04 Nov 2025
St Albans parents of children with special educational needs who say they have been failed by Herts county council joined a nationwide protest which reached the steps of County Hall this week.
The Every Pair Tells A Story campaign encourages families to use a pair of empty shoes to represent youngsters let down by local authorities and the SEND system which was supposed to protect and support them.
This movement is not only for children missing from education. It stands for every child whose needs have been ignored, misunderstood or dismissed. It is for those isolated in classrooms without the right support, pushed into unsuitable mainstream schools, or waiting months and years for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) that are delayed, denied or disregarded.
Every pair tells a story of exhaustion, heartbreak and families forced to fight for the very basics that every child deserves: education, inclusion and respect.
The extent of the SEND crisis in Herts was identified following an inspection in July 2023 which saw Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission highlight widespread and systematic failures across the county which had “significant negative impact on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people”.
They pointed out the poor communication with families, lengthy delays in preparing education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children, and the poor quality when these were produced.
A priority action and improvement plan was introduced following the report, which promised extra investment into SEND provision, more school places and a fresh approach to autism and ADHD assessments, but there were little obvious signs of improvement.
But despite a change in administration after the Liberal Democrats took control of HCC in May’s elections, many parents feel Hertfordshire continues to face deep challenges in providing timely and adequate support for children and young people with SEND.
A heartbreaking 173 pairs of empty shoes were placed outside County Hall on Monday, highlighting a fraction of local cases.
Herts spokesperson for Every Pair Tells A Story, Savannah Ashlea, said: “While 173 pairs is a powerful sight, we know it’s only a small reflection of the thousands more families across Hertfordshire still living this reality every single day.
“To everyone who came, who donated shoes, who shared posts, who whispered their child’s name into that sea of silence – thank you, we are so sorry you had to. You should never had needed to.
“But your courage, your presence, and your stories turned grief into solidarity and silence into strength. Those 173 pairs will now go on to help others – donated to homeless and disability charities – a symbol of how love and community can still create hope, even in the face of failure.
“And to those who couldn’t attend, this event was for you, too. Your stories, your children, your journeys – they were all there with us. We may have laid down 173 pairs of shoes, but we stand for every child still waiting to be seen. The fight for ordinary continues.”
One St Albans mum, who asked not to be named, told us: “We are here today with a sad but powerful display, along with 92 other locations nationally. The UK is a first-world country, our children should have access to a suitable education.
“Many parents cried or had tears in their eyes when they arrived. Their children and they have been let (badly) let down, it just hits you.
“HCC hasn’t got enough money, staff or special schools. That makes them behave in unhelpful and unlawful ways. Innocent children and their exhausted families pay the price.
“Many of the tags on shoes here talk about the damage and trauma children with special needs sustained in mainstream education. I personally know over 20 of the children represented here today. All of them, at some point, had no suitable school for months or years on end, felt lonely and had poor mental health. Many of their parents had to give up work.
“At the protest I heard of things happening right NOW – parents who had four EHC coordinators in eight months (and still without a school for 10 months), another five coordinators in five months.
“Parent-blaming, lack of access to PALMS (Patient Assessment and Liaison Mental Health Service) or CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) for their children who are so anxious they can’t leave the house or so traumatised by school that they don’t want to be alive anymore. One lad with many diagnoses suffers weekly exclusions but there is no special school for him to go to.
“Undoubtedly the current Ofsted inspection will be satisfactory because they have chosen very narrow criteria and data to assess. The most favourable files were hand-picked to evaluate and families will not be asked for their opinion on this occasion!”
St Albans mum Steph Curtis has been writing the blog Steph’s Two Girls since her youngest daughter Sasha was diagnosed with a sub-type of autism called Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) at the age of two-and-a-half.
She said: “I couldn’t be there in person but a kind local mum took along my representative pair. On our attached tag were the words ‘For our daughter, who has been let down badly by the LA and education system since the age of 10. Not given the support she needed to thrive; now, at the age of 18, forgotten, isolated and part of the ever-increasing number of NEET young adults. Time for the education system to change, to be fully inclusive and recognise all different types of learning ability.”
Another mum, who also requested anonymity to protect her daughter’s wellbeing, told her own story: “My daughter, who previously had 100 per cent attendance, started struggling going to school in January 2022 when she was in Year 6.
“This stemmed from bullying which was quashed quickly but seemed to knock her confidence, caused a lot of anxiety and meant that for the remainder of Year 6 she only went to school sporadically.
“She started secondary school in September and from the off struggled to go in – having breakdowns in the mornings. Small things would set her off such as forgetting a mouthguard etc.
“For the next three years the school tried various methods to help, such as reduced timetables, no queue lunches, wearing PE kit rather than uniform because of the sensory demands, but she was unable to attend regularly.
“She was diagnosed autistic in spring 2023 after we had to pay for an assessment as the NHS waiting lists were so long, then with Inattentive ADHD this spring – also private for the same reasons. Her psychiatrist suggested we apply for an EHCP so we did in March of this year.
“Originally HCC said she didn’t need an assessment – which apparently came from one report about her ADHD symptoms – they ignored the rest of the evidence we had about her ASD and the struggles she had with attending school.
“By some magic I managed to speak to someone in the council who saw sense and managed to get them to reassess the case and the ‘panel’ decided that she did need an EHCP, so the assessment went ahead.
“Anyway we get to the summer and her EHCP is in draft and we even got them to state she needed smaller class sizes. We asked for her to attend St Albans Independent College as it has small classes and no uniform but isn’t a special school – she is a bright young person, who really wants to learn.
“The county council took this to ‘panel’ and decided that her original secondary should be the named school – even though they had tried for the last three years and my daughter has been unable to attend. Their argument was that she hadn’t tried with an EHCP before. The school tried everything they could but fundamentally my daughter is ulnable to cope with the sensory overwhelm she gets with at school. It’s too noisy and busy etc.
“Eventually the panel agreed to pay for the place at St Albans Independent College, but it should never have gone so far.
“This whole situation has caused significant stress for our family. Not only having to deal with a SEND child who has high anxiety and is unable to attend school but actually having to fight for what she needs.
“When she was still at her mainstream school she was unable to attend but the council put a lot of pressure on us as parents to prove that she was ill and not just missing school because we were too lazy to take her. This is a child who had many years 100 per cent attendance in primary school.
“Also with the NHS the waiting list to get assessed for ASD / ADHD are years. We had to pay for both in order to get her the support she needed. This cost us £3.5K. Parents I know who hadn’t got formal diagnoses struggled to get the ‘proof’ they needed their children were struggling.
“There needs to be more investment in suitable settings for children who do not have learning disabilities but are unable to cope in such a large school environment and with the demands of large schools. This is a significant gap in the provisions HCC has – they have SEMH [Social, Emotional, and Mental Health] schools but not really any that would help a lot of children out there. I know of lots of other children who would benefit from a similar setting.”
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: “We acknowledge the powerful message shared through the national Every Pair Tells a Story action. Each pair of shoes placed outside local authority offices is a poignant reminder of the real lives and futures affected by the challenges within the SEND system.
“We recognise the national scale of the issues facing children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and we understand the frustration and pain that many families are feeling. In Hertfordshire, we are working together—with families, schools, and partners— to address the challenges, build upon improvements made so far, and ensure that children and young people with SEND receive the support and opportunities they deserve.”
