Collective Get Together 2026

Discover the feedback and insights from the Collective Get Together 2026, where young people with SEND came together with decision-makers and leaders to share their experiences, shape conversations and influence the future of inclusion and youth voice.

On Friday 7th August, The Collective Get Together brought together more than 60 young people with SEND, decision-makers and leaders from across the country for a day of conversation, creativity and connection.

During the day, three important themes were explored:

National Standards for Inclusion in Schools
Celebrating and strengthening youth voice
The future of youth voice

The Kids Advisory Panel played an important role in shaping this year’s Collective Get Together, helping to develop the sessions, lead discussions throughout the day, and create a welcoming space where young people could share their experiences and ideas.

Download the full report

Hearing directly from young people

We were delighted to welcome the Minister of State for School Standards, Georgia Gould, who joined the Collective Get Together to listen directly to young people and hear their experiences, ideas and hopes for the future.

It was a fantastic opportunity for young people to speak directly with a Minister and share what matters to them.

After the event, young people sat down with Minister Gould to reflect on the day and hear her key takeaways from the discussions.

Watch our Q&A with Minister Gould

National Standards for Inclusion in Schools

Young people explored what inclusive education should look, feel and sound like for children and young people with SEND.
Through the Building Bridges to Inclusion activity, they identified actions schools, teachers and staff could take to make inclusion a reality.
Young people highlighted the importance of fairness and respect, better SEND understanding and training for school staff, listening to young people and involving them in decisions and flexible teaching and removing barriers to learning.

Download the National Standards for Inclusion session report

Planks with practical ideas for inclusion leading to a central school

Flying the Flag for Youth Voice

Young people created their own flags to represent their experiences of speaking up – including who they had spoken to, what they had shared and what happened next.
They told us that meaningful youth voice is about more than being given the chance to speak. Young people want adults to listen, take them seriously, communicate clearly, provide the right support and show how their views have influenced decisions.

Download the Flying the Flag for Youth Voice session report

Flags which young people decorated to celebrate their stories of youth voice and being listened to

The Future of Youth Voice

Young people explored what helps youth voice thrive, what holds it back, what could cause it to sink, the principles that should guide it and what can help it grow.
They wrote down their thoughts in boxes around a big ship, building a picture of what youth voice needs to stay strong and keep moving forward.
They highlighted the importance of safe spaces, trusted adults, accessible communication and being involved in decisions from the start.

Download the Future of Youth Voice session report

A close up of a ship, which has post it notes stuck on it.

Growing our ideas together

Throughout the day, young people added their thoughts onto a big tree, creating an insightful and colourful picture of everything they had shared.

🍃 Leaves captured ideas about making schools more inclusive.

🌸 Flowers showed good practice principles of youth voice

☁️ Storm clouds represented the things that can make youth voice harder.

☀️ Sunshine rays captured what helps youth voice grow.

By the end of the day, the tree was full of ideas, experiences and hopes for the future.

The Kids Advisory Panel then led a final discussion, bringing everyone together to reflect on the key messages from the day.

Download the plenary summary

Meghann, a young person, pointing at the completed tree

What young people told us

Across all three sessions, young people shared a clear message about what meaningful participation and inclusion should look like.

Listen to us.

Young people deserve to be listened to, respected and involved from the beginning – not simply asked for their views once decisions have already been made.

They want adults to work with them, communicate openly, create safe spaces and show what has changed as a result of their contributions.

Looking ahead

The feedback from the Collective Get Together will continue to inform our work with partners, leaders and decision-makers.

The ideas shared around National Standards for Inclusion, meaningful youth voice and the future of participation provide important insight into how we can create more inclusive schools, services and opportunities for young people with SEND.

At Kids, we believe young people should be involved from the start, listened to throughout and shown what has changed because of their contribution.

Want to find out more about the Collective?

Visit The Collective page