National Day of Action: Saturday 9th May led by the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign
Families, carers and campaigners will take to the streets on Saturday, 9th May as part of coordinated national protests to defend the legal rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Led by the Save Our Children’s Rights (SOCR) campaign, a coalition of organisations is standing alongside families to raise urgent concerns about proposed Government reforms which they believe risk weakening long-established legal protections.
Protests will take place in towns and cities across the country, with a flagship rally in Parliament Square, London, from 11:30am to 1:30pm. The London event will feature high-profile speakers, SEND parent advocates and sector leaders, and will be livestreamed to ensure families unable to attend in person can still take part.
Why are we protesting?
The Government set out proposals to reform the SEND system in its Schools White Paper, published on 23 February, with a public consultation running until 18 May. While there is broad support for improving inclusion, significant concerns have been raised about the potential impact of the proposed changes.
Key concerns include:
- A shift away from individualised support: Proposals to introduce seven “specialist provision packages” risk replacing individualised support with a resource-led system, potentially leaving children whose needs do not fit predefined categories without appropriate provision.
- Limiting SEND Tribunal appeal rights: Proposed changes to the SEND Tribunal would restrict existing opportunities to appeal, and prevent it from naming a specific school or provision in an EHC plan. Instead, local authorities would be asked to remake decisions raising concerns about repeated appeals and prolonged delays.
- Introducing Individual Support Plans (ISPs) without enforceable rights: ISPs appear to offer no guaranteed provision and no clear legal route to challenge decisions, leaving families reliant on school complaints processes rather than enforceable protections.
- Expansion of in-school “inclusion bases” without staff support: Proposals suggest children could be placed in internal provision without a statutory assessment or legally protected EHC plan, raising concerns about oversight, suitability, and staffing capacity.
A call to protect rights
The Save Our Children’s Rights campaign believes that these legal protections are not optional – they are essential to ensuring children receive the support they need to learn, develop and thrive.
On 9th May, families and supporters will come together across the country to deliver a clear and unified message to Government: Do not take away the legal rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
While the campaign supports meaningful reform and greater inclusion, it is clear that this must not come at the expense of enforceable legal rights. This movement is not about resisting change, it is about ensuring that any reforms strengthen, rather than weaken, the legal protections that families rely on every day.
Save Our Children’s Rights is calling on the Government to:
- Retain the legal right to an education which meets the individual needs of children and young people.
- Retain the legal right to enforceable SEND provision.
- Retain all SEND Tribunal appeal rights.
A spokesperson for the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign said:
“These proposals risk leaving fewer children with the support they need, more children out of school or excluded, and more families forced to turn to legal action to secure basic provision. We are protesting to say: Do not take away legal rights. These legal protections exist for a reason and must remain in place to ensure that no government can erode the rights of children and young people with SEND and their families. We are ready to work constructively with the government to strengthen the current system – improve accountability, inclusion, and support – to ensure the system is fit for the long term.”
NEU spokesperson said:
“NEU members are standing shoulder to shoulder with parents, with SEND young people, and with campaigners, to demand that this government defends children’s rights and funds education properly.
Our teachers, leaders and support staff want to see an end to the SEND crisis – first and foremost for the children being failed every day, but also because no educator should be asked to keep going in a system that is broken by design. It is exhausting. It is demoralising. And it is a political choice.
Every child in this country deserves an education that lets them flourish. SEND children cannot be treated as an afterthought. Together, parents and educators have the strength to force a change of course: a properly funded, genuinely inclusive education system in which every child’s needs are met and every educator has what they need to meet them.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Locations for 9th May:
- London – Parliament Square 11:30am – 1:30pm
- Birmingham – Centenary Square 11:30am–1:30pm
- Bristol – College Green 2pm
- Derby – Derby City Council House 11:30am–1:30pm
- Isle of Wight – St Thomas Square 11:30am
- Leeds – Leeds Art Gallery 11:30am–1:30pm
- Liverpool – Williamson Square 11:30am – 1:30pm
- Manchester – The Dandelion Centre 2pm–4pm
- Nottingham – Old Market Square 11:30am – 1:30pm
- Shropshire – Rectory Field, Church Stretton 11:30am – 1:30pm
- Stafford – Staffordshire Place 11:30am – 1:30pm
- Doncaster – Mansion House 11:30am – 1:30pm
What is the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign?
- The Save Our Children’s Rights campaign is led by a coalition of organisations and individuals united in defending the legal rights of children and young people with SEND. The steering group is:
- Special Needs Jungle Ltd, parent-led SEND website
- IPSEA, SEND legal advice charity
- SOS!SEN, SEND legal support
- SEND Rights Alliance, parent campaigner, Rachel Filmer
- John Harris, journalist and SEND parent
- Learning Disability Today, disability magazine
- SEND National Crisis, parent group
- Black SEN Mamas, large global majority parent group
- SOCR is also made up of a number of supporting national organisations, including Disability Rights UK, Child Autism UK, National Star College, as well as multiple smaller grassroots organisations, parent groups and SEND campaigners.
- SOCR works in partnership with the National Education Union.
- KEY MESSAGES
- About the SEND PROTEST
- About Save Our Children’s Rights
- Campaign contact: campaign@socr.org.uk
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