Practical teaching strategies and adaptable lesson ideas designed to meet the diverse needs of all learners. This category covers differentiated instruction, multisensory learning, curriculum adaptations, and behaviour support techniques to help educators create engaging, inclusive classrooms.
Whether you’re a teacher, teaching assistant, or SENCO, these resources aim to inspire confidence and creativity in everyday teaching practice.
A Traditional Easter Sensory Story This is my attempt to capture the key themes of the traditional Easter story in the format of a sensory story. Being relatively complex I have had to remove a few elements and reduce some situations to single lines. I have not shied away from the more violent sections but … Read more
This blog is going to explore how just with a poundland power-bank we can create simple and affordable sensory lights. We can use these as a 1 off activity or to integrate into your multi-sensory storytelling. As we all know if you put “sensory” on the front of any product you can double the price. … Read more
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 … Read more
Let’s Talk About Grief No one likes to think about death, let alone talk about it and who feels comfortable talking to children about death?! Being blessed with life means that we also have to cope with others dying and manage the associated emotions of grief. 2020 has sadly meant that we have all had … Read more
Personalisation and Purpose of Reward Systems at Home and School I am a fan of personalised reward systems in schools as a way to achieve a very specific goal. As a behaviour modification strategy, I have struggled to find a suitable system. I have found star charts or token economy systems a good way for … Read more
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 of 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. … Read more
Big and Small Teaching Activities Big and Small These concepts are generally taught together but we also use them to describe objects without a comparative object. “wow that’s a big smile” “What a big yawn!”. We throw around size-related mathematical language with scant regard to accuracy. “I’ve made a huge mistake.” “You are a massive … Read more
Picture Books About Inclusion and Diversity For School and Home Diversity in society is a really important topic to start addressing with children as soon as possible. This is especially true for children in a special school they are already marginalised in certain sections of society. I found these books when looking to resource our … Read more
A guest post on great SEN apps. For many children access to school ended in March 2020 due to the coronavirus. Now that the spread is slowing down, however, they’re allowed to reopen fully. But a survey conducted by the National Foundation for Education Research found that 60% of school leaders feel ‘unprepared for some aspects of … Read more
All children tend to display oppositional behaviour at times. After 13 years working with children with Autism, ADHD, ODD and other needs I have seen a range of reasons for opposition. With my own children I can identify factors that can lead to oppositional behaviour. This doesn’t make it easier to deal with, and often … Read more
The Value of Compassion This post is a reflection of the #SENexchange discussion on Quality of life and our favourite things. It took place during the Coronavirus crisis in April 2020. Our definitions of what education, life and security look like have been tested. Education was redefined overnight, and the structures and routines we built … Read more
The Mr Potato Head scavenger hunt is a great accessible activity that can be set up for AAC (Augmentative and assertive communication). There are many other activities you can use Mr Potato Head for: Following Instructions Developing Fine Motor Skills Team work and interaction Emotions Playing with food Problem Solving Sequencing Senses (Worksheet available below) … Read more
Our Spitfire VE Day sensory story forms the third of a collection of sensory stories written to be delivered during the week of the 75th VE day celebrations in May 2020, Now Updated for the 80th Anniversary of VE Day in 2025 with a sound board that contains the sounds for our sensory story you … Read more
I teach in a autism specific classroom. The majority of the group are non-verbal and use a range of AAC (Augmentative and alternative communication resources). A common learning objective that links to a child’s EHCP targets is social interaction. This requires a commonly understood communication method. The key to this is using simple symbol/images which … Read more
Developing Independence at School and Home It is essential we educate our children for the life they will lead as adults. For safety, wellbeing and the ability to control their direction in life. Independence will be a sliding scale for many children but we need to enhance this wherever possible. Independence skills are a key … Read more
This will be an ongoing post where I upload the scavenger hunt AAC communication boards and other activity sheets I make. I hope you find these useful and please share if you like them. We also have a post outlining 150 sensory learning activities you may be interested in. All the boards are fully editable … Read more
Waiting: Strategies for use at home & school Waiting can be a challenge for many children. As a teacher and a parent, I have had to find ways to teach children to wait for a whole range of things. Throughout the day in the SEN classroom, there are natural lulls in planned activity. This may … Read more
Free, Simple Sensory Activities For EYFS or SEN There are many options for embedding effective sensory learning curriculums for children who cannot access worksheets and online teaching resources. Sensory learners need sensory learning ideas. Preferably simple and free ones. This list of 150 (ish) ideas should give you some ideas to try at home, EYFS … Read more
This post outlines the questions and suggested strategies from the #SENexchange discussion on Life Skills: Health and Hygiene routines. You can download a PDF of the collated discussion below. Please share if you think this will help someone. What barriers do people with Sensory Processing differences face with common hygiene routines? Update: check out this … Read more
Using Snack Time at School to Enhance Communication Snack time at school can be a great opportunity to develop a number of key skills for our pupils. Given the regular nature of mealtimes in school settings and the inherent positive nature of mealtimes for most children, this activity is an outstanding context for social communication … Read more
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