Merseyside Send Support Network

07/06/2026

Cllr Carl Cashman

I find it interesting that you have chosen to respond only to positive comments about yourself while ignoring the many challenging comments and concerns that have been raised. As a councillor, you have a responsibility to engage with all members of the community, particularly when your actions have caused genuine upset.

What many people are looking for is not an explanation of how unfairly you feel you have been treated, but an acknowledgement of the hurt caused by the letter you sent and the views it appeared to express.

As a SEND parent myself, I find this situation both upsetting and frustrating. Too often, children with additional needs face barriers created by misunderstanding, ignorance, or a lack of lived experience. Regardless of whether a school is designated as a SEND school or not, children with SEND have every right to access education in a mainstream setting alongside their peers where that is appropriate for them.

From what many parents have seen, this school has worked hard to create an inclusive environment that welcomes and supports all children. That is something that should be celebrated, not challenged.

I am saddened that instead of addressing the concerns raised by parents and the wider SEND community, you have chosen to focus on your own hurt and portray yourself as the victim in this situation. It comes across as an attempt to deflect responsibility rather than engage with the substance of the criticism.

Perhaps the hurt you are feeling now may help you understand, even in a small way, the experiences of many SEND families who spend years fighting to have their children’s needs understood, respected, and properly supported.

Being a leader is not about avoiding mistakes; it is about recognising when you have made one. Please be the bigger person, acknowledge that you got this wrong, and offer the sincere apology that many in the SEND community feel is deserved.

To be honest, I’ve been quite hurt by the sensationalist article in the ECHO. Mostly because both that and some comments insinuate that I am against SEND kids playgrounds.

For anyone that knows me, they’ll know this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The ECHO have used a simple duty as a councillor to make this into something that it simply is not… then posted it four times to attract anger.

Liam’s ‘no fireworks’ Labour Councillors have then jumped on it like a bunch of hyenas, with one having to take a distasteful post down because it essentially libeled me.

It’s lovely of Sophie to have put this into perspective.

06/06/2026

🌟 Saturday PA Spaces Available at Circle Inclusive 🌟

Circle Inclusive now has some available spaces on Saturdays!

If you are looking for a PA who provides group support, helping young adults build friendships, independence, confidence, and have fun in a safe and supportive environment, we’d love to hear from you.

Our Saturday sessions are all about:
💙 Building friendships
❤️ Encouraging independence
💛 Accessing the local community
💙 Having fun and creating memories

For more information or to discuss how we can support you, please get in touch.

📞 Contact us today to find out more!

Circle Inclusive CIC – A Place Where Everyone Belongs ❤️💙💛

06/06/2026

2 HOUR COUNT DOWN!!🌈

If you're free today, come down, say Hi and show your support 🌈

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

William (pictured) was the nine year old boy found by a passer by on Road , after he had walked out of a SEND group where he was supposed to be receiving one to one care.

Moving senses on Lane said an investigation was under way and that it had never lost a child off-site before.

William’s mum Gemma said: "We got a call... saying 'William has climbed over the fence - he got out, but don't worry because the police brought him back'."

Gemma said she was so grateful to the member of the public who spotted William wandering into the road in front of the traffic and did a U-turn.

She said she was told her son had been missing from the site but that it was "played down" like it "wasn't a big incident".

Gemma said she would like the incident to be thoroughly investigated.
"These groups are so important to children with complex needs but they need to be 100% safe as the next child might not be so lucky," she added.

Council said the incident had been referred to the local authority designated officer, external (LADO).

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

The road to what they call “school avoidance” or EBSA, rarely starts with a child waking up one morning and deciding they don’t want to learn.
It starts with needs being missed.

It starts with a child telling us they’re struggling, but their distress being labelled as bad behaviour. It starts with sensory overload being mistaken for defiance.
It starts with anxiety being mistaken for laziness.
It starts with exhaustion being mistaken for a lack of resilience.

Day after day, week after week, that child walks into an environment that doesn’t feel safe for them. They try to cope. They mask. They force themselves through. They push beyond their limits because everyone keeps telling them they have to.

Until eventually, they can’t. And then suddenly the conversation changes, the child who spent months or years trying to survive an environment that wasn’t meeting their needs is labelled as “school avoidant.”

The focus shifts onto fixing the child rather than asking the far more important question:
What happened to make school feel so unbearable in the first place?

Children do not avoid places where they feel safe, understood, supported and able to succeed. I always say No child denies themselves access to somewhere that brings them joy.

They avoid places that have become associated with fear, failure, overwhelm, humiliation, exhaustion, or distress.

School avoidance isn’t created in a vacuum.
It’s often the end result of unmet needs, inadequate support, inaccessible environments, underfunded services, and repeated experiences of a child feeling that nobody is listening.

The child isn’t the problem. The problem is an environment that has failed to adapt, failed to support, and then blamed the child for the consequences.

Until we stop asking, “How do we get this child back into school?” and start asking, “What has happened that makes school feel impossible for this child?” we will continue to miss the point.

Because the road to so-called school avoidance is usually paved with adults ignoring the warning signs long before a child reaches breaking point.
How many times do you have to say things before you’re taken seriously? Or was it only important because your child couldn’t attend anymore?

Now I know, I know that there will be kids that mask so hard that it’s been impossible to spot, but there are signs- the tummy ache, the headaches, the feeling sick, the delay games before the school day, the hesitation, the exhaustion… the meltdowns after school.

All my Love.
Michaela x

06/06/2026

💛 Please note: This is not a Positivitree event - we’re sharing this from Yay Wirral because this event looks absolutely amazing for SEN families.

✨ If you book through our link below, The Positivitree will receive 25% of the ticket price, helping us continue supporting parent carers. 💛🌳

We are so excited to be supporting SENsory Fest at Birkenhead Park.

NO JUDGY LOOKS. NO PRESSURE TO FIT IN. 💛
THIS IS OUR TRIBE. 🌈

SO excited to hear that SENsory Fest is coming to Birkenhead Park, Merseyside on Saturday 20th June 🫶
Designed by a SEN mum, for SEN families this is a family event created with understanding, flexibility and FUN at its heart.

✨ EVERYTHING is included in your ticket price which are really affordable by the way... ✨

That means unlimited access to:
🎪 Inflatables
🫧 Foam cannons
🤸 Trampolines
🌈 Huge ball pit
🧱 LEGO tent
🐰 Therapy animal mini zoo
🎵 Low level entertainment with Makaton signing
🫶 Sensory play
💙 Breakout spaces
🚻 Accessible toilets
🔒 Safe fenced event space with one supervised entrance/exit
👕 SEN trained stewards
🗣️ Parent advice hubs

Available to purchase..
☕ Hot coffee for the grown ups
🍟 ARFID/beige food options
🛒 A selection of really lovely independent stalls selling toys, aids, self-care items and treats!

PLUS siblings are absolutely welcome too 🥹
📍 Birkenhead Park
📅 Saturday 20th June
⏰ 3 relaxed sessions: 9.30am–11.30am
12pm–2pm
2.30pm–4.30pm

🎟️ Tickets £7/£12
https://buytickets.at/yaywirral?ref=positivitree

Please share with SEND families who deserve a day out where they can truly relax 💛

06/06/2026

🚩 The LA says this was an error. Read this and decide for yourself

Reminder to obtain consultation letters AND responses.

In my son’s case, we wanted a specialist school. We already had a place offer. The local authority consulted 3 mainstream schools that we never requested (two we had never even heard of) and told them they were our ‘parental preference schools’.

Why does that matter? Because one mainstream school actually said YES. 😳 The problem was, we knew the school was completely unsuitable for our child’s SEN! I couldn’t understand why they had agreed to take him! It honestly made no sense at all.

So I submitted a Subject Access Request (SAR) and obtained all the consultation documents.

That’s when I discovered the mainstream schools had been told in their consult letters…..

“The Local Authority must name the school in the EHC plan unless:

1)it would be unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or SEN of the child or young person, or

2) the attendance of the child or young person there would be incompatible with the efficient education of others, or the efficient use of resources.

However we would like to remind you that where the parental preference is for a mainstream school, the only reason that the placement can be refused is where the admission of that child will not be compatible with efficient education of other children with whom they will be educated and there are no reasonable steps that can be taken to prevent that incompatibility.” 😳

In other words, the school had been reminded of the legal framework that applies where a parent is seeking a mainstream education. (Section 33 CFA)

The problem is, we weren’t seeking mainstream education. We were seeking a specialist placement and we already had an offer.

We ended up having to challenge the consultation response from the mainstream because the school had been given information that did not reflect our wishes!

The law is slightly different depending on whether a parent is seeking mainstream education or not…

Section 39 of the Children and Families Act says a school must be named unless:

1️⃣ The school or other institution requested is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs of the child or young person concerned.

2️⃣ The attendance of the child or young person at the requested school or other institution would be incompatible with:

(i) the provision of efficient education for others, or

(ii) the efficient use of resources.

Yet if a parent wants a mainstream education for their child, Section 33 CFA works differently.

Section 33 CFA 2014 says that a child or young person with an EHC plan must be educated in a mainstream setting unless:

1️⃣ It is against the wishes of the child’s parent or the young person, or

2️⃣ It is incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others and the LA shows that there are no reasonable steps that it could take to prevent the incompatibility.

You see the difference here? 👀

The schools were being reminded of the legal framework that applies when parents want mainstream education. We didn’t want mainstream education, we wanted a specialist placement.

Yet the consultation letter focused on a different legal framework to the one that includes whether a school is unsuitable for a child’s SEN.

So if mainstream schools are told during consultations that they are your ‘parental preference’ when they are not, that information may affect how the consultation is responded to.

When I complained, the complaint was upheld.

The LA admitted:

“Some of the letters sent to schools suggested that they were a school of parental preference, when this was in fact not the case. I can confirm that the incorrect letters were sent in error. It is my finding that this part of your complaint is upheld.”

So if I’d never submitted a SAR, I would never have known schools were being given incorrect information about our wishes. And I was certainly not ever going to send him to a school I knew was unsuitable. 🙄

📌 A reminder for SENCOs:

Before responding to a consultation, it may be worth checking whether you are genuinely being consulted as a parental preference school.

In my case, schools were told they were parental preference schools when they weren’t.

The legal framework being considered may differ depending on the circumstances, so it is important that schools are given accurate information from the outset.

Never assume the information in a consultation letter is correct simply because it came from the local authority. 👀

Don’t just ask for the outcome…

Ask for:

✅ The consultation letters SENT to schools.

✅ The consultation responses received.

✅ The information sent to schools (section k reports)

Because sometimes the reason a school says “yes” or “no” has more to do with the information they were given than parents realise.

One final thing that stood out to me…

The consultation letters sent to the three mainstream schools were three pages long and included legal explanations about parental preference and mainstream education.

The specialist school we actually wanted received a single paragraph consultation. 😂

The three mainstream schools were also sent reminders about the 15-day consultation deadline.

The specialist school we actually wanted was consulted a week after the rest and they were not sent the same 15 day reminder.

The LA says the ‘parental preference’ issue was an error. I’ll let readers decide what they make of the rest. 👀