More about person-centred planning
Person centred planning involves bringing together a child or young person and all the people who are important to them to make a plan for the forthcoming change in their life.
The session is relaxed but structured and is led by two independent trained facilitators, who guide the discussion. This allows everyone else in the room to concentrate on their own role in the child or young person’s life at that time.
During the planning session the two facilitators work together, one asking most of the questions and the other one making a record of the meeting in words, pictures and symbols. Usually this is done with marker pens on a large sheet of paper on the wall.
By end of the session an action plan will have emerged. This will include commitments from the child or young person and others who support them to make sure things happen. The person centred planning session is only the beginning of the changes that are about to happen.
By the end of the session an action plan should have emerged. This will usually include commitments from the child or young person and others who support them to make sure things happen. The person centred planning session is only the starting point for the changes that are about to happen.
At the end of the session the large sheet of paper belongs to the child or young person. Some people like to take photos of it because these are easier to look at or copy.
We ask that details of the action points are sent to the co-ordinator for monitoring purposes. This is so that we can check with you later to find out whether people have done what they said they were going to do. However, it is up to the child or young person to give permission for their plan to be copied or shown to other people.
Who are the facilitators?
The facilitators are the two members of the Transforming Transition team who will be helping the child or young person create their plan.
Once you have agreed to have a plan done the co-ordinator will send you more information about the specific facilitators who will be working with you.
The facilitators would not usually be people already known to the child or young person or their school. They are completely independent and are members of a larger team who have been trained by Equity in Education. One of the reasons for having independent facilitators is to allow the people who support the child or young person to concentrate fully on their own role, rather than worrying about leading the discussion and asking the right questions.
Our facilitators always work as a team. The lead facilitator will be your main point of contact when organising the planning session and will help you decide what needs to be done in advance of the session. It may be sufficient to discuss the arrangements for the session with the lead facilitator over the phone. Alternatively an initial visit could be made prior to the planning session. This would also enable at least one of the facilitators to get to know you a bit before the actual planning session. However this will all depend on individual circumstances.