Thank you to everyone who provided feedback about the SEND Conference on 30th June 2026. We were delighted that you rated us an average of 4.6 stars out of 5 for your overall experience of the conference.

For transparency, here is a summary of the main points that you raised in your feedback. If you feel that we have missed or mis-represented anything, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Variety of stalls and services

Both parent carers and professionals highly valued the wide range of organisations at the conference. Attendees liked:

• Having many services and organisations under one roof.
• Discovering services they did not previously know about.
• The breadth of information and support available.
• The range of professionals and expertise represented.
• Strong provision around post-16 support was specifically highlighted.

A friendly, welcoming atmosphere

Feedback showed that a strong positive about the event was the overall atmosphere:

• Friendly and welcoming stallholders and staff.
• A lively, positive energy.
• People felt comfortable approaching organisations.
• Several attendees described the event as uplifting and hopeful.
• One parent specifically said they felt that this event had placed parents “on par with professionals.”

Making connections

Connecting was frequently mentioned as a positive. People valued:

• Meeting professionals, services and organisations face to face.
• Meeting parents/carers and service users face-to-face.
• Building new connections and opportunities for collaboration.
• Finding out who provides what locally to help them signpost.

Informative and useful talks

The presentations were generally very well received. Attendees described them as:

• Informative, comprehensive and useful.
• Offering practical information and insight.
• Providing a good range of topics and speakers.
• Particularly useful because some talks were repeated, allowing people to attend sessions if timings clashed, or recommend them to others.

One parent carer stated: “It would be good to have a year-on-year measure to see/record progress [against] pledges that were made.”

You told us that you would like talks to be recorded in future, so people can watch them afterwards or can access them if they cannot attend in person. (Note: We thought this was a great idea, as it has been suggested before. This year, presenters were asked by PPCV to submit their presentation prior to the conference so we could make them available the following day for those who could not attend. We have posted what we have received in the Members’ Portal. Just log in, and you will see them under “SEND Conference 2026”) 

Lived experience and parent voice

Many professionals and service providers mentioned that the conference was seen as an opportunity to understand the experiences and perspectives of families better. 

Accessibility and venue

The venue was generally praised for:

• Accessibility.
• Bright, open spaces.
• Plenty of room around the stalls.
• Opportunities for a quiet/time-out space.
• Good overall layout.
• Being easy to navigate for many attendees.

However, parking for the event was reported as a drawback for many parent carers, in respect of cost and distance from the venue.

Other suggestions to improve accessibility included:

• A clear map of the venue.
• Larger signs.
• Better directions.
• Clearer information about where each organisation is located.
• A directory listing services and their stall/table number.
• Better information about parking and road closures before the event.
• More consideration of different communication and participation needs (for example, for deaf/hard of hearing) including better acoustics.

Organisation

The event was repeatedly described as:

• Very well organised.
• Professionally delivered.
• A fantastic/great event.

There was particularly strong praise for the organising team and the work that had gone into the event. (Note: Thank you for your appreciation from the whole PPCV team.)

Timings

Attendees reported that they struggled to fit everything in because:

• Some talks overlapped.
• Popular topics were scheduled at the same time.
• People missed opportunities to visit stalls because they were attending presentations.
• Some felt the day needed to be longer or potentially run over two days, whereas others mentioned that a slightly earlier finish would be better.
• Talks started without sufficiently clear announcements.

Refreshments

Suggestions for next time included:

• Providing cold water as well as hot drinks.
• Offering a better hot/cold drink selection.
• Improving the sandwiches.

Better thematic organisation of stalls

One suggestion was to group stalls into clear themes, for example:

• Education
• Health
• Sport
• Apprenticeships/careers
• Transition to adulthood

This could make it easier for families to identify the support most relevant to them.

(Note: Avoiding this was a deliberate ploy by PPCV to ensure that all the stalls were visited – you don’t know that a service is useful until you know that service exists, and sometimes you may find something that you are not intentionally looking for.)

More practical content

Some attendees wanted the conference to go beyond information-sharing and focus more on what good SEND provision looks like in practice.

Suggestions included:

• Examples of good practice locally.
• “Quick fixes” that schools/services could implement.
• Real stories from young people and families.
• Videos following young people through their SEND journey.
• More practical advice around dyslexia, sensory adaptations, mental health, youth work and peer mentoring.
• More focus on gaps in provision and how they can be addressed.

More information about individual organisations

One particularly useful suggestion was for each organisation to have a very short introduction explaining:

• Who they are.
• What they provide.
• Who they support.
• How families can access them.

(Note: We are currently working on this for you. PPCV is contacting all stallholders and asking them to join our Wednesday midday meet-up sessions to do this. Watch this space for updates. Many of the services that did presentations can already be found in the Members’ Portal on the PPCV website under “Local Area Partnership”. Let us know if that helps.)

Would a presentation for young people with SEND be of interest?

Overall, yes — there is clear interest, but the format would need to be genuinely youth-focused.

The topics suggested included:

• Life skills: budgeting, managing money and everyday life.
• Accessing services: understanding what support is available and how to access it.
• Activities and social opportunities: clubs, groups, evening/weekend activities.
• Transition to adulthood: options after school and moving into adult services.
• Post-16 options: education, employment, apprenticeships and responsibilities around EHCP/SEND support.
• Online safety.
• Understanding SEND: what it means for young people and how understanding their needs can help.
• Strategies for managing school and overcoming challenges.
• Future opportunities: helping young people understand what they can do and where they can go.

There was also a strong suggestion that young people should have a voice in shaping or delivering the session, rather than simply receiving information from adults.

One important point was that the current conference format may not be suitable for young people, so a dedicated session should be interactive, accessible, relatable and designed with young people rather than simply for them.

 (Note: PPCV were delighted to be joined by young people from Woodlands School in addition to young people visiting with family members and PAs. We would love more secondary and special schools to take us up on the offer of attending with pupils, or young people attending with family members, either in this format or a different one.)

Photo by Ann H on Pexels

Blog added 2/9/26