Top Tips

Annual Reviews must happen at least every year that you have an EHCP.  They can happen more frequently if an early annual review is called and can happen twice within 12 months if your child is in a Phase Transfer year. It is best practice for a child under the age of 5 to have an annual review every 6 months. See more on this here.

Why do responses from LAs make no logical sense? Whether you are at EHC NA, in Draft or in the appeal process, you will find that they can be routinely used. These are our current top examples, with our top tips on how to handle them.

Parenting a child with SEND can feel overwhelming, exhausting, and isolating. This blog explores the importance of self-compassion, taking breaks without guilt, and finding strength in small steps, because investing in your wellbeing today helps you manage tomorrow.

Preparation for Adulthood is such a grey area as far as what ‘should’ and must happen that it makes the previous experiences of ‘woolly wording’ seem positively silken. The SEND Code of Practice for Preparation for Adulthood has ‘shoulds’ and ‘coulds’ thrown around as generously as old fashioned school cake has Hundreds and Thousands sprinkled on the top.  

In this blog, we explain the latest updates on SEND reform and what they mean for families. We cover the current laws, key statistics, tribunal trends, and upcoming changes, and provide expert advocacy to help you navigate the current system and prepare for the future.

Whether it’s moving to a new school, or from class to class, a new school year or a new school type, school transitions can be an anxious time for our children and young people, and for us.  

Learn how the law supports mainstream education for SEND children, and how to evidence when a special school or alternative provision is truly needed.

Ever had that ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ – only to conclude that this was maybe not be quite such a good plan after all?  Read on, let our professional experience guide you onto the right track of what not to say and do.

Struggling with your child’s school attendance? Learn about common causes like EBSA, SEND, anxiety, and what steps to take—including support, EHCPs, and legal rights.

What are Personal Budgets and Direct Payments, and how can they help your child with SEND? Learn how they work, your entitlements, and how to request them confidently.

Feeling overwhelmed by SEND questions? You're not alone. Discover how our supportive community and free drop-in events help parents get clear, trusted answers.

Early intervention for SEND is vital. Spotting the signs as early as possible that a child may need additional support to reach their age-related expectations will help prevent additional difficulties further on in their educational journey. 

There's a lot of talk at the moment about artificial intelligence (AI). Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and CoPilot are being recommended more and more for things like writing documents, drafting emails, and even preparing for legal cases. Some services are encouraging parents to use them when applying for an EHCP or preparing for a Tribunal or Judicial Review. On the surface, this might sound like a smart, cost-saving option. But we want to be absolutely clear: using AI tools to

Advocacy is unregulated, so the support that you are paying for, or are considering paying for, must be from a reputable source. Identifying this is becoming increasingly difficult for parents. Just because someone has managed an appeal for their own child doesn’t mean that they have the knowledge, background, training and experience to run an appeal for another. One SEND child/young person is not everyone’s SEND child/young person. Then there are the advocates who state that

EOTAS can be the perfect solution for your child’s Special Educational Provision, and it can also be a cheap and not so cheerful box ticker.

This guide explores how to navigate these challenges, ensure reports are EHCP-appropriate, and leverage independent experts when necessary.

This guide offers practical advice to empower parents at every stage. Learn when and how to start planning, demystify acronyms and prepare

This article talks about the difficulties we all face when talking about our children and young people.

Judicial Review: is this the solution to all of your EHCP problems, is this the ‘quick fix’?

Are the abbreviations, acronyms, and terminology used in SEND (there goes another!) driving you to distraction and back again?