Our work with parents and carers is valuable in two ways: we provide support where it is needed, and we also make sure that everyone’s voice is part of the journey towards lasting cultural change.
For many years one report after another concluded that the education system is not fit for purpose and that this leaves parents and carers confused and dissatisfied. The Lamb Report was the first to highlight these problems in 2009. The Children and Families Act 2014 was introduced to improve the situation, but the SEND Review of 2022 (which explored the impact of these reforms) found that the new system still results in poor outcomes for children, dissatisfied parents and a system that is financially unsustainable. During this time, the government did not take a clear stand on inclusion. Instead, it said that decisions should be based on parental choice. For many years, even though official documents often spoke positively about inclusion in principle, little was actually done to make inclusion happen in practice. Instead, the focus for many years has been on building more special schools and creating a whole new system of Alternative Provision, without any indication of government support for developing inclusion in mainstream schools, colleges or early years settings.
These were difficult times for parents, who had been promised choice but often found that the type of school they had chosen for their child was not available to them. Our message has been consistent: parental choice happens in a context and, if the context is restricted, the promise of choice is a hollow promise. We repeatedly called on the government to build capacity in ordinary schools to include the full diversity of learners, and make sure its efforts to expand special schools and alternative provision was balanced by similar efforts to develop more inclusion in mainstream schools and other settings.
Some examples of our work with and for parents/carers include:
Workshops for parents in Bristol
In spring and summer 2025 we delivered “Paving the way to better outcomes for our children” a free workshop for parents of children with labels of SEND, in 8 locations across Bristol. We developed this workshop in consultation with parents, then teamed up with a mental health expert to finalise the materials and deliver it. The workshop focused on exploring strategies for parental wellbeing and advocating for disabled children’s rights in education. All 16 workshops (2 in each location) were offered free of charge, thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund, to whom we remain grateful. The feedback received from participants was overwhelmingly positive, for example: “Very valuable information, useful and supportive”, “Great content and useful materials given”, “Presenters are very engaging and knowledgeable”, “All very helpful and well presented in a calm and informative way”, “Clear practical information”, “Empowering and thought-provoking”. One parent found the experience so transformative that arranged for her partner to attend the same workshop in another location.
Short film for parents at Westgate school
In 2023-24 we were invited by Westgate school in Slough to deliver an equality workshop for staff and governors, and a series of equality workshops for 1,000 pupils.
Following this work, we created this short film to make sure parents knew about this work, and the positive impact it seemed to have on their children.
Transcript of video available here
Local survey of parents’ views in Calderdale
In spring and summer 2022 we worked with Family Voice Calderdale to explore parent views on inclusion, as part of our work in Calderdale to co-create with all stakeholders a local Inclusion Charter. We held a number of meetings with parents and carried out a survey of parental views, the findings of which we shared with the local authority.
Workshops for parents across England
Between March and June 2014, we ran a series of free workshops for parents in all nine regions of England, in collaboration with the London-based group Parents for Inclusion. The workshops were designed to help parents negotiate a good education for their child in an ordinary local school. Every participant received a high-quality delegate pack with key information and a complimentary copy of the (then) new Trends Report.
The workshops were offered free of charge, thanks to a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, to whom we remain grateful. Some parents travelled long distances to attend and the feedback we received was extremely positive, for example: “inspirational”, “rekindled my passion”, “the presentation was fantastic and very informative”, “materials were very good quality”, “really value and appreciate the knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm of both speakers”.
National survey of parents’ views
From 2010 onwards we became increasingly concerned at news that the government was planning to “reverse the bias towards inclusion” while promising parents more choice, in a context that seemed to rely heavily on special schools. In 2012 we ran a national survey of parents’ views. We wanted to find out how much real choice parents felt they had in different parts of the country, and what they thought about the options available to them. Almost 600 parents completed our survey, and their responses gave us valuable insights into the challenges parents faced and helped shape our work for systemic change towards more inclusive education.
Revision of information leaflet for parents
In 2009 we revised and reprinted our information leaflet on Assessments & Statements, in response to the growing demand for copies from parents. We regret that we have not had capacity to produce a similar leaflet for parents about the Children and Families Act 2014.
