Hanna Garrett, Senior PR and Marketing Manager:

• Why SEND communication is different 
• Building trust starts before the doors open
• How a special school can shape its reputation

With more than 1.7 million pupils with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) in England, SEND provision has never been more complex…or more scrutinised. The government’s recent white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, represents the most significant reform to SEND education since 2014, yet while families are being told that inclusion is the priority, the waiting lists for specialist places tell a different story.

Why is communication different for special schools? 

Nearly 35 per cent of parents of a child with SEND don’t feel that their child’s needs are being met at mainstream school. By the time they arrive at the school gates, many will have spent months, sometimes years, navigating assessments, education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and tribunals. They often feel let down by the system. For a new special school, this is the starting point of its parent relationships so building trust and credibility quickly is crucial. 

This extends beyond prospective parents, though. A new school will have multiple stakeholders including staff, other educators and the local authority, all with different priorities that require different messaging and approaches to reach them. With the government looking to increase mainstream inclusion, any new special school will need to be able to clearly articulate its value proposition and how it complements, rather than contradicts, the government’s plans. This is where a comprehensive communications strategy is crucial: to identify important stakeholders, how to reach them and what to say to them. 

When should a new school start communicating with its audiences?  
It’s not just about knowing who to speak to or how, though. Knowing when to start communicating with target audiences is essential. Once the decision to open a special school becomes public knowledge, there will be speculation within the community. What will it offer? Who will be eligible to attend? How will it be different to other schools? Addressing common questions once the news is public helps a school to shape its own narrative and how it is perceived before its doors are even open. 

This is even more important for schools that plan to offer new or less familiar curricula. Many parents will draw on their own educational experiences as a frame of reference for their child’s learning so building understanding is the first step to building trust in a new offering – particularly amongst parents who may already be sceptical. 

Case study: how we helped one school shape its reputation 

When The Cavendish School, Cambridgeshire’s first state-maintained special autism school, opened in 2021, we had already worked closely with its team for months. During this time, we launched a website to provide accurate and current information and a proactive media relations and social media programme to showcase the educational expertise of the team. Securing coverage with Autism Parenting, Autism Eye and ITV ensured that local and professional audiences were aware of the new school and introduced them to its new curriculum framework, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP). 

Despite opening in the middle of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we also supported the school with hosting a virtual launch event, which allowed parents and the wider community to meet the team and ask questions directly. Doing so was an important step in building the long-standing relationships that are core to a school’s reputation…even more so for a special school that is rebuilding trust in a system that parents often feel has failed their child.  Within 18 months of being open, the school was at capacity and operating a waiting list for prospective families. While it is never easy to open a special school, whether this is in a global pandemic or during significant systemic reform, a new school that communicates clearly, builds trust early and engages with its community will be well placed to navigate the scrutiny that SEND provision is facing.