Beyond appointments. Beyond waiting lists. Rochdale Borough Council is making communication support part of everyday learning.
This project explores how digital learning, coaching, and shared specialist knowledge can help turn those ambitions into practical everyday support for schools, families, and children.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Rochdale recognised nationally for its shared vision for SEND
Rochdale Borough Council was recently recognised at the national Council for Disabled Children SEND Awards, winning the award for ‘Shared Vision for SEND’.
The award recognised Rochdale’s clear, inclusive, and co-produced vision for improving support across the SEND system.
“This was a clear memorable vision that reshaped the vision of life for children and families in Rochdale.”
WHY THIS MATTERS
A different approach to SEND support
One of the biggest challenges in the SEND system is that specialist expertise often sits with a small number of professionals.
Working alongside Rochdale Borough Council and partners, this programme explores how specialist knowledge can be shared more widely and translated into practical tools that work in classrooms, homes, and communities.
The focus is on helping the adults around the child feel more confident supporting communication development in everyday environments.
Earlier
Support that reaches children sooner
Inclusive
Mainstream settings feel more confident.
Connected
Education, health and families working together
Practical
Strategies schools can use immediately
SEND REFORM
Aligning with the direction of national reform
Across England, local areas are being asked to strengthen earlier support, improve inclusion within mainstream settings, and make better use of specialist expertise across the wider workforce.
This project reflects that wider direction of travel by exploring how digital learning, coaching, practical guidance, and shared specialist knowledge can help create more confident, connected systems of support.
Rather than replacing existing services, the programme aims to strengthen the support already available by helping practical strategies reach teachers, SENDCos, early years practitioners, and families earlier and more consistently.
How the programme supports reform priorities
Earlier Support
Helping schools access practical strategies before needs escalate.
Inclusive Mainstream Practice
Building workforce confidence across classrooms, settings, and services.
Family Partnership
Creating clearer, more consistent support between school and home.
Extending Specialist Expertise
Making evidence-informed guidance easier to access across the wider system.
Visualising the Platform
What we have built together
Alongside the wider partnership work, the programme has explored how digital learning environments can bring together practical strategies, video-led learning, coaching, and specialist knowledge into one accessible experience for schools and families.
A practical digital support environment
The platform has been designed to feel approachable, practical, and easy to navigate for busy professionals, schools, and families.
Rather than overwhelming users with theory, the experience focuses on short-form learning, visual guidance, communication strategies, coaching support, and resources that can be applied immediately in everyday environments.
The ambition is to make specialist knowledge easier to access beyond traditional appointment-based models.
Video-Led Learning
Examples of video-led content
Alongside the wider partnership work, the programme has explored how digital learning environments can bring together practical strategies, video-led learning, coaching, and specialist knowledge into one accessible experience for schools and families.
Project Vision Reel
The platform has been designed to feel approachable, practical.
Workforce Impact Reel
Highlights how the programme supports schools, staff, and learners.
Platform Walkthrough
A preview of the digital learning experience and support tools.
Collaboration
Built through co-production and partnership
This programme has brought together local authority leaders, speech and language specialists, school partners, and the wider Titus learning team with a shared aim: making support easier to access, more consistent, and available earlier for children who need it.
The broader success already happening in Rochdale is also due to the successful rollout and embedding of the The Home of Can-do and the Balanced System® toolkits.
Francesca Soan
Designated Clinical Officer SEND, Greater Manchester NHS
Francesca Soan is an experienced speech and language therapist and Designated Clinical Officer for SEND within NHS Greater Manchester. Francesca developed the original vision for the Rochdale co-production and partnership and approached Titus with the idea of the Help At Hand platform, driven by a passion to improve outcomes for children in Rochdale and beyond. She believes the combination of The Home of Can-Do, The Balanced System®, and the Help at Hand digital learning platform can help strengthen support for mainstream schools, families, and children.
Rachel Holden
SEND & Inclusion Leadership
Rachel Holden is an experienced speech and language therapist who has played an important role in supporting the development of the project’s learning content and creative direction. Rachel has contributed extensively to content planning, script reviewing, and quality assurance, helping ensure the resources remain practical, accessible, and grounded in real-world speech and language practice. She has also featured within several pieces of project content, bringing professional insight and frontline experience into the learning experience for schools and families.
Lesley Rudge
Head of SEND Rochdale
Lesley Rudge is the Head of SEND Services within Children’s Services at Rochdale Borough Council. Lesley played a pivotal role in the commencement of this project, helping shape the original vision around digital inclusion and the AI-enabled development of the school inclusivity toolkit. Through her leadership across SEND services and partnership working, she has been a strong advocate for creating more connected, accessible, and family-focused support for children and young people across Rochdale.
Charlotte Mitchell
Assistant Director Schools and Inclusion
Charlotte Mitchell is the Assistant Director for Schools and Inclusion within Children’s Services at Rochdale Borough Council. Through her leadership across SEND, inclusion, and school partnerships, she has helped shape Rochdale’s inclusive vision for children and young people, supporting innovative approaches that strengthen mainstream provision, reduce waiting times, and improve outcomes for families across the borough.
Joanne Jones
Founder of The Home of Can-do
Joanne Jones is a highly experienced consultant speech and language therapist and the founder of The Home of Can-Do. Through her work supporting families, schools, and practitioners, she has helped shape more positive, strengths-based approaches to communication support, with a focus on building confidence through practical everyday strategies and accessible guidance for children and young people.
Marie Gascoigne
Researcher and the Founder of The Balanced System®
Marie Gascoigne is a highly respected speech and language therapist, researcher, and the founder of The Balanced System®. With more than 30 years of experience across both practice and academia, she has played a significant role in shaping national thinking around speech, language, communication, and inclusive support systems for children and young people.
Looking Ahead
Could this model work in other local areas?
We believe the answer is yes.
While this programme has been shaped through the Rochdale partnership, the wider challenges it responds to are being experienced across many local authorities and SEND systems nationally.
The approach has been designed to feel practical, scalable, and adaptable — helping local areas strengthen workforce confidence, improve access to support, and extend specialist expertise in ways that work for their own communities.
Our ambition is not simply to build something locally, but to contribute to a wider national conversation around what earlier, more connected, and more inclusive support could look like in practice.
Learn More
Explore the wider vision for inclusive support
Download the booklet to explore the Rochdale partnership in more detail, including reflections on SEND reform, communication support, workforce confidence, and practical digital approaches.
Rochdale SEND & Inclusion Programme
Exploring how digital learning, coaching, and shared specialist knowledge can help make communication support part of everyday learning.
