SEN MAGAZINE - SEN79 -Nov/Dec 2015

Nov • Dec 2015 Issue 79

Power to parents

How SEN reforms have strengthened parents’ rights

Suffering in silence Helping children with avoidant attachment issues

Dyslexia and mental health The hidden side of living with a learning difference

PMLD • spina bifida and hydrocephalus • reflexology • wheelchairs • epilepsy arts therapy • professional support for teachers • autism • access arrangements safeguarding • SLCN • inclusion • CPD • recruitment • SEN news and more…

This issue in full 06

SEN news

14

What's new?

20

Point of view

22

Attachment

26

SEN legal Q&A

28

Parents’ rights

can help children with avoidant attachment styles (p.22) – those whose compliance and reserve mask their suffering.

32

Spina bifida

34

PMLD

38

Reflexology

Elsewhere, Neil Alexander-Passe examines the link between dyslexia and mental health issues (p.56), while entrepreneur turned philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley explains why she has donated more than £50 million to finance research into autism (p.74) and support those on the autistic spectrum.

40

Wheelchairs

44

Creative therapy

48

SLCN

50

Access arrangements

54

Safeguarding

56

Dyslexia

You will also find articles on transfer reviews (p.26) spina bifida and hydrocephalus (p.32), PMLD (p.34), reflexology (p.38), wheelchairs (p.40), arts therapists (p.44), SLCN (p.48), access arrangements for exams (p.50), safeguarding (p.54), inclusion (p.62), epilepsy (p.64), professional support for teachers (p.67), creativity in the classroom (p.70) and recruitment (p.86).

62

Inclusion

64

Epilepsy

67

Professional support for teachers

70

Creativity

72

Book reviews

74

Autism

85

About SEN Magazine

For the latest from SEN, join us on Facebook and Twitter or visit: www.senmagazine.co.uk

86

Recruitment

88

CPD, events and training

96

SEN resources directory

98

SEN Subscriptions

Nov • Dec 2015 • Issue 79

Welcome Regular readers of SEN Magazine will have seen extensive coverage in recent issues of the SEN reforms introduced last year in the Children and Families Act and SEN Code of Practice.

A central theme of the new SEN system is that parents should have a greater say in the support their child receives. Families must now, the legislation tells us, be consulted about all aspects of their child’s SEN provision, including assessments, provision planning and ongoing support.

In this issue of SEN Magazine, Elizabeth Stanley explains how the SEN reforms have strengthened the legal rights of parents (p.28) throughout the different stages of their child’s schooling and early life. For these powers to really count though, she cautions, parents have both to understand their rights and, crucially, to exercise them.

Sometimes, deeply troubled children seem, to all intents and purposes, to be fine. Also in this issue, Jennifer Jones looks at how we

Contacts DIRECTOR Jeremy Nicholls EDITOR Peter Sutcliffe editor@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409 810 ADVERTISING SALES Denise Williamson Sales Manager denise@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409 808 MARKETING & ADMINISTRATION Anita Crossley anita@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409 802

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Peter Sutcliffe Editor editor@senmagazine.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTION ADMINISTRATOR Amanda Harrison office@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409 801 DESIGN Rob Parry www.flunkyflydesign.co.uk design@senmagazine.co.uk Next issue deadline: Advertising and news deadline: 2 December 2015 Disclaimer The opinions expressed in SEN Magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. The publisher cannot be held liable for incorrect information, omissions or the opinions of third parties.

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CONTRIBUTORS Neil Alexander-Passe Elena Barbiero Ann Marie Christian David Cole Jill Davies Dorothy Gallagher Andrew Harland Sue Hurrell Kim Johnson Jennifer Jones Rhona MacDonald Catherine McCurry Mary Mountstephen Michelle Myers Dame Stephanie Shirley Douglas Silas Tracey Smith Elizabeth Stanley Rebekah Tailor Emma Tingley Will Washington Maxine Whitmore Kerry Whitehouse

SEN Magazine ISSN: 1755-4845 SENISSUE79

In this issue

Parents' rights

22

28

54

Safeguarding

Suffering in silence

62

Power to parents How recent SEN reforms have strengthened parents’ rights

32

Supporting learning Helping students with spina bifida and hydrocephalus in the classroom

34

Looking for an ordinary life Supporting children with complex health needs

Autism

74

Learning from others

Helping children with avoidant attachment issues

28

Nov • Dec 2015 • Issue 79

What can new teachers learn from experienced colleagues about SEN?

64

Epilepsy and education Is the Children and Families Act working for pupils with epilepsy?

67

Looking after your own How schools can support staff and bring out the best in their prime assets

70

Branching out The role of creativity in child development

38

A touch of relaxation Using reflexology to prepare pupils for learning

40

Spotlight on arts therapists How art therapy can help improve the wellbeing of people with SEN

48

Valuing speaking and listening Whole-school active listening approaches to learning

50

54

6 14

SEN news What's new?

The latest products and ideas from the world of SEN

20

Point of view Have your say!

26

SEN legal Q&A Transfer reviews explained

Testing times

72

Is it time to review the use of access arrangements in the exams system?

86 Recruitment

88

CPD, training and events Your essential guide to SEN courses, seminars and events

Dyslexia and mental health The hidden side of living with a learning difference

Book reviews New job roles are emerging for teaching staff in the SEN arena

Keeping kids safe How to spot the signs of abuse

56

Regulars

Commitment to communication Best practice in supporting primary school kids with SLCN

49

The science of wishful thinking Dame Stephanie Shirley explains why she has donated £50 million to autism projects

Building accessibility What can schools and councils do to improve access for wheelchair users?

44

74

96

SEN resources directory

22 Attachment disorder 32 Spina bifida and hydrocephalus

34 PMLD

67 Professional support for teachers

In the next issue of SEN:

CReSTeD/dyslexia • assistive technology • hearing impairment outdoor activities • Down syndrome • autism • post-16 options SEN provision overseas • Education Show preview and much more…

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SEN NEWS

Ofsted wants your views on SEN provision Consultation opens on new SEN inspections Inspectors to focus on support for SEN at a local level Inspectors from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are to assess how effectively local areas are fulfilling their obligations towards children and young people with SEN, under new proposals announced in October.

A new form of inspection will begin in May 2016. For the first time, inspectors will evaluate how local authorities, nurseries, schools, further education establishments and health services identify children and young people with SEN. They will also evaluate how well they provide services to meet these needs, in nurseries, schools or further education colleges, and through specialist services, such as speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and mental health services.

Inspectors will look at a sample of students’ files and information about their progress. Inspectors will visit early years settings, schools and further education colleges to see how they are helping to meet the local area’s responsibilities.

Ofsted and the CQC say they want these inspections to act as a catalyst for improvement, so that some of the most vulnerable young people in the country benefit consistently from the highquality services to which they are entitled.

The inspection reports will also highlight particular strengths and good practice in local areas, to encourage other areas to model similar practices. These evaluations will also include children’s and young people’s progress towards their next stage of education or employment.

The overall aim is to see all children and young people with SEN do well in education, be more independent, find employment and be an increasing part of their local communities.

Have your say

Ofsted and the CQC are currently “seeking the widest possible range of views from all those with an interest in disability and special educational needs”. The consultation asks for responses to the following proposals: • inspectors will evaluate how effectively the local area identifies disabled children and young people and those who have SEN • inspectors will evaluate how effectively the local area meets the needs and improves the outcomes of disabled children and young people and those with SEN • a wide range of information will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of local area arrangements, including the views of children and young people, parents and carers, recent inspection reports and visits to a number of local education and health service providers SENISSUE79

Ofsted is looking for feedback on its SEN inspection proposals.

• a wide range of ways will be used during the inspection to obtain the views of disabled children and young people, and their parents and carers, including meetings, online questionnaires and social media.

“We will look carefully at how the local area identifies the needs of young people and scrutinise how well it meets these needs”, says Sean Harford, Ofsted’s National Director for Education. “We will want to see evidence that the children and young people are progressing well, to their next stage of education or employment.”

Professor Steve Field, the Care Quality Commission’s Chief Inspector of General Practice, believes that negotiating the various health and education systems can be very complicated for the families of young people and children with SEN or disabilities. “It can be a bewildering experience for families having to coordinate different types of support”, he says. “That’s why it’s important that we examine how well these different partners work together to meet the care needs of this often vulnerable group.”

While the consultation and proposed inspections have been broadly welcomed by many in the SEN sector, there are concerns about how the inspections will work. Ian Noon, Head of Policy and Research at The National Deaf Children’s Society, says that Ofsted’s approach “treats SEND as if it were a single entity. SEND covers a wide range of needs therefore a general report about overall SEND provision will not be helpful to parents wishing to hold their local authority to account for their child’s specific disability.”

Mr Noon has called on Ofsted, the CQC and the DfE to rethink their approach.

The consultation will close on 4 January 2016.

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SEN NEWS

Awards celebrate best practice in SLCN Innovation and excellent practice in supporting children and young people’s communication development were celebrated at the 2015 Shine a Light Awards ceremony in September.

The Awards, organised by Pearson in partnership with The Communication Trust, were hosted by comedian David Baddiel at Pearson’s London headquarters.

Now in their fourth year, the Awards honour individuals, teams, campaigns, communication-friendly settings and communities that have excelled in their support of children and young people’s communication, particularly for those with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

A number of individuals received awards, including 17-year-old Jonathan Middleditch from Surrey, who was the recipient of the Young Person of the Year Award, and Bev Crisp from Yorkshire who took home the Communication Champion Award.

Jonathan, a pupil at Moor House School and College, was diagnosed with severe specific language impairment, dyspraxia, dyslexia and dyscalculia, resulting in unintelligible speech. He has achieved two GCSEs and gained a place on an agriculture course at a mainstream college.

Jonathan became an integral part of the School’s successful bid to for a £90,000 grant to develop a specialist system to enable other pupils to access support.

Bev Crisp from Whitby and Moors Children’s Centre was acknowledged for her efforts, working in her spare time, to develop an early-years intervention programme called Building Blocks for Language.

Aerodrome Primary Academy in Croydon was named Primary School of the Year, with judges praising its whole-school approach to communication in which all members of staff, from the headteacher to the caretaker, have a strong understanding of speech, language and communication development.

The award for Secondary School/College of the Year went to Hampstead School in London for its commitment to SLCN across the whole school.

“We have seen examples of children and young people with SLCN being supported by some truly remarkable individuals

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Young Person of the year Jonathan Middleditch with Awards host David Baddiel.

and groups”, said Chris Hall, Director of Clinical Assessment at Pearson.

Praising the winners and highly commended finalists, Communication Trust Director Anne Fox, in her final engagement for the Trust before taking up a new post, said their work “will help inspire and motivate people right across the country”.

Holy Trinity Primary School in Yorkshire received the Communication Commitment School of the Year Award, Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust were awarded the Community Friendly Award, and I CAN’s Talk About Talk programme was recognised for SLCN Innovation.

“In these times of cut backs and shrinking budgets, the Shine a Light Awards remind us just what can be achieved when best practice and innovation are given the opportunity to thrive”, said SEN Magazine Editor Peter Sutcliffe, who chaired one of the judging panels.

Lord David Ramsbotham was awarded the Pearson Outstanding Achievement Award for his “transformational impact on SLCN” and activity related to the Children and Families Act.

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SEN NEWS

New Director for Communication Trust The Communication Trust, a coalition of over 50 not-forprofit organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication has appointed Octavia Holland as Director.

“The work of The Communication Trust and the organisations it represents is essential in developing the skills of the workforce to make a lasting impact in the lives of children and young people – an impact that could improve their life chances significantly”, says Octavia.

Her career covers policy roles for the Department for Education and as Chief Executive of Coram’s Fields, a London-based children and young people’s charity. Her most recent role was as Director of Policy, Advice and Communication at Gingerbread, a charity which campaigns for and provides advice to single parents.

Virginia Beardshaw, Chief Executive of I CAN, which hosts the Trust and is one of its founding members,says “Octavia’s background working with children and families and her education policy experience in the Civil Service are both useful and relevant for taking forward the important work of the Trust.”

People are keen to learn sign language More people want to learn sign language than French and German, according to a new survey by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS).

The charity’s research showed that two-thirds of adults think being able to use sign language is more impressive than speaking a foreign language.

British Sign Language (BSL) is a language in its own right and uses handshapes, facial expressions, gestures and body language to convey meaning. It is the first language of some deaf people and is used in addition to spoken English by others.

Young reporters given national audience An initiative from BBC News is giving 11- to 16-year-olds in schools across the UK the opportunity to make and broadcast their own news to a real audience. The activity culminates on News Day in March when the BBC broadcasts many of the school reports across BBC TV, radio and online.

With the support of lesson plans and BBC staff, the project aims to help pupils develop and improve core skills including English, maths and computing and help them build their confidence.

School Report is open to all secondary schools in the UK, including academies and comprehensives, grammar schools and independents, free schools and specialist schools for pupils with SEN.

Lesson plans and teacher resources for BBC News School Report are available at: www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport SENISSUE79

Roughly a quarter (25.5 per cent) of people in Britain say they want to learn sign language, the survey suggests, with BSL ranking second behind Spanish as the language respondents would most like to learn. Sixty-one percent of people reported feeling embarrassed that they can’t communicate well with deaf people and wish they could do better.

“Thank you” is the phrase people would most like to learn in sign language, closely followed by “can I help” and “sorry”.

Nearly 80 per cent of deaf children in England attend mainstream schools where they may be the only deaf child enrolled. The charity’s Chief Executive Susan Daniels believes that without good deaf awareness, these children can miss out on crucial social development, like interaction with classmates and playground games. “It is so important that deaf children and young people do not miss out on conversations, activities and opportunities to make new friends”, she says.

For the latest news, articles, SEN resources, CPD and events listings, visit: www.senmagazine.co.uk

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SEN NEWS

New HCPC guide to health and care professions The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has launched revised guidance for disabled people who are considering becoming, or are training to become, a professional regulated by the HCPC.

Chatterbox Challenge 2016 Children’s communication charity I CAN has launched Chatterbox Challenge 2016, its annual sing-a-long fundraising event for children under five-years-olds. Now in its fifteenth year, the Challenge is open to registrations from nurseries and early years settings across the UK.

The event encourages early years practitioners in nurseries and early years settings across the UK to support and develop their children’s communication skills through rhyme and song, whilst raising money for the more than a million children across the UK who have speech, language and communication needs that require long-term specialist help.

Speech, language and communication skills are essential for life and for learning. Without these skills, children can struggle to learn, make friends and reach their full potential.

The event this year, themed “Ben and Holly’s Elf and Fairy Party”, is supported by Entertainment One’s popular children’s TV show Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. Chatterbox Challenge 2016 week will run from 8 to 14 February, though early years settings and nurseries can hold their challenge any time of the year.

Streetsbrook Childcare was one of the settings that took part in last year’s Chatterbox Challenge. “We felt it was extremely important to raise awareness of children’s communication difficulties by taking part and ensuring our parents understand the importance of singing, telling stories and everyday interactions as fundamental in children’s holistic development”, said the centre’s Manager Katey Moxley.

Streetsbrook won First Prize in the Silver Shooting Star Prize Draw, earning a visit from Ben and Holly. “We were super excited to receive a visit from Ben and Holly”, said Katey. “The children had such a lovely afternoon meeting them and it caused quite a stir throughout the whole school”.

To register for a free fundraising activity pack, or to find out more about Chatterbox Challenge, visit: www.chatterboxchallenge.org.uk WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

The guide, Health, Disability and Becoming a Health and Care Professional, is also intended to be useful for individuals working in education and training, careers advisors, those teaching, supervising or supporting disabled students and occupational health professionals.

There are four parts which encompass information about the HCPC and its standards, useful information for disabled people, a section for education providers and also where to find more dedicated website pages on health and disability.

Following a three month consultation with stakeholders, including course leaders, professional bodies, students and employers, the publication also now includes new guidance on disclosing disabilities, information about education providers’ responsibilities and detailed examples of reasonable adjustments to reflect complex cases.

“Disabled people have an important contribution to make to the health and care professions we regulate”, says Nicole Casey, the HCPC’s Acting Director of Policy and Standards. “Having a health condition or disability should not be seen as a barrier to becoming a registered health and care professional.”

The Guide is available as a free download and in a range of different formats. For more information, visit: www.hcpc-uk.org

Historic disability archive placed online Thousands of photographs of people with disabilities working towards achieving their goals for life have been made available online.

Going back more than 80 years, photograph’s from the Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) archive tell a story of disability issues in Britain from before the Second World War and show examples of how people with disabilities trained for work and independent living. They also document the support HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother provided to those with disabilities and the role she played in changing attitudes in society.

In addition to the digital image archive, the project involves digitising the archive of film reels and video, collecting oral histories from people that worked, trained and lived at QEF. These will be available online soon.

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SEN NEWS

Disability hate crime on the rise Figures released by the Home Office show a dramatic increase in reported disability hate crime.

Roughly 2500 disability hate crimes were recorded by the police last year, a 25 per cent increase on the previous year. However, the National Crime Survey estimates that the true figure is around 70,000 disability related hate crimes, and for people with learning disabilities this figure is likely to be considerably higher.

Figures from Mencap show that 88 per cent of people with learning disabilities reported bullying and harassment in the preceding year. Hate crime robs people of their confidence, their independence and, sometimes, their lives.

Study seeks baby siblings of kids with autism Researchers are looking for families to take part in The Studying Autism and ADHD Risks (STAARS) project, which will be researching the early development of baby brothers and sisters of children with autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit disorders and typical development.

Symptoms of developmental difficulties like autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tend to emerge in toddlerhood, although many individuals don’t have their condition recognised until much later in development. This diagnostic gap limits children’s access to early intervention.

Recent studies suggest that early intensive intervention can improve developmental outcomes for young children with autism.

Babies who have an older sibling with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) have a roughly 20 per cent chance of developing autism themselves. Scientists are therefore keen to study baby siblings to learn about the early signs and brain changes in autism.

The STAARS project is following babies with a sibling or parent diagnosed with autism or ADHD from before ten months of age to three years. In the long term, the researchers hope their study will help to improve early detection and diagnosis of children with ASD and ADHD, allowing for earlier and more effective intervention aimed at improving the quality of life of children and their families.

Dimensions, which supports people with learning disabilities and autism, has welcomes the reported increase in the figures because it says the statistics show that more victims are coming forward.

A statement from the not-for-profit organisation says that disability hate crime is also under prosecuted. People with a learning disability feel that police officers often do not know how to communicate with them properly. When the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) investigated why cases involving learning disabled victims rarely get to court, it concluded that the reliability and credibility of the victim was often an issue.

“All hate crime – whether on the grounds of race, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation – should be treated equally under the law”, says Dimensions Chief Executive Steve Scown, “And we strongly encourage people with learning disabilities and autism, and those around them, to report hate crime to the police whenever and wherever it occurs.”

New Research Director for Autistica James Cusack has joined the autism charity Autistica as its new Research Director.

Dr Cusack has gained broad experience working within the field of autism at the University of Aberdeen. He has sat on a number of UK autism advisory panels and been a member of Autistica's Science Review Panel since 2014.

“I am delighted to be joining the team at Autistica at such an exciting time for the charity and autism research”, he said.

“Autistica’s outstanding community-driven research strategy gives us the perfect framework to support world-class research which can improve our understanding of autism and improve the lives of those affected by autism.”

The project is also seeking to develop new training programs for infants at high risk of developmental difficulties. For example, they are currently testing a new training program for early ADHD that involves training infant attention skills. This study is open to infants under the age of ten months with a family member with ADHD in the London or Southampton areas.

Dr Cusack, who has autism himself, undertook a PhD at the University of Aberdeen where he studied how people with autism detect the actions of others. In his post-doctoral studies he led the development of an automated measure of facial imitation which is being used in the study of autism, mood disorders and schizophrenia.

The study is being run by Babylab at The Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, University of London. For more information, visit: www.staars.org

News deadline for next issue: 2/12/15 Email: editor@senmagazine.co.uk

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SEN NEWS

Improving university access for care leavers A new online resource has been created to help care leavers to go into higher education.

Care leavers are around six times less likely than other young people to attend university or take part in a higher education course at college. The charity The Who Cares? Trust has created the resource to provide information about UK educational institutions’ pastoral and financial provision for care leavers, as well as inspirational stories from care-experienced students who have successfully made the transition from care to higher education.

The charity hopes the new website, Propel, will encourage young people in care to aim high and make the choice that is right for them.

New government figures show that in 2015, of 8,600 care leavers in England aged 19, just 470 (one in 20) were in higher education. By contrast, around two in five of all 18- and 19-yearolds enter higher education. Despite UCAS reporting a record number of applicants to higher education courses, along with claims of success for widening participation initiatives from both universities and the regulator, the proportion of care leavers who enter higher education has remained static since 2009.

The Trust says that educational outcomes for looked-after children remain lower than those of the general population because of a complex range of factors, including pre-care experiences such as maltreatment and neglect. Educational achievement can be negatively affected by disruption to schooling and trauma caused by multiple placement moves while in care, although research has shown that the longer a young person remains in the care system, the more likely they are to achieve. This means that being in care can have a positive impact on educational achievement; stability and quality of placements, and the aspirations of social care professionals, carers and teachers for the young people they support, are key to raising both young people’s ambition and achievement.

The online resource can be found at: www.propel.org.uk

European declaration on autism The adoption of the Written Declaration on Autism, drafted in cooperation with Autism-Europe, has been announced by the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.

418 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) signed the Written Declaration, which calls on the European Union and its member states to adopt a European strategy for autism.

MEP Nicola Caputo, the first signatory of the declaration, stressed the need to improve early detection and diagnosis and support for those with autism: “…we urgently need a European strategy which should aim at encouraging research on autism, prevalence studies and exchange of best practices regarding evidence-based interventions for children with autism, as well as habilitation services for adults”, she said.

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Funding crisis in disabled children’s services More than half of local authorities have cut spending on short breaks for families with disabled children since 2011/12, says new research published by the Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM) campaign. The research also shows that families are reporting that it is more difficult to access short breaks, which are also often referred to as respite care.

The consortium of charities involved in the campaign is warning of the economic and social consequences if local authorities are forced to make further cuts to short breaks services, and is calling on the Chancellor to renew the Government’s commitment to investing in short break services in this autumn’s spending review, as he did in 2010. This will send a clear message to families that their huge contribution is valued and to local authorities that they must protect funding to disabled children services.

Short breaks provide a lifeline for families with disabled children, says a spokesperson for the consortium, helping to hold families together and opening up the world to their disabled children, giving them independence. Short breaks are proven to lower rates of stress, depression and sleep deprivation, helping to prevent families from reaching breaking point. They allow parents time with their other children who can often miss out due to all the things their parents have to juggle, such as medical appointments, assessments and work.

Families that receive a regular break from caring are also emotionally healthier.

The new research also shows that despite pressures to cut, some local authorities have protected short breaks services.

“The value of investing in short breaks is beyond doubt”, says Amanda Batten EDCM Board Member and CEO at Contact a Family. “They save the State tens of millions of pounds by supporting parent carers to look after their disabled children, and they give disabled children and young people opportunities that their peers take for granted.”

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WHAT’S NEW?

What’s new?

Toilet aids for disabled kids

Notetaker updates

According to research, using functional rooms, including the bathroom, is the second biggest problem faced by the three-quarters of a million UK families with a disabled child.

Notetalker App was launched in June 2015 to provide a better way of making notes using the smartphone or tablet as a voice recorder. These recordings can be uploaded to Notetalker Edit, a software platform for Mac and Windows, for students to write their notes.

Clos-o-Mat has published a new white paper, Guidance & Considerations in the Provision of Toilet Aids for Disabled Children.

“The ability to go to the toilet with less, or no, help, has a huge impact on any child’s independence and self-care skills”, explains Mark Sadler, Sales Director at Clos-o-Mat. The white paper is available for download from: www.clos-o-mat.com info@clos-o-mat.com

0161 969 1199

Learning and CPD Meeting the needs of all learners is a key aspiration for all education staff. Ensuring inclusion, access to the curriculum and effective teaching methods for all students can be challenging.

Through its CPD programme, ATL aims to help its members develop the understanding and skills required to meet the aspirations of students with SEN. Expert trainers provide face-to-face and online support in a range of subjects from looking at practical solutions for dyslexia and dyscalculia to working with learners who have ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders.

Full details of ATL’s CPD programme can be found at: www.atl.org.uk/learningzone

There are some new features which have just been added to the software including a Text Search function, and a 420 character mathematics keyboard for science and maths students, including the Greek Alphabet. Further developments are in the pipeline, including access to online dictionaries.

Conversor Limited Tel: 01483 473810 Email: lisa@conversorproducts.com Web: www.notetalker.com and www.conversorproducts.com

New teaching resources designed for children with Down syndrome Down Syndrome Education International is publishing new “See and Learn” resources which are designed to support the development of early speech, language, reading and numbers skills for children with Down syndrome.

Available as printed teaching materials or apps, these programmes are evidence-based, include clear and comprehensive guidance, and provide forms to track progress and plan teaching activities.

You can find out more at: www.seeandlearn.org

NCS With The Challenge seeks youth and community mentors and leaders NCS With The Challenge are looking for dedicated individuals, interested in working with young people to strengthen their communities, working residentially and in the local community.

Located in London, Surrey, Berkshire, West Midlands, North West England or Leeds and Bradford, the role will take up to 18 days plus training (salary: up to £1540 per Wave).

Literacy development programme Dyslexia Action Shop has released Version 6 of its Units of Sound Online programme. This is a second chance literary development programme suitable for Key Stage 2 through to adults that develops reading (decoding), spelling and writing skills.

A single programme includes outdoor activities, skill development and community service. Paid positions are available for people at every level. Positions last from two to 14 weeks in Summer 2016. Applications open early December 2015.

Dyslexia Action Shop sells a range of educational and assessment resources. It is the trading arm of Dyslexia Action, a national charity with over 40 years’ experience providing support to people with literacy and numeracy difficulties. All profits from the shop are donated back to Dyslexia Action to support people with dyslexia and literacy difficulties.

To apply online, visit: www.ncsthechallenge.org/jobs

To find out more, visit: www.dyslexiaactionshop.co.uk

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WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

WHAT’S NEW?

Personal care with the new iHelp2

SEN solicitors celebrate ten years

Easylink UK have launched the new iHelp2 personal care device, offering location tracking, SOS assistance calling, fall detection and personal reminders, including medication prompts.

Specialist SEN solicitors, Douglas Silas Solicitors, recently celebrated their tenth anniversary, having helped thousands of parents of children and young people with SEN to successfully navigate the system – from advising about assessments, to representing in Tribunal appeals – even when parents thought there was no hope left or they had been unsuccessful previously.

iHelp2 is free from monthly subscription charges or rental agreements, and delivers tracking location direct to a carers smartphone, without the need of a call centre. iHelp2 is set up using a simple-to-use free APP (Android or iOS). IHelp2 has a ten-day battery life and it speaks to the user to remind them when it needs recharging.

“Things have changed a lot in the world of SEN during the past decade, especially during this past year with there now being a new SEN framework and everyone transitioning statements to EHC plans”, says Douglas.

iHelp2 is compact, stylish, and lightweight and is available only through Easylink UK.

For more information, visit: www.SpecialEducationalNeeds.co.uk

www.easylinkuk.co.uk/page136.html

Do you need quality moving and handling training?

EDGE Services are one of the leading providers of moving and handling training in the UK. With over 10 years’ experience of delivering training, their courses will inspire and empower you to be pro-active in the reduction of workplace accidents, incidents and illhealth by implementing safer handling techniques.

All of their trainers are qualified healthcare professionals with real experience of real situations, and their courses are endorsed by the College of Occupational Therapists. Courses can be run on a public or in-house basis across the UK.

Henshaws College hosts free transitions event in Harrogate On Saturday 14 November, Henshaws Specialist College will host a free event for young people affected by SEN and disabilities to support them and their families and carers in exploring opportunities to promote health, wellbeing, social and employment opportunities for a fulfilling adulthood.

Henry Inman, Transitions Manager said: “We know that for many parents it can be difficult to access information about local leisure, work and living opportunities. Our event brings providers together in one place to help families make an informed decision about the next steps for their young people.”

Book a place online at: www.henshaws.ac.uk

For more information, call: 01904 677853 or visit: www.edgeservices.co.uk

Develop the SEND dream team in your school Hays Education is partnering with Anita Devi, a leading education consultant, to deliver 12 UK breakfast seminars between November 2015 and June 2016. These will support headteachers and senior leaders to “Develop the ultimate SEND dream team in your school”.

Anita Devi will explore a range of ideas, enhancing teacher and staff skills and confidence to meet DfE 0 to 25 SEND Code of Practice 2015 requirements around the “assess-plan-do and review” cycle. These will examine effective strategies for recruiting and retaining high quality SEND practitioners, including SENCOs/inclusion managers.

To book your free place, email: hayseducation@hays.com WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Hesley launches online service specific videos Hesley Group have announced the launch of their new online videos which allow viewers to see and hear how they provide specialist support through their schools, colleges and adult residential services to people with autism and complex needs.

Timed to fit with their 40th anniversary year, the short videos consist of interviews with parents, staff and managers who give a very real overview of how Hesley and their personcentred approach make a difference to the lives of the people they support and their parents or carers.

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WHAT’S NEW?

Stars come out for Wear It For Autism The third annual Wear It For Autism event took place on 4 October at The Millennium Hotel in Knightsbridge.

The evening was hosted by Uxbridge resident Anna Kennedy OBE, who has spent her life campaigning for autism charities, and presented by Denise Welch, Jane Moore, Richard Mylan and Caprice.

Dressed by Kaffa Mockbill, Jacamo and Thomas Farthing, individuals living with autism were led down the catwalk by Classic Model Agency. There were performances by people on the autistic spectrum and from The Drifters' Ray Lewis, West End star Amanda Posener and Pineapple Dance Studio.

Kidz to Adultz Up North Along with the usual paediatric elements to the Kidz events, Kidz to Adultz up North (Thursday 19 November 2015 at EventCity, Manchester) will see the introduction and expansion of services and equipment to support young adults up to the age of 25.

The event will include exhibitors from the fields of housing, higher education and employment, together with domiciliary care services, personal budget brokers, accessible vehicles suppliers, those providing holiday and travel options and more.

For more information on any of the Kidz to Adultz events, contact the organisers Disabled Living. Tel: 0161 607 8200 or email: info@disabledliving.co.uk

annakennedyonline.com

Personal development into adulthood The ELMS (enrichment, learning and multi-sensory) is a new facility which showcases the values and ethos of Hollybank Trust: quality of life, for life.

It is designed for young people and adults with profound and complex disabilities who want to continue their personal development into adulthood when college and other educational options are no longer available.

ELMS has sensory environments, multi-media rooms including music, soft play areas, assistive technology facilities, art and hobby workshops and enterprise activities.

It is enhanced learning and leisure combined and welcomes members from both Hollybank and the wider community. h.milne@hollybanktrust.com www.hollybanktrust.com

Summer sensory theatre tour coming to schools Interplay has introduced its new sensory performance tour for spring 2016, creating a new exciting environment and story for the young people at your school to discover.

"Harold and Maude" explores the nature of feeling like an outsider. Harold is 19, he isn’t very happy, he dislikes change, he has some eccentric obsessions and has trouble being told what to do. Maude is 79, has a lust for life and lots of wacky inventions. Join them on a tale of discovery as Harold learns to love his life and try new things. @Interplayleeds http://www.interplaytheatre.co.uk/ SENISSUE79

Specialist SEN support for school leaders As an SEN specialist you face unique challenges in managing the impact of the SEN and disabilities reforms. As a member of NAHT you can benefit from professional support which includes practical guidance on legislation, up-to-date information relevant to SEN education, access to specialist advisors and tailored training and networking opportunities.

Combined with full trade union protection, NAHT membership can provide peace of mind and expert advice to help with the day-to-day management of your school. NAHT represents school leaders from all phases of education. www.naht.org.uk/sen

XI Autism-Europe International Congress 2016 Taking place from 16 to 18 September 2016 in Edinburgh, Autism-Europe’s International Congress is dedicated to sharing advances in practical and scientific knowledge about autism to as wide an audience as possible, including researchers, professionals, parents and self-advocates.

In partnership with

The theme for 2016 is “Happy, healthy and empowered” and submissions for presentations from researchers, practitioners, teachers, autistic individuals and other interested parties are welcomed. Congress organisers hope to explore a broad range of perspectives, both theoretical and practical.

For more information about the Congress, how to book your place or for guidance on submitting your abstract, visit: www.autism.org.uk/autismeurope2016C WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

WHAT’S NEW?

Enhanced voice recording The top-of-the-range Olympus DM-7 takes recording to a new level with Wi-Fi smartphone compatibility, a stereo microphone and a slick user interface.

In addition, it’s equipped with assistive features such as Voice Command and Text-to-Speech Functions.

By fine-tuning the recording level to match the volume of the audio source, you can achieve high-quality recordings that make the most of the dynamic range. The Voice Balancer makes smaller voices louder while louder voices remain below a given level, ensuring clear and consistent playback. The Voice Filter further enhances voices.

For further details, visit: http://bit.ly/1MKQLhI

More play therapists needed The latest estimates from the Play Therapy UK Demand Model show that 23,370 play therapists are needed in the UK. This figure is up by 19 per cent since the previous Census of Population. This is mainly due to the growth in the population of children aged between four and 12, and also to the average number of sessions required increasing from 12 to 15.

Food technology facilities boost life skills at LVS Hassocks Learners at LVS Hassocks, for eight- to 19-year-olds with Asperger’s, autism and dyslexia, are now able to develop their life skills and gain qualifications in the school’s new food technology area.

All learners can now enjoy cookery lessons to help them become more independent, with food preparation and cooking NVQs also available. A former Hassocks learner followed this path and is now a qualified chef nominated for the Young Chef of the Year competition at the forthcoming national Sodexo Salon Culinaire.

For all enquiries and bookings, call 03330 067433.

Conversation cards for language skills Literacy charity Reading Matters has launched its own brand of conversation cards, designed to stimulate conversations and improve the communication skills of children and young people.

Each card features a question that will prompt a conversation and help to develop a child's vocabulary, language proficiency and listening skills.

Teachers and teaching assistants with at least two years’ experience are well qualified for training as registered play therapists.

Published by Fink, the cards are available at £14.99 on the Reading Matters website. Reading Matters specialises in oneto-one reading support for children and young people who are struggling or reluctant readers. Its latest Impact Report shows an average improvement in reading age of 12 months with just ten hours of intervention.

For more information, visit: www.playtherapy.org.uk

www.readingmatters.org.uk

Transatlantic connection for autism school

New sensory integration catalogue

Autism special school Prior’s Court joined colleagues from the University of North Carolina at this year’s TEACCH Conference.

TEACCH developed the intervention called Structured Teaching which is based on understanding the learning characteristics of individuals with autism and the use of visual supports to promote meaning and independence.

Since it opened 16 years ago, the school has focussed its autism practice around the TEACCH methodology and built an extremely high level of staff expertise in the approach with two five day TEACCH courses a year held at the school. www.priorscourt.org.uk WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Rompa have created a new catalogue specifically for sensory integration.

Full of products that can help you to provide sensory integration therapy and sensory circuits, this catalogue is a must have for schools.

The catalogue includes the new range of SI equipment which is up to 35 per cent less expensive. Much of the range has been designed to be safer and more flexible to your needs. Sensory Integration say their range “is better quality, better value and gives you better choice”.

Find out more at: www.rompa.com/si or request a catalogue at: www.rompa.com/catlogues SENISSUE79

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WHAT’S NEW?

Seashell Trust opens new houses Seashell Trust has developed state-of-the-art houses adapted to meet the varied needs of its students.

School and college students worked with staff to choose decorations and local artist Christine Evans joined the Trust's holiday programmes to create a batik print for each house.

Residential students completed their transition for the start of the academic year and the homes are now open for overnight short breaks.

Seashell offers short break services for those with complex needs aged three to 25.

To learn more, visit: www.seashelltrust.org.uk/care/short-breaks, email: shortbreaks@seashelltrust.org.uk or telephone: 0161 610 0100.

New interactive digital LED products Sensory Technology has unveiled its new I-Digital LED products within its Senteq Select range.

Designed and manufactured in-house using the very latest technology, the new Tower Light, Fan Light and Infinity Tunnel join their already popular Borealis and Spectra LED Tubes and Sensor Floor.

These I-Digital products develop cause and effect and emotive skills and are completely interactive being operated by wireless controllers. Also with the utilisation of sound using wired microphones, they provide a stimulating, conversing, multi-sensory environment for all users.

I-Digital are available as mail order or as part of a sensory installation. www.senteqdirect.co.uk

Autism By Design A family-run business, Autism

By Design, is looking to promote awareness of autism and associated neurological conditions in a lighthearted manner through apparel and accessories.

They are working in collaboration with another company to offer ID solutions that cater for those who are liable to wander off, vulnerable or may need public assistance.

They are also building up the number of charities they support and to whom five per cent of each sales transaction will be donated. Customers will be able to choose which charity they wish to support through their purchase.

Find: “Autism by Design” on Facebook or visit: www.autismbydeisgn.com SENISSUE79

Shabang! Inclusive Learning win prestigious award In recognition of their innovative and pioneering digital work for children with additional needs, TalkTalk have announced Shabang! as their Digital Hero 2015 for Education.

Shabang! say they will use the £5,000 prize money to create free, online, interactive resources for special education settings and families.

Winners of the National Diversity Award for Community Organisation/Disability 2014, Yorkshire based Shabang! have also been shortlisted for the European Diversity Award Charity of the Year 2015.

To see their range of innovative educational resources, including books, DVDs, CDs, and teachers packs, visit the website: www.shabang.org.uk

SEN Learning Resources SEN Learning Resources are student-centered Year 7 to 13+ workbooklets offering engaging, modern resources for adolescents. Workbooklets are filled with practical, active and relevant tasks that build skills and learning programmes.

SEN Learning Resources specialise in developing PDF workbooklets for students who require support with learning, high learning needs, special needs students, disengaged students, alternative education, literacy/numeracy programmes and transition students, to ensure meaningful pathways for all students.

Sample pages, titles, free downloads and online ordering are available on the website. Use promo code: SENmag at the checkout to receive ten per cent discount for Nov/Dec.

www.senlearning.co.uk info@senlearning.co.uk

New Sensory Light Cube with play feature This new Sensory Light Cube from Timotay has multiple play features. Children can enjoy using it for physical play or as a hide-out tunnel; they can observe the changing shades through the multi-colour panels or enjoy simulative play with the integrated suspended play items.

This innovative multi-sensory play feature is ideal for indoor or outdoor use.

You can find out more about the Sensory Light Cube and order online at: www.timotayplayscapes.co.uk WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

WHAT’S NEW?

Bespoke education recruitment Vision for Education's SEN specialists provide a bespoke recruitment service for all alternative education and SEN provisions.

Clients have their own dedicated SEN consultant who can supply emergency day-to-day cover, long-term and permanent candidate sourcing, covering leadership, teachers, SENCOs, teaching assistants and learning support assistants.

They are experienced with SEMH, ASC, MLD, SLD, SpLD, PD and complex needs teachers and support staff, and are fully AWR compliant. The company pay the best rates to its fully qualified and vetted candidates and in-house training is offered to candidates including, Team-Teach, Moving and Handling, Autism Awareness, ADHD Awareness, AAC and Sensory Integration. www.visionforeducation.co.uk

Affordable large print books The charity Blind Children UK subsidises its CustomEyes large print books, so you only pay the same as you would pay for standard print.

There are thousands of books in the catalogue, with more being added all the time.

Highlights include the Oxford Reading Tree series, Project X, English Literature set texts and popular non-fiction from Usborne.

To find out more about the CustomEyes range, call: 0118 983 8275, email: customeyes@blindchildrenuk.org or visit: www.blindchildrenuk.org

AccessAbilities Expo 2016 AccessAbilities Expo is aimed at enhancing the lives of people with disabilities in the UAE. The event follows the passing of new laws across the UAE to raise the level of awareness and care for people with disabilities, and it aims to unite UAE government departments and corporations to support this initiative.

AccessAbilities Expo 2016 is being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum – President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group – from 9 to 11 February 2016 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. www.accessabilitiesexpo.com WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Hong Kong Learning and Teaching Expo This year’s Learning and Teaching Expo in Hong Kong (10 to 12 December) will have a brand new SEN Theatre to provide a platform for school leaders, teachers and educators in the Asia-Pacific Region to hear about and discuss the latest learning and teaching strategies, effective tools and global development trends in SEN. At the same time, a wide range of educational resources for teachers of students with SEN will also be showcased in the Expo. Further information and online registration for the Expo is available at: www.LTExpo.com.hk

Brixham College celebrates decade of autism provision Brixham College students and staff got together recently to celebrate ten years of autism provision at the College.

Over 50 current and former students, aged ten to 22, gathered to reunite, share their experiences and celebrate their achievements to the backdrop of music played by the College’s Big Band.

More than 75 students from Torbay have accessed the provision and outreach support at the College since its inception. “It gives them the opportunity to meet others with the same condition, practice social skills and make friends”, says Cathryn Beswetherick, Learning Support Team Leader. http://brixhamcollege.co.uk

Former England striker backs Action for Disability Swansea City first-team coach James Beattie is asking young people in South Wales to volunteer with small groups of friends to raise awareness of issues affecting disabled people.

Leonard Cheshire Disability needs 50 volunteers to launch their Action For Disability campaign across the region. The former England striker is asking young people aged 14 to 25 to register via the charity’s website to declare their interest.

“I support the charity because they support thousands of people with physical and learning disabilities to fulfil their potential and live the lives they choose”, said Mr Beattie.

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POINT OF VIEW

Point of view: parent

Parenting Asperger’s Dorothy Gallagher recounts the small steps that helped her son negotiate school

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hilip was about three when I first noticed that something was not quite right. As an educational psychologist, you might think that I would have read the signs a little earlier, but as a doting mother, I now see that I was studiously ignoring them.

“The ladies in the nursery”, he pronounced with his usual selfassurance that grey morning, “will probably say that it is cloudy today. But it’s not cloudy, mummy, it’s overcast.”

Where on earth, I mused, had he heard that word? It was the moment I had been dreading: confirmation of all the little worries that had been totting up over the previous few months.

A week earlier, the nursery head had told me she was concerned that Philip showed no interest in engaging with any of the children or adults there. Then there was the obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine, the rigid adherence to routines, the resistance to tasting new foods, the ease with which he completed fairly complex jigsaws and his apprehension about wearing anything new or “rough”. Yes, it was all falling into place and as it did so, I felt as if I was falling too, down a sinkhole of despair; whatever lay ahead for my beautiful boy?

A different path This might sound odd, coming from a professional, but I decided not to proceed down a formal route of diagnosis and multidisciplinary interventions; I had seen at first hand how this process was

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not always as helpful as it could be and so I determined to try to deal with the situation myself.

I quickly learned that there was no way of making Philip “normal”; he did not want to play with other children and the praise of unattached adults held little value for him. But what I did understand from those early days, was that with a lot of direct instruction I could help Philip to act in ways that made him less conspicuous and therefore less likely to be targeted as different.

Early school days were a trial for him; he hated the noise of the classroom and any activity that lacked predictable structure distressed him. He did not

“Why on earth should I care about what someone else thinks of me?” instinctively smile back at others and I had to remind him daily of the rules of interaction. “Why on earth should I care about what someone else thinks of me?” he later asked.

Having navigated the first few years of the infant department with some success, the situation broke down during his third year of formal education.

Philip was miserable; he knew he was isolated, but didn’t understand why and his teachers were frustrated by his lack of interest in anything they were doing

in class. Philip was clearly an able child, but was doing nothing. I wondered if the problem was my expectations, so I withdrew him from the school and enrolled him in a Steiner school. From that moment, everything changed. Philip attended without tears, the class was small and informal, but the structure of each day was securely predictable. He made his first friend and became an avid reader.

Once he was more accepting of the school scenario, I moved him to a small private school and then a larger one. These small steps allowed Philip to gradually adapt to educational expectations and acquire at each stage sufficient confidence and social skills to deal with larger groups and the outside world.

Now nineteen, Philip is studying physics at university. He has a small group of like-minded friends and a girlfriend, but above all else, he is happy.

I think that the worry for most parents is that their child gets the chance to be who they are, to have friends and to enjoy their lives. While bringing up any child presents a series of challenges, this is particularly so when trying to support a child with subtle, but potentially significant, social and emotional issues.

But it can be done, and I would advise anyone struggling with similar issues to keep calm, give clear direction and remain supportive. You will see your child grow in confidence and be able to show to the world the wonderful person that you have always known them to be.

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POINT OF VIEW

Point of view: parent

View from the other side Michelle Myers tells how seeing the world from her autistic son’s perspective helped them tackle his anxiety

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utism and anxiety generally go hand-in-hand. And it’s easy to see why, when the world we live in is such a busy, unpredictable and often unforgiving place. And if we’re honest, how often as a society do we really try to view the world from the perspective of children with autism? It’s a condition that is often hidden, with no tell-tale signs highlighting the internal challenges our children have to overcome every day.

As the mother of a child with autism, I spend my days (and many sleepless nights) trying to unpick my sons view of the world through his behaviour, as that is the key to understanding him.

My son communicates through his behaviour. He tells me how he is feeling with every fibre of his being. Generally, I can pinpoint what is causing his anxiety and together we can try to work out a solution.

But what if the thing that’s causing the anxiety is school? This was the position we found ourselves in earlier this year. The transition to Year 6 was a tricky one for my son. He struggled with the pace of learning, the increasingly complex language and instructions, and the widening gap between himself and his classmates. So as his anxiety and general stress levels began to ramp up week by week, as did his need for a more specific curriculum and sensory approach to learning. This however, in a mainstream class with very limited funding, was tricky.

So my son’s anxiety began to consume him. In fact, it swallowed

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him up entirely every minute of every day. When we could get him to school he would pace around the hall like a caged tiger, unable to communicate with anyone because he was trying his best to stay calm. It would break my heart to leave him like that.

Hitting rock bottom He then began to self-injure and, although the injuries were never serious, each time it was like a cry for help. He was telling us he wasn’t coping. He was slipping into a mental breakdown in front of my eyes and I felt helpless because the pressure was on to get him to school.

My son’s anxiety began to consume him. In fact, it swallowed him up entirely A couple of times I admitted defeat, regardless of the consequences for me, and kept him off school. I knew my child’s anxiety had become serious.

At this point, the balance tipped and his education became less of a priority to the school too, as they could see the worrying symptoms increasing.

His mental health was seriously being affected by his all-consuming stress and anxiety.

So we all agreed that my son needed part time education with less pressure. I home schooled him for several months,

doing maths and literacy based on his interests. We had time to walk the dogs, go swimming, do lots of cooking and, most importantly, laugh a lot.

He flourished and slowly his mood began to lift. He was less anxious and we could see him coming back to us.

Fast forward to now and my son attends a school for children with autism. I can honestly say he’s happy.

I am also recovering from what has been the most stressful year of my life.

It seems to me there is so much pressure to make children with autism conform to our way and to our view of the world. Maybe what we should be doing is recognising that what autistic children need is to be really listened to, in order to reduce their anxieties.

And their education system needs to reflect this by meeting their individual needs. And that means us – as a society – viewing the world through their eyes, because I can assure you, once you have, you will see that although it can be a bit of a bumpy ride sometimes, the view is pretty incredible.

Further information Michelle Myers blogs about autism at: asliceofautism.blogspot.co.uk

What’s your point of view?

Email: editor@senmagazine.co.uk

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ATTACHMENT DISORDER

Suffering in silence How can we help troubled children who seem to be fine? Jennifer Jones examines the world of children with avoidant attachment issues

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hen most people think about attachment disorder they think about angry children; these are the ones who are aggressive, attention seeking and controlling. This is certainly one side of attachment disorder, but there are also other ways that these children can present themselves, some of which can make it almost impossible to spot that anything is wrong.

Attachment disorder occurs in children who have not had their needs met as babies. Children who are in the care system, are adopted and those who have suffered abuse and neglect are particularly at risk.

Attachment refers to how a child's early needs were met, or not, and the specific responses a child develops based on this. For example, children who experience good care will believe they are worthwhile, wanted and lovable, and their caregivers are trustworthy. However, children who

experience poor care will believe they are bad, worthless and unlovable, and that their caregivers are untrustworthy.

Children will develop an attachment style depending on the type of care they received as infants. There are four different types of attachment styles, one secure and three types of insecure.

These are typically characterised by the following types of beliefs and behaviours.

Secure attachment These are typically well grounded children, keen to interact with adults and peers alike, who feel happy that the world is a good place. When upset, they will seek comfort from their primary caregiver and feel confident that they will receive this.

Ambivalent insecure attachment These children do not trust that adults will keep them safe and therefore show attention seeking behaviours to ensure they are noticed and their

These children have a deep rooted mistrust of adults and will hide their feelings at all costs needs are met. They will feel unable to depend on their caregiver when upset or frightened.

Avoidant insecure attachment Often quiet and unassuming, these children typically appear well behaved and compliant. They do not believe that adults can keep them safe so avoid having to rely on them whenever possible.

Disorganised insecure attachment These children can show very confusing and extreme behaviour with little pattern. They often have a “push/ pull� approach to caregivers with the feelings of "I need you but I can't cope with you".

Children with avoidant attachment issues can easily slip under the radar.

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ATTACHMENT DISORDER

Hidden problems Children who exhibit ambivalent and disorganised attachment styles are often the children people will know and remember. Their loud, hyperactive and attention seeking behaviours can quickly become a cause for concern due to the disruptive impact this can have within learning environments.

These children want to be noticed and often this aim is achieved.

However, when it comes to children with avoidant attachment, the situation is often very different. They are the children that no-one really notices.

They are the ones who suffer in silence.

It is very common for children with avoidant attachment issues to slip under the radar, particularly within school settings. Understandably, many professionals will believe that the behaviour they are seeing on the surface means that the child must be alright. I often hear phrases such as "We don't have any children like that at this school" or "Despite all the abuse and frequent care moves, John is fine and his behaviour is great". However, for many of these children, far from being “fine”, they are actually storing immense feelings of fear, hurt and rage.

These children have a deep-rooted mistrust of adults and will hide their feelings at all costs. The fact that any issues are not being noticed is exactly what they are aiming for.

As well as learning the right phrases to keep adults at a distance, such as “I’m okay” or “yes, I'm fine”, children with an avoidant attachment style may show some of the following signs: • poor eye contact • little reaction to praise or punishments • no preference for familiar adults • an inability to express emotions such as anger or joy • avoiding interaction with others • interaction that feels empty or fake • does not pester adults for things they want, such as toys, sweets or games • a lack of cause/effect thinking WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

• frequently complaining of feeling ill • freezing or becoming tearful when feeling out of control, but unable to explain why • a smile or laugh that lacks genuine expression • low self-esteem • poor short-term memory • poor organisation skills • having pupils that are frequently dilated.

Due to the very subtle nature of many of these signs it can be very confusing to support a child with an avoidant attachment style. There is little doubt that this role requires patience and empathy. Some might say that you even need to be a mind-reader!

Supporting those with avoidant attachment styles It should also be remembered that children with an avoidant attachment style are not waiting to be helped or “rescued”. In fact, these children, like most with attachment difficulties, will be bizarrely comfortable with the strategies they have developed for surviving in what to them will feel like a very scary world – and will rarely give them up easily.

Below are some ideas for strategies that can be used for supporting children with avoidant attachment styles: Structure Routine can help build a sense of security and familiarity for children who are dealing with anxiety. Use visual schedules and reminders wherever possible to reinforce these routines and try to give as much notice as possible for any changes that will be happening.

Ensure that parents/carers are kept fully informed of any changes.

Thinking out loud Thinking out loud about the child’s behaviour can help them recognise the feelings they may be having and give them the message that it is OK to have and express their feelings.

For example, you might say: “I think

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They will struggle to understand many of the common reward systems that are used in schools you might be worried about going into assembly today because we have singing practice. I think I will ask Ms Smith to sit next to you so she can help you if you feel worried”. Or you might say: “I’ve noticed you look sad whenever I say it is time for numeracy.

It's okay to feel sad sometimes.” It should be remembered that these are comments, and not questions, so do not expect a response as this can add pressure to their already anxious state.

Reduce verbal language Children with avoidant attachment styles are often described as not wanting to ask for help, whereas the reality is that they can't ask for help because they are unaware they have a need to be met. Asking a child what is wrong, what is worrying them or if they are OK will not work in this case. As well as the thinking out loud technique described above, also try to give them other means to communicate, such as using pictures to point at to choose what activity they want to do, or having visual emotions pictures they can use. A book for yourself and the child to write comments in can also encourage gentle two-way communication. By the adult writing occasional short comments – such as "I liked the new pencil case you had today" or "I noticed that you ate an apple today for lunch today.

I like pears, what about you?" – can gently encourage responses from the child but without high expectation or pressure. Try using this method rather than a “feelings diary”, which can put pressure on to think of and describe

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feelings that they may not have the language or understanding for.

Using comments books, you could, for example ask them to name their funniest moment or favourite food eaten that week. In addition, you could use fun questionnaires to find out information such as what they enjoyed watching on TV last night.

Rethink rewards and sanctions Traditional behaviour approaches focus quite clearly on rewards and sanctions. Children with an avoidant attachment style will be unlikely to show many unwanted behaviours, meaning sanctions will rarely be required. However, it is also unlikely you will see many praiseworthy behaviours either. Instead, a “middle of the road� approach ensures that the child stands out for neither good, nor bad behaviour.

Therefore, trying to use traditional behaviour strategies such as reward charts will rarely prove successful.

Children who have missed out on vital care as infants will have poorly developed cause and effect thinking skills. This means that they will struggle to understand many of the common reward systems that are used in schools. Rather than becoming a structured form of praise or punishment, such techniques can instead become a source of confusion which reinforces a child's view of themselves as bad and unworthy.

Instead, try talking through any changes in positive or negative behaviour, explaining why this has been a good or bad thing. Help the child to come up with a solution which is linked to what they did; for example, if they ripped a page out of a book, they could help to stick this back together.

If they did a good piece of numeracy work they could choose a sticker to either wear or take home to show their parent/carer.

Try to avoid over-the-top praise as this can again cause confusion and create a conflict in terms of what you are telling them they are (for example, good) and how they see themselves SENISSUE79

(bad). Low-key praise such as a thumbs up, sticker left in their tray or certificates that get sent home (instead of given out in assembly) may work better.

Working as a team A common behaviour pattern seen in children with avoidant attachment is that they will appear happy and content whilst at school, but then have meltdowns as soon as they get home.

Situations such as this can be a common factor in communication breakdown between parents/carers and school staff. It should be remembered that a child's change in behaviour is not a reflection on any particular person or environment but could be about transition, storing up fear for long periods of time and general confusion about day-to-day events.

Communication is vitally important in these cases. Parents/carers and school staff need to work together to identify trigger points; for example, if the child always has a meltdown on a Wednesday evening after school, could this be linked to the fact that this is when their teacher has planning, preparation and assessment time?

Use a home/school diary to share information and discuss any day-to-day issues, but plan regular meetings to talk about bigger issues and discuss strategies. Also try to give the child an opportunity to air any worries before going home. Five minutes to talk through an issue that happened on the playground at lunchtime could help to avoid a two-hour tantrum when the child gets home. Parents or carers can do the same before bringing a child to school in a morning.

Ongoing learning and development Due to the nature of avoidant attachment, it is often parents/carers who first notice that their child is having difficulties. They can often become upset or frustrated when they think professionals are not supporting their child. Acknowledge a parent/carers concerns and be honest with them

A child's change in behaviour is not a reflection on any particular person or environment about how the child behaves within school. It is important to remember that just because you do not see any issues within school, it does not mean there aren't any.

Try to increase your own knowledge of attachment by reading books and attending training courses.

There is no doubt that trying to put strategies in place for a child with an avoidant attachment can be difficult.

A child who is unable to express their feelings will not be able to tell you what might help them, and even when strategies are put in place they may appear quite unresponsive to them for some time. My advice to this is simple: do it anyway. Providing additional emotional support, security and nurture will not cause any harm to children, but not providing these could do.

Further information

Jennifer Jones is the adoptive mother of three children and has many years of experience working with children in the education and health sectors. Jennifer is a panel member for a number of adoption boards and she is the founder of Inspired Foundations, which supports those living or working with looked-after, adopted and vulnerable children: www.inspiredfoundations.co.uk

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SEN LEGAL Q&A

Transfer reviews explained Specialist SEN solicitor Douglas Silas answers key questions about the transition to education, care and health plans What are transfer reviews?

The process of transitioning statements of SEN into education, health and care (EHC) plans is commonly known as a transfer review (although strictly speaking, “transfer review” is really the name of the first meeting held at the start of the transition process). Transfer reviews are necessary because, when the new SEN legal framework came into force in September 2014, it was important to have a formal process to follow for managing transitions properly.

Does the transfer review follow a set timetable?

Yes. All statements have to be transferred to EHC plans between September 2014 and April 2018.

However, it was realised at the outset that it would not be possible to transfer the 230,000 or so statements to EHC plans overnight, so the Government also issued statutory transition guidance to help everyone understand what needed to happen and when, in order for all the transfers to be completed by April 2018.

the Government has amended the timetable from 1 September 2015, to give LAs a further four weeks (18 weeks instead of 14 weeks) to complete the process. However, this does not affect transitions that started before 1 September 2015.

The transfer review process is not meant to be a simple rebranding exercise

What is the format of the transfer review process?

use existing reports if they are considered sufficient for the purposes of making an EHC plan. One of the main things that many people do not realise, though, is that it is not only the LA who must agree that these reports are sufficient, but also the parent of the child or the young person themselves and the author of the report • the LA must then finalise a robust EHC plan within 18 weeks of the first meeting.

EHC plans, whilst similar to statements in describing SEN and provision and identifying an appropriate placement,

The transfer review process is usually as follows: • the child’s parents or the young person must be given two weeks’ notice of the transfer review meeting taking place.

This will usually be done by the school/institution that they attend, while the LA determines who should attend the meeting to ensure that it meets its purpose • there is no requirement to seek further advice for an EHC needs assessment as it is possible to

How long does a transfer review take?

When it came into force in September 2014, the transfer review process was meant to take 14 weeks, with an additional two weeks’ notice given prior to the transfer review meeting taking place. This normally takes place at the same time as the yearly annual review of a statement. However, it became clear during the first 12 months that many local authorities (LAs) were struggling to meet this timescale, so SENISSUE79

The new EHC plans are intended to be much more person centred.

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SEN LEGAL Q&A

are also different from statements, as they now also have to deal with health and care needs. Additionally, the transfer review process is not meant to be a simple rebranding exercise. The aim is to now make an EHC plan more person-centred.

times for transferring statements to EHCPs. LAs also need not comply with the guidance if it is impractical to do so for exceptional personal circumstances that will affect the child/young person.

What are the main timescales envisaged for transfers?

The main things that the guidance says are as follows: • the vast majority of children and young people with statements will be transferred to EHC plans • all those with statements to be transferred during the transition period must continue to receive the provision in their statements • LAs should have published the first edition of their transition plan by September 2014, so that parents and young people know when they will be transferred to EHCPs • the legal test for when a child or young person requires an EHC plan remains the same as that for a statement – the guidance states clearly that: “No child or young person should lose their statement of SEN simply because the system has changed”.

When the guidance came into force in September 2014, it recognised that the timescales envisaged could present a challenge for some LAs, so it said that, in the first year, in order not to overwhelm the system, LAs would only be required to transfer those entering into post-16 education/training, by 31 May 2015 and the following groups by 1 September 2015: • children/young people issued with non-statutory EHC plans (those issued on a trial basis prior to the new framework coming into effect) • those moving from early years settings to school, infant to middle school, primary to secondary school, or similar (not just those transferring from one institution to another) • children/young people in Year 9/ Year 11 (not just those who are moving into further education or training) • those moving from mainstream to a special school or vice versa • those moving between one LA and another.

Now that we are in the second year, others should be prioritised to follow similar patterns, but it is always best to check your LA’s formal transition plan, which should be available on its website, to see when they envisage doing things.

Does this mean that LAs now determine times for transfers?

Yes, subject to what I have said above about priorities. The whole ethos behind the new SEN framework is “localism”, so LAs have been given the power to ultimately determine the WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

What are the other main things that the guidance says?

Can I appeal against the EHC plan produced or the decision not to make one?

Yes, parents of a child (under 16) or a young person themselves (if over 16) have the right to appeal against the contents of any final EHC plan issued or against a refusal to make a plan.

Are there any common pitfalls?

Apart from the transfer review process now taking longer than was first envisaged, some people are already complaining that either the whole transfer is simply a “copy and paste” job from a statement to an EHC plan or, to their concern, the LA has used the transfer process to reduce support originally in the statement, thereby requiring an appeal to get the support

People are complaining that the LA has used the transfer process to reduce support back into the EHC plan (even after a recent appeal). Parents and others can be, understandably, infuriated that they are again being put to the time and expense of having to appeal once more to challenge the EHC plan.

So, what is your general advice about transfers?

In general terms (as each case is always different) I am advising people to ensure that the transfer review process isn’t just a simple “tick-box” exercise but that as much up-to-date information is available as possible and that they ensure that the EHC plan eventually produced is as tight (if not tighter) than the original statement that it replaces.

Further information

Douglas Silas is the Principal of Douglas Silas Solicitors and runs the website: www.

SpecialEducationalNeeds.co.uk.

He is also the author of A Guide To The SEND Code of Practice (What You Need To Know), which is available for all eBook readers: www.AGuideToTheSENDCode OfPractice.co.uk

The advice provided here is of a general nature and Douglas Silas Solicitors cannot be held responsible for any loss caused by reliance placed upon it.

Unfortunately, Douglas cannot respond to questions sent to him directly but if you have a question you would like answered in a future issue of SEN Magazine, please email: editor@senmagazine.co.uk

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PARENTS' RIGHTS

Power to parents Elizabeth Stanley explains how the recent SEN reforms have strengthened parents' rights

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he recent changes to how children and young people with special needs and disabilities are supported have strengthened parental rights.

But that, in itself, does not produce better outcomes for children and young people if parents are not sure what their rights are, how they should be involved and what part they have to play in the support of their child’s development.

The previous system of statementing, School Action and School Action Plus was very much process driven and became, in the end, about jumping through hoops in order to access provision, rather than talking about aspirations and how to make these a reality.

The recent reforms have now put the focus firmly back on children, young people and their parents and carers with processes and systems designed to support them in achieving the best they possibly can.

It’s obvious that parents know their children better than anyone else.

They know what their child’s needs are and, although they may not be able to put those needs into neat boxes, such as speech and language need or occupational therapy need, they are able to say if their child can tie their shoe laces or has friends. Professionals, services and organisations now have a duty to have regard to the views, wishes and feelings of the child, young person and their parents.

This duty is part of the legislation and is the key principle upon which all the legislation is based. It is called the Section 19 principle, taken directly from the Children and Families Act 2014.

The principle also makes it clear that there are duties to ensure that children, SENISSUE79

Parents generally know their child better than anyone else.

young people and their parents are fully supported to understand the process, are part of the discussions and ultimately the decisions made.

Pre-school The legislation covers people from birth to 25 years, so for the first time, parents of children who have a diagnosis before starting formal education have rights to apply for an education, health and care (EHC) plan assessment. This is based on the probability of the child requiring some level of support once in a school environment or prior to that. Education, in this sense, does not necessarily mean formal education; anything which educates or trains the child can be classed as education, such as speech therapy or occupational therapy.

Newly diagnosed If your child has just been diagnosed the world can be a very confusing place. You have a right to be supported and involved at every turn and, at every stage, professionals should seek your views and feelings on any decisions which need to be made.

Professionals should seek your views and feelings on any decisions which need to be made School age If your child has been identified as having SEN, you must be invited into school three times a year to discuss progress, raise concerns and share successes. I would always advocate the joint setting of outcomes to be achieved, which can be worked on both in school and with parents. Your child might be placed at SEN Support level, which means the school are putting extra support in place to help your child and possibly engaging advice from specialists. Once again, parents must be involved in every decision.

Parents have a right to submit a request to their local authority (LA) for an EHC plan needs assessment at any point, if they have concerns that their child is not making adequate progress.

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PARENTS' RIGHTS

EHC plans Where there are still concerns about your child’s educational progress, both parents and school have the right to request an EHC needs assessment. All you are asking for here is an assessment of your child’s needs. If the LA agree to go ahead with the assessment, they will request information from all services and professionals involved, including health and social care. The LA are only investigating whether there is a need for an EHC Plan here, not producing one. Once the information is gathered, the LA will make a decision based on the evidence, in which parental contributions are vital. The whole process from request to final EHC plan must take no longer than 20 weeks.

Throughout the whole process of an EHC needs assessment, the views, wishes and feelings of the child, young person and their parent or carer must be taken into account. During the 20 week process there are various points of appeal.

Appeals If parents have an issue or concern about their child’s educational setting, they have various options available to them. The first is usually to speak with the SENCO, then, if parents are still not happy with the outcome, they can arrange a meeting with the headteacher and request a copy of the school complaints procedure.

School governors are often overlooked in terms of complaints; each school

The law now promises parents more of a say in their kids’ support.

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must have a designated governor for SEN, so it would also be worthwhile finding out who this person is. Ofsted also has a specific route for parents to raise issues about schools and other educational settings.

If you are embarking on the EHC plan route, the SEN Code of Practice has a very helpful table which shows who parents can appeal to about which issues. The more formal appeals routes can involve dispute resolution services, mediation and ultimately tribunal.

Support My first port of call is always the SEN Code of Practice. I would highly recommend reading this document and having it to hand if you ever need clarification.

The “local offer” of your LA, which has details of the SEN support available in the area, will have a wealth of information, from how to apply for an EHC plan, to support groups for young people with specific conditions.

All LAs have to fund an information, advice and support service (IASS), which offers support to parents and young people with issues or concerns about anything to do with special needs, including aspects of health and social care.

Central government has funded “Independent Support” in each LA area.

This is provided by an independent organisation. Independent supporters can help with the development of an EHC plan request, or can support parents and young people transitioning from a statement of SEN or learning difficulties assessment to an EHC plan.

Parent carer forums are based in most LA areas and many are part of the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF).

Educational settings must produce a school’s information report and a special needs policy which sets out the school’s processes and provision for children and young people with SEN. Reputable charities and organisations, such as Independent Parental Special Education Advice

My first port of call is always the SEN Code of Practice. I would highly recommend reading it

(IPSEA) and Contact a Family (CAF) have free helplines which offer good information and advice. If you need greater assistance, there are a number of independent SEN support organisations which offer families various levels of help, guidance and face-to-face support.

These changes to how children and young people are supported are the biggest reforms in 30 years; it will be another few years before this golden opportunity comes along again. It is a once in a lifetime chance to “get it right”. This will only happen for you as a parent if you know what your rights are and you have the correct information and knowledge to exercise your rights under this new framework. Our children only get one chance.

Further information

Elizabeth Stanley is Director of the social enterprise Wraparound Partnership, which seeks to support raising aspirations and achievements for those with SEN and their families: www.wraparoundpartnership.org

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VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

EVENTS

“everything they do at henshaws is geared around the real world�

Personalised Learning Programmes

Next open day: Leisure, lifestyle and work fair Saturday 14th November 2015

Henshaws Specialist College is a transformational place. Through our personalised approach to education, learning and care we empower children and young people living with a disability to progress and live life the way they want.

Whether preparing for employment, making friends or learning to live more independently, we enable our students to make their aspirations possible and goals a reality.

Please contact us or book a visit.

Call 01423 886451 Email admissions@henshaws.ac.uk henshaws.ac.uk Henshaws Specialist College, Harrogate, HG1 4ED Registered Charity No: 221888

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ASDAN Advertisement feature

Accrediting achievement

by PMLD learners Learners with profound, multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) need to be offered opportunities to engage with the world in their own way. Often, their unique needs are not met by approaches centred on traditional National Curriculum or subject-focused timetables.

Transition Challenge: Sensory is a new version of ASDAN’s Transition Challenge programme, which will be familiar to many working in special education; it aims to support learners and offer positive educational experiences. Transition Challenge: Sensory has been developed for learners aged 14 to 16, although it can be used with older age groups if appropriate.

With its roots in the respected work of Penny Lacey, Transition Challenge: Sensory provides opportunities for learning under these headings: • Communication and Interaction • Cognition • Physical • Self-help and Independence In order for students with PMLD to achieve their full potential, they must be given chances so that their lives can go beyond being “cared for and looked after” to being able to make informed choices and valued for who they are as individuals.

Transition Challenge: Sensory places emphasis on learning and achievement rather than assessment. With support, learners can demonstrate what they can do and what they understand.

This approach can lead to a positive, learner-centred, flexible curriculum that meets the needs of this group of learners.

An optional communications passport has also been incorporated into Transition Challenge: Sensory, which practitioners can complete with their learners to record their aspirations, preferences and achievements.

Louise Thomas, of Fiveways School in Somerset, has reviewed the new Sensory programme. She said: “We can see how a range of learners can access all the suggested module titles and activities and demonstrate achievement. Activities also provide appropriate challenge.”

OlesyaTurchuk/iStock/Thinkstock

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The SEND Code of Practice was introduced in September last year

and lays out the requirements for schools and colleges who support learners aged 0 to 25 with special educational needs. One of the GaryRadler/iStock/Thinkstock facets of the code is its renewed emphasis on enabling parents and carers to participate more fully in reviewing the aims and achievements of their child’s learning. Louise added that Transition Challenge: Sensory would “provide a good balance of evidenced activities that students can participate in. Parents and carers will also be able to share in their children’s achievements through looking at their work folder.”

ASDAN has a long and successful history of developing materials and resources to meet the needs of SEND learners and accredit their achievement. Jill Ladson, of Highfield School, said: “It is very easy to plan a lesson around ASDAN materials. ASDAN is very versatile, we can teach PMLD students through to higher levels.”

The SEND materials are not just used by special schools; Marisa Bretherton-Mackay, from Riding for the Disabled Association, said that their groups felt the workbooks provided a really attractive resource with scope for individuality and personalisation.

Further new opportunities to structure and accredit achievement for PMLD learners aged 16+ can be found in the form of three new modules in the popular Towards Independence range. In response to requests from practitioners, sensory modules have been launched in Baking, Looking Smart and Personal Care Routines, all of which are accessible to learners with complex needs. Marisa added: “The fact that these programmes can be completed from a sensory experience right through to an unaided basis is why these projects are so important to us. They open up the opportunity for so many to receive recognition and praise for their achievements.”

Sample copies of SEND resources can be downloaded from: www.asdan.org.uk or for further information contact: simonlawrence@asdan.org.uk

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SPINA BIFIDA AND HYDROCEPHALUS

Supporting learning Catherine McCurry outlines some practical strategies to help students with spina bifida and hydrocephalus in the classroom

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pina bifida is a neural tube defect which occurs shortly after conception, causing weakness or paralysis below the lesion, or “split spine�.

In most cases, it is accompanied by hydrocephalus, where the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain cannot circulate freely, leading to harmful pressure which can injure the brain itself.

Various conditions can lead to hydrocephalus. This article will focus on spina bifida and hydrocephalus and their collective implications for learning.

Where the conditions occur together, the concentration of support for the young person within the education system is often on the mobility and continence issues arising from spina

bifida. However, hydrocephalus is a less visible condition and its impact on cognition is often underestimated, leading to educational and social underachievement. It is crucial to identify the impact of hydrocephalus early on, to ensure that appropriate and continuous educational support is available to the young person.

Assessment by an experienced neuropsychologist is advisable, but often students will be assessed by other specialists with little or no experience of either condition or the complex issues arising from them.

Where teachers and learning support staff are aware of the barriers to learning that these students are likely to confront, they can put in place effective support strategies which are

The influence of hydrocephalus on cognition is often underestimated.

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Many of these difficulties arise from a slower rate of processing information fully integrated into the whole class teaching and learning plan.

Learning challenges Children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus may have challenges with memory, information processing, organisation and visual perceptual skills. Many of these difficulties arise from a slower rate of processing information. For example, it takes these students longer to understand and use information, put it into context and transfer this learning into different situations. So, although many young people with hydrocephalus may be of average ability and above, if they are not given time to process information fully before moving on to the next activity, they often fail to reach their full learning potential.

Students with spina bifida and hydrocephalus may have differences in language development, resulting in difficulty with the meaning of grammar, irony or humour, and may take everything literally. They also risk information overload. Students with spina bifida and hydrocephalus are more likely to have problems with attention, concentration and remembering information, and find decoding writing, understanding symbols or different types of text very confusing.

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situations requiring even a minimal level of organisational or visual perceptual skill. Many students will also have varying degrees of gross and fine motor skills impairment. Having to compensate for these deficits puts the student at a disadvantage in group learning and social situations.

Young people who find learning challenging need the same good practice approach to curriculum access as their peers. However, they need more of it. A specific and structured approach will help them to access the curriculum and a measured pace of delivery throughout the lesson will help to optimise their capacity to process, store and eventually retrieve information.

Strategies to support students Allow sufficient time Young people with spina bifida and hydrocephalus need more time to process information and to complete tasks than their peers, so build in additional time.

Repetition Be prepared to repeat instructions several times if necessary. Many aspects of the curriculum will have to be “over taught” to ensure the student has several opportunities to review and assess a particular piece of information, in order to assimilate it into the long-term memory. Frequent deadline reminders will be helpful.

Be clear and concise Keep instructions short and specific, and use key words and pictures to hook the information on to. Present written information in a clear and easily read format. Content should be well spaced and important parts of the text (key words) should be highlighted.

Use clear, precise and specific language in all verbal and written information, aided by non-verbal cues and clear, closed questions.

Break tasks down into snippets of clear, logical information. Use minimal didactic teaching and be as interactive WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

The assistant is tasked with supporting the young person to become an independent learner

as possible, but be prescriptive and concise when explaining tasks and giving instructions. Be diligent in giving regular supervision.

Avoid overload Introduce work in phases, to ensure the student is not overloaded and check their comprehension and understanding frequently, while ensuring they are on task and remain so. Changes in routine need to be planned for and rehearsed.

When the person is required to read information and distil key points from it, or to support an argument or formulate a hypothesis, use abridged texts or summaries wherever possible.

Aid organisation Easy access to equipment and to lists of essential vocabulary, meanings and concepts will help students overcome short-term memory problems and ensure vital information is rehearsed frequently to commit it to the long-term memory.

Don’t expect the student to be able to read and copy down information from the whiteboard at the same time. Instead, place printed notes and instructions on the desk beside the young person, to help them overcome visual perceptual difficulties. Hand out printed homework instructions as they leave each class. Without these, the young person will find it difficult to remember what to do.

Hard backed notebooks can be less confusing than loose leaf files, given the challenges that students have with visual perceptual issues and difficulties organising themselves, their equipment and books. Colour coding materials can be very helpful

in helping students to organise topics and access the curriculum. It also helps to provide task models, sample essays and answers, writing frames and diagrammatic information.

Using learning support assistants Assigning a learning support assistant to the student will be key to implementing these strategies. The assistant is tasked with supporting the young person to become an independent learner rather than a dependent one. Guided by the class or subject teachers, they will help to introduce these strategies and encourage the student to gradually acquire and implement them to support their own learning. By frequently prompting and reminding the student of instructions and key pieces of information, they are enabling them to engage in each learning task rather than doing it for them.

It is important that the learning support assistant and the class or subject teacher relate well to each other, and to the young person, and that they facilitate the student’s full inclusion in the class. Collectively, they need to create a structured, settled atmosphere in the classroom where unnecessary noise and distractions are minimised.

Encouragingly, recent research on brain development and plasticity supports the view that these strategies, repeated over time, can help students with spina bifida and hydrocephalus learn to manage their conditions and overcome the many challenges they face in the education system, to achieve their optimum potential in school and in life.

Further information

Catherine McCurry is Education Adviser at Shine Northern Ireland.

Shine is a national charity for people who have spina bifida and hydrocephalus: www.shinecharity.org.uk

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PMLD

Looking for an ordinary life How can we best support kids with complex health needs?

Jill Davies reveals what parents and children say they need

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his article describes some of the current issues affecting children and young people with complex health needs (who may also be using medical technology) and their families. It is based on work carried out by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, in which nearly 40 children and families across England took part. We heard from them about the barriers to achieving an ordinary family life and what they were doing to try to overcome some of these obstacles.

Who are we talking about?

Many of these children will be using medical technology to keep them alive.

The most common forms of medical SENISSUE79

technology the children are using are: oxygen ventilation; tracheostomy and oxygen therapy; and being tube fed, for example through gastrostomies and intravenous drug therapies. Although there is no accurate UK data on this group of children using medical technology, Glendinning et al. (2001) estimated there were around 6,000 children in this group. The group are also very diverse, as described by Kirk and Glendinning (2002): • the cause can be congenital, genetic, through an illness, accident or prematurity • the age at onset can range from premature birth to adolescence • the duration ranges from months to lifelong

These children have to fight for the opportunities to do ordinary things that others take for granted

• the prognosis and life expectancy vary, along with the incidence and severity of associated disabilities.

There are a number of key issues currently facing this group of children and young people.

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Increase in numbers Children who are technology-dependent or have complex health needs are growing in number and more are living into adulthood. Ludvisgen and Morrison (2003) reported a 77 per cent increase in the number of children who are oxygen/ ventilator dependent from 1997 to 2000 and Townsley and Robinson (2000) reported a 60 per cent increase in the number of children who were tube-fed over a two-year period.

The right to an ordinary childhood As well as their health issues, these children face multiple barriers in order to exercise some basic childhood rights, including communication, independence, friendships and leisure opportunities. Research by Townsley and Robinson (2000), and Townsley et al. (2004) showed that families had difficulties in finding and organising social activities for their child and “the system” did not support their desire to do things as a whole family. These children are not only fighting to stay alive, but they also have to fight for the opportunities to do ordinary things that others take for granted.

When we asked families what would improve their quality of life, they often wanted support with really practical issues, such as travel arrangements, day-to-day mobility issues and having a greater say in their child’s package of care.

What makes an ordinary life?

Keeping things joined up Children with complex health needs are usually in contact with a whole range of professionals, yet it is very rare to find a family who say they have someone who can join all these up for them. Key workers can help to reduce this stress, help parents to navigate through the system and help them to plan and get the right support for their child. National policy has promoted approaches such as the use of key workers, navigators WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Parents often rely on information from other parents, but this can be partial and patchy

or the team around the child for over ten years and most councils claim to operate key working, yet today it appears that many families are still lacking such a joined up approach and some organisations that supported it are no longer funded (Limbrick, 2013).

Having the right home Most children with complex health needs and their families will spend more time than their non-disabled peers at home. There are a number of issues to consider when ensuring that the home meets the child’s needs: it should, for instance, be warm and comfortable, it should have the appropriate aids and adaptations to keep the child at home and it needs space to accommodate the technology, equipment and supplies needed by the child. Some families have to move to find a home that will be more suitable as their child grows. This can cause considerable financial strain on the family and there can be considerable delays in getting adaptations made, for example, having a tracking hoist to take the child to the bathroom from their bedroom and/or lounge, transforming a room downstairs into a bedroom, or making the entrance wider to accommodate a wheelchair.

Being part of the community Getting out and about and being spontaneous in a choice of activities can be more difficult for this group of children, yet many parents spoke of their great desire for their children to have a connection with their community.

Families need to be informed about the various ways that obstacles to full participation can be broken down.

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For example, they need to be made aware of: • the Changing Places campaign (which highlights fully accessible toilets across the UK) • the various models of wheelchairs and seating available, which can make going out less of a chore • where they can go on holiday that will cater for the needs of the whole family.

Information and knowledge Parents need to be better informed about their rights and about the opportunities available to their children. It is common knowledge that parents often rely on information from other parents, but this can be partial and patchy.

The kinds of information and knowledge required by families include: • their right to a carer’s assessment and an assessment for short-term breaks and what they can spend allocated funding on • their financial rights and the allowances for which they can apply • the assessment process and options around education • the right for some children and young people to have a personal budget.

Personalised support arrangements The families involved in the project reported receiving support from a variety of sources. Some children were supported by the local children’s continuing care teams; in one area the team worked in a very personalised and flexible manner to accommodate the family’s wishes (including sending nurses or support workers on holidays with the family). Other families were trying out personal budgets and a few families were using the new personal health budgets.

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of support and care that is appropriate for them. Those trying out the new personal health budgets showed that it was possible to: • improve links between home and school, especially if personal assistants can work between the two • fund specific equipment or therapies, such as wheelchairs, postural care support and sleep systems • give families greater say over who supports the child/family • ease pressures at transition to adulthood if the family keep the same support team.

However, the process does take time and it will only be successful if the family are supported along the way with people who are passionate about personalised approaches to care and understand the different options for managing a personal budget. We must respect the fact that not all parents want a direct payment or to recruit and manage personal assistants, but too many people still equate a personal budget (whether for children or adults) with a direct payment.

Not all parents want a direct payment or to recruit and manage personal assistants

Personal budgets and the workforce Whilst personal budgets may be the “next big thing”, one of the key areas

Conclusions

of concern is having a skilled workforce available to care for these children and clear lines of clinical governance for workers who will be performing very specialist tasks. Some families with personal budgets have found it hard to recruit skilled staff, or have trained staff over months to work with their child only to find the person leaves for another job. Being a personal assistant to a child using medical technology can be very daunting, as it is necessary to learn how to use the technology as well as learning how to communicate effectively with the child and fitting in with a family unit. Those who have run a personal budget successfully can testify to the huge difference it can make to their lives, allowing for more flexibility and choice in how they are supported.

Children with complex health needs require a wide range of support to ensure they have the same opportunities

as their peers. There is clearly some innovative practice happening across the country but the child and family requires a coordinated approach to achieve those things many of us take for granted. For most children and young people, their families are their greatest allies and services need to recognise this and work positively with families, helping them to build their resources.

References Glendinning, C., Kirk, S., Guiffrida, A., Lawton, D. (2001) The Community-Based Care of Technology Dependent Children in the UK: Definitions, Numbers, and Costs.

Manchester: National Primary Care Research and Development Centre, University of Manchester.

Kirk, S., Glendinning, C. (2002) Supporting ‘expert’ parents – professional support and families caring for a child with complex health needs in the community, in International Journal of Nursing Studies, Vol. 39 (6), Elsevier, pp 625-635.

Limbrick, P., (2013) CCNUK: The history and mystery of Care Co-ordination Network UK in England. Do you know more than I know? (accessed on www.teamaroundthechild.com on 01/05/14).

Ludvigsen, A., Morrison, J., (2003) Breathing Space: Community Support for Children on Long-term Ventilation. London: Barnado’s.

Townsley, R., Robinson, C., (2000) Food for thought? Effective support for families of disabled children who are tube fed. Bristol: Norah Fry Research Centre.

Townsley, R., Abbott, D., Watson, D., (2004) Making a difference? Exploring the impact of multi-agency working on disabled children with complex health care needs, their families, and the professionals who support them. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Further information

Jill Davies is Research Programme Manager at the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities.

A joined-up approach to care can make a big difference to a person with complex needs.

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The work discussed in this article was funded by the Department of Health Voluntary Sector Investment Programme. Details of the project can be found on the Foundation’s website: www.learningdisabilities.org.uk

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REFLEXOLOGY

A touch of relaxation Tracey Smith talks to reflexology practitioner Lorraine Senior about how this little known therapy can help prepare pupils for learning

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eflexology is a non-intrusive complementary health therapy, based on the theory that different points on the feet, lower leg, hands, face or ears correspond with different areas of the body.

Reflexologists work holistically with their clients and aim to work alongside standard healthcare services to promote better health and wellbeing.

Reflexology is believed to originate in the China where it is still considered to be part of the health care process, although the Westernised version comes from the work of two Americans, William Fitzgerald and Eunice Ingham, at the beginning of the twentieth century.

As a therapy, reflexology is very easy to receive, being based mostly on the extremities of the body and it involves little or no removal of clothing. Pressure is applied to the feet in a pattern following a reflexology map, which is a plan of the organs and systems of the body represented on the feet.

As a therapy, reflexology is very easy to receive, being based mostly on the extremities of the body The sensitive fingers of the therapist may detect tensions in certain areas and work to relieve them. People in all walks of life, young or old, well or ill, can receive reflexology with the aim to relax and relieve tension in the body allowing for the restoration of wellbeing.

It is gaining popularity with members of the public for its stress reduction effects and other individual benefits.

When it comes to treating children, generally they seem to enjoy reflexology in a completely unquestioning way, settling back and letting the relaxation happen. For some children with SEN, therapeutic touch can be even more

important as it is working through one of their primary senses for communication. Some special schools have started to include reflexology in the curriculum.

Reflexology at school Lorraine Senior helps support children in several schools and also runs training courses for reflexologists, teaching assistants and parents. Here, Lorraine answers questions about how reflexology fits into school life.

How do you integrate your reflexology technique into the school day?

Reflexology is integrated into the daily timetable using a structured approach.

The primary intention is relaxation and sessions begin when the pupil is collected from the classroom and finish when they return to class. The children are helped to prepare for the sessions using symbols, photographs and words on their visual timetables.

When collected from the classroom, they carry a tool kit which helps to communicate what is happening next.

Time out of class can last for up to 30 minutes, with the aim to lengthen the touch time to a 20-minute relaxation session. Therefore, the session is not only the touch therapy; the reflexology therapist works very much as part of a multidisciplinary team.

How can you tell if children are enjoying it?

Children enjoy reflexology in an unquestioning way, says practitioner Lorraine Senior.

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I know pupils enjoy coming to the sessions as they leave the classroom and walk well to the therapy room, where they prepare the area for their session. They also offer their feet for the therapy.

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Parents give their written permission for their child to have the opportunity to receive reflexology. During therapy, though, consent to treatment is in the moment and ongoing; it is the right of the receiver to withdraw consent. At any time, the pupil can end the therapy by removing their feet or requesting that it stops and sitting up; it is their choice.

Once a pupil has become used to the structure and routine, though, everyone seems to enjoy their sessions.

How does reflexology link into the educational values of the school?

Reflexology therapists working in the educational environment aim to bring added value into the therapy time.

This may be by working on individual targets supplied by the class teacher, such as walking (not running) from the classroom to the therapy room, or it may be by observing how a pupil follows instructions. I may be asked to work with a particular symbol by the speech and language therapist; for example “wait” or “choose”.

Alternatively, the occupational therapist might be targeting independence skills, such as putting socks and shoes on, and we will work together on these.

At the end of a session with one pupil recently, the pupil was calm enough to listen to and follow instructions about putting her socks on. She took her time, even removing the sock when it was stuck on her toes, and then tried again.

This was something that she didn’t usually attempt.

As always, the main intentions are relaxation and helping pupils prepare for ongoing activities, but the therapy time also offers an important opportunity to address other targets.

Do you need to be a reflexologist to help or can others use reflexology techniques?

The use of a qualified reflexologist gives schools the confidence to deliver individual planned therapy sessions supporting wellbeing issues that may WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

The therapy service in the school where I work is funded through the pupil premium

have been highlighted by parents.

Typically, these issues may relate to problems with sleep or digestion. The primary intention of the session in the school environment will be to bring relaxation in the moment, helping pupils to reduce anxiety and improve their mood. This helps pupils prepare to take part in regular activities and learning throughout the school day.

However, it is not always possible for pupils to receive one-to-one therapy, or for schools to be able to fund it. There are ways of maximising the effect by sharing the basic relaxation routines, using techniques drawn from reflexology with non-reflexologists. The intention of the structured routine remains the same: relaxation in the moment.

Guiding parents to use the routine at home, or sharing it with the school’s multidisciplinary team for use in the classroom, means that children have the opportunity to access the many benefits of the positive touch routine through the structured sessions and with different people.

relax in a deeper way than perhaps they have ever known, and experience a relationship through positive touch. I am impressed with the way the pupils with the most challenging behaviours have responded and are willing to choose to attend the sessions and to engage.”

A Head from Liverpool commented that: “Pupils are calmer, less anxious and therefore more able to learn after their sessions.”

Another Headteacher from Essex said that: “Those pupils who receive reflexology look forward to it and it has a knock on effect on the rest of the school day – they are more relaxed and return to class better able to cope and ready to carry on with their lessons.”

Do you think that reflexology has a wider impact, beyond the school day?

Parents have commented, in particular, how well their child tends to sleep on the night of a reflexology session.

Many parents are choosing to attend the workshops to learn a routine delivered through the colours of the rainbow. It empowers them with relaxation techniques to use in the comfort of their own home at a time that is right for them and their child.

These routines can be as relaxing for the giver as they are for the receiver, so they support the wellbeing of both the child and the parent.

How is the integration of reflexology into the school curriculum funded?

There are many ways that schools can use different funds to buy in services.

Currently, the therapy service in the school where I work is funded through the pupil premium.

Further information

Are there any noticeable effects of the reflexology on the children after they return to the classroom?

For more information about reflexology in schools, visit: www.functionalreflextherapy.co.uk

Tracey Smith is Reflexology and Research Manager at the Association of Reflexologists: www.aor.org.uk

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WHEELCHAIRS

Building accessibility Sue Hurrell looks at what schools and local authorities can do to improve access for wheelchair users

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y daughter has just started in Year 6 in a mainstream primary school in Cardiff. She loves school and has been very happy and made great progress with her learning. She also has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair most of the time.

When she first started in the nursery, every entrance was accessible via a ramp but there were no disabled toilets or lifts to the upper floor. Although we had been assured that adaptations would be made, we really struggled to persuade the local authority (LA) to install a disabled toilet in the infant building. We then had the same battle when she moved to the junior building, so for almost a year she had to travel across the playground to use the toilet.

The council has not installed a lift and so my daughter’s year group has stayed in the same rooms for four years and not progressed to the classrooms upstairs that normally accommodate most of the juniors. This is not a major problem, but does mark her out as different, makes a large part of the site effectively “out of bounds” to her, and has risked causing some resentment amongst her peers.

Adjustments to school trips and other activities have almost always been made without us having to ask, but we have sometimes been caught in the middle of discussions about who should pay for things, such as accessible coach transport and postural support equipment for the toilet. This is because budgets are

All too often, parents have to help solve these problems in isolation

tight and there are grey areas where it is not clear whether health services, the LA or the school is responsible for purchasing items or providing support.

Whilst the school curriculum and aids and adaptations are bound by the duty to make “reasonable adjustments”, school buildings and grounds are not, and instead these come under planning duties set out in Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010 (with wording lifted unchanged from SENDA 2001). This is a rather well-kept secret and many senior education staff are unaware of this exemption for schools from a duty that affects all other public buildings.

The planning duties were put in place 15 years ago, presumably to give schools and authorities time to deal with the significant backlog of work required to make schools accessible.

Moving with the times

It is important that all children are made to feel a valued part of the school community.

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Much progress has been made across the UK, especially in areas where there has been significant investment in new buildings. There is also evidence that the planning duties were taken seriously when they were first introduced. However, my research on local authorities in Wales last year showed that only two of 22 local authorities had up-to-date plans compliant with Schedule 10.

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wheelchair user. Conversely, further and higher education in Wales (which have never been exempt from the RA duty) all cater for wheelchair users.

The Children’s Commissioner for Wales launched a report in November 2014 with recommendations on this issue, based on my research. Unfortunately, there are no data available on the wheelchair-accessibility of the UK’s schools, and neither Ofsted nor Estyn has systematically monitored progress, which makes it difficult to estimate what still needs to be done. Anecdotally, I understand that several counties in England also have many inaccessible schools, and so each year significant numbers of wheelchair users, including those with no additional learning needs, are forced to attend a different school to their friends and siblings solely because of this problem.

Even if they are not legally bound to put in lifts and disabled toilets, excluding a child from the school attended by peers and siblings cannot be justified 15 years after disability discrimination was outlawed in schools.

I have found that most education professionals do not dispute this, but are faced with problems of timing if the need for major adaptations is identified as part of the normal admissions cycle.

What is needed is better planning at LA level. It should be possible to identify pre-school and primary-age children with disabilities and find out from families which schools they are likely to apply to, if known. LA-wide support is often available for children with ASD, sensory needs or dyslexia, for example, but there is a need for similar central knowledge of the needs of children with physical disabilities.

So any school that is due to have a wheelchair user for the first time should know where to obtain advice on issues such as accessible school trip transport, building adaptations, toileting and adapting the PE and music curricula. All too often, parents have to help solve these problems in isolation, even within the same local authority area.

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It is more important to make things work than to make them perfect

Thinking ahead Sometimes, solving a practical problem is hampered by disputes about whether health, education or social services should make the provision. This can put families in a difficult position trying to mediate between different agencies.

Multi-agency meetings provide an ideal opportunity to pre-empt and resolve these issues collectively and SENCOs have an important role in making sure these items are on the agenda.

There are specialist companies that carry out access audits on schools and these can be very useful in identifying potential problems.

However, accommodating a child starting in Reception or Year 7 does not necessarily mean making the entire school site accessible straight away.

Often, what is needed is adaptations made gradually as a child moves through a school. This can be more problematic in secondary schools where timetabling is complex, but it can usually be achieved. It is more important to make things work than to make them perfect, and families are prepared to accept a less than perfect solution if plans are in place to make improvements over time.

Our experience is that the most important factor, without question, is the attitude of senior managers and SENCOs towards diversity in the school. I have been fortunate that my daughter has had so many teachers who have been excited about having her in their class, who have valued her for what she can do, who have made the effort to see things from her point of view and see past the challenges and look for inventive solutions. But the inclusive approach of the management team has been crucial. Despite the

practical challenges we have faced at times, I have always known that my daughter is a valued member of the school community.

It is also important not to give a child and family the impression that any costly work is being done “for them” and so they should be grateful. Accessibility work is done for all future wheelchair users and also disabled staff, family and community members.

Changing attitudes The UK has become far more wheelchair-accessible in recent decades, as a result of sustained campaigning, to the extent that we are beginning to take this for granted. I suspect that the reason why some schools have been left out of this progress is that as adults we tend to fight adult battles and forget about our childhood challenges. And wheelchair users are often the same, focussing more on accessible public transport and workplace equality. However, being excluded from a community (not just a building) solely because you cannot climb stairs tells you, at a formative stage in your life, that you are not valued and must lower your expectations.

And vice versa: attitudes formed in childhood have life-long impact, and children taught alongside disabled peers are more likely to develop into inclusive and accepting adults. If we want to make our world more inclusive, and if we believe that disabled children have a right to a great education and a choice of schools alongside their peers, then all schools should be fully accessible.

Further information

Dr Sue Hurrell is a former parent governor at her children’s school, and a former chair of governors at a special school. She is currently a trustee of two charities that support the families of children with disabilities.

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OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES Advertisement feature

Free* introductory weekends with the Lake District Calvert Trust Are you an SEN teacher or a SENCO and want to see how a residential outdoor activity course could work for your school or college?

Then you might want to take up our offer of a free* multiactivity introductory weekend to experience first-hand how our educational courses offer life-changing experiences for those with physical, learning and sensory disabilities.

• Experience a range of outdoor activities delivered by our dedicated and specialist instructors.

• Stay in our specially adapted en-suite rooms** to see the full range of facilities available.

• Enjoy delicious home cooked food with all meals from Friday evening through to lunch on the Sunday prepared on-site.

• Take the opportunity to discuss your potential future requirements with Calvert Trust staff members, including bursaries and any specific requirements that your group may need.

If you would like to know more (including qualification criteria and all terms and conditions) please call the enquiries team on: 017687 72255 or go to: www.calvert-trust.org.uk/lake-district/intro-weekend *A £50 per person holding deposit is required at point of booking. This is fully refundable following participation in the introductory weekend.

The dates for this year’s intro weekend are Friday 20 to Sunday 22 November and limited spaces are still available.

**Accommodation for the introductory weekend is in shared twin-bedded rooms. This is based on an expectation of 2 attendees per organisation. Single rooms are available at a non-refundable supplement of £44.00 per person.

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CREATIVE THERAPY

Spotlight on arts therapists Rebekah Tailor looks at how arts therapists can help improve the lives and wellbeing of individuals with SEN

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achel* has profound and multiple learning disabilities and is 16 years old. She is blind, suffers frequent seizures and requires a high level of care. Rachel is at her most responsive when listening to music, and two years ago she was referred to music therapist Anita Vaz. These sessions provided her with an outlet for self-expression and an opportunity to interact and communicate non-verbally.

From the beginning of her work with Rachel, Anita used her breathing to set the tempo of the music. Rachel realised this very quickly, showing how much she enjoyed the control and empowerment. Whilst they were playing “the breathing game�, as it became known, Anita would play the flute or sing while Rachel used her breathing as an instrument and a tool for communication. Whilst

Music therapy has allowed her to experience the freedom to communicate Rachel held her breath, Anita held her note, resuming once Rachel began to breathe again. Rachel would often smile at these moments, delighted that she was influencing the music. As time went on, Rachel would often vocalise with Anita; the more she used her voice, the more confident she appeared to become.

Rachel has now moved up to sixth form. Music therapy has allowed her to experience the freedom to communicate, interact and express herself. Her teachers have also noted how it has impacted her interaction,

as they realise how cognitively aware she is, and how much she is able to interact when given the appropriate medium to do so.

Rachel’s story highlights how a registered arts therapist can improve the lives of those with SEN. But what exactly is an arts therapist and what do they do?

What is an arts therapist?

An arts therapist is a psychological therapist who has arts-based experience plus training in psychological interventions using drama, music or art as their primary mode of communication.

This group of professionals is statutory regulated and fully accountable to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC): an independent regulator of 16 heath and care professions, including social workers in England, paramedics and occupational therapists. Anybody calling themselves an arts therapist or using the legally protected titles of music therapist, dramatherapist, art therapist or art psychotherapist, must meet HCPC standards for their training, professional skills, continuing professional development (CPD) and health. There are currently more than 3,600 arts therapists on the HCPC Register, with a significant proportion employed in mainstream health, education and social care services.

Arts therapists provide unique psychological and therapeutic interventions, supporting service users of all ages facing a range of issues, disabilities or diagnoses. This can include emotional or mental health

Arts therapists provide therapeutic interventions through drama, music or art.

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Music can help kids communicate.

problems, learning or physical disabilities and developmental disorders.

Donald Wetherick, of the British Association for Music Therapists (BAMT), explains: “Psychological interventions aim to improve a person’s state of mind and wellbeing, for example, to reduce symptoms such as anxiety, confusion, pain and depression. An arts therapist does this by helping the individual to experience themselves and others in different ways through an arts-based activity with therapeutic support.”

Louis’ story Smart, energetic, witty and considerate, Louis* also exhibited high levels of anxiety, demonstrated by obsessive behaviour, sleeplessness and increased worry about everyday activities.

During his first session with art therapist Jessie Fuller, Louis created an intensely colourful, layered painting, which was quickly and dramatically covered up with sweeping brushstrokes of black paint, leaving only glimmers of red and yellow shining through. He stuck a tiny fish sticker at the centre of the image, announcing its title as “Mucky Fish”. Jessie was struck by the daunting black dominating the painting, whilst amongst it all a surviving fish struggled in the midst of darkness, coping as best it could.

As time went on, Louis shared snippets of his nightmares, which seemed to reflect gripping feelings of responsibility, guilt and helplessness.

His creations became increasingly powerful. They included a clay model of a man with a detachable head called WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

“Mr Think Forgetful”, who spat out thoughts, and from time to time his head literally fell off because he had so many things to think about.

After ten weeks of sessions, Louis said his nightmares had stopped. He could sleep more easily and felt less worried about the trials and tribulations of everyday life. He showed less need to step into Jessie’s personal space, and was content making his creations on his own, thus reinforcing a kind of peace with himself which had previously been hard to reach.

Lasting support Arts therapists can transform the lives and wellbeing of service users, with the benefits extending well beyond therapy sessions, according to Val Huet of the British Association of Arts Therapists (BAAT): “Arts therapists are skilled at engaging hard-to-reach service users of all ages, regardless of their conditions. Outcomes can include improved social and communication skills, as well as increased confidence and self-esteem.”

Joshua’s story is an excellent example of how the positive impact of arts therapy can continue long after sessions have concluded.

Joshua’s story Joshua* was getting very anxious at school. Every little problem had become overwhelming in his eyes, and he was repeatedly vomiting every morning before leaving the house.

During his first session with a dramatherapist, Joshua mentioned his intense anxiety about being told off in class. He also confided his great interest in the Second World War, which triggered an opportunity to introduce dramatic themes of anxiety and bravery, relevant to Joshua’s predicament.

Joshua enthusiastically agreed to create a story from the Second World War with his dramatherapist. During the enactment of the story – which involved the D-Day invasion – Joshua’s character was an unhesitatingly brave lieutenant in the US army. The

During the enactment, Joshua seemed able to become a different, more confident sort of person dramatherapist decided to become his fearful comrade.

Joshua had to give reassuring talks about bravery and fear to his comrade, explaining how he himself also felt afraid, but knew that he had to carry on. They parachuted out of a plane, marched across country, and attacked a gun emplacement. During a quiet moment in a village church, Joshua (whilst still playing the role of the brave soldier) explained to his incredulous comrade about his difficulties at school when he was a boy.

During the enactment, Joshua seemed able to become a different, more confident sort of person.

Afterwards, the dramatherapist complimented him on his creativity and his intelligence. Joshua showed surprise at this, saying that he had thought of himself as unintelligent. They also discussed how being told off by a teacher might not be a disaster.

After six weeks of sessions, Joshua revealed that the vomiting had stopped.

His anxiety episodes before school also petered out. According to his school, this positive change has since continued.

Further information

Rebekah Tailor is from The Health and Care Professions Council.

For more information about arts therapists, visit: www.hcpc-uk.org/artstherapists *Names have been changed to protect the identity of service users.

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CREATIVE THERAPY

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National Learn to Play Day Music for All’s national Learn to Play Day returns for its fifth successive year on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March 2016 at a music venue near you. Over the weekend, members of the public can participate in more than 12,000 free instrument “taster” lessons at music shops, schools and venues throughout the UK. With organisations across the country delivering thousands of free music lessons, people of all ages and experience will have the chance to make music. Whether they are complete beginners, lapsed players or want to have a go at something completely different, UK music shops, schools and venues will be welcoming them through their doors.

Lending their support to Learn To Play Day will be rock stars, musicians, celebrities and local dignitaries. In previous years, Harry Hill, Gareth Malone OBE, Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Fearne Cotton, Ace (Skunk Anansie), Aaron Spears (Usher), Ian Paice (Deep Purple), Lower Than Atlantis, Lawson, Al Murray, the cast of Once, local MPs and many others have joined in the fun.

Full details of the event, including participating venues and local appearances, will be posted over the coming months at: www.learntoplayday.com and: www.facebook.com/learntoplayday.

To find out more about the charity Music for All, go to: www.musicforall.org.uk

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SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION NEEDS

Commitment to communication Maxine Whitmore looks at best practice in supporting kids with SLCN in primary school

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very school should prioritise children’s communication to ensure that all pupils are given the opportunity to enjoy learning and achieve to their full potential. This can be especially important for pupils with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

There are a number of key things primary schools can do to provide a holistic approach to supporting pupils speech, language and communication.

Here are some of the things that have made a difference at our school.

Undertake regular staff training to ensure that student teachers, newly qualified teachers and all school staff are knowledgeable regarding early identification of pupils with SLCN. Experienced staff members should provide training using up-to-date support strategies. This helps ensure successful integration if teachers and support staff are skilled in providing differentiated learning opportunities to children.

Prioritise language and communication development through ensuring that “at risk” children are identified and supported as early on as possible. If your primary setting works closely with a children’s centre or nursery, language and communication development can be encourage through stories, songs and creative activities, whilst some settings can offer activities such as “bucket time”, which encourages attention and early language development. Communicating with these early years settings can provide valuable information about new pupils.

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Communicating with these early years settings can provide valuable information about new pupils Screen for SLCN on school entry, allowing children to be identified early and then prioritised for relevant intervention and support. Programmes such as an eight-week “Just Arrived At School” oral language programme can target vocabulary and expressive language development, helping pupils to start on a strong footing.

Link topic and skills curricula across the whole school, ensuring that all areas of learning are linked to an overarching theme. Regular school trips supporting a “living language” approach can provide essential experiences as a focus for communication.

Utilise whole-school visual support systems to support learning such as communicate in print, shape coding, cued articulation and Makaton.

Prioritise regular training to all staff to ensure that children with SLCN are continually supported.

Foundations for literacy can be laid down through specific oral programmes, such as Partners in Talking and Talk for Writing.

Run speaking and listening activities throughout the whole school including national events, such as

No Pens Day Wednesdays and the Chatterbox Challenge. Whole-school events help foster confidence and functional communication for all.

Involve the whole school community to support children with SLCN from the headteacher to the caretaker.

Prioritise parental involvement in children’s learning through teaching of specific support strategies.

Maintain close liaison with multidisciplinary services such as local speech and language therapy, hearing impairment and educational psychology services. This will help ensure that all barriers to learning are identified and successfully supported early on.

Further information

Maxine Whitmore is Specialist Speech and Language Therapist at Aerodrome School. The school has recently been awarded Primary School of the Year at the Shine a Light Awards, in recognition of the work of school staff, parents and Croydon’s multidisciplinary services in supporting children with SLCN: www.aerodromeprimary.co.uk The Shine a Light Awards are organised by Pearson in partnership with The Communication Trust: www.pearsonclinical.co.uk/ results

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SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION NEEDS

Valuing speaking and listening Rhona MacDonald explores the importance of whole-school active listening approaches to learning

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ore and more schools and settings are prioritising communication as a core value running throughout lessons and across the whole school. This includes focusing on developing communication, speaking and language skills through active listening and effective communication amongst staff and students.

There are a number of approaches and programmes available. The Listen-EAR (Enjoy, Achieve, Respect) incorporates a communication audit that uses lesson observation to diagnose the communication issues and opportunities within a school.

In many schools, teachers spend a lot of time talking about listening, but mostly to redirect students who are not listening. This causes stop/ start lessons. Alternatively schools face challenges where some students are great listeners but require help in speaking out loud.

With the best of intentions, staff often start off by thinking big in their solutions, but starting small by embedding different elements of Listen-EAR has been the way forward to prioritising communication in our school.

A real advantage of prioritising communication in your setting is the realisation that programmes can

Good practice should be embedded across the school.

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Reward students for good communication, making rewards small and regular help teachers as well as students; for example, taking turns to talk gives students more space to speak and helps stop teachers’ minds racing ahead to the next part of the lesson whilst students are still answering.

Top tips to prioritise communication • secure the support of your senior leadership team in taking forward activities and ideas • start small, testing one strategy in a class at a time and observe the results before rolling it out • undertake a listening audit of your school. Observe a number of lessons and review the results.

• show students that the strategies are there for everyone, not just for them. Games and rules can change how you interact with students, giving you both more time to speak • use more visuals and slow down, taking the time to explore new vocabulary • try nominating a “teacher talk monitor”. This encourages students to be involved in the challenge, as well as creating more opportunities for the class to communicate • reward students for good communication, making rewards small and regular. This could be,

for example, “star of the hour” or “speaking and listening stars” • embed good practice from the start so that new students know what is expected of them • take part in communication related activity; for example, students can create “wordles” that are shown in assemblies to represent different year groups’ experience of the school.

Remember that improving communication is a long game; one whole-school INSET is not enough to change a school’s culture. Some teachers will embrace new strategies and some will take longer. However, with increasing support from a growing number of staff who find that working on listening really improves results for their students, change will start to come. A whole-school commitment to speaking and listening recognises that good communication is at the heart of learning. Good listening means good speaking – which leads to good writing – not just for students with SEN but for every learner.

Further information

Rhona MacDonald is Lead Teacher for Listen EAR at Hampstead School, which recently won the Secondary School of the Year Award at the Shine a Light Awards: www.hampsteadschool.org.uk www.pearsonclinical.co.uk/ results The people pictured are not from Hampstead School.

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ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS

Testing times Andrew Harland calls for a review on the use of access arrangements in the exams system

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hen public exams related to general or vocational qualifications are taken, some students with SEN, disabilities or temporary injuries may require additional help or assistance to access the exam system and this is delivered through an access arrangements (AAs) process.

AAs can be divided into two categories and both must comply with the Equality Act 2010. A range of AAs can be awarded by the centre, such as the provision of supervised rest breaks.

Those that require prior Joint Curriculum for Qualifications (JCQ) awarding body approval are usually dealt with through the online access arrangements (AAO) process, which was designed to reduce workload in centres and secure a more cooperative response from the awarding body community.

The current delivery system for access arrangements is buckling under the strain Examples of the sort of arrangements centres might request from awarding bodies might include extra time, the use of readers, scribes, or requests for modified and Braille question papers.

Requests could also include the use of assistive technology, ranging from specialist projectors to speech software on laptops.

In all cases, the SEN and disabilities department, through their SENCO, will provide key advice and carry out appropriate tests to agree which AAs are the most appropriate for the exams

office to implement. SENCOs now play a bigger role than ever before in clarifying what access arrangements need to be agreed with teaching colleagues, and how they will be implemented by the exams office throughout a public exam session.

In the JCQ publication, Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments' for both general and vocational qualifications, it states that AAs should only be given to those students who comply with a practice referred to as “the normal way of working” and should always be supported by documentary evidence which JCQ inspectors can request to see during inspections.

Stemming from the announcement made last year around the DDA 2010 Act, from September 2015, assistive technology is acceptable to use in both GCSE and A level exams, allowing more students to perform to their full potential, but access and use is still being controlled through the existing JCQ AAs process. As mentioned above, SENCOs are required to provide more help and advice in this area because there will be more and more students potentially having access to the public exams system.

Access issues

More than 60 cent of applicable students don’t use their extra time in exams.

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Prior to the integration of students with disabilities and learning difficulties into mainstream schools and colleges, the numbers of those accessing the exam system from specialist centres were relatively small. However, in many mainstream centres the exam office historically might have been confronted with one or two students with specialist needs which required the centre to apply for AAs.

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The code of practice for AAs in relation to general qualifications was, and still is, designed around paper driven exams which require extensive reading and writing skills, and therefore often exclude many students with disabilities and/or learning difficulties.

Legislation, reform and practice linked to the Equality Act 2010 have changed the whole education landscape.

Requests for AAs continue to rise year-on-year and the current delivery system is buckling under the strain.

The increase in requests for AAs is now more closely linked to issues around learning difficulties, such as those associated with dyslexia.

Some suggest that the gap between recognising need and developing interventions for exam students has grown because of the gradual disengagement of the exam system from classroom teaching and learning practice, with AAs being used as a bolt-on process which is identified and applied around enhancing exam performance, and not towards the continual assessment of need throughout a student’s educational experience.

There is no doubt that a gap has grown between the classroom experience and the exam system and it is this gap that precipitates the spike in AAs requests and puts the system under extreme pressure. The increase in requests is being exacerbated because centres have only one opportunity (in the summer) to take these high-stake general qualifications.

From an exams office point of view, AAs such as extra time are often seen as a total waste of time and money, as over 60 per cent of applicable students don’t use it in live exam situations.

This is partly related to the fact that this request had not been part of the student’s normal way of working, and the possible influences of peer pressure on students with AAs to leave exam halls with their friends.

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Something needs to be done, if we are to avoid this invaluable mechanism of support losing all creditability

and exam system than with servicing teaching and learning outcomes from a student or centre’s perspective. It is no surprise, therefore, that in recent years JCQ inspection teams have been picking up on more malpractice issues around AAs provision in centres, and most of these are around the lack of evidence to support both internal and externally agreed arrangements awarded to students.

Future arrangements Whether we like it or not, AAs are here to stay. What is clear is that something needs to be done quickly, if we are to avoid this invaluable mechanism of support losing all creditability.

One might suggest that, in future, the responsibility for guidance and implementation of AAs should no longer just lie solely with the JCQ and the awarding bodies, but be shared and driven by teachers through their normal way of working; AAs would then be signed off by SENCOs who have helped to map out the appropriate need of students from Year 7, when they entered secondary school. Exam office personnel could then implement AAs more effectively and responsively, saving the system millions of pounds.

To eliminate this atmosphere of suspicion and distrust which emanates from a policing approach to AAs, the exam system needs to be more transparent and student/centre focused. To achieve this, though, there needs to be a closer consultation between the JCQ and the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) – representing awarding bodies for both general and

vocational qualifications – and centrebased representatives, including teachers, SENCOs and exam officers who have to work as a team to deliver student outcomes.

With this new approach, AAs would be led by teaching and learning outcomes and not just by the exam system protocols. The normal way of working defined in present JCQ publications would be firmly established and practiced by staff and students under classroom conditions, which could then be more easily replicated and transferred to the exam hall.

AAs would no longer be considered as a bolt-on feature of the exam system to fulfil external exam system protocols, but would match targeted needs in centres which could then be planned, funded and resourced appropriately.

AAs should no longer be seen as a thing of privilege, but clearly defined and operated equitably across all exam centres.

This emphasis on securing an AAs regime which is defined around evidence, based upon the normal way of working, will put even more pressure on teaching staff. Therefore, it is vital that teachers are supported effectively through a shared understanding and application of AAs driven by external JCQ guidance and internally, through the expertise provided by SENCOs and the exams office community.

Further information

Andrew Harland is CEO of the Examination Officers’ Association (EOA), a charity and not-forprofit independent, membership organisation for exam office personnel in the UK: www.examofficers.org.uk In the next issue of SEN Magazine, Andrew Harland will look at the role of assistive technology in access arrangements for exams.

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SITUATIONS VACANT

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GARDENING THERAPY Advertisement feature

Why garden with children with SEND? We believe that every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances.

This statement from the Department for Education, in 2006, planted a seed in my head which led to my book How to… garden and grow: gardening as therapy for children with SEND that was launched on 1 October this year by LDA. Social and therapeutic horticulture is the process of using plants and gardens to improve physical and mental health, as well as communication and thinking skills. It also uses the garden as a safe and secure place to develop someone’s ability to mix socially, make friends and learn practical skills that will help them to be more independent.

The benefits of a sustained and active interest in gardening include: • better physical health through exercise and learning how to use or strengthen muscles to improve mobility • improved mental health through a sense of purpose and achievement • the opportunity to connect with others, reducing feelings of isolation or exclusion • just feeling better for being outside, in touch with nature and in the “great outdoors”.

Over the course of my current role working as a therapist with Thrive, the national charity which enables positive change in the lives of disabled and disadvantaged people through the use of gardening, I noticed that there were many books available on gardening with children, which were well illustrated, full of clear instructions and ideas for seasonal activities. These books are aimed at children, parents and teachers and have a huge amount of valuable information.

There were, however, very few gardening books written particularly for those working with children recognised as having special educational needs and/or disability (SEND). Their specific WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

need or disability may restrict their opportunities to venture into the garden and be involved in any activities. Consequently, some were being excluded from the many and varied benefits that being outdoors and involved in gardening can bring. This, along with running workshops for Thrive, created the impetus for the resource.

How to garden and grow is full of information, suggestions, games and activities to give teachers and parents the confidence to garden with children with SEND. By linking tasks to the specific needs of children and to the curriculum, it demonstrates the educational and therapeutic benefits of spending time in the garden and how to make it possible for all children to do so.

The book includes: • information on garden design, advice on appropriate tools and basic gardening techniques • a year-round programme of indoor and outdoor gardening and garden-related activities and suggestions for developing schemes of work • information on recording and assessing progress • a list of suggested plants for sensory and wildlife gardens.

The How to…garden and grow book and accompanying CD, which includes sample lesson plans, printable garden activities and games as well as suggested schemes of work around birds, seeds and pumpkins, has recently been endorsed by Thrive as a “well thought out and practical resource for children with SEND”. It is published by LDA and available at: www.ldalearning.com

Becky Pinniger is a former primary school teacher and has worked extensively with secondary school students with autism. She is now a freelance horticultural therapist and trainer with Thrive, based in Reading, and has led several training courses on gardening with children with SEND.

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SAFEGUARDING

Keeping kids safe Ann Marie Christian explains how to spot the signs of abuse and what to do if you are concerned about a child

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hild protection and SEN in schools are sometimes interlinked. However, I believe that SENCOs and teaching assistants (TAs) should routinely be trained in child protection and should work closely with the school’s designated safeguarding lead. Everybody has a safeguarding responsibility in the community, home and school setting. SENCOs coordinate the learning and emotional needs of the child or young person with SEN and TAs usually support the individual child. They are often familiar with many of the events, behaviours and regular interactions that make-up the child’s life, particularly at school.

Children express their feelings in many ways and serious case reviews consistently inform us that failing to share information can often contribute to a lack of appropriate intervention to safeguard a child.

School staff are well placed to spot the early signs of abuse but staff are often unsure about what they need to report. Concerns have to be recorded and referred to the designated safeguarding lead, including recording conversations with parents, the young person and other professionals.

Chronologies and accurate recording are crucial in collating evidence and also patterns of concern, for example: • 12/10/15, 10:40 – child arrives late to school at 10:30 stating that mum over slept • 14/10/15, 15:40 – unknown adult collects child from school.

School not notified by parent about unknown adult. Phone call home to parent who says unknown adult is her friend.

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name given, ID requested and child released to adult. Child was not familiar with adult and they left together • 19/10/15, 13:50 – mum called about collecting child as child unwell. Left message • 19/10/15, 14:15 – mum called about collecting child again. Left message • 19/10/15, 14:45 – mum called about collecting child. Left message • 19/10/15, 15:15 – mum arrives at school to collect child. Informed about messages left and ill child.

Mum informs the school she was asleep.

Eventually, the information collated will evidence the lack of improvement, engagement and any patterns of consistent neglect. If a multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) referral is made to Children’s Social Care, this will provide a record of your ongoing concerns.

Inappropriate sexualised behaviour displayed by a child is always a concern

Staff should also be able to show that they have accessed the appropriate child protection training and discussed their concerns with the designated child protection staff in the setting.

Inappropriate behaviour Inappropriate sexualised behaviour displayed by a child is always a concern.

Some schools accept this behaviour as part of a child’s condition; for example, autistic children can display certain sexualised behaviours. However, these behaviours make children more vulnerable, as they can be exploited both online and in the community by their peers, familiar adults or strangers.

The Child Sexual Exploitation strategy

Teaching children about safety and self-care can help to avert crises later on.

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was implemented two years ago and every local safeguarding children board has a CSE strategy. Schools and child care organisations have a duty of care to ensure they train staff and teach all children how to keep themselves safe. Autistic children need specialist support in puberty to ensure they are kept safe and are not exploited.

It may be a change in their behaviour that provides the clearest indicator that the child is distressed

Supporting families

bad touch, hurtful behaviours, personal space and privacy. Children need to understand about privacy with their own bodies. This is now required under the Government’s statutory guidance for schools and colleges, Keeping Children Safe in Education (2015), and inspectors also need to see evidence that this is taught within school and childcare settings.

It is also important that children’s individual circumstances are taken into account. Children with communication difficulties, for example, can struggle with disclosing and discussing abuse that is taking place. It may be a change in their behaviour that provides the clearest indicator that the child is distressed or in trauma.

Many parents of children with SEN have very demanding roles. In some cases, the child will never gain their independence and the demands on parents and carers increase as the child gets older and stronger. Obviously, after a while, this becomes very stressful and if the family is not being supported appropriately, it can lead to strain in the home.

While it is important for schools to understand a parent’s frustrations, it is vital that they remain child focused.

If they see that the child is not cared for appropriately or if they notice that the child regularly has dirty hair, is not stimulated appropriately, or seems to be receiving inappropriate intimate care, parents should be called into the school and spoken to about the observations or behaviours in a nonconfrontational manner. Parents should be given opportunities to explain the situation and relevant support should be offered. A CAF (Common Assessment Framework) early help assessment tool should be completed with the family, looking at the needs and strengths of the family. Adequate support should be offered and any relevant referrals made. If the family fails to engage with such services and the child continues to suffer, then a referral to social care services under the category of “neglect or emotional abuse” may be appropriate.

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Understanding risk Raising a child in the modern world is a big challenge for all parents, but it can be particularly difficult for families of children with additional needs. A few years ago, a secondary school contacted me about a 12-year-old girl who had a statement of SEN and who was meeting older men online. She was living with her maternal grandmother as her mother was involved with substance misuse and she was placed with grandmother at four months of age.

The school had tried to communicate with the grandmother but she failed to understand the risk involved with the Internet. The child informed the school that parental guidance was in place on her home computer but that it had been set by her, as her grandmother trusted her to activate it. Eventually, her risk-taking escalated and she started to make arrangements to meet the people she communicated with online.

I advised the school to complete an in-depth chronology and scrutinise her school file to evidence any concerns regarding risks to the child. They took my advice and referred it back to the Children’s Social Care MASH team. The case was accepted and an assessment was completed.

During puberty, children can be particularly vulnerable as this tends to be a time of personal exploration, which can also coincide with increasing issues with self-esteem and personal identity. Children with additional needs sometimes miss the social queues that can help others to regulate their behaviour and responses and are quick to respond to online or physical requests. They can sometimes be very trusting and desperate to please others.

This can trigger episodes of risky behaviours and make them vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

In the UK we have clear legislation and guidance about promoting the wellbeing of children in our education settings. Keeping Children Safe in Education (2015), shaped the roles and responsibilities of the designated safeguarding lead, governing body and whole staff in schools.

If you have concerns about a child, or if you know a person, family or child that may need extra support with safeguarding issues, remember that the children’s social care service also has a duty to offer support to children and families. It is important to be aware that by providing appropriate help in a timely fashion we can often help to avert crises that could put a child or adult at risk.

Further information

Ann Marie Christian is a specialist education safeguarding consultant, trainer, author and troubleshooter and delivers accredited NSPCC child protection training and safeguarding consultancy to child care/education settings: www.child1stconsultancy.co.uk

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DYSLEXIA

Dyslexia and mental health Neil Alexander-Passe investigates an often hidden side to living with a learning difference

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magine the scene: David gets frustrated in a class. He is bored and the lesson seems to go over his head. He thinks the teacher ignores him and only teaches the clever kids who seem to get what he is saying.

He day-dreams to a time after school when he is able to ride his bike and school feels a million miles away. Just then, his teacher begins to shout at him making him feel small and useless, as he is not working and can’t seem to do the work set for him. David agrees; he must be thick and stupid because everyone else around him can do the work and he can’t. He now gives up even trying, as stupid people will leave school and won’t get a job. “What’s the use of even trying”, he says to himself.

Sadly, this story is probably echoed in many classrooms up and down the country. Some of its key themes are that: a dyslexic boy is bored in class; the teacher has not understood his learning needs or differentiated work for him; the teacher has not communicated what is needed from the boy in the lesson; the boy takes on the teacher’s implicit criticisms of him as “stupid”; the boy believes he has no future at school and beyond and stops trying.

The state of play According to the Government’s 2014 SEN Code of Practice, “All teachers are teachers of pupils with SEN”. This is a great sound-bite but, in truth, it may be more of a pipe dream than a reality. Most teachers lack the skills or training to be an “SEN teacher”, a gifted and talented (G&T) teacher or a mixed-ability teacher. Indeed, SENISSUE79

School can be a lonely place for kids who don’t fit in.

under the current system, is this even a reasonable expectation?

I completed my PGCE in 2010/11 and the one university morning assigned to SEN was taken up by talking about G&T pupils. I did offer to deliver an SEN presentation, as a published SEN researcher and dyslexic, but my offer fell on deaf ears. So I would imagine that most current teachers lack SEN differentiation knowledge, and rely on small amounts of SEN INSET being squeezed between sessions on planning, time management and preparing for inspections.

As a SENCO, I have delivered SEN-based continuing professional development (CPD) to countless newly-qualified teachers (NQTs) and experienced teachers whose lack of understanding and awareness of basic symptoms of the most common learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, ADHD and processing difficulties, mean they will misunderstand the

For many people with dyslexia, school is something to survive and not thrive in learning barriers that one in five pupils commonly face. If teachers cannot recognise their pupil’s learning barriers, can they really teach them effectively?

The problem School can be a harsh place if you don’t fit in, and which social group does a struggling dyslexic fit into? Can he fit into the clever “swot” group that scores highly in every subject and fights for top marks in English, maths and science? No, he cannot. Despite his higher than average intelligence, his learning difficulties mean that he does not achieve at the level he could. Can WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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he fit into the bottom group that can’t be bothered to turn up to school and mucks about in lessons? No, because he actually wants to learn. Neither does he fit in with the IT geeks nor the really social kids. Normally, he will fit into that group of children who do not fit in anywhere – the misfits. But what does this tell us? It suggests that many of these kids are stuck with friends they do not want and that they are, in essence, excluded from the groups that their intellect may be attracted to but their current skill levels preclude.

So how do dyslexics cope at school?

My own research (interviewing 29 dyslexic adults, mostly with diagnosed/ undiagnosed depressive symptoms) investigated the life-long experience of dyslexia, from school to university and into the workplace. My survey suggests that for many people with dyslexia, school is something to survive and not thrive in.

Interestingly, the complaints about school were the same in both young and older adults, suggesting mainstream education has not evolved enough to support pupils with learning differences. We believe ourselves to live in a civilised era, but we force children by law to attend schools that do not understand their needs, or take an active part in teaching them to overcome their learning barriers.

Dyslexics and others who are not differentiated adequately for are likely to: • sit at the back of the class to avoid detection by teachers • avoid eye contact with teachers to blend into the background • truant lessons when tests are set • lose homework and books on purpose, in the belief that it is better to look careless than stupid in the eyes of teachers • avoid reading aloud by using a number of strategies, such as forgetting reading glasses (or making up that they need them) • give up trying in class, as they always seems to get D, E or F grades, no matter how hard they try WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

• disrupt lessons before they are asked to read aloud or do writing tasks. Being sent out is often seen as a “win” for these children.

Many children and young people with dyslexia will use these kinds of strategies to try to maintain their selfesteem and their standing with their peers, and to avoid being made to look stupid by teachers. Sadly, it is the case that many teachers prefer children who can do the work to those that can’t.

Whenever I teach SEN-based CPD, I am used to seeing teachers’ eyes glaze over when I mention the dreaded “D word” – differentiation. In their eyes, it adds hours to their lesson planning and they gain very little in the way of results as an outcome.

Blighting lives What starts as childhood lowself-esteem can, if it is continually reinforced, turn into more serious mental health difficulties. This is often the case for dyslexics who commonly face failure at school on an hourly basis, five days a week, for more than ten years of compulsory education.

So we are talking about very longterm, continuous trauma. My research suggests that this trauma can be retriggered in dyslexic adults when they return to school as part of the process of educating their own children. They can become distressed by commonplace school occurrences, such as the smell of the floor cleaner, seeing the small primary school chairs, being put in front of teachers or waiting to go into the headteacher’s office. This can be all the more distressing for the dyslexic parent who sees history repeating itself, with teachers who are not understanding their child’s difficulties with learning.

My research has highlighted the high frequency of both emotional defence mechanisms (withdrawal, depression, self-harming and attempted suicide) and behavioural defence mechanisms (acting out, aggression, property damage as revenge or running away

Dyslexics commonly face failure at school on an hourly basis, five days a week from home) in dyslexics from as early as seven years old.

If schools are to take their responsibility to all students seriously, every class teacher needs to have a good awareness of the symptoms of different SEN and how to effectively differentiate for them. They need to understand that pupils will sometimes go to great lengths to camouflage their SEN and avoid taking part in lessons.

Pupils with learning differences should have access to appropriate counselling, both one-to-one and in small groups, and SENCOs should be charged with monitoring lessons so that teachers are aware that their differentiation is being monitored.

It is important that all involved are trained to recognise the underlying roots of disruption in the classroom.

As the Government’s legislation emphasises, early identification and support of pupils with learning difficulties can make a huge difference.

This needs to be a reality, not a pipe dream.

Further information

Neil Alexander-Passe, who has dyslexia, is a primary school SENCO and former SEN teacher and secondary school SENCO. He is the author of a number of books on dyslexia, including Dyslexia and Mental Health: Helping people identify destructive behaviours and find positive ways to cope. He also writes dyslexia-based fiction as Alex Nile: www.dyslexia-research.com

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Mayor opens Senior School Study Centre at The Unicorn School September marked the opening of The Unicorn School’s brand new Senior School Study Centre.

The Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames, Councillor Helen Pighills, officially opened the Study Centre with a traditional ribboncutting ceremony. Councillor Pighills and a guest list of parents, headteachers and dyslexia specialists then toured the building and enjoyed tea and cake in the School’s courtyard garden.

The School provides specialist education for both girls and boys from Year 2 and above, and pupils will now have the opportunity to complete their secondary education at the school.

The Unicorn School is a specialist day school for pupils aged six years and up, who have dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, or who need support with speech and language. The school is undergoing ground breaking developments which will make it the only dyslexia-specialist day school in Oxfordshire to provide GCSE education. Developments are well underway, with Year 9 provision already in place and GCSEs to be introduced from September 2016.

The School provides a nurturing environment in which every pupil is helped to build self-confidence, appreciate their learning difficulties and develop their own personal learning style. All teachers are specialists in working with dyslexia and related difficulties and the school aims to equip pupils with the strategies for learning that will enable them to succeed in their future education and beyond.

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A Year 9 teacher and pupils at the launch of The Unicorn School’s new Study Centre.

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INCLUSION

Learning from others David Cole and Kerry Whitehouse look at what new teachers can learn from experienced colleagues about supporting kids with SEN

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here is no doubt that teachers completing their initial teacher training year, or early into their career, have a difficult job trying to meet the needs of all children.

This is not least because they are still developing a strong knowledge base and building upon new experiences while encountering continually high expectations of performance in their employing or training school.

This is especially true in special schools, where teachers new to this context have little experience or knowledge of the pupils needs yet must still ensure the highest quality of teaching within an effective and inclusive learning environment.

Recent research completed by the Department of Education (2015) suggests that one in five pupils have SEN – approximately 1.5 million – and an increasing number of pupils with statements and education, health and care plans attend special schools, currently around 40 per cent. In Special

schools, the most frequent types of primary need are severe learning difficulties (24.8 per cent), autistic spectrum disorders (22.5 per cent), and moderate learning difficulties (17.2 per cent). Identifying and meeting the needs of such pupils can be a difficult task for an experienced teacher, let alone someone who is new to it.

Inclusive practice In order to improve professional and teaching practices, educational research is increasingly being incorporated into teacher training programmes. This article summarises the findings of an action research project which was completed as part of the assessment for a PGCE course.

The main focus of the research was to gain a better understanding from experienced teachers of effective inclusive practices that can inform and support teachers early in their teaching careers of ways to improve inclusion practices. This research also

Headteachers view support staff as their most expensive but most valuable resource for inclusion contributed to the development plan of the placement school in which it was undertaken.

The research focused upon gaining the ideas, views and opinions of successful experienced teachers who each had between 20 and 33 years experience of teaching in special schools. Their views were sought on the strategies that they found successful to enhance learning and develop and support inclusive practice for children with SEN in the classroom.

Effective inclusion in schools is multifaceted, but the experienced SEN teachers surveyed drew attention to certain resources, skills and strategies upon which it depends. Specifically, they pointed to four main features of a pupil’s learning environment which play a key role in inclusion.

Supporting staff Communication of information It is important that class teachers share lesson objectives, individual pupil targets, and the lesson plan with support staff. Even a brief chat will help to ensure they are supporting pupils in the correct way and so enhance learning further.

Pupils should each have individual learning objectives.

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environment. It is important to share this recognition with support staff and actively pursue it together to enhance pupils’ experiences.

might be specific to a communication condition (for example, they may be deaf or non-verbal) or the result of a learning difficulty.

Use support staff wisely Utilise support staff appropriately according to their skills and dispositions.

Consider the strengths of support staff, not only in their training and specialist areas but also their dispositions, and allocate pupils and groups accordingly.

Headteachers view support staff as their most expensive but most valuable resource for inclusion.

Total communication approach When appropriate, the use of the written word, sign language, symbols, photographs and objects of reference, as part of a total communication approach, will enhance pupil learning and understanding.

Get the balance right Carefully consider the level of support needed and the appropriate number of staff within any class. Special school teachers sometimes criticise one-toone support for pupils as it can often take away their independence and exclude them. Too many staff could cause overload for some pupils, while too few might restrict their support and learning opportunities.

Differentiation Adapt lessons in practice A key skill for teachers is to be able to develop their teaching approach within lessons to ensure that every pupil learns to the best of their ability.

Teachers can adapt learning objectives and outcomes, tasks, space, time, groupings, worksheets and equipment.

Individual learning objectives/outcomes Where possible, pupils should have individual learning objectives and/or outcomes which are appropriate to their individual needs and abilities. The most inclusive type of task is one that all pupils can access, regardless of their ability, but for which the task and learning outcomes are differentiated to suit the needs of individual learners.

Communication Recognise communication needs Pupils in special schools have a wide range of communication needs, which WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Communication profiles Pupils with communication needs will benefit from the creation of a communication profile that can be adapted and used in preparation for learning tasks. It can include methods of communication which have proved successful.

Communicating with parents and professionals It is important to ensure good communication with parents, teachers and other professionals, and with the pupils themselves, to ensure their views, observations and experience are included in planning and differentiation work.

Classroom organisation Understanding needs Knowing the specific needs of each pupil in your class is essential for creating an effective classroom environment. For example, you might need to ensure pupils on the autistic spectrum are exposed to appropriate levels of visual stimulation, as they can suffer from sensory overload and so often require a quiet classroom with limited materials on display. Consider all of the information about children in your class. This includes the learning needs of children and also their emotional, social, sensory, physical and basic needs.

Seating Consider where children are seated and who they are working with. Seating and group interaction plans will help for all

A key skill for teachers is to be able to develop their teaching approach within lessons children – those with communication difficulties, those who need social interaction and those whose needs can support the needs of others.

Access Remember that pupils with a physical disability require access to all areas of the classroom if they are to be fully included.

Putting it into practice Information gathered from this action research project supported the trainee’s practices at his placement school. He tried out a range of the strategies suggested and found them to be both effective and beneficial in enhancing the learning and inclusion of pupils, and also in his own professional development. Such strategies were also found to be beneficial to other training teachers in different school contexts.

This small scale action research project also found that significant benefits can be gained by teachers early in their career researching practice, communicating with and learning from more experienced teachers.

Further information

PGCE graduate David Cole is currently a class and PE teacher for three- to 19-year-old’s with SEN at the Vale of Evesham School: www.valeofevesham.worcs.sch.uk Kerry Whitehouse is Principal Lecturer and Subject Leader, PGCE Physical Education at University of Worcester: www.worcester.ac.uk

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Epilepsy and education A year after its introduction, Emma Tingley asks if the Children and Families Act is working for pupils with epilepsy

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pproximately 63,400 children and young people aged 18 and under have epilepsy in the UK. In around two-thirds of cases the condition can be controlled by antiepileptic drugs and the young person can attend mainstream school.

However, research and the experiences of children tell us that this isn’t the end of the story.

A recent population based study found that 95 per cent of school-aged children with epilepsy had difficulty in at least one area of learning or behaviour (Reilly et al., 2014). The study also revealed that 60 per cent of these children met the diagnostic criteria for at least one behavioural or motor disorder such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental coordination disorder (DCD), depression or anxiety. However, only one-third of the children who met the criteria had previously received a diagnosis. We know that the same level of difficulties are not seen in children with other chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes (Davies et al., 2003) so the results seen show that children with epilepsy are indeed themselves a very high-risk group.

Support at school The introduction of The Children and Families Act (2014) last September was potentially good news for children with epilepsy.

There are two areas of the Act that should provide support for children with epilepsy in schools – the SEN reforms and the new statutory guidance on Managing pupils in schools with medical conditions. The latter is applicable to all pupils with epilepsy, so provides SENISSUE79

Most children with epilepsy have difficulties in at least one area of learning.

the safety net, at least in theory. The responsibility for this guidance sits with the governing body of schools.

It includes the need for a policy that outlines how the needs of any pupil with a long-term medical condition is met, including protocols on how medication is stored and administered. But it goes further than that and includes the need for staff to be appropriately trained to support pupils. It also includes the need for pupils with a medical condition to have a comprehensive individual healthcare plan (IHP) that is written in conjunction with the child and family, as well as any key health professionals.

Consider asking if there are calming areas to relax in if children need them Where this guidance goes further, and provides a real opportunity for children with epilepsy, is the inclusion of how the child’s condition impacts on their learning and classroom performance.

For pupils with epilepsy this section is key to ensuring that they truly do not fall through the net. Having to actually sit down and consider the impact on

Educational problems and epilepsy Cognition and behaviour

Percentage (%)

Cognitive impairment (IQ<85)

55

Learning disability (IQ<70)

40

Memory underachievement

58

Processing speed underachievement

42

Academic underachievement

42

Behaviour or motor condition

60

From The Identification of Educational Problems in Childhood Epilepsy, Reilly et al. (2014).

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performance, and not solely describe the management of seizures, should broaden understanding of the condition.

But how is it working out in practice?

A recent online survey was carried out by Young Epilepsy amongst parents of children with epilepsy aged three to 19 years. The results revealed that only 45 per cent of children had an IHP in place, leaving 55 per cent falling short of the standards set in the new statutory guidance. Of those that did have an IHP, 25 per cent of the parents were not consulted about the support needs of their child and only 11 of the 63 respondents said that the plan included information on the impact of their condition on their child’s learning or performance. Only half of parents were aware of their school having received any training on epilepsy. Just 30 per cent of the children had either a statement of SEN or a new education, health and care plan, despite studies showing that global cognitive difficulties are seen in 55 per cent of children with epilepsy.

Clearly there is still a long way to go.

Assessment for epilepsy It is clear that the impact epilepsy can have on cognition and behaviour is often under-appreciated, so it is important that teachers and parents identify the impact of epilepsy on the wider functioning of the child. For children with epilepsy to thrive both academically and socially, it is vital these difficulties are identified and

addressed early on by health and education authorities responsible for their wellbeing.

The first step has got be a good assessment of the child’s strengths and difficulties. Teachers and parents together are ideally placed to carry out an initial screening by working together to identify areas that a child may be struggling with. It is important to think broadly and consider the impact on behaviour and emotional wellbeing, as well as cognition and learning.

For some children, these initial conversations between parents and teachers will identify that further teacher-based assessment may be needed. For low level concerns, teaching can be tailored accordingly as part of the differentiated work already provided. For others it may provide the impetus needed for referral for further assessment, for example by an educational psychologist or speech and language therapist. Where more significant difficulties are identified, a statutory EHC assessment will be the next line of action. It is hoped that by taking this graduated approach, the number of children who are slipping through the net will be reduced.

Occasionally, children with epilepsy may experience regression in areas in learning including language and memory, or global loss of skills. If this occurs, it needs to be fed back to the medical team responsible for looking after the child as it may indicate that medication levels require adjustment or further

Epilepsy: related difficulties Children with epilepsy may experience difficulties with: • visual, verbal and/or verbal learning processes • sentence comprehension • reading and spelling, rote learning • speech and language • numeracy and problem solving • short-term and working memory • motor ability, including handwriting and coordination • maintaining consistency in learning • psychosocial problems, such as low self-esteem, frustration, anxiety and poor motivation • inappropriate behaviour, such as hyperactivity, inattention and attention seeking.

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Children with epilepsy may experience regression in areas in learning investigation is required. By engaging in regular reviews and repeating any formal or teacher led assessments on an annual basis, or sooner if any changes in the child’s performance are observed, this will enable clearer monitoring of performance and once again lessen the gap between identification and diagnosis.

With the new legislation in place and the right tools to support both teachers and parents, pupils with epilepsy can be better supported to achieve. Regardless of whether or not a pupil has a statement or EHC plan, all pupils with epilepsy need a clear plan for how seizures are managed and the IHP is the ideal place to record that.

This living document must be easily accessible for those who support the child on a day-to-day basis.

Further information

Emma Tingley is Head of National Services and Public Affairs at Young Epilepsy.

Working with families, teachers, psychologists and health professionals, Young Epilepsy have developed an epilepsy screening tool; ABLE (Assessment of Behaviour and Learning in Epilepsy) is a free downloadable resource that enables teachers and parents to better identify areas of concern.

The ABLE assessment tool, and a template IHP that meets all the requirements of the new statutory guidance, are available to download on the charity’s website: www.youngepilepsy.org.uk

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Do you work with a child or young person with epilepsy?

Are you ready to implement the new SEND Code of Practice?

E

pilepsy affects 1 in 220 children aged up to 18 years. New research shows that over 50% of children with epilepsy underachieve at school, given their IQ potential.

Young Epilepsy is a national charity and a centre of expertise for all young people with epilepsy and its associated conditions such as autism and ADHD. We can offer you practical classroom strategies to help you support these children to make the most of their time at school Our training covers a wide range of topics such as understanding epilepsy, recognising seizure types, recording and documenting information as well as the effects on learning and behaviour. We can also deliver training in the administration of emergency medication.

Our training packages can be tailored to suit your specific needs and are suitable for all education, health and social care professionals. It can also help you meet the new Children and Families Act 2014 statutory guidelines on ‘supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’.

 For more information call: 01342 832243 Ext 296  email: epilepsytraining@youngepilepsy.org.uk or visit www.youngepilepsy.org.uk *Quote SEN with your enquiry and receive a 15% discount

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PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS

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Looking after your own Kim Johnson examines how schools can support staff and bring out the best in their prime assets

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t is often stated that staff are our greatest resource and the means by which brilliant things can happen in our schools. The challenge for school leaders is to ensure that as much as possible is in place to support our staff to take on the varied challenges they face on a daily basis. This has perhaps never been more important that it is now, as school staff are tasked with staying abreast of the seemingly never ending changes to the curriculum and accountability, delivering quality teaching and learning opportunities, and retaining a sense of work/life balance.

Mentoring Mentoring can be a great way of helping new members of staff to settle in. No matter how much experience they have, new staff still need help with issues from subject delivery to pastoral care. Regular meetings with other staff members acting as mentors can be

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used to review what is working and what could be improved, ensuring a solution focussed approach to their induction. Coaching can be identified and put in place to improve outcomes for the member of staff and create a real sense of professional companionship.

By understanding and responding to any issues new staff may have, you can help them feel more valued and a part of the team.

Meaningful meetings Regular meetings between middle level leaders and staff are essential, to review, plan ahead and determine roles, responsibilities and timescales for action. The key ingredient here is to involve staff in partnership working, which helps them to engage energetically with the issue at hand, take responsibility for it and be held to account for it in a constructive way.

Formal meetings between pastoral staff and their line managers,

Each member of staff has a life outside of the setting which needs to be supported and subject leaders and school management, are also important in setting the agenda for development across the setting, for reenergising colleagues in their approach to new initiatives and to share progress. The school leader will also want to have regular, ideally daily, meetings with one, some or all members of the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership team to ensure that everything is running smoothy.

If staff are involved in decisions and are able to feed back to management, they are more likely to feel empowered >>

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to take on new initiatives and are more likely to welcome the challenge.

In all cases, meetings should be punchy and precise, to ensure no time wasting or extra after-hours demands.

Reaching in Many special schools have outreach teams. However, these teams can also be used for “in-reach” work.

Staff who have come from mainstream environments may need extra help with SEN-related issues that require additional training and coaching. It is crucial to monitor and follow up such staff development work in order to establish its impact and plan next steps in developing expertise.

These principles of supporting staff and developing a culture which says “we work together for each other” can make a big difference to the wellbeing and motivation of all staff members.

Seeing the individual Each member of staff is an individual, with a life outside of the setting which needs to be supported, encouraged and sustained. So what does this mean in practice ?

Operating flexible hours for teaching assistants and teachers with key or single family or parenting roles can be a godsend for staff. This can include opportunities to attend sports and other special events with their younger children. If managed sensibly, such flexibility will usually have minimal impact on the setting’s core purpose of providing education, while the sense of worth created in staff can be immense.

By looking carefully at how the school is meeting the needs of staff and how it supports them with their family life, school leaders will also encourage loyalty and diligence amongst its employees.

Schools can even seek to achieve the Family Friendly Certificate of Accreditation.

Work/life balance At a practical level, teachers and other staff could be encouraged, when setting SENISSUE79

their annual performance management targets, to also set work/life balance targets. These targets could reference issues such as: • creating a weekly planner of admin tasks, staff supervision, leadership and management • negotiating the delegation of tasks • establishing a protocol of leaving work early (after school hours) one day each week • ensuring that tasks taken home are small completions or planning outlines or reading and thinking times • reviewing work loads and work/ life balance with the coach or mentor each term • recording work/life balance achievements and ensuring that in balancing work and home, neither suffers.

Time to think Senior leaders should get a recognised number of days for dedicated leadership time. For example, they could be allowed two days each halfterm when they can be off-site and can use the time as they feel is appropriate to review progress, research and reflect on developments. Such time not only helps leaders feel valued and trusted, it also allows them to collect their thoughts without interruption and to recharge their batteries.

During a previous headship, I used “Golden Weeks” in which a week was set aside each term in which there were no after-hours meetings and the site was closed within 20 minutes of students departing. There was one catch, though: in this week nobody was supposed to be off ill otherwise the senior staff member responsible for cover didn’t get a “Golden Week”.

In the four years that this initiative ran, no-one was ever absent through illness during “Golden Weeks”.

Training

Mentoring can be a great way of helping new members of staff to settle in availability of bursaries each year.

Bursaries can be bid for and can result in money being awarded to support professional qualifications. This can really help staff progress in their careers. I have worked with teaching assistants who have used bursaries to help them qualify and now hold middle management teaching posts and have aspirations to go further.

Looking forward Investing in staff should be at the heart of what a school does, because we all know that the job can be tough and that it can impact on wellbeing.

Schools might want to consider signing up for the Mindful Employer Scheme, recognising that sustaining staff mental health is equally important.

Teaching can be stressful and the hours long, but a nurturing and inclusive environment can really make a difference for all concerned. A happy, well-motivated teacher, who feels supported and included, is well placed to be a valuable member of the team as the school moves forward to meet the ever changing challenges it faces.

Further information

Mr Kim Johnson is Principal of Bradfields Specialist SEN Academy and National Vice President of the NAHT: www.bradfieldsacademy.co.uk www.naht.org.uk

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PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS

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CREATIVITY

Branching out Creativity is a vital force in child development that must be nurtured, writes Elena Barbiero “What makes you like a particular teacher? What makes you pay attention, specifically?”, I asked my fifteenyear-old daughter. I had just taken up a new position as SEN Learning Support Assistant in a primary school which entailed assisting one particular child with considerable behavioural problems (such as standing on tables, rude remarks and attention seeking behaviour) but I was also required, at times, to organise creative activities for the whole class. Who better than a child to tell me the honest truth?

She thought a moment before saying: “Well… it’s something about them, the teachers... they have confidence, authority, but they are also funny and they make things interesting.”

In other words, what she described is a teacher who can engage children

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and keep discipline – someone who is organised creatively and who can involve children emotionally and intellectually. Perhaps, a good teacher is also interesting because s/he awakens dormant creative forces in the pupil. Obviously, what is interesting is very subjective; however, if a teacher or parent manages to ignite the forces of imagination and creativity within a child, they can help that child to become an independent learner. This is perhaps the greatest gift of creativity.

Creativity is generally recognised as one of the driving forces of child development. More than that, though, I think creativity empowers the individual, especially in children as they are still forming and developing their abilities.

It has always seemed to me that the most loved teachers and mentors – the

Creativity supports healthy emotions but it also supports healthy rationality and intellectual ability ones who command love and respect in equal parts – are the ones who can creatively make use of their personality, knowledge and passion for a subject.

They channel what they know and, like an alchemist, they transform the material into something greater. The magic happens in the minds and hearts of the pupils.

Engaging children in creative activities, where their creativity is the driving force to explore the world, is

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CREATIVITY

important in helping them develop a healthy relationship with their “self”, and in promoting self-esteem.

Creativity supports healthy emotions but it also supports healthy rationality and intellectual ability. Creative thinking – thinking out of the box – aids rationality. It also helps us to express our personality, and if it is repressed, this can have all sorts of negative consequences later on down the line, into adult life.

Preparing the ground What can parents and teaching staff do to create an environment that is creatively empowering? To use a gardening analogy, I often think it is about preparing the soil in which you will then plant your seeds of creativity.

Here are a few things that I think can help: • introduce an element of risk taking and encourage children to step out of their comfort zone • encourage children to listen to their gut feelings • encourage acceptance of different views and personalities • respect the individual traits and personality of the child • encourage children to use their sense of humour and make sure you don’t switch your own off • encourage curiosity and exploration • encourage active listening • encourage a desire to build and to start new projects.

Just as parents and teachers can encourage creativity, so they can stifle it. If they are not open to difference, if they adopt an authoritarian approach which demands rigid acceptance of what is being taught, and if they do not listen to the child’s own experiences, they risk holding children back. Children need to feel confident to try new things, take risks and make mistakes. An acceptance of variety and difference is crucial, while guilt, sadness and fear are the enemies of creativity.

As an educator or parent there are a number of things you can do to create WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

beautifully fertile soil where your little plants can grow: • step back, do not always intervene and structure activities and leave space for the child to interpret an activity and personalise it • allow time for creative play and activities. A super-structured day without a minute to spare does not allow children the space to use their imagination • don’t judge but encourage.

Rather than offering a solution, ask questions, make suggestions and let the child find their own way of doing things • use the materials you have to hand, and they don’t need to be expensive. Toilet rolls, old cardboard boxes, yesterday’s newspaper and leftover fabrics can all be amazing materials to create something totally new and magical • set an example by living creatively and enjoying it.

Children learn far more from watching what we do and how we live our lives than they do from what we say.

Providing toys or activities that are too structured deprives children of the use of their imagination; the best toys are the ones that can have an alternative use. So the use of simple materials like cushions, blankets or chairs to build a “hut” stimulates creativity and the ability to visualise. Alternatively, a box can easily become a car, or a broom a horse. As Kipling wrote, “When your Daemon is in charge, do not try to think consciously. Drift, wait and obey.”

Growing together Following my daughter’s advice on how to be the favourite staff member, I recently devised an activity for my Year 2 children. While putting it together, I also allowed myself to be far more creative than usual, which was great for me too.

I started with a tree. You can never go wrong with trees, so the “Tree of

Providing toys or activities that are too structured deprives children of the use of their imagination Friendship” duly came into being. I stuck two pieces of A3 paper together (one on top of the other for maximum height). The idea was to let the children draw the leaves and flowers of the tree.

Each leaf was going to have a message written on it, and the message had to be something nice we wish for the person sitting on our left (so every child has a wish given to them).

The children were then asked to draw leaves and flowers and to write the wishes on them, before sticking them on the branches of the tree. They were encouraged to be as imaginative as they liked with the leaves and flowers; they could be different shapes, colours and sizes. They could also add flowers to the tree and small animals such as owls, squirrels and birds to make the tree even more interesting.

The children loved this activity. It enabled them to use their imagination and to focus their minds on wishing something positive for the people around them. Every time they see the tree, it reminds them to maintain a positive attitude towards others.

Further information

Elena Barbiero is an SEN Learning Support Assistant in a primary school. She also writes and illustrates children’s books: www.thecreativityroom.co.uk

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BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviews

by Mary Mountstephen

Assessing Children with Specific Learning Difficulties: A Teacher’s Practical Guide Gavin Reid, Gad Elbeheri and John Everatt

What do I do about the kid who…? 50 ways to turn teaching into learning Kathleen Gould Lundy

Routledge (Nasen) £24.99 ISBN: 978-0-415-67027-2

Pembroke Publishers £19.99 ISBN: 978-1551-381-657

Gavin Reid has written extensively and is well known for his work in the field of specific learning difficulties (SpLD) and his coauthors are academics working internationally.

This book covers the full range of SpLD and provides practical guidance in terms of assessment and implementing strategies in the classroom.

It is aimed at classroom teachers, learning support staff, psychologists and other professionals and has been produced in collaboration with Nasen which is a professional membership association supporting those working with children with special and additional needs.

The book opens with key points about dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and ADD/ADHD and highlights the overlap between conditions and the implications for assessment.

The chapter on the assessment process itself is particularly useful in providing a clear overview of purposes and components and the role of emotional, physical, social and environmental factors. The authors also stress the importance of the assessment in relation to subsequent intervention.

Further chapters cover teacher assessment of literacy and numeracy, as well as information on behavioural problems and learning difficulties. The book concludes with a chapter covering sources and resources for assessment that will be very useful for professionals.

This is a useful, timely and relevant publication.

This book provides strategies, tips and methods to improve classroom conditions for learning that can be easily implemented. Its author is an experienced teacher who has produced many resources covering literacy and classroom performance.

Lundy includes information on topics such as establishing the learning environment, engaging students, exploring the curriculum, extending learning, and evaluating and assessing learning.

The text is clearly written from the perspective of an experienced practitioner but it is a relatively simple book which would be of value to students or inexperienced practitioners working in the primary or secondary sectors.

It is not aimed at those working with learning difficulties, but the ideas are relevant to a wide range of contexts.

Lundy provides a number of useful student form templates which develop vocabulary, reflection and evaluation and which contribute to the assessment process.

Another book from the same publishers could be seen as a companion volume: I Think, Therefore I Learn by Foster, Sawicki, Schaeffer and Zelinski. This focuses on helping teachers to understand more about how to help students to become more aware about how they think and learn.

It provides practical ways to help students analyse tasks, monitor the effectiveness of their choices and set goals for future learning.

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BOOK REVIEWS

Choosing Autism Interventions: A Research-Based Guide Bernard Fleming, Elizabeth Hurley and the Goth Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd ÂŁ19.99 ISBN: 978-1-910366-76-9 This book has been written to provide an accessible, evidence-based overview of the most commonly used interventions for children and adults on the autistic spectrum.

It has been produced

by Research Autism, a charity driven directly by the needs of the autism community.

It aims to provide guidance to those living and working with people with autism and to help them make informed choices about interventions. The authors stress the importance of high-quality research and impartial information to change lives for the better.

The book is very practical and is divided into four sections. The sections cover basic information about autism, descriptions of a range of interventions, advice on selecting appropriate interventions and a comprehensive range of appendices.

There are also three very positive recommendations from readers in the preface.

The book is attractively set out and provides information that is written in an accessible and supportive format. The terminology is simply explained and this is a book that would be useful for families or for mainstream schools working with autistic children.

The book is very well constructed and provides a huge amount of information. It is well researched and highly recommended for practitioners and parents who are living or working with those on the autistic spectrum.

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Improving Concentration: Evaluating and Improving Concentration and Performance Roy Bailey and Elvie Brown Speechmark ÂŁ29.99 ISBN: 978-0-86388-910-3

The authors of this practical resource have produced it as a companion volume to their earlier Speechmark publication on assessing concentration.

Bailey

and

Brown

are highly experienced psychologists who have worked with teachers and schools to produce and refine this guide to improving concentration.

It is designed to help students to develop an understanding of the concept and it provides explanations of how concentration can be improved and managed in relation to performance.

Part 1 outlines the theoretical perspectives on the subject and describes the model the authors have developed. In Parts 2 and 3, a mindful approach to coaching is introduced that covers aspects such as attention, openness, curiosity, patience and thinking.

A range of photocopiable activities is also provided.

These can be used singly or combined as part of a structured intervention to improve an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concentration skills.

This book would be useful for those working with secondary age students who may have a diagnosis of specific learning difficulties or weaknesses in aspects of monitoring their own levels of attention and performance.

The activities are well designed and the book is written in a user-friendly workbook format.

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The science of wishful thinking Entrepreneur turned philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley explains why she has donated more than £50 million to autism projects

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iving is a private expression of personal beliefs. The motives hardly matter.

The fact is that people give; it’s a defining characteristic of the human species. Money alone is seldom the answer. I try to make giving a committed act of love and do not accept the established vision of the world as a vicious jungle where only the fittest and most selfish survive.

I support, and only support, things I know and care about. And autism is one of these things.

Worldwide, the face of autism research is being changed by the sharing of results and open reporting, boosted by strategic mapping projects and increased investment across both public and private funders. It is only the big institutional funders that can do things such as large scale cohort studies or mining health databases, and so help develop the robustness that autism research often lacks.

Already, the better identification of autism is leading to a worldwide surge in demand for services – wildly beyond the capacity of existing budgets. The relatively recent recognition that there are large numbers of autistic adults without diagnoses is exacerbating these pressures even further.

The difference One of the things a donor wants is to provide what the eventual beneficiaries of the research want. We look for measures of project outcomes – at the difference that projects will make – not at what is to be physically provided in terms of equipment or people’s time.

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How will the research change people’s lives?

Autism, which blurs all social codes, certainly provides a grand challenge. Each new finding has to be independently verified if it is to advance our knowledge. And every new finding seems to raise new questions, almost widening the gaps in our knowledge.

Without respect for the basic scientific method, we gamble with people’s lives It’s a shared voyage of discovery, the purpose of which is to inform action.

It seems to me that much more autism research needs to be focussed on what the social workers call “the hard end”. As the experience of my late son Giles suggests, researchers and ethics bodies must find better ways

to study children and adults who are unable to give informed consent. We need always to distinguish between subject assent, parental permission, legal authority and moral responsibility.

The biggest disservice is when we pitch our expectations too low.

Respect It is useful to approach the various activities involved in supporting people with autism from a respectful point of view. In 2001, the first ever review of autism literature brought out the need for researchers to share their work so that others could benefit, and to know what others were doing (and respect what they have done) so as to avoid duplication. After all, even failed projects can be a source of learning and innovation.

Maverick views are always likely to get exaggerated attention, while solid, staid research often gets ignored. However, randomised trials are important in both laboratory research WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

AUTISM

and clinical trials. Our theories of what works can be badly wrong. Different experts think they “know” things that are mutually contradictory. Without good evidence, without respect for the basic scientific method, we gamble with people’s lives.

Successful projects are most likely to be interdisciplinary, so we need to do all we can to enable team working and accord respect to colleagues of all disciplines. Quality projects rely on rigorous peer review, so everyone needs to put their own research up for validation. Wishful thinking is always being tested. Research is humbling.

Practical support The focus of our education system seems to have changed in recent times from knowledge to skills – and skills last while knowledge fades. This is particularly true of special education.

But are educators given the best chance? Do they have the tools for the task?

Autism brings into sharp focus what it means to be human. The neurology of someone on the autistic spectrum is different and if we really seek to understand the autistic mind, we will respect that difference and stop using our own neurotypical yardsticks.

It is not enough to choose the best interventions for the child. They must be the best for both carer and child.

If not, as happened to me, the carer can break down and be unable to continue caring at all. Vulnerable people – those who know the fragility of being a person – bring out the best in most of us, most of the time. However, their demanding needs can unmask our own weaknesses. Parents can bankrupt themselves, both financially and emotionally, chasing after something (anything) to help their child.

both in terms of the individual with autism and in family carers’ much reduced earning capacity.

While autism research is growing, its scope remains tiny in relation to its impact on the country and to the effort and resources expended on other conditions. If the human and financial costs of autism are to be reduced, laboratory findings have to translate into practice. This makes it all the more important that available funds are directed to areas likely to produce the greatest benefits.

One of the greatest challenges for people who are disadvantaged in any way is for society to accept what they have to offer the world. The drivers of progress in this area – once only the professionals – now include families and latterly the vocal groups of people with autism who advocate for themselves.

Even in today’s austere financial climate, some organisations are successfully employing people with autism and there’s no doubt that people on the spectrum can become loyal, hardworking and effective staff. Their approach is straightforward and honest.

They may have excellent technical skills and a good knowledge of facts and figures. ICT jobs, for example, are often well suited to people with autism, who sometimes relate better to the consistency of computers than to unpredictable human beings.

My age makes me conscious of how much progress has already been made in the field of autism research and awareness. Of course, even with money – and I’ve invested over £50 million in various autism projects – results are not

Cost and opportunity The national cost of autism to the UK economy is estimated to be a staggering £32 billion a year. Only seven per cent of this goes on education, with the main costs coming from lost employment, WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

More than five million people have viewed Dame Stephanie’s TED talk on autism.

Autism brings into sharp focus what it means to be human always positive. As many people have found, research is slow and expensive.

It demands involvement and cannot be delegated very far. The best planning in the world gives perhaps only a one in ten chance of a particular research project finding anything that will have a real impact.

Having said all this, though, I’m delighted with how things are moving on with autism research. No-one expects a dramatic breakthrough, but rather we seek a series of incremental advances. Such steady work is both important and urgent. Crucially, it is leading to less invasive interventions and, in many countries at least, more respect for those on the autistic spectrum.

Further information

Dame Stephanie Shirley was a computing pioneer who set up a software house in 1962. Her commitment to autism stems from her late son Giles, who was autistic. Through The Shirley Foundation, she founded the Kingwood Trust, Prior’s Court School, Autism Cymru and the autism research charity Autistica.

A Champion of the Autism Alliance, she joined the National Autistic Society on its foundation and received the Research Advocate Award at the International Meeting for Autism Research in 2013. This year, Dame Stephanie launched the National Autism Project which will provide recommendations on UK autism research and practice and seek to raise autism awareness: www.steveshirley.com Dame Stephanie Shirley’s autobiography, Let IT Go, is available from Amazon.

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AUTISM Advertisement feature

Creating the building blocks for success We all know that when caring for and educating children and young people with autism and complex needs there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. That’s why specialist providers, like Hesley Group, have pioneered a more person-centred approach, building their range of clinical, support and educational service around the needs of the individual.

Building on their experience, unique environment and highly trained clinical and support staff, Hesley have created their acclaimed Hesley Enhancing Lives Programme (HELP). Combining the latest techniques and accredited practices, this innovative value-based positive behaviour support programme reduces the need for high-risk interventions by taking an empathic and proactive approach.

Recent success stories have shown that Hesley’s approach has had a positive effect on the emotional well being of those who use their services. The results really do speak for themselves.

Martin’s story When Martin first arrived at Hesley he was very dependant on his routines. His need for daily structure limited his movements and at one point he hadn’t left the site for over five years. Martin was moving towards the transition from children’s to adult services, which was a very stressful time for him. Plus, to add to the challenge, he needed major dental work, which was only available off-site.

By creating a bespoke multi-disciplinary team around Martin, and by working closely with his parents, Hesley was able to provide Martin with the support and clinical services he needed at this crucial time. A detailed care plan was created and regular meetings and reviews made sure progress was being made, documented and celebrated.

Hesley’s building blocks for success, including the investment in staff training, the facilities and development of a highly empowering and safe environment, have been vital elements in Martin’s continued personal development.

WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Over the last 12 months Martin has made fantastic progress.

The multi disciplinary team have made great use of social stories which allow Martin to interact with the world around him better and have enabled him to make more informed choices.

As everyone at Hesley is fully trained to deliver their Hesley Enhancing Lives Programme, they are also able to offer a consistency of approach that gives people like Martin the stability he needs to grow in confidence. Plus, with a stable team around him, he’s able to create bonds with members of the Hesley team.

With this comes trust and respect, which has helped Martin a great deal. As a result of this he’s now started to go off-site on a daily basis, something that was unthinkable at one point. He regularly visits the local supermarket and even visits the dentist.

Today, Hesley continue to build on these successful foundations and are planning new short, medium and long-term goals for Martin.

To find out more about Hesley’s tailored, person-centred approach and how it’s helping children and young people with autism and complex needs live more independent lives, call: freephone 0800 055 6789 or view their new online videos, which can be found at: www.hesleygroup.co.uk/content/groupvideos-2015

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Free film screenings for pupils with SEN Free film screenings and teaching resources designed for educators of young people with SEN will be a key feature of the Into Film Festival 2015, the world’s biggest youth film festival, which returns for a second year to venues across the UK from 4 to 20 November.

Over 160 dedicated autism-friendly screenings are on offer, including the films Paddington (pictured), Cinderella, Annie, Penguins of Madagascar, Dolphin Tale 2, Home, Big Hero 6,

details on planning a visit alongside activities to support a

Jurassic World, the American fantasy musical Into The Woods

range of levels and learning styles, for use before and after a

and Pixar’s latest release Inside Out.

Festival screening.

The Festival seeks to use the power of film to captivate

“The Into Film Festival has enabled us to offer our pupils

young minds and bring learning to life. Special features such

valuable learning experiences outside the classroom”, says

as lower than normal lights and volume, and groups being

Helen Hemsley of Barndale House School in Northumberland.

allowed to take their own food and drinks into the screening

“Our post 16 class group went to see Earth to Echo at a special

and move around in the auditorium, will help pupils on the

screening which was ASD/LDD friendly. Staff who attended

autism spectrum to enjoy a relaxing and enriching cinematic

thought it was a brilliant way for our pupils to see a film as they

experience. The Festival also offers almost 200 subtitled

weren't worried about the pupils making a noise or having to

screenings and over 600 with audio description.

leave the room and disturbing others… The pupils were very relaxed and enjoyed the film.”

To help visitors get the most from the Festival, an SEN Guide for educators of young people with SEN, available

For more information and to book tickets, visit::

to download free from the Festival website, offers practical

www.intofilm.org/festival

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ABOUT SEN

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Please email press releases, comments and article ideas to Peter: editor@senmagazine.co.uk

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Never miss an issue of the UK's leading special educational needs magazine! See inside back cover or contact Anita or Amanda: 01200 409 800 subscribe@senmagazine.co.uk

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SEN Magazine: keeping you informed and up to date SEN Magazine Ltd. Chapel House,

In the next issue of SEN Magazine: • CReSTeD/dyslexia • assistive technology • hearing impairment • outdoor activities • Down syndrome • autism • post-16 options • SEN provision overseas • Education Show preview Plus news, reviews, CPD and events listings and much more Follow us on

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RECRUITMENT

New opportunities in SEN Will Washington looks at some of the emerging job roles for teaching staff in the SEN arena

N

ever before have there been so many diverse and varied job opportunities for education practitioners to work with young people with SEN. The Office of National Statistics predicts an increase of 220,000 jobs available in the education and care sectors between now and 2020. With up to 20 per cent of school pupils believed to have some form of SEN – pupil referral units, prisons, secure units and hospitals as well as schools, academies and colleges – have an increasing need to recruit specialist staff to teach and support the students in their care.

EHC plans insist on support being available from birth until the age of 25, and the increased understanding of SEN has given rise to numerous specialist roles within education. While staff were previously categorised as either teachers or teaching assistants, there are now job roles such as learning support assistants, learning mentors, educational carers, instructors and behaviour managers, each requiring subtle differences in approach and responsibility, tailored to providing the best possible support to the pupil.

Each local authority or school decides which qualifications and experience their support staff require.

Staff development is often available at local colleges including courses such as Level 3 Certificate Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools, Level

School interview panels and recruitment consultants are now looking to match specific personality traits 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People’s Workforce and Level 3 Diploma in Specialist Support for Teaching and Learning in Schools.

Salaries for full-time support staff range from £12,000 to over £17,000 per year and, with experience, progression to a senior teaching assistant or higher level teaching assistant (HLTA) is possible with salaries ranging from £16,000 to £22,000 (information gained from National Careers Service).

Changing roles There are also many opportunities for qualified teachers and college tutors in SEN provisions. A specific SEN qualification would help your application, but an interest in working in this sector and the ability to deal with challenging behaviour is often enough to apply.

Smaller class sizes and increased numbers of support staff allow for each pupil to have more one-to-one teaching time, thus allowing the teacher to build a more trusting and successful working relationship with each individual student.

Teaching is not just confined to the classroom either; a number of pupils who are unable to attend school for a variety of medical and/or emotional reasons receive home tuition from outreach teachers. When recruiting, SEN provisions often use supply staff as their first port of call, with the benefit that both parties get a commitment-free trial period before making any decisions to offer or accept a permanent contract.

Although qualifications remain important, school interview panels and recruitment consultants are now looking to match specific personality traits, designed to best suit the students and engage them in education dependent on their type of SEN. Schools are often looking for detailed personal specifications, insisting on empathy, good humour and resilience as the main concerns, often with qualifications and experience as an important, but secondary factor.

Recruitment agencies should provide specialist training for their staff in order for them to provide quality support to those in their care. Before commencing work, courses in autism awareness, moving and handling, de-escalation, and physical intervention can all be provided, giving candidates confidence and a higher level of understanding before they arrive in the classroom.

What may appear to be a very niche and specialist employment sector is actually highly accessible for those with the desire and ability to build a successful and fulfilling career making a positive impact on the education and care of young people with SEN.

Further information

Teaching staff interested in SEN can find a range of new challenges in the workplace.

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Will Washington is SEN Manager at recruitment company Vision for Education: www.visionforeducation.co.uk

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CPD, events and training Keep up to date with the latest developments in special educational needs, with SEN Magazine's essential guide to the best courses, workshops, conferences and exhibitions

We take every care when compiling the information on the following pages. However, details may change, and we recommend that you contact the event organisers before you make arrangements to attend.

CPD, TRAINING AND EVENTS Rebound Therapy Staff Training Courses The National Rebound Therapy Consultancy - with founder Eddy Anderson. The official UK body of reference and provider of nationally accredited, certificated staff training courses in Rebound Therapy.

01342 870543 www.reboundtherapy.org

Speech and Language Sciences MSc University College London

A clinical training programme as well as a challenging academic degree, the core subject is speech and language pathology and therapy. Students consider approaches to the investigation and management of clients with communication and swallowing problems. www.ucl.ac.uk

Severe, Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties MEd/ Postgraduate Diploma/ Postgraduate Certificate University of Birmingham

This part-time, campus-based, blended learning programme has been developed for a range of professionals/practitioners who work with children and adults with learning difficulties in educational settings across the severe and profound range (SLD/PMLD) such as teachers and lecturers, nurses, therapists, psychologists and support staff.

Sounds of Intent training days In-house training packages for schools

Training days will allow schools to begin using the Sounds of Intent framework of musical development, which was designed particularly (though not exclusively) for children and young people with learning difficulties, including autism and sensory and motor impairments.

The training package/day(s) can be tailored to suit the needs of individual schools, primarily to fit in with how music is delivered. www.soundabout.org.uk

MA in Education (Early Years) Centre for Research in Early Childhood

Accredited by Birmingham City University and recognised for their practice based approach, the modules are intended for practitioner researchers looking for a framework and academic recognition of their current research and work. Popular modules include: Learning Outdoors in Early Childhood, Early Years Music, Leadership and Management and others www.crec.co.uk

NAS Training and Consultancy The NAS can offer in-house and open access training to suit your timetable and learning outcomes. www.autism.org.uk/training

Certificate in Understanding Autism in Schools

Autism and Learning - PG Certificate/Diploma/MEd

A three-day programme leading to a Certificate in Understanding Autism (accredited at 40 credits level 4 or 5 by Canterbury Christ Church University). The course is usually taken one day per school term. Courses are purchased by local authorities who then make places available to staff working in education.

University of Aberdeen

www.autism.org.uk/training

www.birmingham.ac.uk

The programme aims to give practitioners an in depth understanding of the condition and the working of the autistic mind. It will equip participants with a range of practical approaches and interventions that will enable children and young people on the spectrum to access learning, participate actively, experience success, gain independence, and fulfil their potential. autism@abdn.ac.uk www.abdn.ac.uk

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Postgraduate Diploma in Dyslexia and Literacy This course is for those who have already completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Dyslexia/SpLD or equivalent at Level 7. The Postgraduate Diploma has a focus on assessment and leads to 120 credits with Middlesex University. The Diploma provides eligibility for an Assessment Practising Certificate (SASC accredited) as well as AMBDA (BDA) with Module C2. dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Autism Seminars for Families: sensory needs insert now available A resource pack to enable you to deliver autism seminars in your local area. A cost effective way to help you support families. www.autism.org.uk/familyseminarpack

Network Autism: free online discussion group on SEN reforms Take part in the new policy group dedicated to SEN reforms, read the latest research and collaborate with others. www.networkautism.org.uk

We take every care when compiling the information on these pages. However, details may change, and we recommend that you contact the event organisers for up-to-date information before you make arrangements to attend.

MA Leading Inclusive Education Middlesex University

The MA Leading Inclusive Education provides career development for teachers working in inclusive education, allowing them to explore the best ways of leading and managing children and teachers in an inclusive situation. The course provides an insight into the skills needed to deal with various conditions affecting children's learning, and allows teachers to gain a deeper knowledge of how good, effective leadership can impact children's learning and development. www.mdx.ac.uk

Study Specific Learning Difficulties with Middlesex University Study MA Inclusive Education online and part-time at Middlesex University. Learn best practice teaching children with Specific Learning Difficulties - see the impact on your own work and advance your teaching career. www.mdx.ac.uk

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CPD, TRAINING AND EVENTS Looking for development opportunities?

Do you or your colleagues work with children and adults with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties (SLD/PMLD)? If the answer is yes, you can apply now for the Severe, Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties programme at the University of Birmingham.

The programme enables professionals/practitioners such as teachers, lecturers, nurses, therapists, psychologists and support staff who work in educational settings to develop their practice. Graduates work in specialist services such as special schools or colleges, as well as inclusive services in nurseries, mainstream schools and community education. The programme is offered through a combination of campus faceto-face and online learning, and can be taken at two levels: undergraduate (level H) and post-graduate (Level M). There are three core modules and successful study of these leads to either AdCert or PGCert. For more information, visit: www. birmingham.ac.uk/spmld

Online training for education professionals ICEP Europe is the leading provider of online training for teachers and allied professionals. Find practical and comprehensive courses on positive psychology and special educational needs at: www.icepe.co.uk

0208 3547592 Various dates

Autism training for education professionals in the South East Various venues

November Various November

Preparing your SEN Provision for Inspection: This series of Workshops runs throughout November, providing an overview of the implications of the Revised Inspection Framework and SEN Code of Practice for your SEN provision. £49 per delegate. pearl@pearlstraining.co.uk www.pearlstraining.co.uk

Various Nov - Jan

Visual interventions and Social Stories Training A visual and auditory social and behavioural strategy for teaching and support staff working with learners with autism, Asperger syndrome, ADHD and related conditions.

18 Nov: London Victoria 26 Nov: Coventry 10 Dec: Halifax 13 Jan: London Edmonton www.peoplefirsteducation.co.uk

Various Nov - Jan

ADHD/ADD training Strategies for the effective inclusion of learners, for educators and/or support staff, designed to successfully include learners with ADHD. 17 Nov: King’s Lynn 2 Dec: Newcastle 21 Jan: South Mimms/Potters Bar www.peoplefirsteducation.co.uk

Various Nov - Feb

Promoting Positive Behaviour Training

The National Autistic Society delivers nationally-recognised autism training developed by the Autism Education Trust.

The training is led by specialist teachers and is suitable for anyone working with pupils aged five to 16. The three tiers of training cater for all levels of experience and expertise.

Topics range from basic autism understanding through to leadership and strategy.

Designed to enable successful

www.autism.org.uk/aethubC

www.peoplefirsteducation.co.uk

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inclusion of a broad range of individuals and groups of learners including those with neurological conditions such as autism, Asperger syndrome, ADHD, ADD and related disorders whilst fully meeting the needs of their peers.

24 Nov: Liverpool 3 Dec: Sheffield 9 Feb: Reading

12 November

The Lifecycle of Academy Conversion

Bradford College The Lifecycle of Academy Conversion

Chaired by Chris Billington, Schools and Charities Partner at Wrigleys Solicitors, this session covers all aspects of academy conversion. It brings together a panel of headteachers across Yorkshire in various stages of the academy life cycle and asks questions such as their rationale for conversion, what were some of the key issues they faced and how were they overcome, how they plan to tackle future challenges, what growth plans do they have in place, and are they moving to a trust and why? This conference is free to attend and is for senior leaders and decision makers from the education sector. www.educatedyorkshire.org

14 November

Henshaws Leisure, Lifestyle and Work Fair

Henshaws Specialist College, Harrogate

Free transitions event in Harrogate for young people with disabilities and additional support needs. Exhibitors from organisations across Yorkshire will provide advice on making plans for the future and accessing local activities. For more information and to book:

01423 886451

19 November

Reforming Additional Learning Needs provision in Wales Central Cardiff

This seminar will discuss the key reforms in additional learning needs in Wales including support being extended up to those 25 and under. This event is CPD certified.

Info@forumsupport.co.uk www.policyforumforwales.co.uk

19 November

Kidz Up North EventCity, Manchester

One of the largest, free UK exhibitions dedicated to children and young adults with disabilities and special needs, their families and the professionals who work with them. More than 170 exhibitors will be offering advice and information on subjects such as funding, mobility, seating, beds, communication, access, education, toys, transport, style, sensory issues, and sports and leisure. Running alongside the event are free seminars for parents and professionals.

Topics include will include moving and handling, sleep issues, continence, direct payments, parental experiences, transition and legal advice. www.disabledliving.co.uk/Kidz/North

www.henshaws.ac.uk

17 November

Autism and communication conference Leeds

This conference, organised by The National Autistic Society, will discuss the types of communication difficulties that people on the autism spectrum can experience, as well as the various tools and strategies to help support verbal and nonverbal communication. Key topics include: atypical language development, intensive interaction, using IT, enabling people with severe difficulties to communicate.

25 November

Diagnostic Assessment: Confidence in Your Tests, Statistics & Interpretation London

Full-day event – five Hours SASC www.patoss-dyslexia.org

www.autism.org.uk/communication2015C

18 November

Diagnostic Assessment: Renewing Your Assessment Practising Certificate London

Full-day event – five Hours SASC www.patoss-dyslexia.org

WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

CPD, TRAINING AND EVENTS 25 November

UEB Braille Literacy Workshop

This one-day work shop at New College Worcester outlines changes in the Braille code and explores strategies for supporting support students moving from SEB to UEB.

01905 763933 www.ncw.co.uk

25 - 26 November

Occupational Therapy Show NEC Birmingham

Free-to-attend show for NHS, care sector and independent OTs with CPD training, education conference and exhibition.

Around 250 exhibitors are expected to be in attendance, showcasing the latest products in assisted living and mobility.

Lectures and presentations will cover issues such as mental health, physical support, and children and the family. www.theotshow.com

26 November

Pathological Demand Avoidance conference Peterborough

The main difficulty for people with PDA is their avoidance of the everyday demands made by other people, due to their high anxiety levels when they feel that they are not in control. This conference, organised by The National Autistic Society, will give you a greater understanding of PDA and an opportunity to discuss techniques that will help you support people with the disorder. You’ll hear the latest research on the changing diagnostic understanding, and presentations on managing behaviour and issues with communication. www.autism.org.uk/pda2015C

December Various Dec - Feb

Dyslexia Training

Strategies for the effective inclusion of learners, for educators and/or support staff, designed to successfully include learners with dyslexia.

8 Dec: Manchester 14 Jan: London Edmonton 19 Jan: Brighouse 26 Jan: Banbury 27 Jan: Chesterfield 3 Feb: Newcastle 10 Feb: Reading www.peoplefirsteducation.co.uk

WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Various Dec - Feb

Autism/Asperger Syndrome Training

Strategies for effective inclusion of learners with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs), for teachers and/or support staff, designed to enable successful inclusion of learners with autism and Asperger syndrome.

1 Dec: Brighouse 20 Jan: South Mimms/Potters Bar 28 Jan: Leicester 4 Feb: Newcastle www.peoplefirsteducation.co.uk

3 December

Understanding autism and introduction to the SPELL framework London

This one-day course, organised

by The National Autistic Society, provides an overview of autism and how to support people with the condition using the SPELL framework. SPELL is a framework for responding to the needs of children and adults on the autism spectrum developed through evidence-based practice. It is useful in identifying underlying issues, reducing the disabling effects of the condition and providing a cornerstone for communication. This course is suitable for those wanting to increase their understanding of autism and strategies to support children or adults on the autism spectrum. Other dates and in house training available.

Autism

T.E.A.C.C.H. Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children

3 DAY TRAINING COURSE - £391 27-29 January 2016 Course led by: Prof Gary Mesibov Div. TEACCH

This introduction training is most appropriate for educators, therapist, administrators, paraprofessionals & families AM/PM refreshments & light lunch

199-203 Blandford Ave Kettering Northants NN16 9AT Tel/Fax: 01536 523274 Email: autism@autismuk.com Book on-line: www.autismuk.com

www.autism.org.uk/SPELL2015C

10 December

Improving children and young people’s health outcomes: integration, mental wellbeing and policy priorities London

This Westminster Health Forum Keynote Seminar will include presentations by Dr Jacqueline Cornish (NHS England), Dr Ann Hoskins (Public Health England), Dr Hilary Cass (Health Education England), Professor Bobbie Farsides (Chair, Working Party on Children and Clinical Research, Nuffield Council on Bioethics), Dr Christopher Chiswell (Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust), Anna Feuchtwang (National Children’s Bureau), Emily Fox (The Albatross Connection), Joe Hayman (PSHE Association), Kate Lees (Portsmouth City Council) and Louise Taylor (The Compton School, London). This event is CPD certified. www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk

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CPD, TRAINING AND EVENTS 10 - 12 December

Learning and Teaching Expo Hong Kong

Attend SEN keynotes and seminars, and discover resources for teachers of students with SEN. Register online at: www.LTExpo.com.hk

Patoss 2016 events The new 2016 programme for Patoss events is now available from: www.patoss-dyslexia.org

January 2016 12 January 2016

Teaching students with a Visual Impairment Outreach Open Days at New College Worcester show how NCW teaches students who are visually impaired, and provide practical support on specific curriculum areas.

01905 763933 www.ncw.co.uk

20 - 23 January

Bett Excel London

The UK’s biggest education technology show returns to Excel London with an A-list of speakers and hundreds of stands featuring the latest tech gear for schools and colleges. www.bettshow.com

27 January

9 - 11 February

Social mobility – raising teaching quality and reducing the attainment gap

AccessAbilities Expo 2016

Central London

AccessAbilities Expo 2016 is

Guests of Honour will be Heath Monk, Chief Executive Officer of The Future Leaders Trust, and Professor Sonia Blandford, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Achievement for All 3As. This seminar is timed to follow the publication of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission's annual State of the Nation report, due at the end of the year. Delegates will consider measures to raise the attainment of the most disadvantaged pupils in England. Sessions will assess the impact of the Pupil Premium, as well as strategies to raise the quality of teaching in the most deprived areas of the country.

UAE’s premier event which aims

www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk

Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief

February 2016

Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre

to add value to the lives of 750 million people with disabilities worldwide, 50 million of whom are in the Middle East. www.accessabilitiesexpo.com

10 February

Priorities for mental health services: improving access, developing effective treatments, and new models of care Central London

With Dr Geraldine Strathdee, National Clinical Director for Mental Health, NHS England; Inspector of Hospitals and Lead on Mental Health, CQC; Gregor Henderson, National

2 February

Improving children and young people’s health outcomes: integration, public health and policy priorities

Lead, Wellbeing and Mental Health, Public Health England and others. Chaired by James Morris MP, Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health. www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk

Central London

Chaired by Sir Oliver Heald MP, with Dr Jacqueline Cornish, National Clinical Director for Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood, NHS England; Dr Hilary Cass, Senior Clinical Advisor for Children and Young People, Health Education England and Dr David James, Chair, Trainees’ Committee, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and others. This event is CPD certified.

The National Autistic Society’s Professional Conference

www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk

practice and share learning.

March 2016 1 - 2 March

Telford International centre, Telford

This annual two-day conference is a unique opportunity for professionals to discuss best Expert speakers will present

4 February

Introduction to teaching Braille

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an overview of the changing environment and the latest developments in the field of

This interactive workshop at New College Worcester includes discussion topics: The Changing Face of Students, Common Problems in Learning, and Ideas for Beginners.

autism. There will also be a

01905 763933

from the early booking rate.

www.ncw.co.uk

www.autism.org.uk/professional2016C

series of seminars dedicated to education. This conference is a must for all professionals working with autism. Register before 20 November to benefit

WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

CPD, TRAINING AND EVENTS 1 - 3 March

12 and 13 March

GESS Dubai - Bursting with Education Ideas

National Learn to Play Day

Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE

Free musical instrument lessons nationwide over 100 participating music shops and venues. Over the weekend, members of the public can participate in more than 12,000 free instrument “taster” lessons at music shops, schools and venues throughout the UK.

GESS Dubai is the Middle East’s leading educational show, offering access to the latest education technologies and solutions. The free to enter, three-day programme is designed for all educational professionals, presenting insight from international experts through diverse live demonstrations. www.gessdubai.com

2 to 4 March

National FutureSchools Expo Australian Technology Park, Sydney

National FutureSchools Expo is the largest education event in NSW. It consists of one central exhibition and five parallel conferences designed to tackle specific areas of the future school. www.futureschools.com.au

UK wide

www.learntoplayday.com

17 - 29 March

The Education Show Birmingham NEC

National event for education professionals with conference speakers and seminars covering a wide range of topics and a major exhibition showcasing products and services for education. www.education-show.com

We take every care when compiling the information on these pages. However, details may change, and we recommend that you contact the event organisers for up-to-date information before you make arrangements to attend.

WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Introduction & Application to the

SCERTS Model

2 DAY TRAINING COURSE - £260 25-26 January 2016 Using the SCERTS curriculum & practice principles to design programming for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Course led by: Emily Rubin MS, CCC-SLP Director

This training is appropriate for: educators, therapists, administrators, paraprofessionals & families AM/PM refreshments & light lunch

199-203 Blandford Ave Kettering Northants NN16 9AT Tel/Fax: 01536 523274 Email: autism@autismuk.com Book on-line: www.autismuk.com

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CPD, TRAINING AND EVENTS April 2016

May 2016

20 April

Outreach Open Day 4 - 8 April

TEACCH five-day course Inspirational and intensive course combining active learning sessions with direct, supervised experience working with students with autism in a structured setting. Led by trainers from Division TEACCH, University of North Carolina and experienced practitioners and TEACCH trainers from Prior's Court Certified at Advanced Consultant Level and Certified at Practitioner Level.

Prior’s Court Training and Development Centre, Newbury, Berkshire

01635 247202 training@priorscourt.org.uk www.priorscourt.org.uk

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Teaching students with a Visual Impairment

EduTECH 16 May

Outreach Open Days at New College Worcester show how NCW teaches students who are visually impaired, and provide practical support on specific curriculum areas.

Policy priorities for child protection - preventing abuse, improving children’s services and reforming social work

01905 763933

This is the 2nd edition of GESS Mexico from GESS portfolio of world class education exhibitions and conferences.

GESS is free to attend, giving you the opportunity to experience innovative exhibits and demonstrations from industry experts on the very latest education technologies and solutions.

With Lisa Pascoe, Deputy Director, Social Care Policy, Ofsted; Professor Di Bailey, Nottingham Trent University and Association of Professors of Social Work (APSW); Jenny Barksfield, PSHE Association; Josh MacAlister, Frontline; Mick McCracken, Newcastle City Council and Family Insights Programme; Naana OtooOyortey, FORWARD (Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development); Alison Renouf, London Safeguarding Children Board and Maris Stratulis, British Association of Social Workers (BASW). This event is CPD certified.

www.gessmexico.com

www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk

www.ncw.co.uk

20 - 22 April

GESS Mexico – Bursting with Education Ideas World Trade Center, Mexico City

30 and 31 May

Central London

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

EduTECH is the largest education event in Southern Hemisphere and Asia-Pacific. It is the only event in Australia that brings together schools, tertiary, VET and workplace learning under one roof. www.edutech.net.au

June 2016 22 June

Outreach Open Day Teaching students with a Visual Impairment Outreach Open Days at New College Worcester show how NCW teaches students who are visually impaired, and provides practical support on specific curriculum areas.

01905 763933 www.ncw.co.uk

WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

CPD, TRAINING AND EVENTS

Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools Conference 23 May 2016, Cardiff Is your school: • prioritising mental health?

• effectively supporting your vulnerable pupils?

• implementing early intervention strategies to identify mental health problems?

• offering pupils the necessary therapeutic support?

Key reasons to attend: • implement a whole school strategy to promote mental health and wellbeing • work effectively with other agencies to support pupils • implement practical and workable strategies to help tackle self-harm, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, low self-esteem and much more

• know how to identify and refer pupils with mental health concerns • learn effective strategies to engage and support families with mental health concerns • use therapeutic play techniques to support pupils with emotional difficulties • learn practical mindfulness techniques to help support pupils and staff • resource book containing speaker presentations and additional toolkits Key Speakers include: • Sarah Brennan, Chief Executive of Young Minds • Professor Neil Frude, Consultant Clinical Psychologist • Catherine Gamble, Head of Nursing working for South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust • Dr Fiona Piennar, Director of Clinical Services for Plac2Be • Natasha Devon MBE, Mental Health Champion for the Government • Siriol Burford, Wellbeing Consultant.

www.nsmtc.co.uk WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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SEN RESOURCES DIRECTORY

SEN resources directory Information, advice and support for all things SEN...

ADHD ADDers.org

Information and support forum for those affected by ADD/ADHD:

www.adders.org

Bullying Bullying UK

Dyspraxia Foundation UK

Support and advice on bullying:

Dyspraxia advice and support:

www.bullying.co.uk

www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk

Childline National Attention Deficit Disorder Advice and support for those suffering from bullying: Information and Support Service www.childline.org.uk (ADDISS) Resources and information for ADHD:

Cerebral palsy

www.addiss.co.uk

Autism/ASD

Dyspraxia

Scope UK Help, advice and support for children and adults affected by cerebral palsy:

www.scope.org.uk

Epilepsy Epilepsy Action Advice and information on epilepsy:

www.epilepsy.org.uk

Young Epilepsy Support for children and young people with epilepsy plus training for professionals:

www.youngepilepsy.org.uk

FASD

Down syndrome Asperger Foundation UK (ASF)

Down’s Syndrome Association (DSA)

www.aspergerfoundation.org.uk

www.downs-syndrome.org.uk

Support for people with Asperger’s syndrome:

Autism Awareness

Forum for sharing experience/advice for those affected by ASD:

www.autism-awareness.org.uk

Information, support and training for those affected by Down syndrome:

The Down’s Syndrome Research Foundation UK (DSRF)

Charity raising funds for medical research into autism:

The National Organisation for Foetal Alcohol Syndrome UK Support for those affected by foetal alcohol spectrum disorder:

www.nofas-uk.org

Charity focussing on medical research into Down syndrome:

www.dsrf-uk.org

Autistica

The FASD Trust www.fasdtrust.co.uk

Dyslexia

General SEN British Institute for Learning Disabilities Charity for learning disabilities:

www.autistica.org.uk

www.bild.org.uk

National Autistic Society (NAS)

Cerebra UK

Help and information for those affected

by ASD:

Charity for children with brain related conditions:

www.autism.org.uk

Research Autism

Charity focused on researching interventions in autism:

www.researchautism.net

Bullying Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA)

Charity dedicated to reforming attitudes and policy towards bullying:

www.cerebra.org.uk

British Dyslexia Association (BDA) Information and support for people affected by dyslexia:

Child Brain Injury Trust

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk

Supporting children, young people, families and professionals when a child has acquired a brain injury:

Crick Software

www.childbraininjurytrust.org.uk

Clicker 6 is one of the most widely-used reading and writing tools in the UK for children with dyslexia:

Department for Education (DfE)

www.cricksoft.com/clicker

www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk

Dyslexia Action

The UK Government’s education department:

www.education.gov.uk

Charity providing services to those affected by dyslexia:

Mencap

UK bullying prevention charity:

www.beatbullying.org

www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk

www.mencap.org.uk

Beat Bullying

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Learning disabilities charity: WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

SEN RESOURCES DIRECTORY

General SEN National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN) Organisation for the education, training, advancement of those with SEN:

www.nasen.org.uk

neral SEN National Parent Partnership Network Network of local partnerships providing information, advice and support for parents and carers of those with SEN:

www.parentpartnership.org.uk

Learning outside the classroom Council for Learning Outside the classroom (CLOtC)

Awarding body for the LOtC quality badge:

www.lotc.org.uk

Literacy Crick Software

Clicker 6 is the child-friendly talking word processor that helps pupils of all abilities to significantly develop their literacy skills:

www.cricksoft.com/clicker

National Literacy Trust (NLT)

Literacy charity for adults and children:

www.literacytrust.org.uk

Music Holistic Music for Children

Hearing impairment Action on Hearing Loss Hearing impairment charity:

www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk

Deafness Research UK Charity promoting medical research into hearing impairment:

www.deafnessresearch.org.uk

National Deaf Children’s Society Charity to help deaf children and young people:

www.ndcs.org.uk

Home education The Home Education Network UK National organisation for home educators:

www.thenuk.com

Music resources for young children and children with additional needs. All original material designed to enable the non-musician to deliver music sessions including, body awareness, sensory experiences, early verbs, self and spatial awareness, communication skills and turn taking. For more information, visit:

www.holisticmusicforchildren.com

PMLD Network

Information and support for PMLD:

www.pmldnetwork.org

Rebound therapy

www.shinecharity.org.uk

SLCN ACE Centre Advice on communication aids:

www.ace-centre.org.uk

Afasic Help and advice on SLCN:

www.afasicengland.org.uk

Communication Matters Support for people with little or no clear speech:

www.communicationmatters.org.uk

The Communication Trust Raising awareness of SLCN:

www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk

Tourette’s syndrome Tourette's Action www.tourettes-action.org.uk

Visual impairment National Blind Children’s Society Support and services for parents and carers of blind children:

The National Rebound Therapy Consultancy

www.nbcs.org.uk

www.reboundtherapy.org

National residential school and college for young people who are blind or partially sighted, also offering training and support for professionals:

UK governing body for rebound therapy:

SEN law Specialising exclusively in SEN cases:

www.SpecialEducationalNeeds.co.uk

Independent Parental Special Education Advice

WWW.SENMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Shine Information and support relating to spina bifida and hydrocephalus:

Information and advice on Tourette’s:

PMLD

Douglas Silas Solicitors

Law

Spina bifida

New College Worcester

www.newcollegeworcester.co.uk

Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)

Legal advice and support for parents:

Support and advice to those affected by visual impairment:

www.ipsea.org.uk

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