Special Educational Needs Guide

The Client

Surrey County Council is the local authority responsible for delivering education, health, and social services to families across Surrey.

As part of its commitment to supporting children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), the Council provides resources, guidance, and structured support systems for parents and carers.

The Solution

To successfully turn a muddle of complex resources into something digestible, clear and empowering for parents meant we needed to fully understand the content and messaging from Surrey County Council.

With great care and precision, we took time to fully understand the information and the key information that parents needed, before looking to re-write and restructure the information completely.

Our professional, editorial approach meant restructuring the guide to create order and flow, allowing for parents’ pathways to always be clear when referring to the guide, ensuring the guide is a meaningful and reliable resource, always available when needed.

When re-framing the content, we ensured that messaging was carefully considered. Using a reassuring tone throughout, our writing conveyed empathy without condescension. It was important to address the emotional nature of the content, whilst we assured that the emphasis of the content is the help that is available to assist parents and their children.

Simplifying overwhelming jargon and technical language was also a key factor in ensuring the guide was digestible and a resource that parents could confidently turn to.

Editing Edge was able to introduce helpful summaries and signposts, ensuring parents could find exactly what they needed in a way that can be understood, without losing any detail or key information.

The Problem

For parents of children with Special Education Needs (SEN), navigating the landscape of support can be an emotionally overwhelming and complicated experience.

While there is certainly no lack of supportive services and literature for parents seeking to understand more on how their children can be supported throughout their education, what’s often missing is clarity.

With the stakes so high – parents advocating for their children’s future – many find themselves left confused by complex jargon and unclear advice surrounding such a sensitive topic.

Surrey County Council were looking for a fresh take on its Guide for Parents and Carers, to provide parents with a ‘north star’, a strong point of reference when looking for more information on their children’s future.

The Result

Clear and confident: when parents are lacking clarity and confidence in their understanding of Surrey County Council’s commitment to children who have Special Education Needs, the revised Guide for Parents and Carers is a clear and accessible roadmap that offers reassurance and a sense of direction when it’s most needed
Empathetic and optimistic: the revised guide ensures that parents feel validated for any potential concerns and queries they may have, yet has a sharp focus on the solutions that are available, and the best ways to access them
Simple and effective: introducing summaries of complex processes, translations of complex language and jargon whilst not compromising meanings or detail means that parents have a reliable document that does not compromise the integrity of the challenges they face, or their solutions, but lays them out in a simple way that can be understood quickly and easily

“Working with Lesley was great, she easily understood the brief for our Special Educational Needs brochure and quickly translated technical text into clear and accessible copy for parents.