Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) is a programme funded by the Shared Outcomes Fund, and delivered between the Department for Education (DfE), NHS England (NHSE) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), with the aim of bringing health and education specialists and expert parent carers into mainstream primary settings to: 

• help shape whole school SEND provision
• provide early interventions at a school level
• upskill school staff
• support and strengthen partnerships between schools and parent carers
• support and strengthen partnerships between PCFS and ICBs

The aim is that the programme will leave a sustainable impact, building a legacy of closer collaboration between schools, parent carers, education and health. Project teams will work collaboratively across professional boundaries, developing the capacity of schools to facilitate the best possible outcomes for children and young people who are neurodiverse. 

This will reframe the focus of specialist input to how a supportive learning environment and well-equipped school can improve the outcomes for neurodiverse children. 

Supporting co-production between parent carers and school 

Which children will the PINS project support?

PINS will support your school to enable every child to thrive, have a sense of belonging and feel safe.

It is a whole school approach that uses the power of working in partnership with families and professionals to build an inclusive culture where neurodiversity is a valued strength that adds to the school community.

This is an ambitious project which builds on the learning from the NHSE led Autism in Schools project, where a co-produced approach based on a strong partnership between health, education and parent carer forums led to innovative work in local schools and more effective support for autistic children and young people. 

The PINS project broadens the scope of the Autism in Schools model, to support a wider cohort of neurodiverse children in primary schools. The programme aims to provide support at a whole school level, with more effective working between education, health and parent carers, through partnerships with local parent carer forums. The offer of support to each school will be informed by parent carer views, and the programme will facilitate ongoing engagement between parent carers and school leadership teams.

The parent carer forum partnership approach with schools is a particularly crucial part of the PINS project.

EXPANDING REACH 

The PINS project aims to test this model as a ‘proof of concept’ across every ICB (although this may not cover every local authority within an ICB). One purpose of a Shared Outcome Fund programme is to evaluate impact, with the learning from the programme being used to inform future investment. The PINS evaluation will test whether this co-productive way of working does improve outcomes for children, families, schools and health partners. 

Parent Carer Forums are key partners in delivery of the PINS project. 

There are three core objectives for Parent Carer Forums taking part in the project; these are:

1. to work strategically with the ICB and LA partners to develop and deliver the project
2. to work with schools and parent carers to strengthen relationships between schools and their parent carers of neurodiverse children in their schools
3. to support the development of improved co-production with families to facilitate service design and delivery.

Whilst there will be flexibility within delivery at a local level there will be an expectation that where parent carers forums are involved, they will ensure that each school has access to a termly parent participation meeting and that the PCF will be responsible for the distribution of a nationally developed parent / carer survey at the beginning and end of the project. PCFs will also be provided with an resource pack of useful information and resources.

Types of support that parent carer forums could offer to deliver in schools that are part of the PINS project. 

• Set up and facilitate a SEND parent carer participation group in the school
• Support to develop a sustainable and effective relationship between school leadership and the SEND parent carers
• Support to identify the priorities of SEND parent carers
• Facilitation of participation discussions to coproduce response to priority areas
• Regularly feedback to monitor impact and effectiveness of coproducing with families
• Empower SEND parent carers to understand and engage with other (health and social care) services to enable better engagement and support for families
• Facilitate support to enable parents and carers to understand processes in school that support children
• Provide information about the wider SEND system to promote greater understanding and awareness of available support
• Identify and signpost to appropriate practitioners and services for families

If you would like more information about the project, or if your child is at one of the PINS Project schools and you would like to know how to get involved, then please email Vanessa Usai at secretary.pcf.cwac@gmail.com.

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