📅Every 2nd Thursday of the month from 9.30am - 11.30am

📅Every 4th Thursday of the month from 6.00pm - 8.00pm

-ALL Welcome

Next Drop-in - Thursday 25th June 6.00pm - 8.00pm

This project has been created due to the success of the national Autism in Schools (AiS) project.

The PINS project is testing a new model for supporting good outcomes in mainstream schools for Neurodiverse students and strengthening parent carer and school partnerships.

The PINS project will: 

• Provide support at a whole school level, with more effective working between education, health and parent carers, through partnerships with local parent carer forums.

• To support mainstream schools to be inclusive places that are able to meet the needs of neurodiverse students.

• To be needs led rather than diagnosis led support and cover the full range of neurodiversity which also covers children without a formal diagnosis.

• Strengthen partnerships between parents and schools.

• Develop schools’ confidence and expertise in supporting neurodiversity within their classrooms.

• Improve the school environment to address low level needs and allow neurodiverse children to successfully engage in learning.

• Develop an inclusive culture that improves the efficacy of other interventions.

You can search a range of activities, information, advice and support opportunities so why not take a look and REMEMBER if you can’t find what you are looking for, use the feedback link on the website as it is always being reviewed to ensure Oldham families have access to appropriate services for children and young people with SEND.

“The Committee is seeking evidence on short term actions to stabilise the SEND system which is currently experiencing increased demand, protracted waiting times and increased pressure on schools and local authorities. The Committee will also be looking at how, beyond stability, long term sustainability of the SEND system can be achieved to support and improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.”

1. Support for children and young people with SEND 

2. Current and future model of SEND provision 

3. Finance, funding and capacity of SEND provision 

4. Accountability and inspection of SEND provision

Crompton House CofE Academy

Holy Cross CEVA

Crompton Primary

Werneth Primary

Woodlands Primary

St Joseph's RC Junior Infant & Nursery School

Oasis Academy (Hollins Road)

E-ACT Royton & Crompton School

Our hugely popular annual conference took place on Friday, 16th May 2025

SEND Families from across Oldham visited the Marketplace where local services and organisations came together under one roof, to give advise and support.

This year for Conference, we introduced a slightly different format, with the latest SEND updates delivered by none other than Matt Bulmer, Director of Education, Early Years and Skills, alongside Dame Christine Lenehan. Attendees had the chance to ask questions and get real-time answers.

🎶✨ Adding magic to the day were performances from incredibly talented young people from Oldham — they truly stole the show! And of course, we ended the night on a high by celebrating the inspirational winners of our Passion for Parents Awards.

🌟 Know someone who deserves the spotlight?
Nominations are now open for our 2026 Awards! If a service or individual has made a real difference in your parenting journey, we want to hear about them.
➡️ Submit your nomination using the link below.

Let’s keep celebrating the people who make Oldham brilliant! 💛

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PfP2026/

Our Autumn Term Event was held on Thursday 11th September 2025, and the topic was on the Local Inclusion Support Offer.

Our Spring Term Event will be held on Thursday 12th March 2026. The registration will open in February 2026.

It's been just over 18 months since the OFSTED/CQC Area SEND Inspection in Oldham.

We have been gathering your views on the progress made, as well as understanding what your top five priorities are for your family over the next 12 months

You can find the outcome of the survey by clicking the image above..

The booklet has two parts:

1. The inspection framework – This part explains why inspections happen, how they work, and how often they take place.

2. The inspection handbook – This part tells inspectors what to look for, what questions to ask, and what kind of evidence to collect. It also explains what happens before, during, and after an inspection.

These inspections are done by teams from Ofsted and the CQC. The teams include people who understand schools, health, and care. They work together to see how well local areas support children and young people with SEND.

What Is a Spending Review?
A Spending Review is when the government decides how much money each department (like health, education, or transport) can spend. They do this every few years.

Some spending, like benefits for people who lose their jobs, can’t be planned exactly because it depends on how many people need help. But most other spending can be planned, and that’s what the Spending Review focuses on.

What Has Happened So Far?

• In 2021, the last big plan was made.

• In 2024, the government gave early budgets for the year 2025/26.

• Since December 2024, government departments have been talking with the Treasury (the office that handles the country’s money) to make plans for the years after that.

This time, they are starting from zero—looking at every cost from scratch to see if it is worth spending on, instead of just adding more money to past budgets.

What Other Plans Are Coming?
The government also planned to share big ideas for how to:

• Help businesses grow (called an industrial strategy), and

• Improve roads, railways, and other buildings (called an infrastructure strategy).

But now these will come a bit later in June.

How Much Is the Government Spending?
The government is spending more money than before, but this money is a smaller part of the whole economy than it was in 2010.

Some departments, like health, are getting more money over time. Others, like housing, are getting less than they used to.

What Affects the Spending Plans?
Lots of things can change how much the government decides to spend, like:

• How much money the country has

• Promises already made (like spending more on the military)

• How well departments use their money

• The ageing population (older people may need more help)

• Uncertain things like world trade and prices

What Happens Next?

• Parliament doesn’t vote on the plans directly.

• But these plans are used when asking Parliament to agree to spend money later in the year.

• Each department will now plan how to use the money they’re given.

• The next big money update will come in the 2025 Autumn Budget.

Oldham Parent Carer Forum – POINT

ELSEC will take place in nine sites across England, one in each Change Programme Partnership, and in the North West this is Oldham.

We are working with 10 primary schools in Oldham.

Littlemoor

Glodwick

Roundthorn

Richmond

Hodge Clough

Beal Vale

St Annes CofE Lydgate

Oasis Academy Limeside

St Theresa's RC

Lyndhurst

^{Oldham Parent Carer Forum has been working together with Education, Health, and Social Care services to create a clear, helpful guide for families.}

^{This free guide is designed to help you understand how different services can support you and your child/young person during important transition phases.}

^{📲 Scan the QR code on the flyer or click on the link below to download your free copy and get practical information, useful contacts, and guidance—all in one place.}

Preparing for Adulthood – Oldham Booklet

^{Working together to support families across Oldham.}

You can see a selection of equipment and register your interest in borrowing from the library by following the link below.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SensoryToysDeclarationofInterest2025/

The government have said there will be 3 big changes.

1. More healthcare in your neighbourhood and at home.

2. More technology to make it easier for you to see a doctor and get healthcare.

3. Helping you to stay as healthy as possible, like making it easier to choose healthier food and do more exercise.

Read more about this in the easy read guide to the 10 Year Health Plan.

Growing up has never been more challenging and having an unhappy child is unbearably difficult for parents. Knowing how to respond to difficulties, emotions and building resilience is complicated, and the way adults respond matters.

Raise Resilience guides parents through a series of six online sessions.

Packed full of tips, skills, knowledge, tools and resources that teach children how to face challenges with confidence, use their strengths to problem solve, develop empathy, understand emotions and build the mental resilience to live well in the context of an ever-changing world.

To register to attend the workshops which have a catch up offer click the link below:

FREE for parents in Oldham

• Starts Tuesday 2nd June

• Six, 1-hour sessions, 8-9pm

• Join live or catch up on-demand

• Downloadable activities to use with children

Webinar Registration - Zoom

Over a six-week submission period, Inclusion in Practice received 165 institutional submissions, with 820 schools represented through trusts and groups and a further 7,600 schools represented by submissions from providers or local authorities. Researchers from ImpactEd Group facilitated the evidence call and have been analysing the findings.

Contents

The purpose of the group is to make recommendations to DfE ministers on the best ways to support and meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream settings.

The SEND Change Programme is a national programme created to test some of the changes the Government wants to make to the system for supporting children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).

It’s being delivered by “Change Programme Partnerships” in each of the nine regions of England, each led by at least one named local authority.

So, what does this mean for Oldham?

Oldham is part of the Change Programme Partnership for the Northwest Region (NW) working with Rochdale, Trafford, and Manchester, who are the Lead Authority.  This also means that the Parent Carer Forums in each of these areas are equal partners in this programme.

Information and strategies to support you and your child or young person.

We have attached a letter from Bridget Phillipson as well as further information in the link below.

Government delays publication of Schools White Paper on SEND reform until 2026

Thank you to Nicola Nelson from Newbridge College for providing us with these e-safety guides.

Oldham Council and the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board have been notified that an Area SEND Monitoring Visit will be taking place across the Local Area Partnership from Monday 24 November to Wednesday 26 November 2025. This inspection will be conducted jointly by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) consisting of three inspectors.

The focus of the Area SEND Monitoring Visit will be to assess the extent to which the Local Area Partnership has taken effective action to address the areas for priority action, which the partnership has been delivering to improve SEND provision in Oldham, following the Area SEND Inspection in June 2023. The inspection team may have discussions, children and young people, parents, and carers.

For further information, the guidance documents can be found at the link above, which provide information on what to expect during an Area SEND inspection and these are also available in Easy Read and BSL.

POINT

•1d

This PADLET has been developed to support you navigating services whilst your child/young person is on an assessment pathway in Oldham, or you have been given a diagnosis, or you just want to better understand how everything works. Please check back regularly, as we frequently review and update the information.

As a result of your feedback the following two areas have become priorities for the SEND & Inclusion Improvement Programme:

• Communication

• Education Health and Care Plans and the review of these

This isn't a formal consultation. It is an opportunity for families and organisations to inform how the policy is shaped.

You can find out more using the links below:

Information:

SEND reform national conversation - Department for Education - Citizen Space

Use the link below to share your views:

SEND reform national conversation - Page 1 of 15 - Department for Education - Citizen Space

The EHC Hub has two primary uses;

1. For parents/carers, schools, and others to request an Education, Health and Needs Assessment.

2. To manage an existing Education, Health, and Care Plan through the Annual Review process.

Please only complete the survey if you have accessed the EHC Hub to submit a request for an Education, Health, and Care Needs Assessment, or Annual Review Meeting.

The outcome of this survey will support further development of systems used to support families.

Thank you.

Your feedback will be used to e

Please scan the QR code or click on the link on the flyer or below to let us know you are coming.

SEND Reform Drop-ins

This is a consultation that we would encourage our members to complete.

Please see our notice about our drop in sessions that are taking place over the course of the next month.

Best Start Family Hub - Oldham Library
Greaves Street,
Oldham,
OL1 1AL

24th June 5.00pm- 7.00pm

Best Start family Hub - Medlock Vale
In the grounds of the Honeywell Centre,
Hadfield Street,
Hathershaw,
Oldham,
OL8 3BP

1st July - 9.30am - 11.00am

Best Start Family Hub - Beever

Moorby St,

Oldham,

OL1 3QU

13th July - 9.30am - 11.00am

Best Start family Hub - Alexandra
Wildmoor Avenue,
Oldham
OL4 5PU

15th July - 5.00pm - 7.00pm

Best Start Family Hub - Oldham Library
Greaves Street,
Oldham,
OL1 1AL

Northmoor Library

Chadderton Way

OL9 6DH

Wednesday 1st July

6.00pm - 7.30pm

• Understanding behaviour as communication

• Understanding relationships as the foundation for development

• Promoting emotional containment

• Fostering reflective practice

• Building resilience through connection

  
  

We are working hard to destigmatise accessing information and ongoing learning about mental health and about being a parent. In partnership with local authorities, health trusts and passionate advocates, we promote emotional awareness and care for every child.

We’re here as a hand to hold through parenting to build confidence and nurture relationships for better outcomes for children and families. To make a difference, we aim to reach one million UK parent learners by 2028 with our online reflective learning offer.

With so many apps, games, and websites out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But the good news is you’re not alone.