SENAR Communications Pledge - Local Offer Birmingham

Introducing the SENAR Communications Pledge

As many of you may be aware, SENAR has been collaborating with partner agencies, various settings, and the Parent Carer Forum to co-develop a Communications Pledge.

This pledge has been carefully designed to establish clear expectations for respectful and constructive interactions between SENAR and all stakeholders.

Included in the pledge

Building on the principles outlined in the Working Together to Improve Engagement Participation document and the Co-production Framework, the pledge details SENAR’s core values and the approach to communications with all stakeholders. This includes outlining response timeframes, ensuring transparency about when correspondents can expect a reply.

As part of this initiative, we have introduced an FAQ page and a dedicated Compliments and Comments page on the Local Offer. The FAQ page is intended to provide young people and parent carers with easy access to answers for common queries, reducing the need to contact their Case Officer directly. To enhance accessibility, the FAQ page is linked within SENAR’s automatic email acknowledgements. It serves as a valuable resource for anyone seeking information about SEND services in Birmingham.

FAQs

The FAQ page can be found under the ‘More’ tab in the top menu bar. It covers a broad range of topics beyond EHCPs, including:

SEN Support Care Plans
School Placement
Additional Support
Contact and Feedback
Safeguarding and Other Concerns

The FAQs serve as an essential first point of contact for SEND-related enquiries, helping parent carers, children, and young people quickly locate the information they need.

Comments and Compliments

The Compliments and Comments page is directly linked to the Communications Pledge, offering an additional platform for feedback. This page allows users to share general feedback with SENAR or to recognise and commend a specific SENAR team member. However, it is important to note that this is not a platform for submitting complaints; the official complaints process should be used to submit any formal complaints. Users can submit comments and compliments by completing a form on the page. While some questions request optional user information, the only mandatory field is the comment itself, allowing users to remain anonymous if they prefer. The Quality and Improvement Team will review submitted feedback before sharing with relevant colleagues where appropriate.

Goals of the Communications Pledge

The overarching goal of the Communications Pledge is to foster a shared understanding that benefits all parties, strengthening partnerships and enhancing collaboration. SENAR hopes that you find these new additions helpful, and look forward to continuing working together.