Partnership for the Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) Update

29/01/2025

PINS is a national 12 month project funded by the Department For Education to create inclusive school environments in primary schools.  20 Shropshire primary schools are participating in PINS and receiving targeted training around supporting young people who are neurodivergent.  After identifying key areas of learning for each school, school leaders (SENCo’s and Head Teachers) have been attending face to face and online training sessions since the start of the new year. 

PACC has contributed to the training offer delivering sessions on ‘Understanding the Parent Carer Journey’ and ‘Behaviour as Communication’, as well as supporting some schools on an individual basis to develop their partnership with parent carers.  Both training sessions have focused on increasing the visibility of SEND within the school environment, improving communication and understanding the impact on families of supporting a SEND child. Understanding the causes and triggers of behaviour and responding in a way that removes or reduces those causes or triggers was also a key message.

PACC has also been supporting the creation of parent carer groups within individual schools, providing opportunities for parent carers to come together, benefit from peer support and to work in partnership with the school to improve the experience of neurodivergent young people.

The work has been challenging for PACC in terms of capacity but has provided a great opportunity to meet directly with a range of parent carers from throughout Shropshire. It has provided us with valuable information about the parent carer experience in Shropshire, which has informed our discussions in meetings with the Shropshire Council in particular.

PACC recently shared the learning from PINS at the Autism Strategy Development Workshop – highlighting the following key messages;

• Difficulties in supporting SEND children is consistent across all schools. Many schools share the concerns of parent carers about the effectiveness of the SEND system.
• Key issues reported by parent carers are around poor communication and the lack of school wide consistent and person-centred approaches to supporting pupils with SEND.
• There is a general lack of knowledge about SEND and the support available amongst school staff, at all levels.
• Many parent carers are not aware of what support is available and do not have a good understanding of how the SEND system should work.
• Timescales are challenging if we want to deliver real change. It is key that time is invested in developing relationships between SEND families and schools.

PINS has informed PACC plans for the future and has provided a great opportunity to develop partnerships with Shropshire Schools.  The schools participating in PINS have welcomed PACC’s input and have been open to ideas about how to create a positive environment in which children with SEND and their parent carers feel welcomed, respected and informed.

Currently the PINS project is due to finish at the end of March 2025.  We are waiting for information from the Department For Education about next steps and if further funding will be available.  The PACC PINS Lead, Simone Goward, however will remain in post until at least March 2026, and will continue to support Shropshire schools to work in partnership with SEND families.