Simply SEND
Simply SEND provides clear, accessible guidance for families navigating Special Educational Needs and Disability processes. It supports parents to understand EHCPs, referrals and school conversations without jargon or gatekeeping.
This is informed guidance delivered in plain language. Sessions strengthen parental confidence, clarify next steps and reduce overwhelm before situations escalate.
When systems feel complex, clarity matters. Simply SEND makes the process easier to understand.
This project has been running since July 2023.
Project Overview
Following growing demand from families, Heather, Director and Project Lead at FamilyKind, provides 1:1 support for parents and carers navigating Special Educational Needs and Disability processes, particularly Education, Health and Care Plans.
The work develops organically from professional insight. As a practicing SENDCo, Heather recognises a significant gap between how professionals interpret EHCP documentation and how it is experienced by families. While schools and local authorities are fluent in the language of provision, outcomes and statutory guidance, many parents are handed complex documentation without accessible explanation.
This project exists to bridge that gap.
What We Offer
- One to one EHCP breakdown sessions
- Clear explanation of statutory guidance and SEND Code requirements
- Support understanding Sections B, F and I of EHCPs
- Guidance on what can and should be requested from Local Authorities
- Advice on communicating with schools effectively
- Remote sessions and in person meetings across Preston, Wigan, Ainsdale and Leigh
- Informal advocacy guidance in accessible community spaces
Sessions are delivered online, in coffee shops and in local community settings to reduce barriers and make support feel approachable rather than clinical.
Why It's Needed
Families often hold parental responsibility but are not always equipped with the technical knowledge to confidently advocate within a complex statutory framework.
Heather identified that:
- Parents receive large volumes of documentation without accessible explanation
- Key legal entitlements are frequently misunderstood
- Families do not always know what they are entitled to request
- The emotional strain of navigating SEND processes make it harder to absorb technical information
- Schools cannot request certain changes without parental instruction
Without translation and guidance, families are at risk of accepting inadequate provision simply because they do not know how to challenge it.
What We've Learned So Far
This work reinforced several key insights:
- SEND systems are not inaccessible because families lack care, but because the language is inaccessible
- Emotional load directly affects a parent’s ability to process statutory information
- Early explanation prevents later escalation
- Advocacy confidence grows when information is demystified
- Community based conversations can be just as impactful as formal meetings
Perhaps most importantly, parents do not need someone to fight for them. They need someone to help them understand the rules so they can advocate effectively themselves.
Impact & Testimonials
The support offers clarity at a time of high stress and uncertainty.
Parents report feeling more confident in meetings, clearer about their rights and better equipped to advocate for their child’s needs. In many cases, families request amendments, challenge insufficient wording and pursue appropriate provision because they understand the statutory framework.
Beyond the technical knowledge, the sessions reduce anxiety. Families describe feeling less overwhelmed and more in control of the process.
The project strengthens parental voice and shifts power back to those who hold parental responsibility.
“Thank you for the help! It’s beyond appreciated, don’t feel as overwhelmed and actually have a better understanding!”
“It helped so much just having someone who actually understood the system explain it in plain English. Heather didn’t take over or speak for me. She just helped me feel confident enough to speak up for my son.”
“Heather just felt real. She was kind, calm and easy to speak to. She understood what we were dealing with and met us where we were at. That made such a difference.”
“I felt completely drained trying to ask for support and getting nowhere. It was like every email led to another question and no real answers. Having Heather walk me through it step by step made all the difference. She didn’t treat our child like a case or a number. She treated us like a family who deserved to be listened to, because at the end of the day, this was about us.”
"We feel very, very blessed to have had the guidance of Heather Hale during an incredibly anxious and stressful time in our lives. During this time, we were helping a family who had a SEND child attending an alternative provision school where their needs were not adequately met. The school were adamant that the child's needs were being fully met and hence the case was going to be considered at Tribunal level.
We were in the process of documenting our arguments, but felt little hope. However, with the encouraging words, wisdom and professional guidance of Heather, we finally felt we had a strong case. From the very first meeting we felt our spirits uplifted. Also, we ultimately won the case without the need to attend the actual Tribunal.
I truly cannot put into words how grateful we were, and still are, to Heather. Also, although her services were totally free, the time she gave to us felt incredibly generous.
Her love and care for SEND children exude from every fibre of your being - she is the ray of hope in a discipline where facing complex and unfamiliar protocols and processes are daunting prospects for individuals not working in the SEND field. She made manoeuvring through them accessible for us."
"I just wanted to say a massive thank you for all the help and support you have given our family and supporting us with the EHCP process. You have worked so hard for our children to assist them with their additional needs and us as parents. We really appreciate everything you do.
When everything started with this process, I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel and felt hopeless, but then a rainbow came along and I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel and that rainbow is you. You are our family's rainbow and we are so happy that you have gone above and beyond to help us."
How This Links To Our Wider Mission
This project reflects the core philosophy of FamilyKind.
We believe families deserve transparent, accessible first points of contact. We believe systems should not require insider knowledge to navigate. And we believe early clarity prevents crisis.
The EHCP Navigation work demonstrates the power of:
- Demystifying complex systems
- Strengthening parental voice
- Bridging professional language and lived experience
- Community based early intervention
It has laid the groundwork for our ongoing ambition to create safe, knowledgeable spaces where families can access guidance before situations escalate. This project has now been absorbed into the SEND Outreach Project.