The Information, Advice and Support Services Network (IASSN) Children and Young People’s Steering Group is made up of twelve disabled young people and young people with special educational needs, aged 16–25. All members have previously accessed, or been involved with, their local SENDIAS service.
The group is made up of young people from across the country, including Plymouth, Birmingham, London, Newcastle and York.
The group’s purpose is to work alongside IASSN to help SENDIAS services better meet the needs of the children and young people they support. It also ensures that the voices of children and young people remain at the heart of everything IASSN does.
Meetings take place monthly and follow a collaboratively developed agenda. They are held via Microsoft Teams, and young people should be able to join either independently or with support if needed. During these meetings, the group agrees on its aims and priorities, with additional sessions scheduled as required to progress specific pieces of work.
And as a big plus, young people will be paid £50 in vouchers of their choice per session they attend!
Highlights
- The group co-wrote training that they delivered online to SENDIAS service staff. The training was on ‘how local services can include children and young people on their steering groups.’ The training was delivered over two sessions with 116 SENDIAS service staff attending. It was also recorded and has since been watched a further 150 times.
- The group has written the Foreword for all of our major reports. This includes us looking at the data together and the group feeding back to us their thoughts, challenges and concerns. These reports go to all Local Authorities, Department for Education and beyond and it’s great to have the views and voice of young people at the forefront. This includes our Data Report and our Minimum Standards report.
- The group produced a series of resources they would like to develop to support SENDIAS service staff to understand topics from their perspective. This includes how to directly reach children and young people.
Why This Group Matters
The group recently expressed an interest in expanding its membership. To support this, members shared why being part of the group is important:
"Being part of a group like this is important. It’s important to get your voice heard and have an impact."
"A good notch [on] your CV."
"You get to meet new people and make new friends."
"Different for every person. I find it [fulfilling] and feel I have developed new skills. It’s a chance to be listened to."
"Groups like this [develop] your confidence to speak up in all areas."
"It feels like you’re making a difference/ having an impact. This group is very collaborative in the way we work."
Feedback from Training Sessions
Feedback from professionals who attended the training delivered by the young people has been overwhelmingly positive:
"This was an excellent session. There were a lot of excellent take home points from it. The young people who led the session were so knowledgeable and confident in their delivery their passion for their involvement clearly came over. A lesson to us all about preparation and delivery of information. I left feeling empowered to recruit young people to our steering group using the information from this session. So therefore the session was successful. Thank you to all involved."
"The YP's frank and honest sharing of their experiences. I would love these sessions opened up to other professionals so they can truly hear the VOC but also see with the right support how much they can achieve."
"A great event, thank you."
"The YP were excellent. So confident in their approach. It was amazing."
Applications Are Currently Closed:
Applications for the group are currently closed. If you are interested in being added to a waiting list for the IASSN Children and Young People’s Steering Group, or if you have any questions, please do email us at [email protected]