The SENDcast

SENDCOs are excellently placed to improve teaching and learning in schools. They often know the students' needs incredibly well, know a great deal about SEND and have a clear responsibility for supporting good outcomes. However, SENDCOs can work with greater effectiveness if the strategies and approaches they take are informed by research evidence.   In this week's episode Gary Aubin joins Dale to...

School applications are fast approaching so here's a podcast to help parents and carers choose the right school for their child. Choosing schools can be an overwhelming and emotional time for parents/carers and they might not be sure what to look for or how to compare the pros and cons of different settings. Sometimes the general information shared at open mornings / on school tours does not feel...

The impact a traumatic event has on a person can be significant and lifelong. The experience is different for each and every person. Alison Knowles joins Dale for today's emotive podcast 'Trauma', which discusses traumatic life events, such as loss, so may be a trigger. We can't change what happened but we can change how we feel about it now. Reliving an event will only take you back to that event...

Welcome back, hope you had a great Summer and now ready for everything this term brings. The first podcast for this school year starts with 'Let's use technology with students' with Arran Smith. How much tech do you use? It is everywhere in the world, but not in schools. "We still have a 21st century intake of students to a 19th century education system and we haven't really moved on enough." Arra...

We are ending the school year with Joanna Grace who joins Dale to discuss Eating the Senses. Eating is such an emotive subject and the difficulties people with sensory differences have around eating cause enormous stress and upset at home and at school. Listen to understand the sensory components of eating and find out how to support children to ensure the sensory experience isn't so overwhelming....

Anxiety levels have increased and learning practical solutions for decreasing anxiety results in happier, healthier children. Mindfulness is a great tool to use in classrooms to do this by pausing, recognising surroundings and bringing everyone into the present moment. In this week's episode Katie White, Embodied Wellness Practitioner, joins Dale to discuss making mindfulness fun. It doesn't have...

Listening is a fundamental skill to be able to develop language and to access learning in the classroom. There are a number of foundation skills which  build a child's ability to listen  in the classroom.   We spend a lot of time expecting or telling children to listen, but do they actually know what 'listening' is?   Sarah Billingham joins Dale in this week's episode to discuss helping children t...

Phonics have been around for years and are successful, BUT they don't work for all pupils, and they aren't the only way to teach reading. Only 75% of children leave KS1 able to read well enough to access KS2 effectively (91% passed the phonic screen by Y2) * The ultimate goal is for children to have a bank of words in their long-term memory that they can read fluently when they see them, and phoni...

Our senses are fascinating. A particularly interesting area to explore is the development of the sensory systems and how this effects cognition, engagement and mental health. Today, Joanna Grace joins Dale for our 100 th episode to discuss Sensory Development and Sensory Engagement. Having an understanding of sensory development can help you to connect with those who have profound disabilities. It...

Trigger warning – this podcast discusses self-harm which is a difficult subject, but has never been more important to address. Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves as a way of dealing with very difficult feelings, painful memories or overwhelming situations and experiences. They may feel a short-term sense of release but the cause of the distress is unlikely to have gone away.  In this emoti...

Are you one of those making their annual pilgrimage to WHSmith to choose your new diary? Gone are the days of having to lug a filing cabinet's worth of paperwork to each meeting or locating the right USB. We are all creatures of habit but there's no better time to make the move to digital, otherwise you risk getting left behind. Ginny Bootman joins Dale in this week's episode 'Paperless SENCO' to...

Whilst there is significant research and discussion around the psychological and behavioural aspects of autism, most parents/carers have little information around what might be happening at a physiological level . Rachel Jackson joins the podcast today to discuss her first-hand experience of the physical aspects of autism and their implications. Rachel has researched and explored theories that hav...

About Gary Aubin Gary Aubin is the SEND Content Specialist for the Educational Endowment Foundation and D irector of SEND for a multi-academy trust, having worked as a SENDCO in mainstrea m primary and secondary schools . With a strong min dset of inclusion, his work as D irector of SEND has supported schools out of Special Measures and towards Outstanding for their SEND provision. Alongside SEND...

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 s...

Last week Lorraine Petersen OBE joined Dale in the studio to deliver a presentation on the SEND Green Paper. It was a fantastic summary of the 104 page document which has helped SENCOs save time and understand the key points and implications for schools.   We've turned the session recording into a special edition podcast so that you can listen anytime, anywhere. A chance to listen to the presentat...

When it comes to mental health we often feel like we need the support of a professional. Of course, some children do require specialist support from counsellors, psychologists, or social workers, but for children who are experiencing low levels of anxiety - play may be the answer .  This Mental Health Awareness week I am joined by a new guest on the podcast, Katie White! Katie is an Embodied Welln...

Research shows that it takes 3 times as long for a student with ADHD to do the same piece of work at home as in school. The school day alone can be exhausting for pupils with SEND and then they might be expected to attend clubs, interact with family, eat their meal AND complete their homework when they get home. Are we expecting too much? The result could be detrimental to their mental health: "I...

7.6% of all children have got developmental language disorder, that's two or three in every classroom. The Bercow Review (2018) highlighted ongoing and significant challenges for children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) in terms of available support and diminishing resources. More than ever, it is important we maximise what we have available for the greatest impact .  In this...

Do you remember many of your lessons at school? If you do, they're likely to be memorable due to a multisensory element such as a Bunsen burner. When you have a sensory experience the different processes in our brains are activated and you are then more involved and invested in learning. Joanna Grace is a sensory engagement and inclusion specialist, doctoral researcher, author, trainer, TEDx speak...

  This week's episode 'Finding your Tribe' with Alison Knowles, is a discussion about how important it is for young people to find their tribe and their place in the world. We all strive to feel accepted, normal and fit in, but this can be especially challenging for children with additional needs. About Alison Knowles Ali is a practising emotional therapist, author of the Ollie and his Super Power...

Does resisting ordinary day-to-day demands, such as putting shoes on, sound familiar? This is a common objection from children, however it can be to the extreme often causing obstructive, disruptive and explosive behaviour. In this episode we discover 'What on earth is PDA?' with Rachel Jackson. Rachel is a Mum, Author and Director with an academic and professional background in psychology.   Path...

Have you ever had a Sparkling Suzie, Freddie Thorne or Danny Whizzbang in your classroom? Perhaps not the cocktail but most likely some pupils with similar characteristics. In this fun filled episode with Dr Susie Nyman, we discuss the similarities between cocktails and children with SEN. Susie even brought her cocktail making kit along with her to the studio! The podcast is a lively discussion of...

Little did we know when launching the SENDcast 2 years ago, that the world as we knew it was about to drastically change. We hope that you've enjoyed listening to the episodes through the highs and lows and have kept you company whether you've been walking, running, driving, painting etc. In this 2 nd birthday episode Sarah-Jane Critchley joins Dale in the studio to celebrate creating podcast numb...

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 Vic...

Spoken language is core to learning and has a significant impact on children who find it difficult understanding language or putting their sentences together. In this SENDcast episode 'Language for Learning', we discuss the importance of supporting and promoting language and its impact on learning in the classroom. Dale's guest is Wendy Lee, a speech and language therapist with over 30 years' expe...