Volunteer for us

Portsmouth SENDIASS provides children, young people, their parents, carers, and those working with families * * in Portsmouth with free, confidential, impartial information, advice, and support * * about matters relating to special educational needs and/or disability.

Our team of SENDIASS Advisors and volunteers will work together to:

· Provide advice and information to parents and carers on all aspects of special educational needs

· Support parents and carers to participate in and make informed decisions about their children’s education, health, and social care.

Help children and young people access education and other support services and understand their legal rights under SEND legislation.

Ideally, volunteers will be able to:

• Commit to at least six months to help us provide the best support possible.
• Have a sensitive, confidential, and impartial approach.
• Be a good communicator, allow people time to explain what matters to them or what they are worried about, and be able to support people to understand complex information.
• Have an understanding of the challenges that parents, carers, and children with additional needs and/or disabilities face.
• Be willing to complete the IPSEA level one training.

Volunteering is a brilliant opportunity for anyone:

• With a background in education, social care, or SEND services who wants to support children and families in Portsmouth.
• Looking to get experience working with children with special educational needs and their families.
• Looking to develop advocacy and AIG skills and experience.

Contact our Volunteer Coordinator if you have any questions:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 07749 572159

Parent Steering Group

Would you be interested in being part of a new parent steering group?

We will soon be running a termly parent steering group made up of current and previous service users. If you are a parent of a child or young person with SEND who has an interest in helping us to monitor, develop, and improve our service, we would love to hear from you. Your views and experiences are key to ensuring that we are meeting the needs of parents, carers, children, and young people. For more information, please email [email protected]

Young People Focus Group

We will soon be running a termly young people’s focus group to help us develop our service. If you are a child or young person with SEND who is interested in helping us develop and improve our service to be more child-friendly and meet your needs, we would love to hear from you.

We will be planning fun activities to get your opinions on improving the service, designing resources for other young people and planning child and young people-friendly content for our social media.

This is a great opportunity to meet new friends, learn new skills, and develop your confidence. For more information, please contact [email protected]