Powys Parenting Forum - Thursday 1 May 2025
Welcome and introductions
The meeting began with introductions from members, who shared their parenting backgrounds, roles, and reasons for attending the forum which included experiences with additional needs, home-schooling and advocacy.
Expectations
The group discussed and agreed on a set of guidelines for the forum, emphasizing confidentiality, a no-judgment environment, respecting other people’s opinions, active listening with one speaker at a time, and ensuring meetings remain enjoyable for attendees.
Powys Parenting Strategy – a brief overview
The forum's purpose is based around the Powys Parenting Strategy, this was discussed during the meeting, and the following information was shared:
- Actions from the Strategy include to review and improve support for families by evaluating current provisions, ensuring equality, and identifying development areas based on extensive consultation feedback.
- The consultation process for the strategy included surveys and events, gathering input from parents and professionals. Over 534 responses highlighted key family challenges such as anxiety and mental health, the need for better support for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), smoother school transitions, guidance for parenting teenagers, and resources for internet safety.
- A multi-sector steering group oversees strategy development, with a dynamic action plan designed to adapt to evolving family needs and priorities.
Introduction to the parenting webpage
The group discussed Powys County Council website's parenting area, which provides information and resources for parents. Discussion also mentioned the council’s website as a whole. Participants noted navigation difficulties and suggested a more holistic, user-friendly website approach, emphasizing improved communication and accessible information for parents.
Next steps
The meeting concluded with follow-up tasks, including participants were asked to review the parenting webpage, and provide feedback on its usefulness and accessibility at the next meeting.
It was agreed that the next forum should be held before the summer holidays in July with a date and time to be agreed in due course.
