SEND leader of the year winner

COLLEEN Johnson, seat holder for disabled members on the NEU executive, presented the award for SEND leader of the year at the National Association for Special Educational Needs awards. Award winner Pearl Barnes, who has worked with children and young people with SEND for more than 20 years, supports schools through audits and training, helping SENCOs and school heads to develop outstanding SEND provision. She accepted her award at a ceremony in Birmingham in October. neu.org.uk/supportinglanguage-development

ADVICE leaflets to help classroom teachers support children and young people’s language and communication skills have been produced by the union and speech and language specialists ICAN. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant the number of children experiencing difficulties in this area is rising. The leaflets include tips for understanding language progression and signposting to resources.