Genuine Partnerships is a not-for-profit community interest company from Rotherham. We are a team made up of practitioners, parent carers and young people working together as equal partners. We co-produce projects, training and resources to support co-production and inclusive practice in our own town of Rotherham, as well as regionally and nationally.
The team was formed following research with Rotherham children and young people with SEND and their parent carers. This led to a partnership involving Rotherham Parent Carers Forum and the local authority (facilitated by the Educational Psychology Service) and a successful Brian Lamb innovative project bid to improve parental confidence in SEN systems.
Through this project the principles of the Rotherham Charter were developed, which in 2016 became known nationally as the Four Cornerstones of Co-production and Inclusive Practice:
Developing and nurturing each of these to build
Genuine Partnerships has been recognised as national best practice in co-production by national charities the Council for Disabled Children and Contact. The Cornerstones underpin Rotherham’s SEND Strategy and the team is commissioned to support the area in further embedding co-production and inclusive practice.
“The Rotherham Charter represents a wonderful achievement in working in partnership and delivering a clear set of entitlements and expectations for parents and professionals to work towards. Providing a framework that can help build trust and constructive relationships to ensure that children and young people get the support they need to develop and thrive… It has been a great privilege to work with Rotherham Local Authority and parents and see this development.”
Professor Brian Lamb OBE (SEND consultant and Chair of the Lamb Inquiry: Special Educational Needs and Parental Confidence 2009)
Feedback following participation in Genuine Partnerships activities:
“It’s been a day I’ll remember for a long time and for all the right reasons.”
(Parent Carer)
“I feel grateful for being given the opportunity to speak…coming here today has made me feel better about myself.”
(Young Person)
“I just wanted to say thank-you for delivering the training session…at our visioning day. It was so refreshing for me personally, and reminded my very much about why I do the job I do…it was so satisfying to see what impact the session had on other colleagues too.”
(Practitioner)
“Your excellent team is an inspiration to us. I had no idea you had had to develop something just for us for today, but it really did the trick, and we are so grateful… I just wanted you both to know that every little word you said this morning struck home. So excited about the possibilities, thank you.”
(Local Area representative)