Southend-on-Sea City Council, Essex County Council and Thurrock Council welcome young people with SEND, parent carers and employers to a vibrant event dedicated to celebrating partnerships between education, local employers and our SEND community. 

Southend-on-Sea City Council is proud to announce the official opening of three Autism Resource Bases (ARBs) at Blenheim Primary School, Thorpedene Primary School, and Shoeburyness High School. These purpose-built facilities represent a significant investment in the city’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) infrastructure, ensuring more children can access specialist support while remaining within a mainstream school environment.

SEND Independent Forum (SSIF), and the SEND Local Offer Team invite parent carers of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), and professionals to our 2nd SEND Information Day.

Join us for an information packed day! Meet local support services and teams and listen to informative talks.

Southend’s Preparing for Adulthood Team are excited to announce a new series of interactive online webinars designed to build practical knowledge and confidence around Preparing for Adulthood outcomes and transition pathways for young people with SEND.

The first webinar: "Preparing for Adulthood - what it means and why it matters" takes place on Thursday 19 March from 6pm to 7pm.

They want to know what you think about the Down Syndrome Act 2022 draft statutory guidance.

The guidance is about your rights and the support you must and should get.

• your ideas are important
• you can say what works well for you and what more help you need

Consultation closes on 30 March.

Are you or your young person starting to think about the next steps after school? Southend Adult Community College, South Essex Colleges Group and USP College have open events coming up. 

The events are a fantastic way to tour the campuses, learn about courses and discuss support available for students with SEND.

Read more on Livewell Southend where we have included a link to the USP College Careers Fair on 3 March 2026.

You can read more about the conference on our website.

As always, we appreciate your feedback on your lived experiences of SEND in Southend-on-Sea. The positives, the negatives and everything in-between! Please complete our family feedback form.

Are you a parent carer of a child or young person with SEND? Need some advice?

Come along to our next friendly SEND Surgery on 26 February at Prince Avenue Academy and Nursery.

There’s no need to book, just drop-in anytime between 9am and 11am.

The National Deaf Children's Society and Family Fund have partnered to deliver a new UK-wide funding programme for families raising deaf children aged 0 to 11.

The programme helps families access assistive technology, specialist equipment and British Sign Language (BSL) learning, supporting children to communicate, learn, and fully take part in everyday life.

Nurturing Bright Futures is a Southend co-created guide designed to support children and families from pregnancy through to age five. It brings together clear, practical guidance for parents, carers, and professionals, focusing on emotional wellbeing, early development and early support. The guide supports a strengths-based approach, helping needs to be identified early and support to be put in place in a timely, joined-up way.

The guide and further information are available on Livewell Southend. Copies are being shared with settings, schools and other community organisations such as support groups, family centres, health professionals and even dentist surgeries! You can see the online version here. If you would like to know more, please email elainetaylorbrown@southend.gov.uk

We are excited to announce two major developments designed to strengthen early years support for children under five with emerging or identified SEND needs.

These initiatives focus on early intervention and ensuring families can access the right help as soon as they need it.

The S‑Well team has started the new term by delivering a range of whole‑class interventions across primary and secondary schools.

Secondary pupils participated in structured sessions on resilience, exploring strategies to develop resilience and teamwork. In primary settings, interventions focused on understanding and managing overwhelming feelings.

Staff reported high levels of engagement, supported by creative props that enabled pupils to better recognise, express, and make sense of their emotional experiences.

3 documents are available which outline the Speech and Language Therapy (SALT), Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physiotherapy offer in Southend-on-Sea for children and young people.

The documents clearly set out universal, targeted and specialist support across therapies teams, helping everyone understand what's available in Southend and how to access support early.

Our new YouTube channel now hosts over 20 free SEND training videos, with a commitment to upload a new video every week. We also offer a free, easy‑to‑access SEND resources area for families, school staff and practitioners.

Please subscribe to the channel to receive updates and help us continue expanding these accessible support materials.

NHS Mid and South Essex has commissioned three new specialist Right to Choose providers to provide Autism and ADHD assessments for children and young people.

This will offer families more choice in their care provider and help reduce waiting times for assessments and medication.

The NHS Children's Physiotherapy team offer physiotherapy drop-in clinics for children aged 0 to 5.

Pop along if you need advice on how to help your child learn to move, or if you are worried about the way they move or walk.

The Lighthouse team is holding a number of Autism and ADHD support sessions for families in Southend, Essex and surrounding areas.

Your child does not need to have a diagnosis of Autism or ADHD for you to join these sessions, they are open to all families.