About Whole School SEND
From the sector, for the sector: empowering inclusive education
Whole School SEND (WSS) is a national network, hosted by nasen, dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. We bring together settings, professionals, families and young people to develop inclusive practice that enables every learner to thrive.
Our Regional SEND Leaders offer practical, strategic support across local areas, helping schools and colleges strengthen inclusive practice. They share expertise, facilitate collaboration and promote solutions shaped by the sector.
WSS leads delivery of the DfE’s Universal SEND Services Programme, supporting mainstream settings to remove barriers to learning and improve outcomes for every child and young person with SEND.
How We Support Schools
- Regional SEND Support: 24 regional leads providing local expertise and networks. [Find your region]
- Online Training: Free, flexible CPD to support inclusive classrooms. [Start now]
- Resources: Practical, evidence-based resources for teachers. [Explore]
Local Support, National Impact
We connect schools, trusts, and practitioners to share what works and drive sustainable inclusion across education.
“Our regional lead gave us strategies that changed how we think about inclusion.” – SENCO, Primary School
What We Do
Online SEND CPD Units
Award winning online SEND CPD units exploring some of the most commonly observed barriers to learning, regardless of age, label or area of need.
As 'short hop' learning journeys, each unit can be completed in under an hour.
Interactive SEND Toolkits
Tailored for a range of roles, these toolkits, each interactive toolkit is a comprehensive resource hub designed to guide professionals through resources to support various aspects of SEND.
Autism Awareness and Inclusion
Confidently deliver Autism Awareness and Inclusion in your setting. Our DfE-funded ‘Train the Trainer’ packages include webinars on how to deliver the training, ready-made training slides, and a step-by-step video guide that walks you through the slides and how to use them effectively.
WSS - Regional SEND Teams
Find your Whole School SEND region and connect with your team of Regional SEND Leaders.
Events
We offer CPDL on a wide range of topics. All our CPD is fully funded by the Department for Education and free to attend.
The latest from Whole School SEND
Specialist Spotlight: Barriers to Attendance Part 1: A mental health perspective (Cross-phase)
Why are more pupils struggling to attend school and what’s really going on beneath the surface? This interactive session explores the emotional roots of school avoidance through a mental health lens
Meeting Needs and Building Inclusion Through Assistive Technology
This CPD session, delivered in partnership with Concero, is designed to help educators understand how to use assistive technology to support inclusive teaching and improve learner independence
Specialist Spotlight: Barriers to Attendance Part 2: Practical strategies and Whole-school approaches (Cross-phase)
This hands-on follow-up session equips you with practical tools, targeted interventions, and whole-school strategies to support children who struggle to attend
Leading Specialist Spaces in Mainstream: Critical Foundations
This first session is critical for any leader establishing or reviewing internal specialist provisions
Specialist Spotlight: Understanding Executive Function (Cross-phase)
Join us for a FREE discussion exploring 'understanding executive functioning’ in secondary/FE settings.
Leading Specialist Spaces in Mainstream: Specialist Pedagogy in Practice
Develop teaching practice in internal, specialist provisions by tapping into best practice from the specialist sector
Webinar: Positively responding to increasing complexity in our mainstream schools part 3: Implementing effective curriculum in additional provisions in mainstream schools
- Webcasts
- 13 Nov 2025
This webinar builds on our initial exploration of this theme in Positively responding to increasing complexity in our mainstream schools – collaborative learning opportunities to inform strategic and systemic thinking.
Early Years SEND Review Guide
- General
- 24 Oct 2025
The Early Years SEND Review Guide was developed for Early Years practitioners and reviewers, to support the review and development of inclusive provision and practice.
Inclusive Leadership and Management in Schools
- Webcasts
- 23 Oct 2025
This engaging and practical webinar explores the crucial relationship between inclusion and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) within schools.
Autism Awareness and Inclusion package (Secondary)
- General
- 28 Aug 2025
Aligned with the latest DfE and EEF standards, this package is designed to save you time, build staff confidence, and support a consistent, inclusive experience for autistic learners across your school.
Autism Awareness and Inclusion package (FE)
- General
- 28 Aug 2025
Aligned with the latest DfE and EEF standards, this package is designed to save you time, build staff confidence, and support a consistent, inclusive experience for autistic learners across your school.
Autism Awareness and Inclusion package (Primary)
- General
- 28 Aug 2025
Aligned with the latest DfE and EEF standards, this package is designed to save you time, build staff confidence, and support a consistent, inclusive experience for autistic learners across your school.
How we respond to feedback
We are committed to representing as many voices from the SEND community as possible. We value and respect each and every one of our members, and their lived experiences. We readily invite feedback with the aim of strengthening our products and services so we can improve outcomes for the children and young people we serve, and all of our resources are continuously reviewed. As standard, we consult extensively with our steering groups, which are made up of professionals from the sector, as well as children, young people, parents and carers with lived experience of SEND and learning differences.
We also welcome feedback from the wider membership. It is important that we acknowledge that, since every person’s experience is the different from the next, opinions on the best approach can differ across the membership. Sometimes, these differences can be significant. When concerns are raised, we always take time to listen, and where necessary, detailed discussions take place, and the reasons for our decisions can be presented in context.