On Tuesday 28^th March 2023, in Co-Production with Warrington Borough Council, Education, Health and Social Care in Warrington, we held our Annual Co-production Working Together conference. This was the first conference since March 2019 after we were forced to cancel this   annual event in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We were delighted to see so many of our members on the day, along with a full house of professionals, all keen to work together to celebrate successes in SEND services in Warrington and identify opportunities to improve and achieve positive change for children and young people with SEND and their families.

On the day of the conference, everyone who came along was asked to complete feedback forms and we received an exceptional response, thank you all for taking the time to give us your valuable feedback; this has now been analysed to produce our annual co-production report. This report uses your feedback to review where we are, how far we have come and what we do next. This report will be released soon so look out for our emails and keep your eye on our social media. Along with the council’s SEND improvement plan,  this report will drive our strategic work ensuring we are representing the collective voice of our forum members.

The range of feedback given on the day was vast; a good mix of positive comments and areas for improvement were detailed and this will be  summarised within the main report, however the theme which came through loud and clear was around communication, not just between professionals and parents but between professionals working in different services.

‘Perhaps not surprisingly the biggest theme evident throughout the substantial feedback collected during the Annual Co-Production Working    Together Conference 2023, is a universal desire for improvement and consistency in communication. Parents/carers want better, more consistent communication and transparency along with readily available and accessible service information. Parents/carers also want practical support and strategies to assist them in supporting and advocating for their children and young people with SEND.’

[Warrington Parents & Carers Annual Co-Production working together Conference Report – June 2023]

As with any event the day was not without hiccups, mainly in relation to the venue which proved a little small for the outstanding turnout. This is something we will review for future events but overall it was an enjoyable and productive event, thanks to all who attended and worked with us to ensure this event was successful, we look forward to seeing you all at future events!

Thank you to all who attended our March conference and provided feedback.  We’ve now collated and analysed your feedback sheets ready to share this with our professionals in the Co-production Steering Group, so that we can all work together to improve services for our families.

CLICK HERE to view the report