The Collective

Collective Get Together Feedback 2026

On Friday 7 August, more than 60 people came together for our annual Collective Get Together. The day was full of honest conversations, creative activities and lots of ideas.

Young people shaping the conversation

Young people with SEND joined adults, leaders and decision-makers both online and in person.

The Minister of State for School Standards, Georgia Gould, also came along to the event.

It was a chance to share experiences, talk about important topics and speak up about the changes young people want to see.

Three activities from the day

During the day, there were three main activities. Each one looked at a different part of inclusion and youth voice.

Making inclusion a reality

This activity was about the ideas and actions that can help make school truly inclusive.
Young people shared what schools, teachers and other services can do to remove barriers and make sure everyone feels welcome, understood and able to take part.

The ideas were then written on wooden planks and used to build bridges towards a model school.

It showed that there isn’t just one thing that makes a school inclusive. Lots of different things need to work together to make sure young people can learn, take part and thrive.

Discover what young people had to say. Download the report or watch the video below.

Watch the video

The future of youth voice and The Collective

This activity explored what helps grow youth voice and what can get in the way.

We looked at:

What helps youth voice thrive
What can hold it back
What could make it sink
What principles should guide it
What can help it grow

Young people shared their thoughts in boxes around a big piece of paper in the shape of a ship.

We talked about things that can make it harder to have your voice heard and what could make it better.

Discover what young people said. Download the report or watch the video below.

Watch the video

Flying the flag for youth voice

This activity was a celebration of the different ways young people are already using their voices.

We made colourful flags and young people shared their experiences of speaking up. We talked about:

Who they had spoken to
What they had shared
What happened afterwards

These have been made into bunting – check this out in the video below.

Watch the video

You said, we did

DfE representative shares positive feedback

A Department for Education (DfE) representative who was in the room recently shared at a department meeting how much they enjoyed the event, how long the Minister of State for School Standards, Georgia Gould, stayed for and mentioned the lovely flag that was made for her by one of the young people. Deputy Directors and others on the call were keen to hear more about it.

Young people's ideas shared directly with DfE

We have shared a full write up on the Kids website which has been sent to Department for Education (DfE) and other practitioners who wanted to hear what young people said.