Episodes
nasen awards – Natalie Hay, Highly commended changemaker of the year
This series of special episodes is to celebrate the award winners from the 2024 nasen awards
Award winner – Natalie Hay
Role – Professional Educator and Parent Carer Campaigner
Award category – Highly commended changemaker of the year
In this special episode, Natalie Hay discusses her recognition as a highly commended change maker for her advocacy in changing the UK government’s free school meals policy. Over three years, she raised £8,000 for her campaign, which aimed to make the policy inclusive for children receiving education other than at school (EOTAS), aligning with the Equality Act 2010.
Natalie shares her personal journey as a parent carer for her son, who suffers from chronic fatigue and Lyme disease. She highlights the struggles faced by many families, particularly during the COVID-19 lockdowns when disparities in support for disabled children became evident.
The conversation covers Natalie’s journey from the creation of a Facebook group that grew to 4,500 members, to engaging with legal experts. Which led to ultimately initiating a legal challenge that pressured the government to revise its policies.
The episode emphasises the emotional and logistical challenges parents face while advocating for their children’s rights and the importance of community support. Natalie also shares a poem reflecting the struggles of parent carers and the need for empathy and understanding from educational institutions.
About Natalie
Natalie is an independent professional educator and mother of two teenage boys (one had a disabling illness for 6 years ME/CFS and Lyme disease). She has worked in primary schools in London for the past twenty years and now works as a private English GCSE tutor and primary dyslexia specialist teacher. She provides training in schools, runs courses and provides one-to-one tuition. Natalie has also been a carer for most of her adult life and runs a Facebook group with 4.5k parent carers. She steered and led the Free School Inclusion Campaign from 2021 to 2024. She was shortlisted for the NASEN Changemaker Award 2024 for her voluntary work on behalf of children excluded from receiving their free school meal because of their disability. Through involving charities, MPs and human rights lawyers she managed to ensure that the government changed their policy (according to the Equality Act 2010) to finally be inclusive.
About the nasen awards
The nasen awards celebrate outstanding contributions to the education and support of children and young people with SEND. These annual awards recognise individuals, schools, and organisations that demonstrate exceptional commitment to inclusive education and the advancement of SEND practices.
nasen is a charitable organisation that supports children and young people with SEND. nasen’s goals include Influencing government policy, providing information, training and resources to support practitioners and contributing to the debate and effecting change to improve outcomes for children and young people.
Find out moreContact Natalie
(The Inclusion Group: Education, Rights & Support)
Be the first to hear when new podcasts go live!
The SENDcast is powered by B Squared
We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals – which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.
Introducing SENDcast Sessions
SENDcast Sessions are a new way for schools to access high quality CPD from SEND experts brought to you by the SENDcast. It’s the same great guests featured on our weekly podcast, delivering focused 1-hour online training sessions on a wide range of SEND topics.
SENDcast Sessions provide schools with in depth content that can be accessed forever. Build a library of online CPD that your school can continue to use in the future – choose from over 100 training sessions!
