 2:30pm, Harrogate (location still tbc) - Understanding Overwhelm, Meltdown and Shutdown, Using Play as a Support Strategy and EHCPs (Draft plans and SMART targets) This will be an all day session with a light lunch provided.

• Thursday 12th March, time tbc, Barrowcliffe School, Scarborough - Introduction to Self Advocacy

The PINS tab on our website: www.parentcarervoiceuk.org also has a guide to Sensory Audits - what to look out for and address within a school environment to support neurodivergent children. Some of the recommendations are already in place in schools but the guidance given by the sensory specialists was well received during the audits and the schools have committed to making changes where appropriate, which is great news. Knowing about what was discussed will help you when discussing your child's needs at your schools, so do take a look at the information. Plus, it would be good to see if there is anything that could be useful to know for the home environment as well - I've made some changes at home in light of the information I learnt during the school visits, to further support my daughter...   

FYI - We've sent SENDCOs links to some videos to extend school staff's knowledge and understanding of the impact of neurodiversity on children, young people and their families. Parent Carer Voice produced two of the videos to support understanding the physical and emotional challenges having a child or young person struggling with Barriers to School Engagement and / or Attendance (BtSEA) raises. 

• How School rules and practices affect neurodivergent children

• BtSEA - A Family Perspective

 We also shared:

• The National Autistic Society's boy in a shopping centre - you might have seen this one, it highlights the impact of sensory overwhelm on autistic children, is very short and useful to aid understanding:

•  NAS - Sensory overload

And another we shared was very hard hitting about the impact being a carer can have, by the University of Birmingham. I'm not including the link here as it comes with a trigger warning and it's just before Christmas... but you can Google it if you're interested.

Additionally, for parents with children in Year 5, we've uploaded a highly informative Transitions to Secondary School Let's Talk video to our website's Workshop Library (accessed from the Information tab). Please remember to reach out to us if you need any additional information, support or signposting.

We hope you and your families have a peaceful Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the New Year. 

Our very best wishes

Catherine and the PCV Team