About Us
The SEN Support Hub was an idea that we as two friends talked about for around three years. Sharing challenges from working within the public sector, to brainstorming ideas of how we could work together to deliver a service to parents differently.
The SEN Support Hub has been founded for us to use our professional expertise and personal experience to support families of children with SEN in removing barriers to education. If you are facing challenges with the complex SEN systems and want independent advice or support, then get in touch with us today.
Our Story
Kaylie Williams
As an experienced SEN Adviser, I have worked across 3 local authorities for over a decade. I graduated from Glyndwr University with a 1st Class Honours degree in Families and Childhood Studies and then achieved a Postgraduate Diploma in Education and Youth Work.
Alongside my studies, I worked as a Youth Support Worker in a rural area, providing a safe place and purpose based activities for vulnerable young people to engage with. Once graduating, my passion for supporting positive outcomes for young people sparked and I began a role within Essex County Council, team leading in an Alternative Education provision. Here I educated and supported vulnerable young people who had been permanently excluded from their mainstream setting. I worked alongside these young people to develop their social and emotional skills, life skills and understanding of the world.
After becoming a parent in 2016, my career took a change of direction when returning back to work. I had the opportunity to move across the border to Hertfordshire County Council, to work within a Special Educational Needs (SEN) service. Here I was a Lead Information Officer and then a SEN Adviser, leading a team of Information Officers & Caseworkers in providing information, advice and support. Working for over 5 years in this role, I had the opportunity to build on my foundation of knowledge and skills from previous working experience, though complex casework, creating and developing practical resources, delivering workshops, supporting parents in mediation and helping families to navigate the tribunal process. Whilst with Hertfordshire County Council I also had the opportunity to complete the Level 1-3 IPSEA legal training.
Now being on my own family journey in the world of SEN, my passion for supporting other families is stronger than ever. Facing what can seem like a daunting and lonely journey, I am driven to offer a tailored and individual service without restrictions - with a friendly and familiar face along the way. Having endless discussions with Andrea regarding the current SEN systems and also sharing my passion to support parents on a similar journey to us, I knew she was the right person to create this service with. Our vision for The SEN Support Hub, is to create a service where we can work in partnership with parents to offer and provide the best support and do this in a timely manner, that is friendly and accessible. Alongside offering individual casework, we aim to utilise our collection of skills to create personalised and supportive programmes and workshops to increase the knowledge of parents and carers and to create a supportive network for all who attend.
Andrea Millard
I’m Andrea, the other half of the SEN Support Hub. I am currently a SENCo for a growing primary academy in Essex and have worked in various leadership roles in education since my career began in Hertfordshire and Essex, including Key Stage leader, designated safeguard Lead and Nurture UK practitioner. Before becoming a teacher, I worked 1:1 with children with special needs both physical and emotional and to date some of my fondest, most rewarding memories are from the early days of my career.
I qualified as a teacher in 2009 from the University of Hertfordshire and was offered a scholarship to continue my studies to complete a Postgraduate diploma in Education which I successfully gained in 2010 whilst completing my NQT (ECT) year. I have been teaching for over 13 years and have taught from Reception to year 6 and thrive in the classroom working ‘on the front line’ with little minds. I am very much of the mindset that I am a facilitator of learning and it is a privilege to be able to be a part of a child’s learning journey.
I have always been passionate about inclusive learning and providing equity to achieve equality. This passion led me to pursue my SENCo qualification to support teachers, children and their families with the SEN learning journey aswell as train to be a Nurture UK practitioner and lead and run a nurture group. Nurture group is a focused, short-term intervention for early years, primary or secondary school pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties which make it harder for them to learn in a mainstream class. They are designed to address the social and emotional needs that can hamper pupils’ learning. So as well as providing academic teaching, the group is designed to help children develop vital social skills, to develop confidence and self-respect, and to take pride in their behaviour and in achieving.
After becoming a parent and alongside teaching, I have been a Mindful Magic Mentor and ran local sessions for children age 5-12 years and their parents. The sessions guided and supported them with adopting mindfulness and improving emotional literacy in their lives whilst equipping them with simple and easy mindfulness tools and strategies for every day. I thoroughly enjoyed this newfound relationship I was able to have with children and their parents outside of school which drove me to set up Live and Learn Tutoring Service. My aim is to support both parents and children on their learning journey in a less pressured, more nurturing and confidence building environment. To say I love the learning sessions is an understatement; I have been able to help ignite a love of learning, witness those breakthrough moments and see a child’s confidence soar.
Which brings me to now and the SEN Support Hub. As part of my tutoring service I found I was increasingly being asked to help and support parents with their child’s SEN journey, ranging from practical advice and strategies to EHCP applications and legal rights. Kaylie and I had been sitting on the idea of the SEN Support Hub since our first babies were born and the time felt right, so here we are. I am so excited for the future of the SEN support Hub where we can offer timely, supportive, non-judgemental support by utilising my knowledge of SEN from within the school system as a teacher and SENCo combined with Kaylie’s extensive experience and knowledge within the local authorities and invaluable IPSEA legal training.