'It's revolutionary': How this Leeds couple's new system could change SEND provision for the better

A Leeds couple have launched a new management system that could “revolutionise” SEND provision at schools.

Dom Newmarch, 29, and his fiancée Lucy Stephens, 28, launched ‘Senflow’ in September 2025 and it has since been rolled out to 110 schools across the country, ranging from Newcastle to East Sussex.

The online management platform has been designed to help primary schools run their special educational needs provision properly, with less time lost to admin, better oversight, and ultimately fewer children falling through the gaps.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Dom said that the couple has received overwhelming support since launching, with one headteacher even suggesting the Department for Education should mandate it for schools across England.

“The feedback we’ve got since we launched has just been amazing,” Dom told the YEP. “Headteachers and SEND co-ordinators (SENCOs) have used words like ‘revolutionary’ and said they can’t believe they haven’t had this sooner as it’s making such a difference.

“One of the main benefits is time. This system makes it super easy for teachers to log interventions on a daily basis and this gives the SENCOs a lot more in-depth analysis of what’s going on with each student and where they are struggling.”

Based in Garforth, the couple combined Lucy’s experience as a primary school teacher, and Dom’s background as a software engineer, to launch a system aimed at ensuring that the children who need the most support are not left paying the price for holes in the system.

One of the most significant time drains on a SENCO is the EHCP (education, health and care plan) annual review preparation, which requires updated teacher feedback, intervention records, attendance information, professional reports, evidence of progress, parental views and pupil voice.

When these pieces of information live in different places, or worse, in different formats, it can take hours simply to assemble everything required. Multiply that by dozens of pupils, and the scale of the problem becomes clear.

Through centralised student profiles however, Senflow provides teachers with complete information, EHCP plans and everything from initial assessments through to annual reviews on one secure and specially designed platform.

“Usually the report’s are all done manually, which takes up hours and hours and is a huge time drain. The time that should be spent supporting the pupils is instead spent doing paperwork and Senflow is putting that time back into the teacher’s hands,” Dom explained.

“The support just isn’t there. It’s a very stressful job with so much paperwork and demand so as a software engineer I thought surely there’s a way we can solve that.”

Earlier this year, the Government published their Schools White Paper report, a £4 billion investment over three years to transform SEND provision across the country. The plan focuses on making mainstream schools more inclusive, featuring a new layered support system and 60,000 new specialist places.

Aimed at overhauling the current SEND legislation, which dates back to 2014, the report introduces new demands on how schools manage SEND provision, including the creation of digital support plans for every child with additional needs.

This would represent a big ask for schools that are already stretched, with many still relying on spreadsheets and paper folders to manage it all, which is where Senflow can help.

“The amount of pupils with special needs is increasing year on year and the tools to manage it just haven’t kept up,” Dom added.

“It has meant many SENCO’s are leaving their roles and the students are falling through the gaps. We have built Senflow to help with that.”