How do we communicate with SEND parents effectively?

The first move: meet three times a year, and co-produce

Meet parents at least three times a year, as the SEND Code of Practice (2015) expects, and make each meeting real co-production: share information early, agree outcomes together, and record what was decided. For any pupil on SEN support, the Code (para 6.65) sets a clear bar: three meetings a year, led by a teacher who knows the child well, to set outcomes, review progress, and agree who does what. Treat that as a floor, not a ceiling, and as a conversation rather than a download of decisions you have already made.

The second step: prepare, agree, and name a contact

Send parents the information and any concerns before the meeting, not in it, so they arrive able to contribute rather than react. Agree the outcomes, the support, and the review date jointly, and write them down. Give every family a single named point of contact, usually the SENCO (the school's special educational needs co-ordinator), so they always know who to ask. This is the practical shape of the graduated approach: parents' views feed each assess, plan, do, review cycle.

The quality layer: make it accessible and recorded

Co-production only works if parents can actually take part. Record what was agreed in writing and share it in plain English. Offer translation or interpreting where a family needs it, and be mindful of working hours and of how anxious a parent may feel walking into a room of professionals. Keeping a short, shared written record after each meeting is also your best protection if trust later frays: it shows the family was consulted at every stage, not informed after the fact.

The statutory anchor: this is a duty, not a nicety

Co-production runs through the whole SEND system: when SEND functions are exercised, the council and the wider system must have regard to parents' views, wishes and feelings, to their taking part as fully as possible in decisions, and to giving them the information and support to do so (section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014). Your own duties as a school are tighter still. The Code expects you to involve parents at every stage of the graduated approach and to seek their views before decisions are made (paras 6.65 and 6.71), and you must publish how you consult and involve parents in your SEN Information Report (SEND Regulations 2014, Schedule 1). In short: consultation before the decision, not after it.

One thing on the horizon, but nothing to change today: the Schools White Paper (February 2026) and the Education for All Bill propose a new Individual Support Plan duty and a narrower role for EHCPs from 2035. A consultation ran to May 2026, but no change takes effect before September 2030. The three-meetings-a-year expectation and the co-production duty remain current law.

What to do this term

1. Diarise three parent meetings for each pupil on SEN support, each led by a teacher who knows the child.
2. Send parents your notes and any concerns ahead of the meeting, and name their single point of contact.
3. Check your SEN Information Report actually describes how you consult parents, and update it if it does not.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.