The SENDcast

The lockdowns imposed during the pandemic have presented immense challenges for all, especially teachers. Everyone has been affected in a multitude of ways and it has had a profound impact on children, particularly those that are vulnerable. A lot of lessons have been learnt along this rollercoaster of a journey and in this week's episode, my guest Wendy Lee, discusses the impact of school disrupt...

Over the next few years, over 25% of the school population is projected to be on the SEN register!  Teachers are under increasing pressure to be experts in multiple diagnoses, and many are feeling overwhelmed. This is unsustainable and this pressure can result in a retreat from inclusion , with an increasing number of children being positioned outside an ever-shrinking idea of a 'mainstream child'...

A classroom can be a terrifying place for a child with autism, but you might not know this and instead witness a child that's aggressive, defiant, and disruptive or a child that's passive and not engaging. Anxiety and Autism go hand in hand . Helping an autistic child understand what is happening in their body helps them gain self-control and self-awareness. Working with your own heartbeat rhythms...

We enjoy listening to and telling stories, they often reflect our own experiences or emotions and we use metaphors to express ourselves. Particularly so in young children, it's almost as though metaphor is their natural language. Very young children tend to imitate the adults around them and they try to make sense of their experience through their make believe play.  Pupils with social, emotional...

Joining Dale today is Ginny Bootman. Ginny is currently a SENCO of 2 Primary schools, but has been a teacher for a very long time (in her own words), a senior manager and headteacher. She has also found time to write articles for TES and speak at a number of events. There is often a huge divide between how a child with additional needs presents themselves at school compared to how they are at home...

Did you know that our brain is actually a kind of prediction making machine ? We essentially see the world by guessing it. What we're constantly trying to do is to stay one step ahead and the sensory information we're going to receive. We do this in order to conserve energy so this predictive processing takes less effort. The moment where learning happens is when you come across a prediction error...

Neurodiversity is a term which describes conditions such as Dyslexia, Autism and ADHD as variations or differences of the human brain, not deficits or disorders. Neurodiversity is a term that everybody in the school community should be aware of, not just the teachers but the students and the parents as well. There can be a lot of misunderstanding, because the wider community is unaware and this ca...

Children always write stories and poems, but have you thought about songwriting? It can be a fantastic activity to enhance speech and language skills, communication and literacy. It makes a great alternative to creative writing as it's more inclusive and collaborative. Singing songs and music in school engages children in a different way. It levels the playing field with children with different ab...

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Dr Trisha Waters. Trisha is an educational therapist who began her career supporting pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties, after that she led the MA in SEN & Inclusion at the University of Chichester and is now the director of the Centre for Therapeutic Storywriting. Story Links is a parent partnership intervention to s...

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Tessa Morton, one of the founders of Act for Autism, to discuss an approach she uses to help you connect and communicate with your autistic students. Tessa is the passionate mum of an autistic boy, and before founding Act for Autism, she had spent over 15 years supporting autistic kids in her community through drama workshops. Tessa...

Joining Dale today is Ginny Bootman. Ginny is currently a SENCO of 2 Primary schools, but has been a teacher for a very long time (in her own words), a senior manager and headteacher. She has also found time to write articles for TES and speak at a number of events. It is so easy in our busy world of schools to forget to find time to have the important conversations with parents of children with a...

Welcome to the SENDcast. The phrase 'Every teacher is teacher of SEND' is currently an ideal, not a reality. We created the SENDcast to try and help solve that problem, to help make schools more inclusive and to help teachers be teachers of SEND. The SENDCast is also a great way to get the same information to parents and other people working with young people with SEND. Dale's guest this week is A...

In this week's podcast, Dale discusses supporting pupils with dyslexia and other needs using the Science Literacy Toolkit with guest is Dr Susie Nyman. Susie teaches a range of students in a post-16 environment. She uses multi-sensory teaching strategies to cover complex topics, to help students learn. Susie is the Curriculum Manager at The Sixth Form College, Farnborough. She is passionate about...

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Al Start. Al is a singer-songwriter who specialises in music for children and schools through her company Go Kid Music. Al has worked with children through creative art organisations and local authority play services. Al has also toured the UK and East Coast USA performing her music. There are different types of sign language, Britis...

In this week's show Dale is joined by Fintan O'Regan are discussing how every school leader is a leader of SEND. Fintan is a trainer and consultant for schools and school support systems including, Social Services, Health, the Police and Foster carers. He has worked with a number of organisations including NASEN, Institute of Education, Leicester University, the UK ADHD Network and the European AD...

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Dr Trisha Waters. Trisha is an educational therapist who began her career supporting pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties, after that she led the MA in SEN & Inclusion at the University of Chichester and is now the director of the Centre for Therapeutic Storywriting. The use of story writing to develop both emotional re...

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Al Start. Al is a singer-songwriter who specialises in music for children and schools through her company Go Kid Music. Al has worked with children through creative art organisations and local authority play services. Al has also has toured the UK and East Coast USA performing her music. Songs get stuck in your head. We remember song...

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Georgina Durrant to discuss the importance of learning through play. Learning through play is so important for all young children, but perhaps especially for children with Special Educational Needs. Play can help children practise and develop a whole range of skills from fine and gross motor skills to creativity, emotional regulation...

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Dr Susie Nyman to discuss empowering mental health for students with SEND. Susie is the Curriculum Manager at The Sixth Form College, Farnborough. She is passionate about discovering how children learn and supporting them in ways which enable them to succeed. She has provided training to PGCE students at Kingston University, and in a...

Joining Dale today is Ginny Bootman. Ginny is currently a SENCO of 2 Primary schools, but has been a teacher for a very long time (in her own words), a senior manager and headteacher. She has also found time to write articles for TES and speak at a number of events. All too often the home school relationship can become strained for a number of reasons. This episode looks at the role empathy plays...

Dale's guest is Fintan O'Regan, Fintan is a trainer and consultant for schools and school support systems including, Social Services, Health, the Police and Foster carers. He has worked with a number of organisations including NASEN, Institute of Education, Leicester University, the UK ADHD Network and the European ADHD Alliance. And before this he was a headteacher of a specialist school for stud...

Joining Dale today is Lorraine Petersen. Lorraine has 25 years' experience in the mainstream school environment as a teacher and Head Teacher. From 2004 – 2013 Lorraine was CEO of Nasen, a charitable organisation supporting all those who work with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. She has been a chair, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at many nation...

This week, Dale is joined by Alison Knowles. Alison is an emotional therapist who supports emotional resilience. In this episode we are talking about self preservation as a parent of a child with SEND. Alison is the creator of the Ollie Model, the author of the series of Ollie and his Super Powers books, trainer of Ollie coaches and an emotional therapist. Useful Links: https://www.facebook.com/Ol...

This week Dale is joined by Al Start to discuss some helpful tips to help teachers use music and songs in the classroom. Al has worked with children for over 20 years in a variety of ways and over the last 15 years she has been creating, teaching and performing songs for children. Singing with children can be a scary idea if you're not musically trained, but introducing music and singing into chil...

Joining Dale today is Lorraine Petersen. Lorraine is an educational consultant with 25 years experience working in schools. Since 2004 she has been supporting Special Needs in a variety of ways: She was the CEO of NASEN and she is currently a consultant, director of a teaching school alliance and Governor. Being a SENCO now, more than ever is extremely challenging, so much to do with so little tim...