Juggling Poverty and SEND Parenting: Meeting with the Secretary of State

I have just returned home to Cornwall from London. Not on a trip to see the Queen as the rhyme goes but to see the Secretary of State. I was part of a crew of people who presented their lived experience of juggling poverty and being a parent of a child or children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) in response to the recent White Paper on SEND reforms.

I grew up in poverty and sadly as an adult, despite my best efforts to do better, I have had long periods of poverty as a result of being a single parent. Much of my life has been dominated by poverty in one way or another. In my work I have designed systems to remove stigma where possible for others in poverty and then later I undertook further study analysing how poverty impacted access in my sector of Outdoor Education. It has become something of a special interest as well as a lived reality.

I was delighted to be invited by the Changing Realities research project to share my experience of the intersection between poverty and SEND. It is an area that I have experienced from many angles in my family and work life, the difficulty was narrowing all of this down into one concise point. The pressure was quite a lot. I felt a huge responsibility to find the right thing to say. I realise now that it was actually a huge, collective effort. On the day, the power of the combined shared experiences of the people in the room was overwhelming. I was taken by the confidence and authority of those mothers sharing their experiences with the Secretary of State. 

I offered observations of my work in schools-as a huge part of the reforms proposed-is that more SEND children will be catered for in mainstream settings. One of my concerns was that currently the support given to SEND children heavily relies on teaching assistants. Some SEND children and young people will spend most of their school week with Teaching Assistants. Teaching Assistants are always hardworking and committed but they are not given the same opportunities for training, they are less well supported and are definitely the lowest paid. Many live in poverty and have multiple jobs to make ends meet. I am worried that getting more SEND pupils into mainstream will magnify the current problem of our most vulnerable children being supported by our most vulnerable adults. Teaching Assistants are on the frontline of support work with SEND children, I think it is vital that any Education SEND reforms focus more on supporting them to support our SEND children and young people.

I am usually a pretty confident public speaker but, in this case, I admit to being thrown by a massive fear of authority. If I am honest, this has probably been cultivated by a lifetime of poverty stigma and shame. An unexpected benefit of this experience was to see others, in the same situation as me, communicate their challenges and observations unapologetically and with such strength. For the first time I saw a way to be truly me, bringing all my life experiences, and not feel bad about it. I did share my experience with the Secretary of State and apparently, she did make lots of notes on what I said. I am so pleased to have been given the opportunity to do this, but my mind was also blown by the idea that you can experience poverty and still have worth.

As what first appeared to be an aside, the whole trip itself was a reminder of how not all communities have access to the same resources and opportunities. Some presenting at the meeting lived as far away as me in miles but their journeys to London were a fraction of the time due to better transport links. As I desperately crammed and consumed visits to museums and galleries, satiating a different kind of hunger, I realised just how disconnected Cornwall is.

This was actually not the ‘aside’ I thought. It turns out it's actually a very central point. Cornwall is highlighted in the Schools White Paper in the ‘Mission Coastal” plans as it presents specific deprivations, lack of opportunity and an educational attainment gap in desperate need of bridging. It is well known in the Cornwall parent SEND community that there are specific Cornwall challenges. Cornwall has been highlighted as being one of the worst counties for timely delivery on Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Cornwall has higher than the national average number of EHCPs and this is only set to continue to rise in future years. Cornwall is also one of the lowest funded Counties for SEND and children are reported to be excluded or suspended at twice the national average. These figures are staggering. The percentage of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) is higher than both the regional South West average and the National average. Cornwall also has higher than average poverty. In the area where I live and work 42% of children live in poverty. Again, this is a staggering figure to come to terms with.

I know this stuff and I live this stuff. Yet it became even more stark on leaving Cornwall to visit London. I felt very much like a Country Mouse. Cornwall is beautiful and it is well loved for its coast and natural environments but labelled as having hidden or “Pretty Poverty”, a harsh deprivation hidden and upstaged by its landscapes and tourism industry. A well-known Cornish song goes “and this is my Cornwall and this is my home” demonstrating a strong regional pride. Cornwall is a beautiful place to live but an especially hard place to live if you have fewer resources.

I will then always be grateful to Changing Realities, that for one reason or another I was able to be at the table with the Secretary of State talking about the intersection of Poverty and SEND and representing other Country Mice from Cornwall. I am so grateful that the team were willing to support my being able to access this opportunity despite living almost literally at the lands end. For those who are hidden, representation matters and is very much appreciated. Thank you Changing Realities.