Tips to help you complete the Government’s National SEND Conversation survey (Don’t forget the law!)

Contents

This is SNJ’s penultimate post for the year. Next week we’ll have one that’s really important, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting any longer for this one, to help you respond to the “National SEND Conversation” if you’ve been putting it off. If you’ve already done it and this gives you more ideas, you can always have another go ;)

The whole SNJ team has worked incredibly hard this year to bring you helpful content, and along with the wider #SaveOurChildrensRights team, by campaigning to preserve your children’s rights. That’s far from over.

But first, some Christmas thanks:

Renata, Sharon, Gill, and I would like to thank everyone who’s written for us, donated, and shared posts this year. We’d especially like to make a public thank you to our team who keep on keeping on, sometimes through the most unthinkable of circumstances. Thank you to (in alphabetical order) Catriona Moore, Matt Keer and Rachel Filmer, for your unmatchable expertise, analysis, and willingness to get stuck in. Thanks also to our admin, Sarah Danby Cooper and our assistant editor, Jenny Ellery, for all your amazing hard work and support.
Everyone at SNJ is part-time, a SEND parent, and a volunteer. If you can support our work, please donate

Let’s converse…

It’s been a while coming, but you will have seen that we’ve been busy bringing you other important articles. Feel free to use these idea prompts to spark your own thoughts. If you have anything we’ve not included, do let us know.

But, for your use between now and the closing date on 14th January 2026, here are some ideas for the 36 questions posed by the “co-creating” Department for Education.

You can use as much or as little as you like, and you can answer as many or as few of the questions as you like. There is still no accessible version from the DfE, but we are pasting all of this in an editable word document so you can edit as you prefer.

Because this is very long, and you’ll have to copy and paste anyway, we’re pasting it into a Word Doc that you can download, save, and edit, rather than as a web page that you would need to scroll right down. We’ve also made it into a PDF in case, for some reason, this is useful. If you need it in any other format, please email us, and we will do our very best to accommodate you.

Research referred to

Both the Sutton Trust and the Education Select Committee reports are referenced in the government’s “conversation” about local provision, but the consultation questions do not explain what those reports actually say, nor does it link to them. The consultation questions also don’t explain the context of these recommendations, which makes it easy for parents to agree to something that sounds positive but may actually embed exclusion or further othering and segregation. We have remedied this by linking to the SNJ coverage of each of these (below), along with a brief summary, so you can read for yourself. The links to the research are in the articles.

Beware the trick questions

Be aware that many of the questions ask about things that already exist in law. It’s unclear why they are asking these, unless, of course, they want to know how to achieve them without the law. Suffice to say, if this were achievable, there would have been no need for the law to be created in the first place.

Bear in mind that nowhere in this survey does it mention EHCPs or children’s rights. If these are important to you (and why wouldn’t they be if you’re here) then please make sure you include why. And don’t forget we have our own practical ways to solve the SEND Crisis

The sad fact is, no matter how inclusive a school is, or claims to be, the law is there to ensure your child gets the support to which they are entitled. And a school that is inclusive today may undergo a change of leadership, ownership, or culture, and suddenly it’s no longer so welcoming to disabled pupils. Naturally, the reverse is always possible, and we hope this will be the case. But if a school—most usually an academy school—is not inclusive now, how likely is it that without the relevant laws it will suddenly change its ways. Ofsted is planning to inspect for inclusion, but they don’t come every year, and how much do you trust schools not to game the system or Ofsted to get it right?

Likewise, changing the law won’t solve council deficits and it won’t change culture here either. If EHCPs are removed from mainstream schools, we are fairly confident that you will see a massive increase in parents seeking EHCPs for specialist placements. You’ll also have children with existing EHCPs in mainstream with similar needs to children who have no guarantee of provision—so if it’s not forthcoming, how are they doing to get accountability when they are entitled to nothing? This is clearly discriminatory.

A school without rights

Additionally, you cannot just wave a magic wand and hey presto! inclusivity! Culture change is incredibly hard, if not impossible, when schools are judged on examination results. So you will end up with more children without their needs being assessed and met, more overcrowding in classes as those who would have been in specialist remain in mainstream, and growing numbers of children being suspended, excluded, or moved to alternative provision. Then what? You’ll also get very angry parents: those whose children are suffering, and those whose non-disabled children are in a classroom with a large proportion of children who cannot access the curriculum. Think it’s tough in schools now? Just wait. If the Government wants inclusion, it will need a revolution in education—and that will be far more expensive than just funding the system we have. We are still waiting to be told what’s wrong with the current law. Sure, it could be tightened, but which aspects of the actual legislation are faulty and do not serve children? Do tell us.

You can read our thoughts on the National SEND Conversation here: “Performative, chaotic and desperate” The DfE’s national SEND “conversation”

Promoted

Download the prompts

Download as a Word Doc

Download as a PDF

Find the DfE survey here

If you like what we do and want to help support us, please share and, if you can, make a small donation.

Merry Christmas!

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.
We use Zeffy to fundraise, which doesn’t charge us a fee, so 100% of your donation reaches us.

DONATE TO HELP
KEEP SNJ ONLINE!

Also read:

Key Content

a monkey in the jungle with a magnifying glass and a deerstalker hat

image includes graphics from the article

Don’t miss a thing!

Don’t miss any posts from SNJ – simply add your email address below. You must click the link in the confirmation email you’ll receive to activate your free subscription.

You can also keep up with us by following our

WhatsApp Channel!

Want more? Be an SNJ regular donor!

SNJ is a non-profit and everyone who writes here does so voluntarily. We need your support to help us with costs by donating once or as a regular patron. Find out more here

About
Latest Posts

Tania Tirraoro

Founder, Co-Director at Special Needs Jungle

Founder & co-director of Special Needs Jungle. (She/Her) Autistic parent of two young autistic adults Devoted Grandma. National SEND advisor, journalist & author. Tania also runs a PR, web & social media consultancy, SocialOro Media.
She is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.

Latest posts by Tania Tirraoro (see all)