reSEND is an independent advisory service for families who have children or young people with special education needs and disabilities. We offer impartial, confidential and accurate information, advice, training and support for parents, carers, young people and children regarding Special Educational Needs or Disabilities. This includes information concerning Education, Health and Social Care services. We support parents, carers, young people and children and empower them to express their views and wishes and help them to understand and exercise their rights in SEND processes such as the Education, Health and Care Plan process. We liaise closely with schools, the local authorities, the voluntary sector and other relevant agencies including education, health and social care. We work closely with a number of charities to offer further support and training to families. We also offer bespoke training covering several topics including, but not limited to, Sensory Processing, Autism and EHCPs.
reSEND was launched in September 2019 by Liz Stanley. Liz is an Independent SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Adviser and she has been working in the SEND arena for over 5 years. Prior to that she was an IT Trainer. Between 2015 and 2018 she had been working as an Independent Support Practitioner in Hertfordshire. The Independent Support service was established to support parents and young people through the SEND reforms that began in 2014. Independent Support Practitioners supported parents through the process of transferring Statements of SEN into the new Education, Health and Care Plans, as well as supporting those applying for the EHCP for the first time. This remit was then expanded to include support during the Annual Review Process of the EHCPs. During this time Liz supported over 300 families on a one to one basis and gave information and support in group environments to over 600 parents and young people. When this service closed in 2018 Liz continued to provide this support and expanded her remit further in a self-employed, independent capacity. It soon became very clear that this service was still in high demand and Liz decided to set up a company so she could increase the number of families that she and her team could support. Thus reSEND was born.
“Wouldn’t trust anyone else to advise me about an EHCP for our daughter.” CA, Parent
Liz Stanley – Director/Independent SEND Adviser
About Liz Personally
Liz has excellent communication skills developed over years of being a trainer and having to explain very complicated processes and ideas to the general public. Her personality shines through in all her interactions as does her patience. She is particularly skilled at explaining the legal processes and advising what information is needed in applications and reports. She also has extensive experience of understanding and explaining some traits of SEND needs so that those who are not neurodiverse can gain an insight into their child’s mind and behaviour. She is supportive, understanding and non-judgemental. She is honest (sometimes to a fault!) and will not shy away from stating how she views things. She is very down to earth and approachable and peppers every day with her humour and positive outlook. She’s been told she speaks sarcasm as her first language and Autism as her second, and, much to her Husband’s and Bank Manager’s frustration, has a major obsession with shoes!
She has personal experience with special needs as she has a son with Severe Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Sensory Processing Disorder, Hypermobility, PICA and Dyspraxia. He is non-verbal and uses Makaton and PECS to communicate so Liz is very familiar with these forms of Communication. She was a Governor at her son’s Specialist School and underwent extensive training with regards to Governing a School. She regularly uses her knowledge of her son and his traits to support other parents in similar situations. She is particularly knowledgeable about Sensory Issues and aspects of Autism as she is Autistic herself.
“A very knowledgeable lady who really knows her stuff and clearly has a passion for it. Lovely hard working mum too.” LB, Parent
About Liz Professionally
During her time as an Independent Supporter, Liz was instrumental in setting up and designing the very popular New EHCP Application Workshops that were held weekly. These workshops took parents through the whole process in detail and went through each question and advised what information was needed in order for the parent to put forward as strong a case as possible for their child. Liz has extensive knowledge and experience of the EHCP application process and has helped numerous parents who were unable to write the application themselves to put together the application and supported them throughout the process.
She has attended numerous Planning Meetings with the Local Authority and confidently informed parents of their and their child’s legal rights to ensure the best Plan possible for the child. She has supported parents through the process of requesting a Specialist Placement and informed them of the legal requirements throughout the process. She has attended Annual Reviews to support both the parent and the school to ensure correct procedure and process were followed, once again ensuring the best possible outcome for the child. She is confident in interpreting reports and reviewing drafts and offering suggestions for improvement.
Liz has extensive knowledge of the legal process and requirements surrounding SEND in schools and the community. She has knowledge of the Children and Families Act 2014, The SEND Code of Practice 2015, The SEND Regulations 2014, The Education Act 1996, The Education Act 2011, The Equality Act 2010 (including disability definition guidance), The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Convention on the Right of the Child, and can apply this knowledge to all aspects of SEND.
“Liz has so much knowledge, experience and compassion that if anyone needs advice or support with EHCP she should be your first call!” JAB, Parent
“Best advice and very knowledgeable lady. I’ll be using the private service without hesitation. I trust Liz to advise me with my son’s rights to education needs and such whole heartedly!” NW, parent
Jo Barrow – SEND Support Assistant
Jo was with reSEND when it launched in September 2019. Liz initially approached Jo a year before the launch to help her ‘organise’ her life. Liz and Jo met when Jo had to complete an EHCP for her daughter when she was diagnosed with Autism and was lucky enough to have help and support from the Kids Hub. Whilst compiling the EHCP Jo and Liz became friends so it seemed natural to put their areas of expertise together and use this to their advantage in setting up the business. Jo has had a variety of job titles over the last few years. Most recently she was a Quality Checker overseeing that all customer complaints were responded to in the correct legal time frame in a professional manner. Before that she worked as a litigator covering all areas from collections, pre hearing, court orders and then evictions.
Liz approached Jo to help her with her new business as she discovered that there simply wasn’t enough hours in the day and had recognised Jo’s organisational skills when meeting to complete the EHCP, as well as being punctual and approachable Jo had every letter/document/copy of doctors appoints/reports etc to hand and always knew what was outstanding and when the next appointments were due. Jo also showed a natural ability to recognise when people needed support and was always keen to help those people get the support they needed. With a full understanding of how difficult raising a SEN child can be and how difficult it can be to know where to go for help, Jo expressed a desire to be able to do more to help those in similar situations. Therefore, it made sense for Liz to utilise her current abilities while helping her expand her knowledge to be able to help more parent carers.
Independent SEND Adviser – To Be Appointed
reSEND are looking for personnel to join the team in order that they can expand their services and offer more support to families that desperately need it. Please see the job description and person specification and use the application form on the reSEND FB page to apply for this/these positions.
