SEND Reform Engagement and Listening Events
March 4, 2026
As Southend’s Parent Carer Forum, Southend SEND Independent Forum (SSIF), we encourage you to share your experiences — your voice really matters in shaping support for our children and young people.
We’re hosting informal drop-in sessions at Southend Civic Centre during the consultation period specifically to gather your feedback and thoughts on the proposed changes, so we can reflect the real views of parent carers in our response. Please come along to share your views or ask any questions — we’d love to see you there.
The SEND Partnership is also hosting an information Event and will present an overview of the key proposed changes, highlight the areas the government is consulting on, and empower parent carers with the information needed to share their views with confidence.
The SEND Partnership will require pre-booking tickets and you can do that here, tickets.
Have you signed up to the monthly SEND Newsletter yet? 📩 The SEND Newsletter is a monthly e-newsletter from the Southend SEND Partnership, bringing together organisations and services that support children and young people with SEND and their families in Southend. It’s designed to keep you up to date with local information, opportunities and support available to families. We contribute to the newsletter each month too, so it’s a great way to see what we’re sharing alongside updates from other local services. Subscribe here:
Event details SEND Information Day Southend SEND Independent Forum (SSIF) and the SEND Local Offer Team are pleased to announce the second Southend SEND Information Day on Tuesday 16 June 2026. This is a free event for the Southend SEND community. It is open to parent carers or family members of children or young people with SEND, and professionals. Venue: Southend Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6ER Time: 9.30am to 2.30pm Hold the date - further information to follow soon! For a taste of what to expect at the event in June, read about the 2025 SEND Information Day and watch videos here . Pre-register for the event! You can just drop-in on the day, but why not make things easier and pre-register?! Get advance information about the event direct to your inbox, so you can plan your visit and make the most of your time.
One of our favourite Events is our regular monthly coffee morning, where Parent Carers can get together to share their experiences. Every month we have the Local Offer team with us and invite 1 or 2 additional special guests from for example Health, Social Care, Education and more, to offer guidance and advice. *Please note that the coffee mornings for 2026 will temporarily be held at the Civic Centre and will again return to SAVS in September 2026* Come along and chat to other ParentCarers, get advice from one of our SEND support service guests and enjoy a hot drink with something sweet. Booking is not required.
We will be hosting a series of informal drop-in sessions for parent carers to share views and ask questions about the Government SEND reform proposals and consultation. The Government's Schools White Paper, Every child achieving and thriving was published on Monday 23 February 2026. The Paper sets out proposed reforms to the schools and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system in England. The Government's consultation on the proposed reforms is open until 18 May. You can read the proposals and share your views here: SEND reform: putting children and young people first - Department for Education - Citizen Space As Southend's Parent Carer Forum, we encourage parent carers to engage with the consultation. To support this, we are hosting informal drop‑in sessions where you can share your views and ask questions. All sessions will be held in Southend Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend, SS2 6ER on the following dates: Friday 13 March, 9.30am to 10.30am Committee Room 2 Tuesday 17 March, 9.30am to 10.30am Committee Room 2 Monday 23 March, 12.30pm to 1.30pm Committee Room 3 Thursday 23 April, 10.30am to 11.30am Committee Room 7 Friday 1 May, 12.30pm to 1.30pm, Committee Room 7 Monday 11 May, 10am to 11am, Committee Room 4 The Southend SEND Area Partnership are also hosting an information session about the proposed SEND reforms on Friday 17 April 9.30am to 10.30am at Southend Civic Centre (Jubilee Room). You can book a place on that event here .
