Useful Resources
The following documents are taken from work already done in different parts of the country. All have given their permission for these to be used by other groups, either for ideas or to be reproduced to help local development.
Pilot Parent Forum Network
The DCSF has commissioned Together for Disabled Children (TDC) to set up a pilot National Parent Forum Network with the aim ‘to ensure that good practice, knowledge and shared expertise is not lost at the end of the TDC programme’.
For more information, please click here
Good Practice Bulletin - March 2010
List of trainers and facilitators 2010 - April 2010
Statement of Purpose - A clear and concise statement of what the forum is for. Useful for the membership of the forum and for agencies and individuals the forum will deal with.
Terms of Reference (TOR) - These set out the purpose and structure of the project or forum including:
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vision, objectives, scope and deliverables (i.e. what has to be achieved)
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roles and responsibilities (i.e. who will take part in it, what will they do)
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how often meetings will be held
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who will attend
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how representatives will be selected
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how decisions will be made
TOR do not have to be complicated, but will be useful to think about early in the life of the forum. They can be updated as the forum develops.
Terms of reference for a parent forum should be written in discussion with members and will need to be tailored to fit adopted ways of working. The following document is a suggestion of structure and content.
Parent forum terms of reference (doc)
Constitutions - more established forums and those that wish to register as a charity will need a constitution.
Constitution, PACC, Shropshire (doc)
Registering as a charity - for a guide to whether to register and how to do it:
www.cafamily.org.uk/pdfs/GAPCharityRegistration.pdf
Consulting on the development of a forum - there are many ways this can be done, and ideally any consultation should be done in a variety of ways to ensure input from a good range and number of parent carers. A new forum in Redbridge consulted with local parents to find out their views about setting up, using a questionnaire.
Redbridge Parent Forum consultation document (pdf)
Data protection for parent forums - a form outlining how personal data is held. To be signed by anyone taking on a position of responsibility within the organisation.
Data Protection Policy from Family Voice, Norfolk (doc)
Work planning - there are various ways to ensure you do not drift from meeting your aims and objectives, plan work and ensure you meet deadlines. The following is just one example:
Strategy (work plan) from Waltham Forest Parent Forum (doc)
Family Fun Days - Publicity - an example of a poster / flyer developed to advertise a family fun day to promote the forum and opportunities for parent carers to get involved:
Family Fun Day Poster from Richmond Parent Carers Action Group (pdf)
Ladder of participation - a slightly more detailed version of the ladder of participation than that used in the Contact a Family guides (but still based on the work of David Wilcox, 1994) from Worcestershire County Council
http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/wccindex/wcc-con/wcc-con-toolkit/wcc-con-toolkit-ladder.htm
Consultation toolkit - designed for people carrying out public consultation in the County, looking at what you need to know to plan, run, feedback and analyse public consultation. Starting with Stage 1, Why are you consulting? and working through the eight stages with checklists along the way from Worcestershire County Council.
http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/wccindex/wcc-con/wcc-con-toolkit.htm
An extensive guide to consultation produced by West Sussex County Council
http://tinyurl.com/bjuems
Linking to a forum from the local authority website - one of the ways parents need to be able to find out about opportunities to get involved is through the local authority website. Information should explain clearly what the forum does and how to get involved.
www.sendsutton.info/index.php?p=view_services&func=view&ID=114
Newsletters from Forums:
Leaflets from Forums:
Websites
Parent representatives - for parents who take on a role representing parents in the area, this is a form asking them to sign up to a set of standards and priorities.
Networking on Facebook - you can now link with others throughout the country who are involved with carer participation by visiting our new facebook page.
We also have a new page for trainers with experience of parent carer participation who are able to offer training for new and developing forms and groups link.