This week in Parliament, I met SEND Reform England, a voluntary campaign group set up in May 2023 by a group of Mums who connected online. They started off as a support group but quickly discovered a shared passion to fix the broken system of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) education.
It was great to meet my friend Kirsti and discuss the challenges this sector faces and how parliamentarians can help to address these issues.
The number of children with SEND who are either excluded or waiting for a school place has jumped by 29 per cent since 2020. Children locked out of education in this way are being consigned to a bleak future. By joining up services and improving data use, we could identify children’s needs earlier so that intervention supports child development from a young age, which is better for individuals, their families, and wider society.
