The Multi Schools Council started when one pupil in a special school in Essex reflected on the fact that young people with SEND[1], especially those in special schools, were unseen and unheard by their peers and by the wider education system, but could play a key role in shifting perceptions about young people with SEND and other additional needs. The idea was to promote understanding of young people and their different needs in order to foster a more inclusive approach in schools and, in turn, to contribute to a more inclusive and understanding society. From this original idea grew the original pillar of the Multi Schools Council – regular meetings for young people with SEND to come together to discuss what they see as the most important topics for them, and to translate those discussions into projects that improve the experiences of other children with SEND. Out of these meetings developed the idea of delivering awareness raising and training sessions to young people and school staff. The Multi Schools Council now has a broad offer of assemblies and training sessions for young people and school staff, and has recently started an awards programme where young people evaluate a school’s approach to inclusion. There are almost 500 schools involved with the Multi Schools Council, whose activities reach close to 15,000 young people each year. The Multi Schools Council also runs a successful programme for Ambassadors, who lead on projects, give speeches and inform strategic developments on behalf of young people with SEND – there are currently close to 175 Multi Schools Council Ambassadors.
The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework considers that the “strength of evidence” of this case study is promising – the work has been evaluated and shared internally, but has been sustained for over a decade. The “breadth of impact” of this case study is promising – there is evidence of impact in two of the four areas of impact in terms of lived experiences of young people and feedback from professionals.[2]
[1] For ease of reading, we use the term ‘SEND’ to refer to disabled children and young people and children and young people with special educational needs.
[2] The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework uses two “signal strength” indicators to present the strength of evidence and the breadth of impact of a case study. Each indicator has four bars – emerging, promising, good and robust. The “strength of evidence” indicator is based on how the project has been evaluated and the length of time it has been sustained. The “breadth of impact” indicator is based on whether the case study can demonstrate impact in four broad areas – the more areas of impact, the higher the signal strength indicator.