Last week Imosphere COO and school governor Natalie Kenneison attended the Schools and Academies Show at ExCeL London. The conference brought together school leaders, trusts, local authorities, and sector organisations to discuss the future of education, SEND reform, inclusion, and AI.

While many sessions approached these topics from different angles, several themes emerged consistently throughout the day - particularly around SEND capacity, inclusion, operational pressure, and the need for more connected systems.

One of the strongest impressions from the event was that the conversation has clearly moved beyond whether change is needed. The focus now is how schools and local authorities can realistically strengthen SEND support while already operating under significant pressure.

Inclusion is becoming a whole-system responsibility

One of the strongest themes across the conference was that inclusion is increasingly being framed as a responsibility that sits across entire organisations - not just within specialist SEND teams.

Discussions around the Government’s proposed “Experts at Hand” model highlighted both optimism and concern. While there was support for improving access to specialist expertise, several speakers stressed that outreach and inclusion support cannot become purely transactional or focused only on individual children.

Instead, there was a growing emphasis on building capability and confidence within mainstream settings themselves. Inclusion is increasingly being positioned as something that needs to be embedded across leadership, teaching, safeguarding, and wider school systems, rather than operating as a separate strand of work.

That shift also changes the operational challenge. The discussion is no longer simply about accessing expertise, but about creating the capacity, consistency, and connected working needed to make inclusion sustainable in practice.

Workforce pressure and administrative burden remain major barriers

Another recurring theme was workforce pressure - particularly around SENCOs and operational SEND teams.

Many conversations reflected concern that expectations around inclusion, EHCP delivery, and reform readiness continue to grow, while administrative burden remains extremely high.

A repeated issue throughout the day was how much professional time is still spent manually pulling together information from disconnected systems, reviewing documentation, maintaining records, and responding to requests for evidence. Several discussions questioned whether proposed reforms such as Individual Support Plans could unintentionally create additional administration unless wider workflow and system improvements happen alongside them.

The challenge being discussed was not a lack of commitment or expertise. It was how to create enough operational capacity for professionals to work strategically rather than constantly reactively.

Fragmentation continues to make consistency difficult

One of the clearest themes running underneath many sessions was fragmentation.

Different parts of the system often continue to operate separately, with schools, trusts, local authorities and specialist services frequently managing information, accountability and decision-making in different ways. Several speakers discussed the importance of creating a more connected “educational community” rather than relying on isolated interventions or disconnected processes.

Operationally, many SEND processes still rely heavily on fragmented workflows, duplicated reviews, disconnected documents, and manual quality assurance activity. This makes consistency harder to maintain and limits visibility across the wider SEND journey.

Increasingly, councils are looking at how more connected digital workflows can help reduce this fragmentation - linking EHCP quality, funding decisions, oversight and review processes in a more consistent and visible way.

As reform evolves, the importance of connected workflows and clearer oversight appears to be becoming increasingly central to the conversation.

AI discussions felt notably more mature

AI was another major topic throughout the conference, but the tone of discussion felt noticeably different from even a year ago.

Conversations were far more grounded in practical operational support. Speakers discussed how AI could help reduce administrative burden, improve communication and accessibility, support consistency, and free up professional time for higher-value work.

There was also a strong sense of caution around implementation. Several speakers stressed that schools are “not behind” if they have not yet adopted AI tools, and that success depends far more on purposeful, strategic use than adopting technology quickly.

That reflects a wider shift now emerging across the sector: growing interest in assistive AI that strengthens professional workflows and judgement, rather than attempting to automate complex decision-making.

Much of the discussion focused on AI that supports professionals within existing workflows - helping reduce administrative burden, surface inconsistencies, and improve visibility while keeping decision-making firmly human-led.

Visibility and oversight are becoming increasingly important

The uncertainty surrounding SEND reform appears to be increasing the need for clearer visibility across systems and cohorts now - not later.

Conversations throughout the conference repeatedly returned to the importance of understanding patterns of need, improving consistency, reducing duplicated effort, and strengthening accountability. As reform develops, organisations that can connect information, reduce fragmentation, and improve oversight are likely to be in a much stronger position to adapt confidently.

Many of the priorities discussed across the day reflected this wider shift towards strengthening operational foundations, including:

• Improving inclusion within mainstream settings
• Reducing administrative burden
• Creating more connected workflows
• Strengthening consistency and accountability
• Improving strategic visibility and planning

Looking ahead

One of the clearest takeaways from the conference was that schools and local authorities are not waiting passively for reform details to be finalised.

Many are already focusing on strengthening the operational foundations that will matter regardless of the final model. The challenge now is not simply introducing new policy or new technology.

It is implementing change in a way that is realistic, sustainable, and workable for the professionals supporting children and young people every day.

Preparing SEND workflows for reform

Councils across England are already working with Imosphere to strengthen SEND visibility, consistency and oversight ahead of reform.

If your authority is starting to explore these challenges too, we’d be happy to share what others are already putting in place.