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Hackney SEND Parent Carer Forum |
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Dear Parents and Carers,
As Chair of the Hackney SEND Parent Carer Forum (HSPCF), it is my great pleasure to welcome you. Whether you're newly connected with us or have been part of our community for some time, we're here to listen, support, and work together to make a difference for our children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Our forum is led by parents and carers, for parents and carers. We understand the challenges and triumphs that come with raising a child or young person with SEND, because we live them too. Our mission is to ensure that your voices are heard by the local authority, health services, and education providers, and that your experiences help shape the support and services that families in Hackney receive. This has been our inaugural year as a forum, and we are incredibly proud of what we have begun to build together. As we approach the end of this year, we want to thank each and every one of you for your engagement, trust, and support as we've taken these first steps. Together, we can build a stronger, more inclusive community where every child and family is valued and supported. We look forward to working alongside you, sharing knowledge, offering support, and driving positive change. Wishing you and your families a peaceful and joyful end to the year.
Warm regards, Tunde Oyefolu-Alukwu
Chair, Hackney SEND Parent Carer Forum |
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The Parent Carer Forum brings parents’ lived experience into decisions that affect SEND services in Hackney. By working together, families can influence change, improve understanding, and help shape better support for children and young people with SEND – not just for individual families, but for the whole community. |
Who we are and how you can be involved |
The Hackney SEND Parent Carer Forum (HSPCF) is the officially recognised forum for parents and carers of children and young people aged 0–25 with SEND. We bring parent and carer voices together and work alongside local decision-makers to share lived experience, influence decisions, and improve services for families in Hackney.
By joining HSPCF, you can help shape SEND services in Hackney by sharing your views and experiences. Our voluntary Steering Group brings your voices into conversations with the council and other services, and feeds back on what has been discussed and achieved. Whether you want to share your experiences, help with events, represent the forum, or simply stay informed, your involvement makes a real difference.
We’re stronger when we work together — and every parent and carer has something valuable to offer. |
2025 - The Year in Review |
Parent voices represented at borough, regional and national level Parent carers supported through wellbeing programmes Direct engagement with schools, council, health and housing Growing membership, events and peer support spaces Growing programme of events, workshops and peer support Increased involvement in commissioning, transport and leadership decisions SEND Strategic Partnership Board: parents and carers raised ongoing concerns about access to appropriate provision, communication, timely support, and the need for clearer accountability and meaningful co-production. SEND and Inclusion Strategy HSPCF contributed to the development of the new delivery plan, which informed the local area SEND inspection and is due to be published shortly. SEND Inspection: A forum will be held in February to share the outcome of the inspection with parents and carers following publication of the report. The event will be open to all HSPCF members.
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Focus areas and impact in 2025 |
The HSPCF has 5 current focus areas, which emerged through your feedback. |
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1. Inclusive education for all This year, HSPCF focused on strengthening inclusion in mainstream education by amplifying parent voice, supporting schools, and influencing policy and practice. School engagement: This year, our team of three parent carers is working with six primary schools to help school teams better understand what families need for children with SEND to thrive, while offering parents information and practical support. Looking ahead: In early 2026, HSPCF plans to expand wellbeing sessions in schools and work with Hackney Education on a booklet to support parents of neurodiverse children. SEND & Inclusion Strategy: HSPCF took part in a workshop with Hackney’s Director of Education on the draft three-year SEND & Inclusion Strategy. Discussions supported the strategy’s progressive direction and highlighted the importance of parent involvement in evaluating progress. EHCP webinar: Held on 5 June with SENDIAGS and the local authority, with wide attendance and many questions. The recording, slides and Q&A responses are available. System improvement: HSPCF was involved in the appointment process for a new Head at New Regent College (Alternative Provision) and contributed to the trial of the new school transport application process, from questionnaire design to focus groups.
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Pic: HSPCF forum meeting at MLC |
2. Support for children with complex needs and disabilities Many parent carers have told us that support for children with complex needs and disabilities is one of their highest priorities. Priority setting: Following feedback from parents, HSPCF met with council and health leads to identify key focus areas for children with complex needs and disabilities. Joined-up working: A Complex Needs and Disability working group has been established with Hackney Ark, and regular meetings with the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) resumed in October and November 2025. Looking ahead: Planning is underway for a dedicated parent forum event in early 2026, focused on support for children with complex needs and disabilities. Expert input: HSPCF was invited to a working meeting on lived experience - Autism Experts with Penny Heron - to inform future work in this area.
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3. Improving parent carer wellbeing Parent carers consistently tell us that their own wellbeing and peer support are essential to sustaining family life and caring roles. CAMHS parent support: A talk by Mariona Garcia (CAMHS) shared research on improving parent support for families of children with neurodevelopmental conditions. (March 2025) Healthy Parent Carer Programme: With support from the London Borough of Hackney, HSPCF trained parent carers to deliver this evidence-based programme. In 2025, two courses supported 11 parent carers, with positive feedback on wellbeing, resilience and stress management. An online course begins on 9 January 2026, with further courses planned across the year. SEND Parent & Carers Coffee Mornings: In partnership with Peabody. We ran a series of fortnightly coffee mornings from 25th June - 17th December (with a break over the summer) Across 9 sessions offering a relaxed and welcoming space for parents to connect, share experiences and take part in both informal chats and topic-led sessions. We were delighted to welcome a variety of guest speakers, including Cllr Sizer, Ella Richie from the Local Offer, a Benefit Advisor, Art Burst, Richard Allen Strategic Delivery Officer, Will Fletcher, Daryl and Jordan from Connect2Hackney and a parent volunteer who led a calming mindfulness and wellbeing session.
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4. Better preparation for adulthood Preparing for adulthood is a key concern for many families, particularly around pathways to employment, independence and ongoing support. Preparing for Adulthood (PfA): Hackney has established a new PfA delivery group with a stronger focus on co-production with parents and carers. A parent workshop is being planned for February 2026. Future Ready event: HSPCF attended the PfA Future Ready event in October 2025 to engage with partners and understand current pathways and priorities. The event highlighted how important clear, accessible information is for families navigating post-16 pathways. Parents valued the chance to speak directly with professionals and other families.
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From left to right: Preetam (Carer Support & Info Officer- CHCC), Caroline Woodley (Mayor of Hackney) & Tunde (Chair HSPCF) |
Feedback suggestions: The HSPCF should continue focusing on transitions to adulthood, particularly around Education, Employment, Benefits and Independent living. Opportunities for improvement include running these events more regularly, offering clearer follow-up information and creating more space for parents and young people’s lived experiences to be shared. Supported Internships: Richard Allen spoke at our coffee morning on 17 December, engaging directly with parent carers on supported internship opportunities.
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5. Community
Building community and peer connection is a core part of HSPCF’s role, alongside influencing policy and services. Housing and rights: HSPCF organised an in-person training workshop with Shelter on housing options for children and young people with additional needs, and held a housing-focused forum attended by around 40 parent carers.
Family events: A Family Fun Day in February 2025 welcomed over 80 attendees, with many new families joining the Forum.
Connection and celebration: A festive celebration on 17 December brought together over 25 families, creating space for informal connection and peer support.
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Your Recent Contributions |
Thank you to all HSPCF members who have shared their views, experiences and expertise through consultations, surveys and forums. Your input directly informs our work and strengthens our collective voice. Local Area SEND inspection SEND & Inclusion Strategy consultation SEND strategy survey Three-year education plan survey Parliament’s Solving the SEND Crisis call for evidence
This collective input ensures that parent and carer perspectives are reflected at local, regional and national level. |
Hackney SEND Parent Carer Forum - Review Meeting – 19th January 2026 We’re holding an open meeting to tell our members about the work we have been doing over the last year and to look forwards to the next year. We will offer the opportunity for you to tell us what matters most to you and to your children. We’ll share the opportunities we see for engaging with the council and want to understand your priorities for the year ahead.More details to follow.
Talks and events We’re developing a programme of talks and events for 2026 and would love your ideas. This includes topics you’d like us to cover, as well as the kinds of events you’ve found most helpful, such as coffee mornings or family events. We’ll discuss these at the workshop.
Focus areas We are inviting parents and carers who are interested in specific topics to help shape, lead, or take part in focused pieces of work across the Forum.
We would love as many parents and carers as possible to join us in 2026! |
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Educational Psychology Service Update
The Educational Psychology Service has shared a positive update on the progress of its recovery plan. They have confirmed that all outstanding assessment backlogs have now been cleared, and new requests for Educational Psychology assessments are being allocated immediately once agreed by the Local Authority, in line with statutory timescales. From 27 October, a new system for allocating cases on time has been introduced for the first time in six years. As a result of this progress, the service has been able to begin some traded work earlier than planned. This means that most schools using the Integrated SEND Service have experienced a shorter period without Educational Psychology casework support than originally expected.
The service has also advised that, while current progress is very positive, they are continuing to monitor demand closely. The number of assessments agreed so far this term has been lower than in previous years, and there may be an increase in requests later in the year. Contingency plans are in place, and the service is confident that they will be able to manage demand without returning to a backlog.
FREE Bookable 1:1 Parent Advice Sessions during term time. Info here.
Behaviour Management and School Inclusion Call for Evidence (Hackney) Hackney’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission is a service that acts independently of the Council itself. It is currently reviewing how the Council and its partners, working with schools and families, can better support the behavioural and learning needs of children and young people in Hackney. The Commission is conducting a review in order to: Understand how different approaches to behaviour management impact on pupils and school inclusion. Identify what additional support schools and families require to enable them to support behaviour, learning and well-being needs of children, and Identify and share best practice for behaviour management and inclusion across the local education system.
Join a focus group The Commission is holding a number of focus groups with key stakeholders in December 2025 and January 2026. These will allow the Commission to explore issues in greater detail. If you would like to take part, please provide your contact details when you submit your Call for Evidence, or email scrutiny@hackney.gov.uk Email addresses will be stored separately from your responses to preserve your anonymity.
The Call for Evidence The Commission began collecting evidence from a wide range of education agencies, research organisations, teachers unions, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations in February 2025. It would now like to hear from anyone who has experience of, or views on, behaviour management or school inclusion in Hackney. In particular: Teachers, school support staff, or any other adults who work with or support children and young people in Hackney. Parents and carers of children attending school in Hackney. Children and young people attending (or who have recently attended) school in Hackney. Any local resident or community member who is interested in this area and feels that they want to contribute.
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Free Festive Family Events 🎄🎄🎄🎄
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National and Regional Updates |
Regional PCF event The Chair will attend the Contact and National Network of Parent Carer Forum the Contact and National Network of Parent Carer Forum conference in Sheffield to learn from other forums and share priorities. Please email any questions or issues you’d like raised to chair@hspcf.org. Government unveils £3bn investment to expand school places for children with SEND Around 50,000 new school places will be created for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) from £3 billion in funding, the government has announced.
Some of the money will go towards creating places across the country in local mainstream schools for children with Send so they are less likely to have to travel far for their education.
Schools will be able to use the funding to create resources such as breakout spaces for children who may need more support, or rooms to support children with autism or ADHD who may feel overstimulated in the classroom. Read Matt Kerr's cautious take on this decision on the Special Needs Jungle website here. |
Next steps for the Forum 👣 |
We know some members are keen to hear when HSPCF will be holding its AGM and Steering Group elections.
Following guidance from Contact, the national charity that supports Parent Carer Forums and administers Department for Education funding, and in discussion with the local authority, we have decided not to hold an AGM or Steering Group elections this year. This is a deliberate and time-limited decision to allow the current Steering Group to stabilise, build confidence, and put strong ways of working in place. Over the past year there have been changes, with some members stepping away, leaving a smaller but active and committed group. Our priority now is to strengthen the Forum, review how the current model is working, and ensure HSPCF is on a solid footing before moving to formal elections. In place of an AGM, we will hold an open members’ meeting on 19 January 2026 to review the past year and look ahead. Details on how to join will follow. Parent and carer involvement remains central to HSPCF. We are actively seeking parents and carers to share views, contribute expertise, and represent the Forum in meetings with local authority, health and education services. Support, training, and remuneration are available for representative roles.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support. |
Important update: Safeguarding and Inclusion |
We’re sharing this update because it raises important issues for SEND families across Hackney.
Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review: Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy In December 2025, the City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership published a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review into practices at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy. The review highlighted that while the school achieves strong academic outcomes, some children, particularly those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), ethnic minorities and other vulnerabilities have experienced harm to their emotional wellbeing. The report identified concerns around behaviour management approaches, the handling of complaints, and the need for stronger safeguarding and listening to children and families. The findings reinforce an important message for the whole system: Academic success must never come at the expense of children’s dignity, wellbeing, or safeguarding, and the voices of children and parent carers, especially those of SEND families must be heard and acted upon. The children and young people commission has launched an online call for evidence and parents are encouraged to contribute to this by clicking the link below |
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Healthy Parent Carer Programme |
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SEND(0-25) Resource Page for Parents |
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Our website includes a one-stop hub for links and information about services supporting families of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), aged 0 to 25 years.
For Hackney-wide information, advice, and services and support for children and young people aged 0-25 with SEN, disabilities, or additional needs: visit the Hackney Local Offer site |
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