Families and neurodivergent children at 15 primary schools in Coventry have benefitted from specialised support through an innovative project.
The Partnership for Inclusion Neurodiversity in Schools, or PINS project, has helped to increase the acceptance and understanding of children with autism and ADHD and other neurodivergent minds.
It is a collaboration between Coventry City Council’s Education Service, the NHS and organisations specialising in SEND, neurodiversity and mental health and wellbeing.
Each school has received dedicated training, coaching and advice from education and health professionals. The project has also helped schools to set up successful parent/carer forums with teachers, where queries and concerns can be easily raised. It also provides a year’s subscription to a mental health and wellbeing learning app that has created a culture of positive mental wellbeing and helped to make the learning environment more accessible.
Moseley Primary School currently has around 14% of its children identified as having special educational needs linked to being neurodivergent, and staff and parents have really valued the support of the PINS project.
Danni Sheriff, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator at the school, said: “We have really felt the benefits of having an expert guiding us through in this project – that has been a real selling point and the fact we were able to choose areas we wanted to focus on.
“The MyHappyMind App that we have used as a direct result of PINS has been invaluable, and we have decided to continue to use it in school. It has had some fabulous impacts on the children and staff, and parents and carers can even listen to podcasts at home.
“The project has helped to improve understanding and inclusion of all our children in school, from those aged two to age 11. We look forward to making things even better and learning from the experiences we have had during the project.”
Children at Moseley Primary have learned more about how different brains work and the way emotions and regulations are affected at peer awareness assemblies and lessons, and they have introduced termly meetings to give parents and carers a voice and help them set the agenda.
The PINS project has recently come to the end of its first year and has been effective in 39 schools in both Coventry and Warwickshire.
Cllr Dr Kindy Sandhu, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills at Coventry City Council, said: “We are really proud in Coventry to be part of the PINS project in partnership with colleagues in the NHS, to make our neurodivergent children in schools and their families, feel more supported.”
Kate Ray, PINS Project Manager for NHS Coventry and Warwickshire, added: “The PINS project has been such a success in Coventry! Schools have been really positive and have taken part in all the different training, support, and guidance that we have been able to provide.
“This has shown us that there is a real need for this targeted support, which can be shared throughout the whole school to make learning environments more inclusive for neurodivergent young people.”
If you would like to learn more about the project, please contact Kate Ray on kate.ray@nhs.net