Early in the summer we talked with commissioners, managers and practitioners about support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. 

Our thanks again to everyone who gave us some time.  

At Community Catalysts we have developed strength-based solutions that connect people and communities, enhance people’s lives and change systems, reducing demand and cost of public services.  

We are keen to explore how we could use our expertise and do more to improve outcomes for children and families.  

What we heard

What people said won’t surprise anyone working in SEND: 

• Increasing identification of social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs; more requests for Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments and long waits for diagnoses.  
• Concern about parental mental ill-health and stress.   
• Rising costs and scarcity of local affordable choice. 
• Need for more awareness about neurodiversity in school parent communities.  
• Systems being pushed to a deficit-focused way of talking, to unlock funding.  

What we heard less about

We heard less about local SEND systems supporting families by fully tapping into the local assets in the community.  

Such assets would include institutions, physical spaces, associations, clubs, and individuals.  With support, we think they could provide more social, recreational, creative, sporting activities and out-of-school opportunities that young people would choose.  

What we think

At Community Catalysts we believe there are assets in every community and better connecting them to young people, families, schools and education providers could build overall capacity and potential for better outcomes. 

We are keen to understand whether a greater range of activities and opportunities, and a bolstered sense of belonging, leads to an increased ability and willingness to engage with and participate more in education. 

We’re thinking about how we might run a proof-of-concept pilot to learn more.  

Attend a roundtable conversation

We’re holding two small online roundtable discussions for SEND commissioners, managers and practitioners in early October. If you’d like to attend or interested to learn more, please contact: emma.geldart@communitycatalysts.co.uk.