Special Education and Inclusive Learning
Teaching Resources, Sensory Stories and SEND Information
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 InstructionsDeveloping Fine Motor SkillsTeam work and interactionEmotionsPlaying with foodProblem SolvingSequencingSenses (Worksheet available below)Positional Language The scavenger hunt activities were developed… Continue reading Mr Potato Head Scavenger Hunt
Our Spitfire VE Day sensory story forms the third of a collection of sensory stories written to be delivered during the week of the VE day celebrations in May 2020. These have been written with a broader range of needs than some of our other stories. The vocabulary is a little more complex and the… Continue reading Spitfire: A VE Day Sensory Story
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… Continue reading AAC Game: Manic Martians:
Independence at School and Home Is 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 is a key area… Continue reading SEND: Encouraging Independence
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… Continue reading Scavenger Hunt Communication Boards
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… Continue reading How To Teach Children To Wait
Using Snack time to enhance communication. Snack time 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 intervention (Gauverou 2017). Primarily… Continue reading Snack Time: Communication & Interaction
Year Six into Year Seven Every secondary school runs a year 6 to year 7 transition programme of some sort, comprising a few visits, summer holiday events and open evenings. Children with EHCPs and on the SEN register generally get something extra. Fran from Square Peg shares her thoughts and led an SENexchange discussion. Read our… Continue reading Transition: Primary to Secondary
A Sensory Recipe/Poem for Pancake Day Just a little bit of fun for Pancake day. a sensory story/recipe for encouraging messy play or adding a little bit of literacy and fun into food tech lessons. As always written with SEND children in mind this is a simple recipe with poem/Sensory story to go with it.… Continue reading Pancake Day Sensory Story
School Anxiety, Signs, Causes, Support and Resources. The subject of school anxiety is often a source of frustration and conflict between schools and parents. This is unnecessary and unhelpful and does nothing to provide support to the child. Children are often labelled as being school refusers. Pressure from local authorities may be put onto parents… Continue reading School Anxiety: Signs causes & strategies
Blitz: A WW2 Sensory Story Adventure To celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day this sensory story focuses on the Blitz experience. By writing A WW2 sensory adventure we ensure that the needs of all learners are being catered for. Lots of thought went into this story and the multi-sensory experiences it… Continue reading Blitz: WW2 Sensory Adventure
AAC Games for Communication Our next review for a game suitable for AAC users is Shark Bite. I bought this reduced at a supermarket. Shark does does tick the boxes for being suitable for use in communication and interaction sessions. It has a surprise movement to make you jump. The game has multicoloured accessories and… Continue reading AAC Game: Shark Bite
This is due to be the first in a series of 4 stories (1 for each season). Check out he winter sensory story - Snow Bear. Please take a few minutes to watch the video of my daughter reading it! The idea that each sensory story will have a unique feel and energy to it.… Continue reading Sensory Story: The Autumn Forest
The Birth of BackPocketTeacher Hands up, who returns from school with a bizarre range of things in their pockets? Stickers, symbols, bubbles, raisins, latex gloves…. they’ve all been found in my pockets and also been seen spinning around my washing machine! As a SEND teacher I learnt very early on that however amazing and detailed… Continue reading BackPocketTeacher: Bereavement and Grief in SEND
This was my first attempt at writing a sensory story. Heavily influenced by this book by the fantastically creative Joanna Grace
This guide will hopefully provide an insight into some of the questions you can expect to face when undertaking a student panel interview, remember that this part of the interview process is designed to compliment the other parts. Remember to ask questions back. If you have a student council - What do they think of you?
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.
Every successful placement requires the best possible communication and working relationship between parents and carers and schools
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.
Recognising your own emotions and identifying effective strategies for managing these is a key skill for any child.
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