Family Pathway

22/02/2026

Neurodiversity Celebration Week is coming up (16–22 March).

If your school is looking for something to support tutor time, PSHE or wellbeing sessions during the week, we’ve created a free set of ready-to-use classroom activities exploring:

ADHD

Autism

Hidden differences

Inclusion and belonging

The Belonging Matters Toolkit includes 7 short sessions (15–25 mins), each with:

✔ Slide deck
✔ Short film
✔ Guided activity
✔ Discussion prompts
✔ Optional end-of-week reflection

Schools can choose to deliver one session or run a sequence across the week — no prior training is required to use the materials.

Access the free toolkit here:

👉https://padlet.com/elsa195/belonging-matters-neurodiversity-celebration-week-toolkit-tu-x8xeinr8wsew2trm

Please feel free to share with colleagues who may find this helpful.

22/02/2026

20/02/2026

For many autistic and ADHD learners, behaviour in school is often a response to unmet needs — not the need itself.

When sensory overload, executive functioning difficulties, or processing delays are misunderstood as “non-compliance” or “defiance”, support can shift from adapting the environment to managing the child.

This matters — because once needs are framed as behavioural, learners are more likely to receive pastoral support instead of the adjustments that actually enable access to learning.

Let’s move from managing behaviour to supporting access.

18/02/2026

Getting ready for a first work placement is a big step — and for many of the young people we support through MasteringME, it’s not something that can be rushed.

Before entering a workplace, our learners spend time building the foundations that make placements possible in the first place:
✔ managing anxiety in unfamiliar environments
✔ understanding routines and expectations
✔ developing communication with new adults
✔ coping with change
✔ working alongside others
✔ building confidence in their own abilities

Many of the young people we work with have been out of education, or are navigating individual learning needs that haven’t always been well supported in traditional settings. A supported placement isn’t just about gaining experience — it’s about creating a safe and structured pathway into adult roles.

This video shows a snapshot of our current cohort as they prepare for their very first supported work placement.

Across the UK, young people are now twice as likely as adults to be unemployed — with those managing anxiety, poor mental health or additional learning needs facing even greater barriers to entering the workforce.

Programmes like MasteringME exist to bridge this gap — building resilience, confidence and real-world readiness before a young person ever sets foot in the workplace.

Every step forward matters.

17/02/2026

You don’t need to have the perfect words.
You don’t need to fix everything in the moment.
And you definitely don’t need to have all the answers.

For many of the families we support, daily life can feel like a constant cycle of crisis management — navigating emotional outbursts, anxiety, school-based distress and systems that don’t always respond in time.

In the middle of all of that, it’s easy for connection to get lost.

But giving your child your full, undivided attention — even for a few minutes — sends a powerful message:

“I see you.”
“You matter.”
“I’m here.”

Sometimes, that matters more than anything we could say.

16/02/2026

Families often come to us when things feel stuck.

When school has become overwhelming, routines at home are difficult to maintain, and it’s hard to know what support will actually make a difference.

One parent recently shared:

💬 “The support provided has delivered much-needed change for our child. Many of the strategies introduced are now part of our daily routines at home.”

Over time, we work alongside young people and their families to develop practical tools that support emotional regulation, learning and participation — both at school and at home.

For many families, this means small, meaningful changes that begin to build confidence, consistency and a greater sense of calm.

If you’d like to explore whether specialist input could support your child, we’re always happy to talk.

📧 hello@familypathway.co.uk

🌐 www.familypathway.co.uk

16/02/2026

Sometimes families come to us when things feel stuck.

When school has become exhausting.
When confidence is slipping.
When your teenager is masking all day — or withdrawing completely.

When it feels like you’re on an endless treadmill, trying everything, but getting nowhere.

One parent recently told us:

💬 “I wouldn’t have gotten here without you. You provided clarity and hope when it felt we were on an endless treadmill going nowhere.”

Over time, we work with young people to:

understand how their brain works

develop tools to manage overwhelm

build a more positive sense of identity

feel safer accessing school and learning environments

And where needed, we align support between the young person, their family and school.

Many young people begin in survival mode.

With the right support, they can begin to access their environments in ways that feel safer, more manageable — and more reflective of who they are.

If you’re wondering whether specialist coaching could help your teenager, we’re always happy to talk.

📧 hello@familypathway.co.uk

🌐 www.familypathway.co.uk

Family Pathway is a special educational needs charity offering services to schools, adults and young people.

13/02/2026

We wanted to share a small but important update with our community.

Following our recent contribution to the Senedd’s long inquiry into the implementation of:

📘 The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018
📘 The Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021

we’ve now received confirmation that the Children, Young People and Education Committee has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Education with its final views on how effectively these key pieces of legislation are being implemented across Wales.

Our submission was informed directly by the lived experiences of the families and young people we support — including the realities of accessing provision, navigating transitions, and securing outcomes that genuinely prepare learners for adulthood.

We are pleased to know that these insights have contributed to the Committee’s scrutiny of how the system is currently working in practice.

We will share the Cabinet Secretary’s response with you as soon as it is received.

Thank you to every parent, carer and young person who continues to speak up and share their experiences. Your voices are part of shaping what happens next.

13/02/2026

A powerful picture - what can you see?

💡 A mother who looks exhausted, that familiar weight of holding everything together.

💡 On the phone, trying to navigate yet another conversation, whilst reaching for a very much needed coffee.

💡 A child in ear defenders, overwhelmed.

💡 A pile of paperwork… and a booklet labelled IDP.

For many families, ALN isn’t just parenting…it’s daily crisis management within systems that are often fragmented, under pressure, and difficult to navigate.

Behind every acronym is a family trying to make sense of processes, secure support, and create the conditions for their child to feel safe, understood, and able to learn.

Whether it’s an EHCP in England or an IDP here in Wales, these plans are meant to enable access — but too often the journey to getting them becomes a barrier in itself.

REAL inclusion isn’t just about provision on paper.

It’s about whether families feel supported, heard, and able to participate in their child’s learning journey without carrying the system on their back.