This drop-in coffee afternoon session will be from 12.30 - 2 pm on Monday 23rd June

This is one of our regular drop in sessions which take place in the Clement Medford Room (1st Floor) at the Ponders End Youth and Family Hub, 129, South Street, Enfield, EN3 4PX.

We have external speakers for most of these events, providing an update on a topic of interest and answering your questions on that subject. Details of the speaker(s) for this session will be confirmed shortly. 

Members of the Our Voice team will be on hand every session to listen to your questions and issues and point you in the right direction to resolve the issues you are facing. Or you can just take the opportunity to offload a bit and have a chat with other parents who experience some of the same challenges as you, over a cup of tea or coffee.

Practical information:

The hub is located at 129, South Street, Enfield, EN3 4 PX.

Some people have reported problems with getting to the hub using SatNav. It is best to look out for the Oasis Academy School which is opposite the hub. You may find that once parked you are by the side entrance of the hub – you will probably need to go to the South Street entrance to get admittance to the building – please walk around the building until you get to the front.

These events are aimed at parents and carers rather than children. If you do need to bring children with you, please note that you will be responsible for supervising your children throughout the session – we do not provide childcare or activities for children during these sessions.

Welcome to the PINS Project 2025-2026.

Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) is a national programme which brings together health and education workforces and expert parent carers into mainstream primary schools 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.

In the overall aim to improve positive outcomes for neurodivergent children, supporting them to achieve and thrive.

Neurodiversity describes the population as a whole and recognises the diversity of different brains.

Neurotypical describes most of the population, the majority group that experiences and processes the world in the same way.

Neurodivergent describes the minority group that experiences and processes the world in a different way. This may include Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dyspraxia to name a few. 

The PINS Project in Enfield will run until March 2026. It will be delivered in 6 Primary Schools in Enfield, as well as continuing with support in the 5 Primary Schools that took part in the 2024-2025 PINS programme.

Our Voice is supporting the delivery of PINS at a strategic level in the local area, through involvement in the local partnership and support to the project delivery team. We are also responsible for delivery of the parent carer engagement activity in all the participating schools. 

During the project, we will be:

•        Running coffee mornings at all participating schools;
•        Offering training and webinars on topics that parent carers have highlighted they need to know about;
•        Newsletters, letting parent carers know about what is happening in the project, events and opportunities that they and their families can get involved in;
•       Running Peer Disability Training for schools. 

Our Parent Carers Survey.

For the 6 participating schools, we really want to hear from all the parents about their experience with their school. There will be two surveys in the project. One which we are conducting at the beginning of the project and one at the end. 

If you know your school is participating in PINS, please feel free to take part in our survey at https://forms.gle/g9vPyhATGoxzEEDS9 

Get Involved

If you want to get involved in the PINS project, please check out our PINS Get Involved Flyer.

We are hard at work planning events, training and webinars for you, so please come back to check in.

If you would like to receive updates straight to your inbox or phone, you can sign up for the Our Voice mailing list, PINS mailing list (specifically an update about the project and events) and our PINS WhatsApp group. Please email us at PINS.OV.Enfield@outlook.com 

2024-2025 PINS Project

Newsletter 1 

Newsletter 2 (final) 

Carers’ Week 2025 – Celebrating  You, Championing Equality

This Carers Week (9–15 June 2025), we shine a spotlight on you — the extraordinary carers of children and young people with disabilities or special educational needs (SEND). With the theme “Caring About Equality”, carers across the UK are being recognised for the vital, often unseen, contributions they make to families, schools, and community life https://www.carersweek.org/   

Why Equality Matters for SEND Carers

Being a carer of a child or young person with SEND often means navigating complex systems—education, health, social care—while juggling finances, wellbeing, and family demands. Carers Week is dedicated to calling out the inequalities this role can bring, such increased risk of financial hardship, missing employment or career opportunities and poor mental and physical health.

Carers Week Free 5-Day Self-Care Challenge

Self-care is a huge challenge for parent-carers – it never feels like there are enough hours in the day to find time to prioritise your own needs.

But of course it is important to look after yourself – for your own sake and because you cannot care for someone else as well if you are completely burnt-out and exhausted.

You might like to try the Carers Week 5-day self-care challenge,  designed for those short of time. You will receive a daily video (3-5 minutes) and a daily self-care challenge (10-15 minutes) plus an optional evening Zoom (30 minutes).  Details and sign up at: Carers Week Free 5 Day Self-Care Challenge - Work Care & Thrive

You Are Not Alone

Caring for a child or young person with SEND can feel overwhelming—but remember: your resilience, compassion, and dedication matter. Carers Week is a national moment of recognition—use it to ask for what you need, to connect with others who care for SEND children, and to step into spaces normally hard to access.

At Our Voice, our mission is clear: to support you—not just as carers, but as individuals with stories, needs, goals, and rights.

If your child has an EHCP and is now in year 9 or above, it is important to start thinking about what will happen when they get to the age of 16 and become legally responsible for making their own decisions, and perhaps start to think about their future in terms of getting a job or living more independently. We know that this can be a worrying time for parents and carers, and it is important to start thinking about the transition as early as possible so that you will be well-informed and ready to support your young person through the changes.

The Local Authority's Preparing for Adulthood booklet is a key document to help you understand the process and support. You can see this booklet on the Local Offer here and there is an easy-read booklet here and additional information about the process here

We recommend that you should attend as many of the Preparing for Adulthood online events as you can. It is worth starting as soon as possible and you may wish to repeat some of the sessions over the next few years.

Preparing for Adulthood events

The Local Authority run a series of Preparing for Adulthood events and the full programme is available here.

We are currently awaiting details of the next series of events. 

These events are part of a series about different aspects of the Preparing for Adulthood process. If you have been unable to attend a session, the presentations will be added to the Local Offer Preparing for Adulthood page here shortly after each session. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see links to each presentation. 

Most sessions are held online or at the Integrated Learning Disability Service, Carnegie Building, 258a Hertford Road, Enfield, EN3 5BN. 

Drop in sessions

On the first Friday of every month, parents and carers of young people aged 16 and over can join the monthly drop-in sessions 10 am - 12 pm at the Integrated Learning Disability Service in Hertford Road, where you can talk to a member of the ILDS team, and Jane Richards from Families in Transition to Adulthood. More information on the flyer here. The next session will be Friday 6th June. If you would like to attend, please book an appointment by noon on the previous day. If this day does not work for you, please contact Jane to discuss an alternative timing.

You are welcome to bring your young person along with you. 

The Enfield Communication Advisory Support Service (ECASS) are hosting some events for parent/carers over the next month to support parents with the transition to secondary school. 

The first is an in-person drop-in session at Playbox, Enfield Town, which will provide an opportunity for parent/carers to meet with the ECASS team and discuss any concerns or thoughts relating to their child’s transition.  This takes place at Playbox in Enfield Town Centre (Palace Gardens Shopping Centre) between 10 am to 1 pm on Thursday 12^th June– various pre-bookable slots are available.

A member of the Our Voice team will also be attending during the later part of the event (11.30 onwards).

More details are on the flyer, including a QR code to sign up. If you prefer to use a link you can sign up at https://forms.office.com/e/wBTLmexgu7

The second are online sessions with various educational professionals to provide some support, advice and strategies to parent/carers and as an opportunity for them to ask any questions. These sessions will take place on 25^th June, 1^st July and 10^th July.

More details are on the flyer, including a QR code to sign up. If you prefer to use a link you can sign up for the online sessions at https://forms.office.com/e/eRp6c6gWEu

• your name and email address for the booking,
• which performance you would like to attend,
• if you want to attend the touch tour,
• number of tickets
• any access needs you have.

1.       NDTI Seeking experiences about supported housing – webinar and survey

The National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTI) are gathering evidence about parents’ experiences of getting information about housing from year 9. They would also like to hear from parents of older children as well, and they want to include positive experiences too. 

The London session takes place on Thursday 5^th June (1-3 pm) but you are welcome to attend a different session if that is more convenient for you. Additionally, there is a survey which is most important for those who cannot attend.

See the attached flyer for more details (including the links) and dates of all the regional webinars. 

You can book your place to join a webinar here and there is a link to a survey here

Background

For many years the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTI) (who deliver Preparation for Adulthood work nationally) has heard from parents and carers across England that supported housing is a mystery and is often impossible to find.

The new government has launched a strategy to build more social housing and an annual pot of funding of £1.6 billion for supported housing.  Through a series of webinars with parents and carers across the country, NDTi are exploring the current approach to information about housing and support for young people preparing for adulthood – How do people know about and access provision which enables choice and control and gloriously ordinary lives?

The NDTI hope to hear from as many parents and carers as possible and will use their findings to inform change and improvement on preparation for adulthood and housing for young adults with SEND

Our guide to what's on over the school May half holidays for children and young people with SEND is now available here.

ECYPS are running their inclusive Teenscheme over the May half term. 

We also have a guide to ongoing play and leisure activities available here. 

Contents include information about sports and local leisure activities, days out including London and local zoos and museums and schemes aimed at teenagers.

Please note that this guide relates to externally provided activities and schemes and inclusion in our guide should not be taken as endorsement by Our Voice of any particular scheme, venue or activity. Information is up to date and accurate to the best of our knowledge, but please do check in advance with individual providers before you go. 

Not all activities will be suitable for all children/young people, so please do talk to individual providers about whether they can meet your child/young person's individual needs. 

Our guide to What's On -Play and Leisure in and around Enfield has lots of information on local SEND-specific and inclusive activities in and around the area (including some days out in Central London and further afield). The guide was last updated on 20th May 2025. 

This guide focuses on ongoing term-time activities (although some continue during school holidays), and will be regularly updated with the latest activities and dates, so do check back regularly. We will also let you know about relevant one-off events via our weekly updates to members - please join our mailing list to receive these, if you haven't already done so. 

In addition, we usually publish a short 'What's on?' guide during each school holiday, featuring information about specific activities during the next holiday period.  

Please note that these activities are provided by external providers, not Our Voice, and inclusion in this guide should not be taken as our endorsement of any particular provider. 

If you know about any relevant local, accessible activities that aren't included in our guide, please do let us know - email us at info@ourvoiceenfield.org.uk 

Southbury Leisure Centre will have a free Open Day on Sunday 25th May, 9 am to 4 pm, featuring taster sessions for families and children aged 5 -18 years, who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (with their carers). 

See the flyer for more details. 

You can scan the QR code on the flyer to register for the session or use this link. 

The sessions are: 

9.15 -10 am and 10.15 - 11 am - Cricket/Multisports

12-1 pm                                   - Adult and Junior Gym

12 - 1 pm                                 - Soft play

3-4 pm                                      - Family Fun Swim

3-4 pm and 3.30 - 4 pm             - Foundation Swimming lessons