0191 367 0634| admin@sensesupport.org
Meet the Advocacy Team
Who We Are
Jacob
Whittingham Vigors
SENCo Advocate
Dr Jacob Whittingham Vigors is a senior SEND and social care professional with over 17 years’ experience supporting children and young people aged 0–25 through statutory assessment and EHCP casework. He specialises in producing high-quality, person-centred plans, managing complex cases, and ensuring processes are lawful, timely, and outcome-focused.
Jacob has led end-to-end casework across assessments, annual reviews, placements, and tribunal-ready documentation, while coaching and developing other officers to maintain consistent standards. Known for calm judgement under pressure, he strengthens partnership working between families, education, health and care professionals, and legal colleagues to secure clear provision and measurable outcomes.
Jacob is motivated by making sure children and young people with SEND get the right support at the right time, not just on paper, but in real life, and by helping families feel understood, respected, and confident in a system that can otherwise feel overwhelming.
He began his career in frontline social work and youth justice, building strong safeguarding and risk-management expertise. He holds a PhD in Sociology, postgraduate social work qualifications, and is highly proficient in leading statutory case management systems and digital workflows.
Lisa Smith
SENCo Advocate
Lisa is a highly experienced SEND professional with over 25 years of expertise supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, their families, and the professionals who work alongside them.
Beginning her career as a SEN Teaching Assistant, Lisa progressed through a range of senior roles within a Local Authority, specialising in inclusion, workforce development, SEND legislation, policy and strategic service leadership. This experience has given her an in-depth understanding of how Local Authorities develop, interpret and implement SEND policy, as well as the statutory duties and decision-making processes that sit behind SEND provision.
What makes Lisa’s experience particularly valuable in her role as a SENCo Advocate is that she understands SEND from both sides of the system. Alongside her strategic Local Authority experience, she has almost six years’ experience as the Headteacher of a specialist SEN school, as well as extensive experience as a SENCO. This means she not only understands SEND legislation, policy and statutory processes at a strategic level, but also has first-hand knowledge of what effective provision looks like in practice within schools. She understands the realities faced by children, families, SENCOs and school leaders, and the challenges involved in translating statutory duties and EHCP provision into meaningful support for an individual child.
Lisa is also a Trauma-Informed Practitioner, bringing an additional depth of understanding to her work with children, young people and families who may have experienced trauma, distress or difficult experiences within education. Her trauma-informed approach recognises the importance of safety, trust, relationships and individual experience, ensuring families feel heard, understood and supported rather than judged. This sits at the heart of her compassionate, child-centred approach to advocacy.
Lisa has also led organisational wellbeing initiatives within the education sector and has held the role of Designated Safeguarding Lead, bringing extensive experience of safeguarding, multi-agency working and child-centred practice.
Passionate about ensuring children and young people remain at the heart of every decision, Lisa has significant expertise in navigating statutory SEND processes, developing inclusive practice and supporting families to understand their rights and confidently engage with education, health and care services. Her breadth of experience enables her to consider situations from multiple perspectives, identify where systems or provision may not be working as they should, and help families navigate a way forward.
Known for her compassionate, person-centred and trauma-informed approach, Lisa is committed to empowering parents and carers, amplifying the voices of children and young people, and working collaboratively with families and professionals to achieve outcomes that are meaningful, appropriate and legally robust.
Lisa holds a BA in Early Years, Diplomas in Education and Training and Trauma-Informed Practice, and the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH).
Darryl Holdcroft
SENCo Advocate
Darryl Holdcroft is an experienced Education Leader, SENCO and Headteacher who has spent more than a decade championing the rights, wellbeing and educational needs of vulnerable children and young people.
Much of Darryl’s career has focused on supporting young people with complex needs, including within adolescent psychiatric hospitals, eating disorder services and specialist mental health provisions. He is passionate about creating safe, supportive environments where young people who may feel overwhelmed, disengaged or unable to access education can rebuild their confidence, develop a sense of safety and gradually reconnect with learning.
Throughout his leadership career, Darryl has developed and managed specialist provision with a strong focus on relational, child-centred practice. He recognises that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to SEND and is experienced in developing personalised learning pathways and robust safeguarding frameworks that consider the whole child, with emotional wellbeing and individual need at their heart.
Having worked as a Head of Education, Headteacher and SENCO, alongside teaching children and young people with SEND, Darryl brings a wealth of practical experience to his advocacy role. He understands both the strategic responsibilities of educational settings and the realities of delivering appropriate support in practice. His experience has reinforced his belief that meaningful educational progress is built on strong relationships and begins when a young person feels safe, respected, understood and heard.
Darryl is also experienced in bringing families, education professionals and healthcare teams together, recognising that effective support for children and young people with complex needs often depends upon genuine collaboration between everyone involved in their care and education.
He understands how complex and emotionally demanding navigating the SEND and EHCP system can be for families. For Darryl, advocacy is about standing alongside children, young people and their families as a knowledgeable and trusted guide—helping them understand their rights, ensuring their voices are heard and advocating for the support and provision they need to thrive.
