The Plymouth Parent Carer Voice (PPCV) brings together parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Plymouth.
PPCV is Plymouth’s official parent carer forum. We are a group of volunteer parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Together we work in partnership with our local authority, to help shape and improve the range of services in education, health and social care and in the first sector for families in the Plymouth area.
Parent Carer Forums like PPCV are run by volunteers and funded with a grant from the Department for Education (DfE). We receive this and other forms of support from ‘Contact’, who work in partnership with the DfE. We are a member of the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) from whom we receive regular guidance and support.
We are a parent carer forum. The way parent carers work with professionals is by forming groups called parent carer forums.
A parent carer forum is a group of parents and carers of disabled children (children with SEND aged 0-25 years). Their aim is to make sure the services in their area meet the needs of disabled children and their families.
They do this by gathering the views of local families and then working in partnership with local authorities,educational settings, health providers and other providers to highlight where local services, processes and commissioners are working well, or challenge when changes or improvements need to be made.
In England there are parent carer forums in almost all local authority areas.
PPCV has a steering group of parents who lead this work and listen to the views of other parents in the local area to make sure they know what is important to them. Forums are keen to hear from as many parent carers as possible.
We enable families to have a voice and to be part of the SEND process.
Families can be involved in the following ways:
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tell us about an issue you are having or a problem you have had,
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fill in a questionnaire or survey about the services that you use,
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volunteer to help out at an event that we hold,
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join the steering group,
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attend working groups and meetings with our partners such as Plymouth City Council.
Parent carer participation is when parents and professionals work together, recognising each other's expert knowledge, to design, develop and improve services for disabled children in the local area.
Working with our partners we are aiming to raise parents and carers input through the 'ladder of participation'.
This is:
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Information - this is what we are going to do
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Consultation - we are doing this what do you think
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Participation - lets work through this together
Claire P
Chair & Director
Claire is Chair and Director of PPCV. She is responsible for organising the steering group and volunteers as well as co-ordinating the SEND Conference, consultations and other events. Claire represents the voice of Parents and Carers at Strategic level with both the local authority and the clinical commissioning group as well as regionally in the South West.
Tara V
Co Chair
Tara is the co-chair of PPCV. Her role centres on schools and the co-production of children’s education with parents, carers and families, with a particular focus on autism.
Katie B
Director
Katie is a Director of PPCV with responsibility for Finance. In addition to working with PPCV in her spare time, she is an accountant in local Government.
Sarah F
Director
Sarah is a Director of PPCV with responsibility for Finance. In addition to working with PPCV, for the IAS service within the local authority.
Chris R
Administrator & Socials
Chris is the administrator and social media officer for PPCV. He deals with membership and communication.
Shane M
Volunteer
Shane is a volunteer and is responsible for co-ordinating the PPCV Sensory Library.
Katie R
Volunteer
Katie updates the website with blog posts and information about events. She also supports social media communication.
Neighbouring Parent Carer Forums
Parent Carers Cornwall
Devon Parent Carer Forum
