Rachel Martin is an experienced SEND professional, qualified teacher and qualified SENDCo whose career in education began in the mid-1990s. Originally trained as a teacher of English and Drama, Rachel increasingly specialised in supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, an area in which she has now worked for approximately two decades.

Her professional experience spans mainstream and specialist education, SEND coordination, school leadership and national specialist provision. Early in her SEND-focused career, Rachel worked with children in a special school and helped establish links with a mainstream school, creating opportunities that combined appropriate specialist support with ambitious and inclusive outcomes.

Rachel went on to work for many years as a SENDCo, giving her direct responsibility for identifying needs, coordinating support and translating statutory and professional recommendations into practical provision within school. Her more recent leadership roles have included headteacher of a school for autistic children and head of a national provision supporting children, many of whom were in care and presented with significant social, emotional and mental health needs.

Across these roles, Rachel has worked closely with families, schools, local authorities and specialist settings. She has extensive practical experience of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs): what effective plans should contain, how provision should be specified, how plans operate in real educational settings and what can happen when the support described is insufficient, unclear or not delivered effectively.

Rachel now draws on this breadth of experience through SEND advocacy, independent expert witness work, specialist SEND tutoring, and consultancy and CPD for schools. Her work is underpinned by a child-centred, relationship-based and trauma-informed approach. She looks beyond labels to understand the individual child, the barriers they are experiencing and the environment in which they are expected to learn.

Rachel is also a parent of two children with special educational needs. This personal perspective complements, but does not replace, her professional expertise and reinforces her commitment to ensuring that children and families are listened to and that young people with SEND have access to appropriate, aspirational support.