20/08/2026
🎓 A certificate that means far more to me than just another qualification…
I’m really proud to have completed my Level 3 SENCO qualification, but if I’m truthful, there’s also a lot of sadness and guilt behind this one.
Over the years, I’ve trusted that the education system and the professionals within it would know what support children needed and would put that support in place.
Then I became the parent of a child who needed that support.
Watching my boy struggle, and later learning about things such as the SEND Code of Practice, reasonable adjustments, the graduated approach and the responsibilities schools have towards children with SEND, made me realise just how much I didn’t know at the time.
There were times I knew something wasn’t right. I knew my child was struggling. I questioned things and I fought for him — but I didn’t have the knowledge I have now to know what should have been happening or how much further I could push when it wasn’t.
That’s something I still carry a lot of guilt about.
But I can’t change what I didn’t know then. What I can do is make sure I keep learning now.
So this certificate isn’t the end of my learning — it’s actually just the beginning. ❤️
I’ve now signed up for further training and I intend to keep building my knowledge around SEND, neurodiversity, communication and supporting children’s individual needs.
Because whether it’s one of my own children or one of the little people entrusted to my care, I never want lack of knowledge to be the reason I don’t speak up, ask questions, challenge something or advocate for a child who needs someone in their corner.
The more I learn, the louder that voice becomes.
And every child deserves someone willing to use it. ❤️
This one’s for Alfie — because so much of what I’ve learned started with fighting for you. 💙
