Autism, education, inclusion

Enhancing Joy and Wellbeing for Pupils with Special Educational Needs: Evidence-Informed Approaches

Enhancing Joy and Wellbeing: The School of Joy! Education is the foundation of personal and societal growth. As teachers, it is crucial to ensure that every child, irrespective of their abilities or disabilities, feels included and happy in the school environment. Pupils with special educational needs, often face challenges that can affect their overall wellbeing.… Continue reading Enhancing Joy and Wellbeing for Pupils with Special Educational Needs: Evidence-Informed Approaches

books, education, inclusion

Developing Teacher Expertise in Inclusive Education

The Importance of Inclusive Education In today's diverse classrooms, inclusive education has become a critical component of effective teaching. Inclusive practice refers to the educational strategies, interventions, and adaptations that enable all students, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, to actively participate and succeed in the learning environment. As educators, it is essential to develop… Continue reading Developing Teacher Expertise in Inclusive Education

education, inclusion, special education, special needs

Unlock the Potential of Play: Maximising Joy, Learning Outcomes & Play Types

What is Play? While there are various definitions of play, there is no consensus on its characteristics. Some commonly cited characteristics include enjoyment, focus on process over product, and freedom from external rules. However, even heavily theorized definitions can draw on completely different characteristics. The elusiveness of play's definition has been attributed to its ambiguity… Continue reading Unlock the Potential of Play: Maximising Joy, Learning Outcomes & Play Types

Autism, Blogs, education, inclusion, special education, special needs, Teaching

How can teachers and teaching assistants motivate pupils to learn?

Developing pupil motivation using 10 evidence based strategies. Teaching Assistants (TAs) play a vital role in supporting pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in the classroom. One of the most important aspects of their work is to help these pupils develop a strong motivation to learn. This is crucial because pupils with SEN may face… Continue reading How can teachers and teaching assistants motivate pupils to learn?

education, inclusion, resources

The Yoto Player: Product Review

We bought a Yoto Player* for our daughter for Christmas as we wanted to reduce screen time and encourage her love of reading. My older daughter used to listen to story CD's and this is an even better version of that as some stories are a few hours long. The range of stories available is… Continue reading The Yoto Player: Product Review

education, inclusion, special education, special needs, Teaching, Wellbeing

Using Breaks To Enhance Learning

Why should you give children breaks to help them learn? This post was inspired by an overheard conversation and links two issues. Access to planned interventions and the provision of learning breaks throughout the day. A parent of an autistic child was questioning whether a school should have stopped their child from attending their sensory… Continue reading Using Breaks To Enhance Learning

Blended learning and SEND NEU
CPD, education, inclusion, resources, special education, special needs

An Inclusive Blended Learning Strategy for SEND.

This post on the design and delivery of an inclusive remote learning strategy for all our children is published in response to the latest Government lockdown. Many schools remain open to vulnerable and critical worker children. However for a significant number of children there is no on site access to education. This may be due… Continue reading An Inclusive Blended Learning Strategy for SEND.

education, Education Technology, inclusion, resources

Blended Learning: Oak National Specialist Curriculum.

Blended Learning for SEN Learners To celebrate the launch of the Oak National Academy's new specialist curriculum provision our #SENexchange discussion on the 23rd September was on blended learning. The following post is a summary of the discussion by collaborators. This has been edited for readability but I have tried to quote where possible. What… Continue reading Blended Learning: Oak National Specialist Curriculum.

Carters Yard Talking Phonics Flashcards SEND
Blogs, education, inclusion, resources, special education

Talking Phonics Flashcards: Carters Yard

AR Phonics and SEND Developed by two teachers, who kindly sent me a pack to use at school these cards are pretty good as simple flashcards for use in your phonics lessons. Clear, well made and easy to use. However it is the innovative use of AR (Augmented reality) that brings these cards to life.… Continue reading Talking Phonics Flashcards: Carters Yard

Blogs, education, inclusion, leadership

The SEND Manifesto #SENexchange

The #SENExchange SEND Manifesto This document captures the discussion between, parents, carers, educators and people with SEND about the state of special education in Britain in 2019 and the messages they want to send to politicians. We asked 6 questions to include in the #SENexchange SEND Manifesto. The answers to which we have collated in… Continue reading The SEND Manifesto #SENexchange

free transport topic SEN teaching resources
Autism, education, inclusion, resources, special needs, Teaching

Sensory Learning Activities: An A-Z.

Why sensory Learning? Sensory learning - Sensory activities are those designed by educators to facilitate exploration encouraging children to use all their senses while they, create, investigate and explore. This is usually conducted through play although in the settings I have worked in also through structured planned learning activities. The sensory activities allow children to… Continue reading Sensory Learning Activities: An A-Z.

Essential Phonics guide for Inclusive EYFS teachers
Autism, education, inclusion, research, resources, special education, special needs, Teaching

An Essential Guide to Teaching Phonics in Early Years

Written for us by an Early Years leader, this post outlines a suggested phonics session, the activities and routine will be appropriate for all mainstream settings, and with a little imagination to any SEN setting. The phonics session mirrors what I taught to my class. Keeping the same routine really helped my autistic learners and is the key takeaway from this post.

visuals support learning SEN
Autism, education, inclusion, resources, special education, special needs, Teaching

6 Ways Symbols Support Learning

Symbols can be used to support both receptive and expressive communication. They support word recognition in pre-readers and can be used in times of increased stress to communicate a need when word recall is impaired, for example showing an exit symbol for time out instead of having to ask or explain why.

inclusive education quote
Autism, behaviour, Blogs, education, inclusion, research, special education, Teaching

Engaging the failed Autistic Learner.

this post is specifically focused on strategies that may be effective for autistic children. This post draws heavily on the work of Damian Milton from who's writing I have learnt so much from over the last year or two. This booklet has particularly shaped my approach to teaching. Most of these strategies are really just aimed at reducing stressors throughout the day. I would like to stress these are interpreted through by teaching experience and context is very important.

inclusive education quote
behaviour, Blogs, education, inclusion, Teaching

6 Awesome ways to engage reluctant learners.

In this post I am classing reluctant learners as those who often do not finish tasks, they may do the minimum to get by or even flat out refuse to take part. As inclusive teachers we constantly have to be mindful of the drivers of the child's behaviour. The key to creating engaged learners is to know the child and the barriers they face. Some issues may go deeper and require additional specialist support. A class teacher dedicated to engaging their students can have a huge impact on the students experience of education and their outcome in life. Engaging learners is as much about emotional confidence as intellectual propensity so make that bond and enable all to achieve

Playmobil children toys around table inclusiveteach logo in corner
education, inclusion, special education, special needs, Teaching

Making your classroom Inclusive for all learners: Approach

This is part two of our post on making sure your classroom is accessible to all learners. Part one looks at making the environment right for all learners. This post looks at the essential human aspect that changes a room into a learning space that your children want to be in. Remember the biggest influence… Continue reading Making your classroom Inclusive for all learners: Approach