Parents' Forum for Bradford & Airedale

17/06/2026

Hiya! The first 20 parent carers to LIKE this post will receive a FREE max card for their child/young person. Please note, this is only for parent/carers of those with additional needs/disabilities.

All you have to do is press the thumbs up button and email [email protected] to arrange to collect your card.

Team PFBA

16/06/2026

The Department for Education has confirmed that it intends to launch a consultation on Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) in the coming weeks.

This follows concerns raised during the SEND Reform consultation that there was limited information about how the proposed reforms would affect children and young people currently receiving EOTAS provision. The National Network of Parent Carer Forums understands the importance of EOTAS, and that is it a vital provision for some children and young people whose needs cannot be met within a school setting.

The Government has stated that children and young people accessing EOTAS will be considered within the future SEND system and that the consultation will seek views on how EOTAS should operate going forward.

The NNPCF welcomes the opportunity for families, Parent Carer Forums and wider stakeholders to contribute to this important discussion.

More information below:

https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/question/930/special-educational-needs-out-of-school-educati

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Every child achieving and thriving, published on 23 February 2026, what consideration was given to education otherwise than in school or at school (EOTIS/EOTAS) provision when developing the White Pa...

16/06/2026

On tomorrow!

☕️ SEND Parent & Carer Coffee Morning ☕️

Are you a parent or carer of a child aged 0–10 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), or emerging needs?

Come along to the next coffee morning hosted by Mencap Family Engagement Project Bradford as part of their Family Engagement Project! It is a wonderful, informal space to meet other SEND parents, share experiences, and get helpful advice and support.

✨ What to expect:

Helpful advice and support

A chance to meet other SEND parents

Signposting to useful services

Free refreshments

Children are very welcome!

📅 When: Wednesday 17th June
⏰ Time: 10:00am – 11:30am
📍 Where: Kirkgate Community Centre, 39A Kirkgate, Shipley, BD18 3EH

📝 How to book:
To register with the project, you can scan the QR code on the flyer, visit the Mencap Family Engagement Project Bradford page and follow their link, or email them directly at [email protected] for more information.

11/06/2026

Did you know that the Council for Disabled Children undertook a small-scale project to explore the role of the specialist workforce in enabling this conceptual and pedagogical shift.

The process involved semi-structured interviews with 16 professionals across a variety of roles. These were followed by a roundtable conversation held in February 2026, and an iterative process of confirming with participants the conclusions and recommendations set out in the report.

They spoke with professionals including:

- Occupational Therapists
- Speech and Language Therapists
- Educational psychologists
- Hearing impairment and visual impairment specialist teachers
- Autism specialist and advisory teachers
- Specific Learning Difficulty teachers
- Outreach special school and Alternative provision teachers.

See the link below for their report!

Link:

11/06/2026

Do you know about Family Fund?

Family Fund is a national charity who provide free grants and services to families raising children and young people with additional needs. Did you know that alongside grants they offer free virtual workshops for all the family - these sessions are led by expert facilitators who understand the challenges families may face. Place can be secured through the wider support pages on the Family Fund website. For more information, contact the team at [email protected].

11/06/2026

We're doing another giveaway! Make sure to

1. Be following us on Facebook
2. Share this post on your story/repost it on your feed.
3. Tag 3 people in the comments.

We'll reply to the first 15 people on here with details on how to pick up their FREE max card, so keep an eye on your FB notifications!

11/06/2026

Make sure to sign up to the Preparation for Adulthood event we're organising on

Thursday, 25th June

10 am - 12pm

Mayfield Centre (BD5)

See poster for full details.

Booking link: https://forms.gle/xmvhznx6cUXe2Lj58

11/06/2026

Please come and join us on the 24th June 10-11.30am.

06/06/2026

We now have 12 brilliant Parent Involvement Partners!

As the PIP initiative grows, we continue to get more and more opportunities being sent our way from health and social care.

The session on Tuesday was informative and led by PFBA Manager Julie Bruce.

Julie previously delivered the EHCP workshops at our office and is now working hard to ensure parent voices are heard within the Council.

We have new workstreams which our PIPs have been asked to sit on, two of which are

- Evaluating occupational therapy tender
- Sufficiency workstream (this looks at sufficiency of places in schools)

Katie and Robena, two of our parent reps have already signed up for these opportunities!

05/06/2026

The Department for Education has announced the appointment of a national panel of experts to help shape the future SEND system, ensuring that children and young people with SEND receive better supp…