Don't stop making noise: Sign to save SEND Legal Rights! Here's 3 easy actions for this half term

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Just because the consultation is over, it does not mean we can just sit back and wait to find out what Government AI will make of whatever your submitted.

The consultation questions were outrageously long, often nonsensical, and impossible to answer. The lack of questions on some the proposals to change legal entitlements, and its subsequent backtracking is even the subject of a judicial review by SEND parent, Melissa Hayhurst, who wrote for us here about why she launched the proceedings. The whole thing has left us exhausted, physically and mentally. Andd then we went straight into half-term, and attention was taken by children and/or picking up things ignored while thinking about the consultation.

But the end of the consultation wasn’t the finish line. It was just the trip to the starting blocks. There is still much you can do, and some don’t take a lot of energy, you’ll be pleased to know.

What you can do now

Sign the new petition
Write to your MP (again, if necessary)
Join the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign

Click each one above to find out more, and here, below, are a few soothing words from everyone’s mum, SNJ Co-Director, Gill Doherty, about Number 1

1. Sign the Petition to Save SEND Legal Rights

Gill Doherty, SNJ Co-Director

Click for Transcript

Hello everyone, I hope you’re well and that you’ve recovered from the protests, all the consultations and half term and that you’re settling back into your normal rhythm, whatever that might look like for you. We just wanted to remind you of a petition that was started recently by TJ who is a 14 year old autistic campaigner and it’s a petition to protect SEND legal rights. It’s quite similar to a petition that many of you may have signed previously, so there were 130,000 signatures and that led to a debate in Parliament.

But this is actually a new petition that has been started during the consultation period and essentially is a response to the fact that our concerns don’t appear to have been listened to and so it’s a sort of renewed attempt to get people to think about SEND legal rights and how important they are. So if you haven’t signed, it would be brilliant if you could sign. If you have signed, it would be phenomenal if you could share it with as many people as possible and kind of ask people directly, share it at school, share it with your neighbours, friends, family, explain why it’s important.

It’s an opportunity to speak to people more widely about these issues. A lot of people aren’t aware of what’s going on and I think would be very supportive if they knew more about it, so it’s a good opportunity to open up discussion. So if you were able to help with that over the next half term until you finish for the summer holidays and really push that petition as hard as possible, that would be absolutely amazing.

Thank you so much.

You can find our article on Tee-Jay’s Petition here, or just go straight to sign it here. It currently stands at 13.8k and the original, as Gill said, garnered 132k. We KNOW you can do better than that, especially now we KNOW what’s at stake and that our fears were well-founded. Please sign, share, make your own video about it. Just do what you do best to get the word out.

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Tell your MP to Save SEND Legal Rights:

You may already have done this — and many of you have sent us their replies, so if you have, thank you. If you have engaged with your MP in any way, do let us know here.

BUT, even if you have you can always write again. Here are some ideas:

You can write in response to their letter back to you, if you received one.
You can write again about a non-response to your letter.
You can write to send them a copy of what you sent for your consultation response, or a summary of it.
If you haven’t yet written, there is a handy tool on the Save Our Children’s Rights website that can help get you started. It includes a selection of points for you to choose from, and a space for you to write your own thoughts.
It’s also good to tell them how the proposals would impact your child (even if by the time of implementation, your child will not be in the system any more, just imagine it was starting in September)

We cannot allow our representatives think this is a row that has blown over. Because if the response to the consultation ignores everything we know we have said, they will be happy to just turn their attention elsewhere. Don’t let them

Join the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign

The protest and consultation took it out of every volunteer at the campaign and we are only just starting to pick ourselves back up. We’ll be updating the site with photos from the protests, so if you took some you don’t mind us sharing, please email them to us.

Please join SOCR as an organisation or individual, the form is here (scroll down). If you have skills and a few hours a week to share, let us know on the form, especially with admin, marketing, WordPress editing, and social media management.
As above, the write to your MP form is there
The Photo Campaign is still running too, so get involved there!

We KNOW you are already hard pressed and exhausted, because we are too. We know the final summer half term is always busy with school events and summer planning, let alone all the things you have to do as a SEND parent. But this is vitally important for your child’s future—for every child with an additional need or disability.

Please keep up the great work you are doing, and join us. We’re only just beginning.

Disabled Children’s Rights are Under Attack.
We’re fighting, but we can’t do it alone: we need your help more than ever.
We’re volunteer-run, but costs are rising. To help us keep going, please consider a one-off or, if it’s possible, a regular donation.
Read more about being a regular donor here.
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Special Needs Jungle

Special Needs Jungle at Special Needs Jungle

Special Needs Jungle was founded in 2008 as a personal SEN blog by Tania Tirraoro. It is now a multi-author, award-winning site covering special needs, disability, mental health and rare conditions in children & young people birth-25 years.

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