The SENDcast

Have you had your hair cut? Have you got a new coat? Is that a new rucksack? These seemingly simple questions can make a huge difference in building connections and relationships with the children around us. In this week's episode Ginny Bootman joins Dale to discuss 'Incidental Conversations'. She highlights that taking the time to interact with children around us can be incredibly rewarding. Ginn...

In the world of Special Educational Needs (SEN), it's common to focus on what children can't do instead of celebrating their abilities. We often compare them to their non-SEN peers and tend to overlook their accomplishments. Even when they achieve something, we tend to focus on what they can't do next. When we focus on what children can't do, we lose connection and miss opportunities to help them...

Being a SENCO comes with a long list of responsibilities that often overlap with other roles. Unfortunately, SENCOs are sometimes isolated and hidden away within schools, leading to a lack of understanding of their role. The workload SENCOs face is immense, and leadership may not fully understand the extent of the role. SENCOs need to protect themselves, but how? This week Lynn How, Educational Co...

We released a great introduction to Tourette's a few weeks ago with Ione, but what impact does having Tourette Syndrome (TS) have within a school? There are still huge amounts of misconceptions out there about TS and a general lack of awareness of the condition. It's really important to increase knowledge and understanding of TS so that students feel supported, understood and accepted in their edu...

ADHD, ADD, AGT, ASC, ASD, DME, DSD, EBD, PDA, SEMH, SPD…   There is an A to Z of SEND labels/terms and there are 9 under 'A' alone!! Labels change and some have more credibility than others. With so many increasing terms how can teachers feel prepared to meet the expectations of parents?   Fintan O'Regan, Behaviour and SEN Consultant, joins Dale this week to discuss 'Venn diagrams and Icebergs: Ho...

How can you do yoga with children with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD)? For many years the potential for yoga to be helpful for children who have limited or no voluntary movement, or cannot sit unaided, or cannot speak has been questioned.  Jyoti Jo Manuel, founder and director of Special Yoga, joins Dale this week to discuss 'Helping children with PMLD thrive with yoga'. Yoga f...

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is an inherited, neurological condition, the key features of which are tics, involuntary and uncontrollable sounds and movements. Tourette's is not a rare condition; it impacts an estimated 300,000 people in the UK and 1 in 100 school aged children . As it's Tourette's Awareness month, 15th May to 15th June, we want to destigmatise Tourette Syndrome by showing the general pu...

The teaching of reading is something that is relevant to all our learners including those with severe and complex learning difficulties but the questions is… Where does phonics fit in? Why should we include this within our reading framework and what will it look like? How will learners with the most significant complex needs gain from an inclusive reading curriculum? These are all questions that D...

Do you have a LEGO® or brick building club in your setting? All children need opportunities to play, make friends and feel accepted. Autistic and neurodivergent children can experience high levels of exclusion and may not have access to the same opportunities to socialise in ways that are supportive and accepting. It has never been more important to actively support them with their social, emotion...

Labels tell you a lot and yet nothing at the same time. They can lead to stereotyping, discrimination and negative attitudes but they also facilitate support and understanding of a child's needs. Labels have their uses, but they also have a checklist tick box type mentality attached to them. "It is somewhere to start from as long as it doesn't get boiled down to a checklist of five items because w...

Multisensory rooms have become increasingly popular. They typically occupy considerable space, require substantial financial investment, and consume significant amounts of time and human effort. However, there is a mismatch between expectation and experience of sensory rooms, which is underpinned by some fundamental misunderstandings from their conception. People may feel disappointed and that the...

Did you know that children from ethnic minority groups are excluded at a rate that's 4 times greater than their white peers? Adding neurodivergence into the equation further increases the chance of being excluded. "When you know you're already different, and then you're different within different, that's something that I feel acutely aware of. " Suzy Rowland Today Suzy Rowland, Lauren Fernandez an...

Children are needing more support than ever with their language skills. The Education Endowment Foundation reported a staggering 76% of primary schools said pupils starting school in September 2020 needed more support with communication than in previous years. Coupled with an increase in pupil anxiety, 95% of schools have seen an increase in pupil anxiety since the start of the school year. Anyone...

Do you love Excel or avoid it? If conditional formatting, VLOOKUP, freezing panes, formulas and filtering send you into a spin. Look no further! In this week's show, we're discussing Excel. Ginny Bootman, a SENCO across 4 schools, joins Dale for 'We need to talk about Excel'. You may have listened to Ginny's other podcast (Paperless SENCO) and know that she is currently on a technology journey. Ex...

Have you heard of compassionate co-regulation? It means that when we calm and regulate ourselves as the adults, we create an energetic circle of safety that supports the children around us to regulate themselves. It's hard to be truly compassionate and kind when we are stressed out.  In this week's episode, Jyoti Jo Manuel, the founder and director of Special Yoga, joins Dale to discuss 'The what...

The nature vs nurture debate in mental health and behaviour refers to the extent to which genetics (nature) and environmental factors (nurture) influence the development of mental health conditions and behaviours. Both genetics and environment play a role in shaping mental health and behaviour, but the exact extent of each factor is still not fully understood. A DfE report on mental health and beh...

We live in a digital age, so where do we see or use joined up writing nowadays? Everything has moved on since putting pen to paper and writing letters! Most adults tend to type a lot more than they write, however handwriting is still a big focus in schools.   "Handwriting is so much more complicated than a lot of people necessarily give it credit for." Kim Griffin, Occupational Therapist   The DfE...

Last summer we were all asked for our input as part of the SEND Review Green Paper consultation. Having reviewed thousands of responses, last week the government published their 101-page 'SEND and AP Improvement Plan'. Today Dale is delighted to be joined by Claire Coutinho, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, for a special episode ' Discussing the SEND and AP I...

Becoming a SENCO can be extremely daunting, some people don't know what they're letting themselves in for when they take on the role. It also doesn't help that the qualification to become a SENCO doesn't prepare you for the entirety of the role. In this week's episode Lynn How joins Dale for the first time to discuss 'Becoming a SENCO - Where to Start?'. If you're a new or aspiring SENCO, this epi...

Are you a SENCO struggling to be strategic? Facing burnout? You are not alone! SENCOs have too many hats to wear and can often feel like they aren't making a difference. Spending a lot of time firefighting, feeling guilty for not being strategic enough yet having to roll their sleeves up and muck in. "You can want to be strategic, but there is so much that gets thrown at you throughout the day. Yo...

The considered use of language is often mocked as political correctness gone mad. When you look at it up close it is more like a kind of powerful magic at your fingertips, with the power to do good or ill. In today's podcast, Joanna Grace joins Dale to discuss 'Identity First Language and Belonging'. The autistic community reject person first language (person with autism) in favour of identity fir...

Are you familiar with Rosenshine's 10 principles of instruction? Rosenshine's principles are based on evidence-informed teaching and enhance teacher performance in the classroom. They are to be implemented into everyday teaching for simplicity and clarity and underpin any effective approach to instruction in lessons: Daily review Presenting new material in small steps (consequently reducing cognit...

Puberty is a topic that is rarely discussed and when taught at school the feelings and emotions are often not explained in detail. It can be seen as an embarrassing subject for both parents/carers and young people, therefore conversations can be avoided and when young people start puberty they can feel unprepared. Puberty brings a lot of physical changes, especially for girls, including body growt...

Schools are notoriously difficult environments for children with autism to function in, let alone thrive in. We need to support them with understanding, and effective impactful tools to help them to navigate the challenges that they experience in life. Jyoti Jo Manuel joins Dale in today's episode 'Supporting Autism in Schools with Yoga'. Jyoti discusses the value and need for yoga as a therapeuti...

95% of schools have seen an increase in pupil anxiety , which makes anxiety and mental health evermore important topics. We need to support student's well-being so they can get the most out of their learning and fully engage in school life, but it doesn't always require big changes. Our new special guest, Sue White, joins Dale for the first time on the SENDcast to discuss 'How schools can build po...