The SENDcast

Reading is high on the educational agenda due to the impact that it can have upon the mental well-being and academic success of children and young people. Recent documents have placed a renewed focus on the teaching of reading for all learners, this includes those with the most complex needs. The issue for professionals is that there is a lack of clarity about what this means for these learners, in particular those learners attending special schools and specialist facilities. This has led to confusion for all involved. Dr Sarah Moseley, Educational Consultant, joins Dale for this week's podcast 'Creating an inclusive reading curriculum for all learners'. Sarah discusses the why, what and how of teaching reading to all learners and provides ideas and strategies to create an inclusive reading curriculum framework. Listen to find out how we learn to read and the foundation skills involved that support learners to develop an understanding of the world around us. Understanding the importance of literacy rich environments and experiences will enhance the learning opportunities for everyone. About Dr Sarah Moseley Dr. Moseley has over 30 years' knowledge and experience within special and mainstream education from teaching assistant to Headteacher, as well as a solid research background rooted within the psychology of learning. Her Masters and PhD were in Special Education and focused specifically on the teaching of reading and self-esteem and she has presented nationally and internationally on raising outcomes for learners with SEND and am a published author of my research. Sarah has just finished writing a book on the teaching of reading to all learners for Routledge Publishers. Now an independent Educational Consultant at www.drsarahmoseley.com, Sarah provides face to face and online training, coaching, keynote presentations, information and support for professionals and families from all sectors, specialising in SEND focused school improvement and raising outcomes for all learners. She is passionate about making a positive difference to the lives, attitudes, and outcomes of those who may struggle to learn, based on a belief that every action can make a difference and aims to bridge the gap between theory and learning, to create a culture where high expectations thrive, improving outcomes for all pupils. Contact Dr Sarah Moseley Website - www.drsarahmoseley.com Email - send@drasarhmoseley.com Twitter - @drsarahmoseley Facebook - Facebook.com/Drsarahmoseley

Dyspraxia or Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD) is often thought of as clumsiness, but it is quite misunderstood and incorrectly used. Dyspraxia is far more than just the way you're moving, it's your ability to plan what you're doing and being able to come up with ideas. These executive function difficulties can have a huge impact on children, especially in secondary school. If you don't have the capacity to plan, or have imagination of what that looks like, that can lead to anxiety and fatigue as an outcome. Kim Griffin is an Occupational Therapist and joins Dale for this week's episode to discuss 'Dyspraxia – more than just clumsiness'. Kim gives great insight into the impact of dyspraxia and breaks it into a 'triple cause' where you can have difficulties in one or all three areas – ideation, planning and doing. "One of the most helpful things I think I can teach a child with dyspraxia is to ask for help and also to say I don't understand." Kim Griffin Listen to hear real-life, first-hand examples and top tips on how you can support pupils in your setting. About Kim Griffin Kim is an occupational therapist with 20 years' experience supporting children, young people, their families and teachers to participate successfully in their daily lives. Her interest areas are sensory processing and autism. Kim provides online training for those who want to learn more about sensory processing, motor skills and handwriting along with programmes that show you have to help children improve their skills. Contact Kim Griffin Website - www.GriffinOT.com Email - Training@GriffinOT.com Twitter - @Griffin_OT Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GriffinSensoryOT/

Whenever there's a big change on the horizon, whether it's moving from nursery to primary school, primary to secondary school or even new clubs, it can cause anxiety. Children with SEND, particularly those with communication needs, can find transition very difficult. Children benefit hugely from predictability. Preparing children for transition helps them to understand what is happening next for them, what to expect and who will be there to help them. Visual resources are a practical and powerful way to support transition. In this week's episode, Sarah Billingham joins Dale to discuss 'Using Visuals to Support Transition'. "What's important is that we are essentially representing something visual, rather than just relying on our spoken language to tell children about things that are coming up." Sarah Billingham Visual resources reduce the language and memory demand placed on children and when they are well prepared, they are calmer and better able to succeed. Listen to find out how you can use visual resources to support children during transition. About Sarah Billingham Sarah Billingham is a specialist teacher, she runs Confident Kids, a unique Early Years service. She equips parents, carers and practitioners with expert knowledge and the practical tools they need to offer their little people the very best communication support they can. Sarah has been working with children with speech and language needs for over 16 years in mainstream and specialist settings. Sarah has recently decided to focus on Confident Kids full time. She most recently ran a multi-disciplinary assessment centre for children with SLCN in the charity sector. In 2020 & 2021 she ran an online focus week for parents and practitioners sharing videos on supporting young children transitioning into school (or back into school following lockdown). Contact Sarah Billingham Website - www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk Email - www.confidentkids.co Facebook - www.facebook.com/confidentkids.co Useful Links https://widgitonline.com http://www.inclusive.co.uk/product-reviews/boardmaker-7-standard# www.facebook.com/groups/ConfidentTransitions

Yoga has many connotations, but is actually a philosophy, a way of living. Yoga is a therapeutic intervention that works for everyone, you don't have to be able to touch your toes - if you can breathe you can do yoga! Jyoti Jo Manuel joins Dale for today's episode 'What Yoga, Why Yoga?'. Jyoti discusses how yoga can benefit everyone, both teachers and pupils. Its focus is to bring balance and regulation to the nervous system so that everyone practising is in the optimal state to thrive. "Your biggest tool for emotional regulation is when we regulate our breathing. Once you build that relationship with your breath and you understand how to use it, you can use it anywhere at any given moment in time." Jyoti Jo Manuel Did you know that the benefits of yoga include: self-regulation self-awareness improved quality and quantity of sleep improved motor planning and coordination strength and balance Listen to this podcast to find out how yoga is helping children meet their targets at school and teachers feeling less stressed. Jyoti shares her first-hand experience of how yoga has helped children with SEND and how it has enhanced the quality of life for everyone who practises. About Jyoti Jyoti has been practising yoga since 1974 and teaching since 1989. She is one of the leaders in the training and application of yoga as a therapeutic intervention for children with special and additional needs. She pioneered children's yoga in the UK. She set up the global training school Special Yoga in 2002, to provide sustainable and accessible training programmes, and to support practitioners delivering the work. She works with local education authorities, the NHS, academies and individual schools, parents/carers and paediatric professionals. She has travelled globally to extend Special Yoga in Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Australia, Mexico, Peru, Russia, and many countries in Europe. She is currently training 45 psychologists in Ukraine to support their traumatised children. Contact Jyoti: Email: info@specialyoga.co.uk Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahjanecritchley/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/differentjoy/ Useful Links https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/yoga-schools https://www.peacefulpathwaysyoga.com/articles-and-research.html Special Yoga's Website

With 8 weeks to go and preparations underway for Christmas, now's the time to highlight the challenges Christmas can bring for families, especially for children with SEND. Children return to school in September to a new term, new environment, new subjects, new friends and coping with everything causes their energy levels to decrease. After half term it's Halloween, Bonfire Night and then before we know it we're in the Christmas period. By then children have the least possible capacity to deal with it. Everything changes at Christmas, and that can send some of our young people into a complete tailspin! Sarah-Jane Critchley joins Dale in this week's episode 'Surviving Christmas' to discuss why Christmas isn't always fun for everyone and how to support children with SEND through Christmas. Listen to find out what we can all do at school and at home to make it more fun and less stressful for everyone! Sarah-Jane gives us some tangible ideas and some useful tools that you can use to make the season as joyful as we can for everyone. About Sarah-Jane Critchley Sarah-Jane is an Author, Speaker, Consultant and Coach from Different Joy Partnership. She was previously the Programme Manager for over 10 years at the Autism Education Trust. Pupils with autism often struggle with attending school for a number of reasons. Her daughter Beth is autistic and also suffers from migraines which meant from Year 3 onwards she missed a lot of school and missed over 50% of her GCSE classes, eventually dropping out of school in year 12. Contact Sarah-Jane: Twitter: @SarahJaneCritch Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahjanecritchley/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/differentjoy/ Useful Links Learn from many autistic people at the NAS Christmas Grotto Christmas Grotto (autism.org.uk) Relaxed performances of pantos in many places this year e.g. Tunbridge Wells – Aladin Assembly Hall Theatre — Relaxed performances this Christmas English National Opera! Yeoman of the guard The Old Vic – London A Christmas Carol Relaxed Performances | Old Vic Theatre Official London Theatre - LOADS Of options here: Relaxed Performances (officiallondontheatre.com) My personal favourite: Zoo Co Theatre: Perfect Show for Rachel - Step into Rachel's world in this experimental show as a learning disabled artist has the power to lead the creation of her 'Perfect Show'. – For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://sendcast.wpengine.com/sendcast-episodes/

There are various opinions on ways to use the SEN Register and differs from one school to another and across local authorities. SENCOs can end up with multiple registers; SEN Register, additional needs, medical and disability. As soon as a register is created it needs maintaining and updating, therefore increases workload. There is no written rule so everyone has their own interpretation which is part of the problem – so let's get back to basics. Abigail Hawkins joins Dale for the first time on the podcast to discuss the 'SEN Register: "I think sometimes it's just, it's not necessarily having a register, it's being aware of your students, aware of who you've got and who can advocate for themselves." Abigail Hawkins, SEN Consultant Listen to this episode to find out who goes on the SEN register and how to reduce your workload by: understanding the SEN register looking at policy and practice, legal guidance and the code of practice reducing the number of registers understanding who to include on the register - diagnosis, medical and 'need' knowing what being on the register means discussing why the SEND Green paper proposals are welcomed About Abigail Hawkins Abigail runs SENDCOSolutions, an SEN consultancy and SENsible SENCO CIC, a not-for-profit networking support group. She has been a SENCO for over 25 years and has taught a multitude of subjects across all phases from 2-year-olds to adults. She works with software companies developing supportive software for SEN and Safeguarding purposes, has developed and delivers on a teaching assistant apprenticeship programme, authored several books on SEN and exclusions and runs a support network for over 9000 SENCOs. Until recently, she was the Chair of Governors for 3 schools in the East Midlands and she still works as a SENCO for part of her week. Abigail has a no-nonsense, practical approach to SEN issues faced by schools. Abigail was one of the three lead voices on a series of SEN webinars delivered over the lockdowns amassing an audience of over 12000 viewers and she uses modern approaches to share SEN-related information including a successful YouTube channel. Contact Abigail Hawkins Website – www.sendcosolutions.co.uk Email – enquiries@sendcosolutions.co.uk Twitter – @sendcosolutions Useful Links Books: Approach It, Map It, Manage It - https://amzn.to/3ab59Do The SENDCO - https://amzn.to/3yFCYGt School Exclusion - https://amzn.to/3by6ULj Weekly SEN Network/CPD meetings for the SENsible SENCO community. Details available on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/sensible-senco-33587615959

Yawning, daydreaming, complaining, fidgeting, distracting others – we've all been there at some point, so let's talk about boredom. Boredom is real to those that feel it and you can't just tell someone to be less bored. In the classroom it's often taken personally, and teachers can respond defensively. Fintan O'Regan joins Dale on this week's podcast 'Why boredom is truly interesting and absolutely vital'. Fintan highlights that without a doubt boredom has been a factor in the development of some of the greatest discoveries and inventions in history. There could be any number of reasons why someone in a school environment could be bored, but teachers need to understand that it is more of an alert system than a challenge to authority. Boredom is an emotion that is simply confirming that they aren't meaningfully engaged in what is being taught. Listen to understand and gain a new perspective on boredom so that you can make your classroom a more stimulating and engaging environment. You will never feel the same about boredom again! About Fintan O'Regan Fintan was the Head teacher of the Centre Academy from 1996 -2002, which was the first specialist school in the UK for students between the ages of 7-19 specialising issues related to ADHD, ASD and ODD. He is an associate lecturer for Leicester University, the National Association of Special Needs, the Institute of Education, the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre and the former Vice Chairman of the UK ADHD Network and of the European ADHD Alliance. Fintan now works as trainer and consultant for schools and school support systems including, Social Services, Health, the Police and Foster carers with regards to providing behaviour management strategies for children and families struggling with SEND and behaviour issues. Contact Fintan O'Regan Website – www.fintanoregan.com Email – fjmoregan@aol.com Twitter – @fintanoregan Useful Links Development and Validation of the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53a79084e4b01786c921de45/t/5d00591944edf80001c0ea65/1560303898542/Development+and+Validation+of+the+Multidimensional+State+Boredom+Scale.pdf The quiet alarm: The virtues of boredom https://www.readersdigest.in/quotable-quotes/story-beware-of-boredom-125864 Why Boredom Is Interesting, First Published November 8 2019 https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419884309

Autism support is given to half the people who need it, and nearly all of it involves teaching people to appear not-autistic i.e. teaching them the skills required to mask autism. Research has shown that masking is damaging to physical and mental health, so we should aim to support everyone and do it in ways that respect their neurotype. Joanna Grace joins Dale for today's episode 'As an Autistic adult what would you change in schools?'. "We obviously can't go back in time and change things, but hopefully we can use our experiences to improve the experience for pupils currently in school". Joanna Grace Joanna was diagnosed at 36 and we discuss what she would want teachers to know if she was at school now. Listen to find out the importance of early diagnosis, the things she would want to and not to happen at school and how you can support your pupils. About Joanna Grace Joanna Grace is a sensory engagement and inclusion specialist, doctoral researcher, author, trainer, TEDx speaker and Founder of The Sensory Projects. Joanna has worked with people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent conditions aged from 0-100 (well 1 day old – 87 years old to be precise) in a range of settings and context. Through all she does Joanna is seeking to contribute to a future where people are understood in spite of their differences. Contact Joanna Grace Website - www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk Email - sensorystory@gmail.com Twitter - @Jo3Grace Facebook - www.Facebook.com/JoannaGraceTSP Useful Links Aside from the obvious, my son's book My Mummy is Autistic, I have a FREE training series on YouTube aimed at mainstream SENCOs (but it has been accessed far more widely than that) that explores issues that crop up in schools around autistic students https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi1RQR58BHnW5LtJfD0Ph-RIH7EhnrP3t My facebook is also a resource for insight into neurodivergence, with the photo albums acting as resource banks: www.facebook.com/JoannaGraceTSP people are welcome to connect with me, and my LinkedIn profile has many free to access articles that I have written on the topic of neurodiversity www.LinkedIn.com/In/JoannaGraceTheSensoryProjects

Have you ever heard the game 'Operation' played live on a podcast? Well, this week you're in for a treat! Adams Apple, a broken heart, wrenched ankle, butterflies in the stomach are all extracted live. Dr Susie Nyman joins Dale to use the game as a tool to dissect underlying causes for students' behaviour and understand the multitude of emotions that are going on inside. 'Teaching students from the inside out' is a lively discussion of different types of neurodiverse learners and how it is important to find the student agency to give them "voice and choice". Enabling students to understand what makes them tick and to become more active stakeholders in their own education journey. Listen to hear fascinating stories of neurodiverse case studies and strategies and solutions Susie has discovered whilst working in the classroom. About Dr Susie Nyman Dr Susie Nyman is passionate about discovering how children learn and supporting them in ways which enable them to succeed. She was appointed as a Biology teacher at The Sixth Form College Farnborough in 1995, and subsequently as Curriculum Manager for Health and Social Care where she has worked ever since. Susie strives to raise students' achievements and support them in ways which enables them to succeed. She works with her students deploying a range of innovative and Multi-sensory teaching techniques to assist their learning including her 'Equality and Diversity Tree' and famous puppets! Additionally, she has provided training to PGCE students at Kingston University, and in a number of local schools and colleges on teaching strategies. Since February 2017, Susie has presented seminars on 'Multi-sensory Techniques' at The Learning Differences Conventions in Australia, Richmond College, The Helen Arkell Centre, Bell House, The Oratory School, The National Education Show and The Tes SEN Shows in London and Manchester. Recently, she was filmed 'in action' for The British Dyslexia Association as well as Oaka Books, and the footage is available on YouTube. Subsequently, she has written a chapter about 'Multi-sensory Teaching' in the BDA Dyslexia Friendly Schools Good Practice Guide and 'The Multi-sensory Teaching Toolkit' by Oaka Books. In recognition of over 21 years continued service at The Sixth Form College Farnborough, Susie has been nominated three times by the College for the 'Tes FE Teacher of the Year Award'. This is an honour of which she is immensely proud. Contact Dr Susie Nyman: Website – drnymanconsultancy.co.uk Email – drsusienyman@drnymanconsultancy.co.uk Twitter – @DrSusieNyman

Gary Aubin, a SEND content specialist and director for a multi-academy trust, shares insights on enhancing teaching for students with SEND. He emphasizes the critical role of SENDCOs in improving classroom practices over administrative tasks. Gary discusses five evidence-based teaching strategies, the importance of explicit instruction, and the effective use of technology. He also highlights the need for adaptive teaching and metacognitive strategies to foster independence in learners with SEND. Tune in for practical advice to elevate inclusive practices in schools!