CDC National Online Event: Inclusion and Beyond - November 26th 2025

26 Nov 2025

When

26 Nov 2025 14:47

On Wednesday 26th November 2025, the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) ran a national online event for SEND Leads, DCO/DMOs and Commissioners from across the country. The aim of the event was to update the sector, share knowledge and best practice and learn from each other. The main plenary session consisted of:

  • Welcome, introductions, and objectives for the day by Amanda Allard, Strategic Director, CDC.
  • A presentation by Claire Burton, Director with Responsibility for SEND, Department for Education (DfE) – On behalf of Minister Gould (Minister for School Standards).
  • A presentation by Lorraine Mulroney, Head of SEND, NHS England – Presenting – Joined by Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) representatives as listening attendees.

Please note: Due to the sensitive nature of the discussions held during the plenary, we have made the decision to not share the recording. Slides from the NHS England session are available and include live links to areas discussed.  

Attendees at the event were also given the opportunity to attend 2x workshops on a variety of topics. Please find the workshop recordings below:

  1. Paediatric Occupational Therapy: A Graded Approach (Eve Cooper, Paediatric Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy Locality Lead, Central Cheshire Integrated Care Partnership (CCICP). 
     
  2. Oxfordshire County Council’s use of WellComm - a speech, language and communication screening and intervention tool (Caroline Kelly, Head of Integrated Commissioning - Start Well, Oxfordshire Health, Education and Social Care (HESC) Joint Commissioning across Oxfordshire County Council and the BOB ICB. In partnership with a SENCO and the lead for Early Years). 
     
  3. The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education: relevance to the English system and reforms (Dr Daniel Stavrou, Assistant Director – Education and Equalities, Council for Disabled Children). 
     
  4. The SEND Solar System: Navigating Change for Inclusive Education (Candy Holder, Assistant Director for Children, Islington Council). 
     
  5. Individual Health Care Plans – Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (Holeigh Oates, Associate Designated Officer for SEND, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB). 
     
  6. Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (Gina Thompson, Family Service Manager for Children’s Speech and Language Therapy, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust). 
     
  7. Effective practice case study: Middlesbrough’s targeted inclusion and outreach support offer (Emma Cowley (Head of Inclusion, Assessment and Review) and Michelle Stelling (Assessment and Quality Assurance Manager), Middlesborough Council). 
     
  8. Strengthening the Regional Strategic Voice of Young Disabled People (Professor Geraldene Codina (lead researcher), Jo Tolley (Chair of the Assembly and disability advocate), and Mark Rayner and Paul Cunningham (DfE)). 
     
  9. A parent carer perspective on exploring intersectionality (Kerrie Rennie, National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF)). 
     
  10. A strategic partnership: Maximising special school expertise for system wide inclusion (Neil Maslen, Director of Education, Speech and Language UK). 
     
  11. The recording is not currently available for Workshop 11: ‘Linking local data on children in Sunderland: Lessons learnt’ presented by Anne Pinney, True Colours Data Champion, The True Colours Trust – with Dr Sarah Martin-Denham (academic lead) and Nathan Scott (research associate). Including Dr Karen Horridge (co-investigator).

Slides from the plenary session and the workshops are attached below.

The slides are not currently available for Workshop 11: Linking local data on children in Sunderland: Lessons learnt.