Outcomes spotlight: how Valuing SEND helped Xander

At IMPOWER we have made a commitment to improving 10,000 lives through our work with local authorities. The stories of the people we work with, and those who’s lives are impacted by projects we engage with, are paramount to helping us understand the legacy of what we do. Change in public services is complex; challenges morph and grow organically and the ask is never the same, which is why keeping connected to our people and networks is essential to understanding the transformation journey in full.

We have been working in Derby for a number of years, supporting the incredible team there who work with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Recently, we connected with a family and their nursery in Derby city to see how the Valuing SEND approach (known locally as the Derby Inclusion Tool) had supported them to work together to meet the needs of a little boy called Xander. The way the nursery staff and the family drew strength from each other and utilised their unique knowledge of Xander and his needs was truly inspiring and changed the trajectory of his life for the better at a very young age. We talk about the vitality of early intervention all the time in the SEND world, but rarely hear stories that demonstrate what we mean.

Read more about Xander’s journey