The special needs system is ‘designed for you to fail’, parents have said at a campaign launch.
The national campaign, Every Pair Tells a Story, kicked off this morning to raise awareness about children who have been failed by the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system.
Led by The SEND Sanctuary UK, the event held at West Suffolk House, in Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, saw several parents lay down pairs of shoes, each representing a child.
The SEND Sanctuary UK held a campaign event at West Suffolk House, in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Joao Santos
It was one of 94 happening outside council offices across the UK.
Ella Trainor, a volunteer from Red Lodge, said: “We’re trying to shine a light on the number of children with SEND that have been failed by the system.
“It’s children we are talking about at the end of the day, and they deserve the same as children without SEND.”
A key issue, she said, was ensuring there were enough specialist placements in schools to accommodate the varied needs of children.
Ella Trainor, volunteer for The SEND Sanctuary UK. Picture: Joao Santos
Ms Trainor said the lack of adequate placements led to children like her own five-year-old son becoming a ‘corridor kid’ at mainstream school, despite the schools’ best efforts to accommodate him with the resources they have.
“He struggles to focus and finds the classroom environment and being around other children overwhelming, which causes him to become dysregulated.”
Suffolk County Council, which delivers SEND services in partnership with health and education settings, promised to deliver 200 new places by September 2026, with 100 of those delivered for this year’s student intake.
A spokesperson said: โThe fact that this protest is happening across the country today demonstrates that this is a national issue.
“Nevertheless, in Suffolk, SEND reform remains our number one priority and small improvements are being felt by families.”
Each shoe represented a child who struggled with the SEND system. Picture: Joao Santos
‘You have to fight for absolutely everything’
A common theme among parents was the difficulty of navigating the system, especially in getting an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that was not only on time but adequate for their child’s needs.
EHCPs are legally-binding documents which outline children and young people’s needs and what support is needed to meet them.
A mother from Great Barton, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “You have to fight for absolutely everything, and you have to be really strong, because [the system] is designed for you to fail.”
Several parents told their stories of struggling with the SEND system. Picture: Joao Santos
Rev Benjamin Edwards, vicar of Great Barton and Thurston, said the system needed to be streamlined and less combative after his son struggled with it.
“Those young people that are let down by this system feel that society doesn’t think they’re worth helping โ that might sound alarmist, but it’s true,” he said.
“I wonder how many adults in our society now would be very different people if they had the help they deserved.”
Rev Benjamin Edwards, vicar of Great Barton and Thurston. Picture: Joao Santos
The parents’ struggles come against a backdrop of not only a significant increase in demand but also in cost.
In Suffolk, the county council had delivered 10,625 EHCPs as of March, 2,289 more than the previous year.
Nicola Proctor, a mother from Bury St Edmunds, said her boy, now 12 years old, was still suffering from his time in a mainstream school, where he attended for 45 minutes a day, in a separate room by himself.
“I had to fight daily on the phone, every single day, to have the right provision.
“My son was a number, they had never met him, they didn’t know anything about him โ he just got thrown around and it basically ruined our lives for a long time.”
Nicola Proctor, from Bury St Edmunds, said she had to fight on the phone daily. Picture: Joao Santos
‘It breaks families apart’
Ms Proctor was one of several parents who talked about the impact navigating the system was having not only on children, but also on their loved ones.
“This doesn’t affect the child, it affects your entire family […] it breaks families apart,” she said.
“I was a single mum doing it, and it became difficult to the point where you become so depressed, so anxious.”
Rebekah Wright, a mother, said it took a year and a half to get an EHCP in Norfolk for her daughter, who was diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia.
That journey, she said, took a toll on her mental health to the point of becoming suicidal, until she moved closer to her family in Suffolk, near Stowmarket.
“I was trying my hardest to get some kind of respite so that I had a chance to just, for a couple of hours, think of something that wasn’t how horrific everything was, and no support came,” she said.
“It is navigating something you don’t know, it’s like being told to bake a cake, but they won’t give you the instructions and the ingredients.”
If you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available via the NHS by calling 111 or via the Samaritans charity at 116 123.
Ms Wright pleaded with the Government to listen and restructure the system so that parents and children did not have to go through the same experience she did.
She said: “They need to listen to the families, the people who go through these things โ when they are sitting in their meeting room, miles away from children, they don’t know what it really means.”
The Government announced two weeks ago it would delay long-awaited reforms to the system to allow for a period of co-creation with parents, educators, experts and other organisations.
The reforms were expected this autumn but are now scheduled for early 2026.
