Annual Conference 2026

Our Annual Conference at Warrington Youth Zone was a truly remarkable event, bringing together a mix of 150 parent carers and professionals together in one room.

The theme this year was “INCLUSION”, the day opening with a 25 stall market place showcasing just some of the fabulous services available to Warrington families.

The Director of Children’s Services Sharon Cooper  and the Education and SEND Lead Louise Atkin led the opening comments followed by a moving video by children and young people with SEND, telling us from the heart their experiences of learning, going to health appointments and who makes them feel safe in Warrington.

After listening to what you told us, we ran two Interactive workshops focussing on the "Graduated Response and support in school” and “Emotional Health and Wellbeing”. 

WarrPAC have heard your concerns around “keeping children and young people with SEND safe online” and included this as a presentation and take away from the conference - see the write up below for useful links and tips.

During the day we took the opportunity to celebrate the Legend himself Iain Macdonald who has retired after 40 years working with SEND families. He will be missed by all, but leaves with all our love and best wishes.

Lunch was amazing and a great opportunity to mingle. We were proud that for the first time our Social Media team were able to live stream on the day posting short videos and sound bites capturing the essence of the day.

It was an amazing day to be part of, the positive feedback has been overwhelming and we can’t wait to start planning bigger and better for next year

Keeping your child / young person safe online

Detective Constable Andrew Kevan of the Police Cyber Crime Unit, presented a fascinating and rather unnerving look at online safety for our children and young people. After the conference, he asked that the following information be shared. 

A great site to help you lock your social media setting is:

                               WWW.INTERNETMATTERS.ORG

There is a Social Media section on their page which provides a ‘step by step’ guide on how set the security setting for each site. 

Useful hints, tips and links:

• If you receive a suspicious text message forward it to 7726

• If you receive a suspicious email, forward them to report@phishing.gov.uk 

• You can check to see if your data has been lost by checking your email address or phone number at: https://haveibeenpwned.com 

• Protect your online world with good strong passwords. 'Three Random Words' https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online/three-random-words

• Use this free password checker to see if your current password is any good! https://www.security.org/how-secure-is-my-password   

• https://www.truecall.co.uk/ Reducing unwanted incoming calls.

• By dialling 159 will automatically connect you to your bank's fraud prevention service. If you suspect someone is trying to trick you into handing over money or personal details, hang up and call 159 to speak directly to your bank!

• Family Link https://familylink.google.com If you have a Goole account you can monitor individual devices in the home and turn off internet access to individual devices.

• Check your credit score with sites such as Experian. This is a multinational consumer credit reporting agency (CRA) based in Dublin, Ireland. Experian | Credit Scores, Reports & Credit Comparison

• UK's Home for Reporting Cyber Crime & Fraud - Report Fraud

• Family Link https://familylink.google.com If you have a Goole account you can monitor individual devices in the home and turn off internet access to individual devices.

• ReThink ReThink - Before the Damage is Done – A great app to download onto a child’s mobile phone to help monitor the content of messages being written.

• Report Remove | Childline – Help having indecent images removed from some Social Media servers.

• Smartphone Free Childhood – Support for parents.

• Cyber Governor programme - Governors for Schools All schools should have a Cyber Governor. Great place to start supporting them.

Always report any suspicious activity online particularly if you are concerned with content your child has seen or if someone has been speaking to your child you do not know.

All Social Media Sites contain adult material, so negotiating Social Media can be difficult for a child.

Further information and support can be found on:

https://www.iwf.org.uk/

https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/

Conference Feedback



A parent and carer attending the conference said:

“It was great to see so many families and carers in attendance. Events like this help us feel heard and supported.”

Professionals and organisations also shared their reflections following the event.

A representative from Fox Wood said:

“It was an incredibly insightful day, packed with valuable information, workshops and networking. It was inspiring to be among such a brilliant gathering of parents, carers and professionals, all listening, learning, and sharing a genuine commitment to inclusion.”

St Stephen’s Primary School commented:

“It was incredibly rewarding to be in a room with so many passionate professionals, services and parents/carers, all committed to working together to advocate for our children and young people with a strong focus on inclusion.”

Families United added:

“What a brilliant gathering of professionals and parents who were all listening, learning and longing for true inclusion.”

Citizens Advice Warrington shared:

“It was such a great day! Thank you!”

And The Puddle Project said:

“This year’s annual conference has been very insightful. Thank you to Jean and the WarrPAC team. It was great to learn about all of the incredible support Warrington has for children and adults with SEND.”

WarrPAC continues to create opportunities for parents and carers to share their experiences and influence local services, helping ensure that children and young people with SEND across Warrington receive the support they need to thrive.