A roundtable with Secretary of State, Bridget Phillipson, on SEND

On 15th April 2026, ten parents of SEND children took part in a hybrid roundtable with Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, at the DfE.

This is a documentation of Changing Realities participants' discussion points, from which the sharing of lived experience invited deeper conversations about the Schools White Paper and SEND reform.

This meeting’s aims were twofold:

1. To facilitate a focused discussion between parents and carers of children with SEND and the Secretary of State about how we get SEND reform right, particularly for the millions of families living on low incomes.
2. To explore how we both recognise and act upon the intersection of SEND and poverty, including how to directly tackle multiple and/or intersecting challenges.

The meeting built upon the wider work undertaken between the government and Changing Realities, and further showcased and explored the importance and value of involving lived experience at the heart of policy making.