Parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) are being encouraged to have their say to help shape services in the future.

Voice4Parents, an independent forum of parents and carers, is carrying out its annual survey, the findings of which will be used by Wolverhampton's SEND Partnership Board as it develops the city's SEND Strategy for the next few years.

The survey is available at Voice4Parents Annual Survey until Sunday 14 July, 2019.

Voice4Parents chair Sarah Baker said: "We want you to share your views and experiences of being a parent or carer of a child or young person aged from 0 to 25 with special educational needs or a disability. 

“This is your opportunity to tell us what day to day life is really like for you and your family, and how well you feel SEND services in Wolverhampton are supporting the needs of your family.

"Having your say will help Voice4Parents get the message across of what really matters to our families, enabling us to provide constructive feedback to help shape future provision of council, education, health and other services. 

“It will also help us to identify areas that need improvement and plan this year’s Voice4Parents projects and activities, including focus groups and events."

Councillor Michael Hardacre, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, added: "The council and its partners are determined to ensure that SEND services are working as well as they possibly can be for children and young people and their families, and I would encourage all parents and carers to take a few moments to have their say about what is working well and what could be done better."

Voice4Parents is a representative group funded by the Department for Education to work alongside the council, education, health and care providers to ensure the services they plan, commission, deliver and monitor meet the needs of children and young people with SEND and their families. For more details, please visit Voice4Parents – Wolverhampton