Barnet Local OfferBarnet Local Offer

A free conference for Barnet parents, carers and professionals that has been jointly organised by education, health, social care and representatives of the Barnet SEND parent community.

The conference has been developed to ensure the Barnet community has an opportunity to gain greater awareness of SEND developments, structures and services in Barnet from key professionals and senior leaders across education, health and social care. There will also be time to visit stalls and speak to other parents and professionals in the room.

This year our Keynote Speaker is Carrie Grant (hc), a BAFTA award-winning broadcaster, vocal coach and advocate who has a TV and music career spanning over 35 years. She and her husband David Grant, MBE, have four children, all of whom have additional needs. Alongside their busy schedules, Carrie devotes a lot of time to charity work and advocacy for children and young people with special educational needs.

Having to become an expert in parenting children with complex needs has led to Carrie becoming a voice for children with hidden disabilities, with a particular interest in girls on the autistic spectrum. She has spoken at several national, medical conferences and at the Houses of Parliament, and she has collaborated on the launch of a booklet called Girls and Autism: Flying Under The Radar.

The conference aims to:

• provide an update on the developments from education, health and social care, since the last conference in June 2018 with regards to meeting the needs of children and young people (0-25) with SEND in Barnet.
• offer a question and answer panel to provide an opportunity for parents / carers and professionals to pose questions and hear responses from senior professionals across Barnet SEND services
• provide further insight into Barnet’s Local Offer and how this can be accessed and utilised by both parents / carers and professionals
• hear from Barnet’s Parent / Carer Forum (BPCF) about their role and work they are currently undertaking
• offer an opportunity for a range of services and voluntary organisations to ‘run’ information stalls at the conference for parents and professionals to visit during breaks to gain further information