Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust

Dear Parents,

Re: Confidence and Friendship Group for 7-9 year olds

We are planning to run a Confidence and Friendship Group for children aged between 7 and 9, who are under the care of the Spires Cleft Service. We hope the group will help children build their self confidence and feel good about themselves, whilst also working on friendship skills and how to cope with any tricky situations that can crop up from time to time. We would have a feedback session at the end of the group so that parents can be kept informed about what we have been discussing and can support their children with any of the strategies that they have learned to help them practice once they get home.

As this is a new initiative, we are writing to everyone with a child in this age group to survey potential interest, think about some of the practicalities (e.g. the best time and place for a group) and most importantly, to find out your ideas about what might be helpful to cover in the sessions. Although we have lots of experience working with children born with a cleft lip and palate, we would be very happy to tailor the group to look at specific issues. We would like to be able to make the group as accessible as we can to as many people as possible and we would really welcome your feedback

We would very much welcome your comments; either by telephone (Oxford 01865 234568, Salisbury 01722 336262 ext 2042), or via the form below by Friday 25 March 2011. Please do include any other comments or suggestions that you have at the end. You can also tell us what you think online, via our website http://www.spirescentre.nhs.uk. We would also love to hear your son or daughter’s ideas too.

Thank you very much for your help with this. We hope we can plan a successful and useful group following everybody’s feedback, and will be writing again in due course to those who are interested with final details of the groups’ dates and locations.

With best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Helen Care

Dr Louise Dalton

Dr Jane Lewendon

Clinical Psychologists

Confidence and Friendship Group for 7-9 year olds

(Please circle or underline your answer, and write comments at the end)

1. Do you think your child would be interested in attending a confidence and friendship group?

Yes

Maybe at a later stage

2. Would you prefer…….

· Two full day sessions (e.g. 10am-2pm) with a three week gap between

· Four shorter sessions (e.g. 10am-12pm) over four weeks?

3. When do you think it would be best to run the group?

During the day on a school day

During the day on a weekend

During the day in a school holiday

In the evening

4. Children who attend our service live in a very wide geographical area. Please could you indicate below which venues would be possible for your child to attend the group.

Salisbury District Hospital

Another venue in Salisbury

Southampton

Portsmouth

Basingstoke

Dorchester

John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford

Another venue in Oxford

Milton Keynes

Reading

Slough

Swindon

Any other suggestions:

…………………………………………………………………………………..

5. Is there anything that would make it easier for you to attend the group?

………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………

6. Is there anything that would make it more difficult for you to attend?

…………………………………………………………………………………

7. We would aim to make the group as fun and stimulating as possible, is there anything you think your child would particularly enjoy doing in the group that would also help them develop their confidence and self-esteem?

…………………………………………………………………………………..

8. Please feel free to give us any other suggestions and comments.

…………………………………………………………………………………

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO COMPLETE THIS FORM. PLEASE RETURN BY FRIDAY 25 MARCH 2011 TO:

Dr Helen Care / Dr Louise Dalton

Spires Cleft Centre, Level 2 Children’s Hospital,

John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU

Email: /

Dr Jane Lewendon

Spires Cleft Centre, Salisbury District Hospital,

Salisbury, Wilts, SP2 8BJ