Starting with what matters
When I think about SEND reform, I look past the policies, guidance and documents. I look to the children and young people we meet through NDTi’s work, and with a simple question:
What would need to change for more young people to feel they belong, they were being listened to and they were moving towards living life they choose?
That is the spirit in which NDTi responded to the government’s consultation, Putting children and young people first. We agree, we should put them first and recognise the ambition: earlier support, stronger mainstream inclusion, clearer planning, better use of evidence and more joined-up local systems. These are surely some of the things that need to happen to turn the aspiration into a reality.
The task then is to turn that ambition into everyday practice, not just new processes, but changes that children, families and practitioners can actually feel in classrooms, reviews, transitions and community life.
The core test is simple:
Are more children and young people able to belong, to learn and participate, and move towards a good adult life?
The golden thread
The common thread is inclusion, not as a slogan or placement, but as a lived experience: being known, welcomed, listened to and able to take part in ordinary life.
SEND reform must be relational. It must strengthen relationships between young people, parents and teachers, it has to build confidence, use evidence well and keep young people’s futures in view from the start.
What we think matters most
1. Start with children and young people
Children, young people and families bring the insight that makes support real. Coproduction is not an add-on; it is how better decisions are made.
In practice, this means we need to double down on participatory approaches, youth voice, independent advocacy, and clear feedback about what has changed. It also means making a particular effort to hear from those often missing from the conversation.
2. Make inclusion practical in mainstream settings
No one can realistically deny the need to turn the tide, too many young people have been systematically excluded from mainstream education, the academic focus has become too narrow and the option to exclude too easy. This has happened over time and will take time to reverse. The focus on universal and targeted support is a real opportunity. It can help settings respond earlier and reduce the sense that families must fight for help.
For Inclusion to be concrete we need to redefine what we mean by high expectations as this is a first step in creating an accessible environment. We need differentiated teaching, communication-friendly practice, environments that strengthen relationships and make reasonable adjustments routine.
3. Keep adult life in view from the start
Preparing for Adulthood should begin ins the early years as young people’s futures are shaped. Everything we do as parents, from the get go should be about preparing children for the road ahead. Looking after and nurturing a child, whether as a parent or public service, should be about raising confident, capable, resilient people.
Employment, independent living, good health, positive relationships and feeling part of a community should run through the whole 0–25 system. This is not about rushing childhood, but about raising aspirations and connecting support to a young person’s needs and wants.
4. Make plans useful
The SEND system is very complicated and has become process driven. By using person-centred planning we can make sure the young person’s voice drives actions that support them well. Plans need to run from the early years, continue throughout school, into post-16 and be holistically developed with young people, families and professionals. This brings a coherent approach to the support that a child or young person needs, a coherent plan, one plan not multiple organisational plans based on professional silos. This could be one of the most helpful parts of reform.
Plans need to be practical tools. A good plan should:
- Say what matters to the child or young person
- Explain what helps and what adjustments are needed
- Clarify who is taking which actions
- Set out when and how support will be reviewed and changed if it is not working
- Be shaped by the young person
5. Build local systems that learn together
No single part of the system can make the SEND reforms work alone. Schools, local authorities, health, social care, families and the voluntary sector all hold part of the picture. This is critical, otherwise the reforms will fail if the sum of the parts cannot come together to create the whole. If we carry on working how we have been doing, or fail to embrace new ways of doing things, the project will fail. The system needs to change.
The most effective systems will learn together, using evidence, data and lived experience to understand what is changing. They will look at young people’s sense of belonging, their attendance or exclusion, how they are participating. The move into post 16 education and the long-term outcomes into adult life, also need to be key indicators of success. This is not just about activity and spend. It’s not about how many EHCPs are written or how quickly or how much that it costs to write them, it’s about the tangible and felt differences in a person’s life from child into adult and throughout their lives.
What this means for professionals
For those working across children and young people’s and adult services.
Key questions include:
- What does belonging look and feel like here?
- How are young people and families shaping decisions?
- Where can support arrive earlier?
- Do plans help people act?
- Are we keeping adult life outcomes in view?
- What are we learning together across services?
These are practical and values-based questions that keep the focus on young people, not just systems.
How this connects with NDTi’s work
The government’s drive for reform is welcomed and it build on NDTi’s experience of work with children, young people, families and local systems.
Projects like the Average Fish podcast show how much young people can tell us when truly heard. The young people led research A supportive school for everyone highlights the value of student-led insight.
Our Preparing for Adulthood work keeps the focus on real futures, while Time to Talk Next Steps demonstrates the impact of personalised, rights-based support. Tools like The Inclusion Web help maintain a practical focus on relationships, community life and connection. Our work around supported internships is ensuring sustainable pathways into employment. And, our coproduction work helps organisation really listen to young people and their families to generate lasting change.
A chance to make it real
The SEND reforms offer a real chance to build a system where more children and young people feel they belong, are listened to, and are supported towards the lives they choose.
NDTi looks forward to working with children, families, practitioners and partners to help make that happen.
Get in touch to explore how we can help
If you are a commissioner looking to turn reform into meaningful change, we would welcome a conversation about how NDTi can support your local system.
From Time to Talk Next Steps and rights-based support, to supported internships, Preparing for Adulthood, coproduction, and peer-led research and evaluation, we work alongside partners to build practical, sustainable inclusive approaches that improve outcomes for children and young people.
