The aims of the service are to:

• Work towards ensuring children/young people with special educational needs have equal educational opportunities;

• Provide parents/carers with information;

• Voice the view of parents/carers and raise awareness of special educational needs in BFG;

• Encourage parents/carers and professionals to work more closely together in the interests of children/young people;

• Work with other services/agencies to benefit our children/young people.
  

In order to achieve these aims the Parent Partnership Officer will:

• Work with parents/carers to increase confidence and involvement in their child’s education;

• Ensure SEN procedures are accessible to parents/carers through information and support, and by training with those services who support children/young people with special educational needs;

• Establish links with all SCE schools and support services working with children/young people with SEN to promote better working relationships;

• Help to reflect parents/carers’ views in contributing to and influencing SEN policy and practice as it applies to BFG;

• Provide information and publicity about the service and other sources of support;

• Provide a link between Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS) and Service Children’s Education (SCE).
  

What can we provide for parents/carers?

The Parent Partnership Service can support parents/carers by:

• Listening to parents/carers’ concerns – a trouble shared is a trouble halved!  We can provide telephone support or home visits;

• Providing information on special educational needs process and procedures e.g. statutory assessment.  We can explain how your child’s needs are assessed and appropriate provision made based on the SEN Code of Practice;

• Helping to prepare for meetings with school and other professionals.  Meetings can sometimes be quite daunting, particularly if you are unclear about the purpose of the meeting and if there are a lot of professionals attending.  Being well prepared for a meeting will help to reduce your anxieties and make you feel more in control;

• Helping to express their views at meetings.  It can be difficult to listen to everything that is being said, make notes of the meeting, and make your own contribution and your views known;

• Assisting with the completion of forms/letters e.g. annual review report, statutory assessment advice;

• Interpreting information provided by schools, SCE or published documents;

• Providing information about services and organisations that may be able to their child.  We can provide contact details for parents/carers on education with local services and national support groups;

• Liaising with Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS) on parents’ behalf, if requested, and with the local authority on posting back to the UK.
  
  

MOD Disability & Additional Needs Policy

AGAI 108 is the Army Policy on the Care of Service personnel with disabled and additional needs (AN) dependants.  This instruction states Army Policy and clarifies the obligations.

AGAI 108 states that service personnel with a family member with a disability or additional needs should register/notify their chain of command.  For clarification, this covers all personnel and dependants who require any form of additional help and support for their disability or additional needs in the short or long term.  If in doubt then register.

Registration should be done through unit administrative procedures. 

Outline details will then be included in the service person's Record of Service (ROS) and will be held at MCM Div in Glasgow.   

Registering a dependant with a disability or additional need should not affect your career and will not prevent promotion or career courses.  It will help ensure that the service person gets employment that suits their family circumstances and prevent postings to areas in the world that may not be able to provide the care and support required for your dependants.