Background
In the autumn of 2018, Ondersteuning Passend Zorgaanbod (OPaZ), together with IPW and Significant, organised four workshops. What do parents need in order to take back control? That was the question the project group set out to answer.
Five participants jointly developed the Sprint Card: a discussion tool for parents of children at risk of dropping out of school or who need support to continue attending school. The Sprint Card is a useful tool for organising an alternative to multidisciplinary consultation, to prevent discussions with educational and care institutions from breaking down.
About the Sprint Card
The Sprint Card is based on the persona Sem. Sem is capable of learning well, but because of his social limitations and sensitivity to stimuli, mainstream or special education is not a suitable environment for him. In practice, finding a suitable solution for young people like Sem is not easy. The Sprint Card’s working method is a mix of scrum techniques and the planning method from Het Groot Werkvormenboek by Sasja Dirkse-Hulscher and Angela Talen. It also incorporates techniques that encourage out-of-the-box thinking. Broadly speaking, the Sprint Card has three objectives: parents in charge, the child at the centre and taking real steps.
Objective 1: Parents in charge.
The Sprint Card gives parents a directing role in preparing for and during a discussion. Because a Sprint discussion is led by a parent (or by an independent discussion facilitator), an equal and transparent setting is created, making it easier to maintain control over developments.
Objective 2: The child at the centre.
The Sprint Card gives parents the tools to use their child as the starting point for the discussion with the various parties involved. This makes it more natural to work towards a tailored solution.
Objective 3: Taking real steps.
Thirdly, the Sprint Card is intended to reach the right solution more quickly. Because of the scale of the process, parents and children often have to wait a long time for a solution. Unfortunately, more than six months is not an exception. The Sprint Card helps shorten this extensive process. By taking steps quickly, educational delays and negative effects on an emotional, mental and social level can be limited.
Inspirational model and guide
The Sprint Card is now ready for use. It serves as a guide: you can go through it from A to Z, or simply select the elements that work for you.
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