SEND Defender is a specialist SEN advocacy service supporting parents and carers of SEN and disabled children and young people across England. Delivered entirely remotely, so families can access support regardless of location.
Founder Kate Jennings is Level 3 SEN law qualified and works directly with families on EHC needs assessments, plan reviews, school avoidance and SEND Tribunal proceedings, grounding all advice in legal knowledge.
Kate is also a SEN mum to three children, two of whom are autistic and experienced school avoidance before finding the right alternative provision, bringing both professional expertise and lived experience to every case. S
Services include the SEN Deep Dive and Action Plan, an in-depth session producing a tailored plan to supporting parents in their next steps; EHC Needs Assessment support, covering both review and editing of a parent’s own draft and full from-scratch drafting support; and SEND Support Explained, a self-paced course breaking the EHC needs assessment and tribunal process down into clear, manageable steps.
For families further into the process, SEND Defender also offers reviewing of draft EHCP’s, annual review support and a Tribunal Support package, guiding parents through appeal proceeding, alongside bespoke one-to-one support for families needing ongoing advocacy through a specific case.
All services are designed to be accessible to neurodivergent parents themselves, with clear, step-by-step guidance and no assumption of prior knowledge of the SEND system.