OUR WORKSHOPS
SEND Workshops
About our workshops
Bolton Parent Carers have co-hosted workshops with Bolton IAS for over 10 years. In 2025, our 2 organisations cemented our joint working relationship by coming together and forming The Compass Partnership CIC.
By forming The Compass Partnership we are able to access a wider variety of funding opportunities, and this enables us to add to our workshop offer.
Click on the links below and you’ll be automatically directed to our Compass Partnership website to be able to read more about each session.
As Compass Partnership, we also have a range of workshops to support parents and carers who are exploring neurodiversity. Click here for more information.
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Starting School & SEND
These workshops are ideal for parents and carers who have a child who has not yet started school. The session covers all you need to know SEND and starting school. We cover SEN Support, EHC Plans, special schools. applications and more.
Click to be directed to more information and booking.
SEN Support and the Graduated Approach
Everything you need to know about support for pupils with SEN who don’t have an EHC Plan. Ideal if you want to understand more about the support in your child’s setting, or also if you think your child may require an EHC Plan.
Click to be directed to more information and booking.
Transition to Secondary School
We cover all aspects of moving to secondary school when children have SEND.
We have workshops for transition with an EHC Plan and without an EHC Plan.
Click to be directed to more information and booking.
FAQ
Answers to frequently asked questions about our workshops. Click on the question to reveal the answer.
Do you offer a workshop that will help us apply for an EHC Plan?
A: Not as such, the ideal session in this instance is the SEN Support Workshop. EHC Plans are for pupils who aren’t able to progress under the SEN Support framework, therefore we suggest parents and carers fully understand this framework prior to considering a plan.
Can I bring my child to the session?
We are not able to have children in attendance at our sessions. Our workshops have lots of content to concentrate on and we have specifically designed our space for adults. We want you to be able to use our sessions as a little bit of time for you! We are happy for babies to attend who cannot be left with another person, however please be aware that whilst the building has accessible toilets, there are no baby changing facilities. We are aiming to add more online opportunities over the next 12 months.
How are you qualified to run these workshops?
All workshop content is written by staff who are trained in SEND Law, and who have been working in the SEND field for many years.
Our workshop hosts are also trained in SEND Law and additionally are also parents to children and young people with additional needs, adding an extra layer of understanding to our sessions.
Do you run workshops on the weekends or school holidays?
We have trialled this option in the past and the take-up was extremely small, this means we are unable to afford to run sessions at weekends or in the holidays.
The amount of information that is given in these workshops has helped so much. Helped to prepare for what is coming also what will happen next. You take away alot of the information and never feel alone on your journey. Nan and Cheryl are so helpful and make you feel so welcome. You don’t feel so alone and realise others are on the same path as yourself.
The workshops I have attended have been really informative & very helpful of what support I can expect for my child, sessions are informal & both Nan & Cheryl are very friendly & extremely knowledgeable, I would definitely recommend these to other parents/carers of SEN children
The sessions were very informative and armed me going forward with knowledge of the whole process and terminology. Nan and Cheryl were both welcoming and extremely knowledgeable
These workshops have been an amazing help to me when it has come to providing the best support for my children and their education. You leave the workshops feeling like you can take on the world for your child.
I found these workshops to be extremely useful especially as I had very little knowledge about what support was available for children with extra educational needs. By attending these courses, which are free of charge and ran at different times, it has helped to gain my child the extra support he really needs within school. Thank you for enabling us to access this invaluable information, advice and support.
The session was fantastic. The informal, frank and approachable style made the information easy to understand, and there were plenty of opportunities for discussion and debate. It was great to meet other parents in the same position, but more than anything it was meeting and learning from Nan and Cheryl that made a difference to my confidence and ability to question the decisions that are being made about my child.