Behaviour Advice

14/08/2026

⚠️ Is your child's school refusing to make reasonable adjustments?

We hear from so many parents who have been told "we don't have to do that" or "that's not our policy" and it can feel like you're hitting a brick wall at every turn.

But here's the truth. Under the Equality Act 2010, schools have a LEGAL duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils. That includes children with autism, ADHD, anxiety, and other neurodevelopmental or mental health conditions, with or without a diagnosis, with or without an EHCP.

And crucially, the Equality Act overrides school policy. A school cannot hide behind its attendance policy or its "usual approach" if doing so puts your disabled child at a disadvantage. 💛

The next time you're in a meeting, try asking this one question:

👉 "What reasonable adjustments have been considered or made under the Equality Act 2010?"

Write it down. Put it in an email afterwards.

27/07/2026

School suspensions and exclusions can often be a symptom of unmet or unidentified need for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Following new guidance from the Department of Education, our website has been updated regarding the suspension and permanent exclusion of pupils from local authority maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/pages/category/exclusion-from-school

Last year, we saw a 14% increase in the number of families who contacted IPSEA because their child or young person had been excluded or suspended from school.

If you need advice about your child's legal rights, please contact our advice services: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/Pages/Category/service-overview

15/07/2026

Schools have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate pupils with disabilities, which includes end of school year trips and events.

If a pupil is treated unfairly because of their disability, such as being excluded from an end of year trip or event, this may be disability discrimination.

A member of our Legal Team, Mitra Babic, talks more about this in her latest blog 'Days out and discos: when disabled children miss out': https://www.ipsea.org.uk/blog/days-out-and-discos-when-disabled-children-miss-out

27/05/2026

Yesterday, the Department for Education updated the home to school transport guidance for compulsory school age children and the school suspension and permanent exclusion guidance.

Our legal team is currently reviewing these and we will be updating our website and resources soon.

In the meantime, you can find the new guidance online:

🔷 Transport: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel
🔶 Exclusions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions

21/05/2026

“ADHD becomes much less painful the moment you stop viewing yourself as broken and start understanding how your brain actually works.”

The Strengths Of ADHD Most People Never Talk About

As a therapist, one of the saddest things I see is how many ADHD adults grow up hearing only about their struggles. They hear words like distracted, lazy, careless, emotional, or difficult so often that they begin believing their brain has nothing valuable to offer.

But ADHD is not simply a list of weaknesses.

Many of the same traits that create challenges can also create incredible strengths when the environment supports the person properly.

Why ADHD Brains Think Differently

ADHD brains are often highly creative because they naturally make unusual connections between ideas. Many people notice patterns others miss, think outside traditional structures, and come up with solutions that feel original and innovative. Their minds are constantly exploring possibilities, which can lead to strong imagination and problem-solving abilities.

The Power Of Hyperfocus

While ADHD is associated with attention difficulties, many people also experience intense hyperfocus on subjects they genuinely care about. During these moments, they can become deeply immersed, productive, and passionate in ways that surprise even themselves.

This is why many ADHD individuals thrive in creative careers, entrepreneurship, art, technology, psychology, music, and fast-paced environments.

Emotional Depth And Sensitivity

ADHD also creates deep emotional awareness in many people. They often feel emotions intensely, care deeply about others, and notice emotional shifts quickly. While emotional sensitivity can feel overwhelming at times, it can also create empathy, compassion, intuition, and meaningful human connection.

Understanding Instead Of Fighting Yourself

The goal with ADHD is not becoming someone else. It is learning how your brain functions so you can build systems, environments, and routines that work with you instead of constantly against you.

Modern ADHD research increasingly supports strengths-based approaches, showing that creativity, curiosity, resilience, spontaneity, and emotional depth are common positive traits within neurodivergent individuals.

20/05/2026

The fuss made about attendance generally when some children are illegally excluded from full time education on a regular basis makes no sense!

A part-time timetable sounds supportive on paper.

Reduced pressure. Shorter days. “A chance to regulate.”
Schools often present it as a kindness. A temporary adjustment. A safety net.

But what people rarely talk about is the blast radius.

Because the child doesn’t simply disappear when they leave school at 11am.

Someone has to collect them.
Someone has to supervise them.
Someone has to give up work, rearrange shifts, cancel appointments, rely on grandparents, ask favours from friends, juggle siblings, lose income, lose stability, lose breathing space.

And often, that “temporary” arrangement quietly stretches into weeks. Months. Sometimes years.

Meanwhile, the child is missing education.

Not just maths or English.
They miss science experiments, form time conversations, group work, friendships, assemblies, sports, the random moments where belonging is built.

Schools sometimes speak about part-time timetables as though removing the child from the environment solves the problem.

But what if the environment is the problem?

What if the child is struggling because support isn’t in place, needs aren’t understood, sensory overwhelm isn’t managed, anxiety is escalating, or the curriculum itself has become inaccessible?

A part-time timetable can become less of a bridge back into education… and more of a slow drift out of it.

And once a child becomes used to being absent, reintegration becomes even harder.

Families know this.

Parents lie awake at night trying to work out whether they are helping their child recover or accidentally watching them disappear from education entirely.

And the truth is, many part-time timetables are introduced without enough thought about the long-term impact.

Not just educationally. Socially. Financially. Emotionally.

Because when a child cannot access school full-time, the burden doesn’t vanish.

It transfers.

Usually onto families already carrying far more than most people realise.

A part-time timetable should never become the easy answer to a school struggling to meet need.

It should trigger deeper questions:

Why is this child struggling to access education?
What support is missing?
What adjustments have actually been tried?
What is the long-term plan?
How will lost education be addressed?
And who is supporting the family carrying the hidden cost of all this?

Because reducing a child’s access to education is not a small thing.

And we need to stop pretending it is.

14/05/2026

Really like what was said about vocational education. Some obvious concerns about plans for SEND, but if more was in place for all children at School SEND support stage there would be no need for so many EHCPs or to resort to expensive private provision.

‘Education for all’ – but what will it really mean for families?

Major SEND reforms have officially been confirmed today in the King’s Speech, with the government announcing a new Education for All Bill aimed at overhauling support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

King Charles told Parliament that 'every child deserves the chance to succeed' and said ministers would introduce 'generational reforms' to the SEND system – including plans to improve early support, boost inclusion in schools and make help more accessible closer to home.

The Bill confirms that the government will legislate to deliver 'lasting change' for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities – but not before it has heard from the families the reforms are designed to serve.

Parents have just five days left to have their say on the government's SEND white paper consultation, which closes on Monday, 18 May.

Have you had your say?

13/05/2026

09/05/2026