News

KCSIE 2026 was published on 7th July and comes into force in September 2026. In this article, Kate Shields from NASS Partner HCR Law explores the key changes, what they mean for special schools, and the steps leaders should take to ensure safeguarding policies, staff training and practice remain compliant and effective.

Jasper Williams, NASS’s Policy & Research Intern reflects on the Government’s Experts at Hand proposals — the opportunities they could create for collaboration between mainstream and special schools and the unanswered questions around funding, workforce and local planning.

Mari Davis, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer at NASS, considers what the Milburn Review means for SEND reform and why special schools must be recognised as part of the solution to improving outcomes for children and young people.

Some of the most important progress learners with SEND make can be difficult to capture through traditional measures. In this guest blog, the team at PAGS reflect on the framework they have developed to address this complex challenge and the impact it is having in special schools.

Hero Slinn and Ethan Sumner join NASS Council.

Amy Carr, Head of Curriculum Design and Personal Development at William Henry Smith School & Sixth Form, reflects on her research amplifying young people with ADHD who feel pressured by rigid school systems. She writes about the critical value of relationships and ensuring the voice of the child is heard.

Read NASS's response to the SEND Reform consultation, along with three thought pieces that support further discussion and solution-finding. Thank you to the hundreds of schools that took time to contribute to our consultation events, these voices have been essential in shaping our response.

Our annual awards are open to NASS member schools and organisations. The deadline for entries is midday on Wednesday 15th July.

On Monday 11th May, Claire Dorer OBE announced that she will step down as CEO of NASS at the end of 2026, after 21 years leading the membership association.

In this guest blog, Julie Liddell from Still Human (Part of Edwin People), writes about how behind every leadership role is a human being navigating complexity, pressure and, at times, isolation. And while leadership can look like certainty from the outside, it often feels like holding everything together for others.

Northern Counties School was our 2025 Innovation Award winner for developing a groundbreaking therapy outcome measure tool, designed to better capture the impact of therapy on learners with complex needs—supporting improvements in wellbeing, independence, and access to education. In this guest blog, Louise Allport, Assistant Head (Therapy), explains more.

NASS CEO, Claire Dorer, reflects on a proposal in the SEND Reforms consultation that could signal the end of a 12-year categorising of ‘Mental Health Needs’ as a distinct category of SEND, and a return to ‘Social and Emotional Needs’ within the SEND Code of Practice and proposed Specialist Provision Packages.