What’s happening in Catterick

For those SEND families who are still replaying yesterday’s news, we feel you.

We feel the anger.
We feel the grief.
We feel the exhaustion.
We feel the validation that comes when something you have lived, evidenced, challenged and been dismissed for is finally said out loud.

For years, SEND families have been told they are “too much”, “too anxious”, “too demanding”, “hard to work with” or “unreasonable” for asking for the support their children are legally entitled to.

But parents were never the problem.

The problem has always been a system where too many families are forced to fight, appeal, chase, evidence, complain and break themselves just to get their child seen, heard, assessed, supported and educated.

The ITV report and the Special Needs Jungle article have confirmed what many SEND families and advocates have known for far too long: delays, poor communication, missing paper trails, gatekeeping, refusal culture and obstruction are not just “admin issues”. They cause real harm.

Behind every delayed EHCP, every unanswered email, every refused assessment, every vague response and every child left without suitable provision, there is a family trying to hold everything together.

There are children missing education.
Children becoming traumatised by systems meant to protect them.
Parents losing sleep, income, confidence and health.
Siblings living through the fallout.
Families being pushed to crisis before anyone listens.

This is why SEND accountability matters.

This is why written evidence matters.
This is why transparency matters.
This is why families must not be pressured into undocumented conversations.
This is why professionals must follow the law, not internal cultures of denial.
This is why children’s needs must come before budgets, targets or reputation management.

To every SEND parent who watched that news and thought, “That is exactly what happened to us” — we believe you.

You were not imagining it.
You were not overreacting.
You were not being difficult.
You were trying to protect your child.

And to SEND caseworkers, officers, managers and professionals across the UK: if you are witnessing unjust behaviour, unlawful practice, deliberate delay, evidence being hidden, families being misled, or children being denied support they are entitled to — please speak up.

Document it. Challenge it. Escalate it. Whistleblow if you need to.

Children and families cannot keep carrying the cost of silence.

Finally, we want to thank the whistleblower. What you did was brave, but more than that, it was needed. Speaking out from inside the system takes courage, especially when power, culture and fear can make silence feel safer. Your actions have validated thousands of families who have been saying this for years, and we hope your bravery gives others the strength to call out injustice wherever they see it.

See the links below for the articles:
https://www.itv.com/…/whistleblower-details…/rjknb1s

https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/toxic-culture…/