Young people help shape SEND services at pioneering new education centre

Young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) who are helping Central Bedfordshire Council improve local services were the first to experience Woburn Safari Park’s new SEND education centre.

The Council‑led Youth Voice event, held at the purpose‑built ‘SENse the Safari’ facility, was the first of its kind at the centre and brought together pupils from Parkfields School, members of Biggleswade SEND Youth Club and youth support professionals, including from the Children’s Society, to share lived experience, ideas and insight.

The workshop focused on how services can better meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, including improvements to Central Bedfordshire’s Local Offer website. Young people shared what information matters most to them, how they want it presented, and what would make services easier to navigate.

The event also reflects Central Bedfordshire Council’s wider ambition to influence SEND inclusion beyond statutory partnerships, working with community organisations and local destinations to shape environments that are welcoming, accessible and responsive to SEND needs, while creating consistent opportunities for young people to influence decision‑making both within Council services and across community settings, to help shape services that affect their lives.

The new SEND education centre at Woburn Safari Park provided an inclusive and supportive environment for the event. Designed specifically for children and young people with SEND, the facility includes sensory and decompression spaces and sensory resources contributed by the Council, adaptable work areas, accessible outdoor learning spaces and hands‑on activities linked to animal care and nature.

Central Bedfordshire Council supported the development of the centre through specialist input from the Early Years SEND team to support sensory resources, acknowledged within the building.

Executive Member for Children and Families, Cllr Gareth Mackey, said: “Listening to children and young people with SEND and acting on what they tell us is essential if we are to deliver services that genuinely work for families. This doesn’t stop at statutory services — it’s about influencing the places and experiences families access every day.

“This event showed exactly how powerful youth voice can be, especially when it’s done in the right environment, and Woburn Safari Park’s ‘SENse the Safari’ facility is a wonderful new addition to the local area. We’re incredibly grateful to the young people who shared their views so honestly and to the colleagues and partners who made the day such a success.”

The SEND education centre will be used by specialist schools, alternative provision settings and local authorities, supporting learning opportunities, short breaks and inclusive holiday activities.

More SEND Youth Voice events are planned, ensuring young people continue to have active, regular opportunities to influence service design and improvement across Central Bedfordshire.