Our Mission, Vision and Values
Our Mission
Is to support and develop the SEND workforce. We will achieve this by:
- Ensuring that the SEND workforce is fully equipped to meet the needs of learners with SEND
- Acting as a conduit between sector influencers and the SEND workforce
Our Vision
Is for the educational experience for learners with SEND to consistently be as good as it is for learners without SEND (equity of educational experience for all learners). We will fulfil this by:
- Providing information, training and resources to develop the SEND workforce
- Delivering programmes/initiatives/services that support the SEND workforce
- Acting as a champion, friend and protector for the SEND workforce
Our Values
We pull together
We are collaborators, with our partners, external stakeholders and colleagues. As teams and individuals, we are accountable for our work, we understand how each team’s work knits together and we know when to lean in.
We do the right thing
Despite pressures of time and money, we will always, individually and collectively, strive to do the right thing, guided by our moral purpose, informed by our stakeholders and driven by our values.
We are inclusive
Inclusion is our purpose as well as a guiding value. We practise what we preach; we overtly and transparently discuss processes and behaviours which could be exclusionary and we adapt them to become more inclusive.
We have a learning mindset
We anchor knowledge and know-how in order to advocate, influence and make change happen. We don’t just listen, we try to really hear what our stakeholders are telling us. Our staff expect to be continually learning and are motivated to do so. We place value on staff development at all levels of the organisation. We are keen to understand what’s happened when things go wrong, and ask who needs what so things go right in future.
We are passionate and proactive
We are passionate and proactive about our purpose – for us it’s personal. Because our work is important, we take the initiative when we are clear about the need.
We are trusted
We honour our stakeholders’ knowledge and experience by constantly seeking to listen and understand, and in doing so earn their trust. We rely on the expertise of our partners to create a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. Internally, trust manifests itself between colleagues through distributed leadership and empowerment.
We are people-centred
People are at the centre of our work, our thinking, our decisions and our actions. When push comes to shove, and time is against us, we will still put ourselves into the shoes of those we serve and make people our priority.
How we use your feedback
We are committed to representing as many voices from the SEND community as possible. We value and respect each and every one of our members, and their lived experiences.
We readily invite feedback with the aim of strengthening our products and services so we can improve outcomes for the children and young people we serve, and all of our resources are continuously reviewed.
As standard, we consult extensively with our steering groups, which are made up of professionals from the sector, as well as children, young people, parents and carers with lived experience of SEND and learning differences. We also welcome feedback from the wider membership.
It is important that we acknowledge that, since every person’s experience is the different from the next, opinions on the best approach can differ across the membership. Sometimes, these differences can be significant. However, when concerns are raised, we take time to listen, and where necessary, detailed discussions take place, and the reasons for our decisions can be presented in context.