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Running SNJ takes time and money. As volunteers, we don’t mind spending time making the site as useful as possible, but we need your help to keep it online. We …
Coronavirus: Managing risk to get our special school ready for reintegration
with Ian Thorsteinsson, Principal, Gretton School, Cambridge The Government has confirmed it is pressing ahead with its plans to reopen schools for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 cohorts from …
Dear Prime Minister, not all education in lockdown is equal
A letter to the PM from Lilia, a year 10 pupil who believes that not all education in lockdown is equal and it is time the government recognised the possible consequences for pupils taking important exams next year.
Launching “SNJ In Conversation” First episode: Coronavirus and Disabled children’s mental health
Today we’re launching a new feature: SNJ “In Conversation”. It will feature both videos and podcasts where one or more of the SNJ team interviews someone about an interesting or …
Coronavirus: Disabled children’s education rights must be restored now, before any formal return to school
This week Boris Johnston announced that schools may start reopening to certain year groups again from June 1st. Around 80% of schools have remained open to “vulnerable” groups (disabled children with …
SEND with Daulby: Supporting Oral Language difficulties
Oral language is a term I became familiar with in my later years of teaching. Partly because I worked with speech and language therapists as head of a speech and …
EHCPs 2020: Postcode lotteries and the Hall of Shame
Yesterday, the Department for Education published their annual snapshot of statistics about Education, Health and Care Plans in England. So today we have our annual analysis and infographics to explain …
It is a mistake to assume all vulnerable children are ‘at risk of harm’
Coronavirus has divided Britain into those who are vulnerable and those who are not. But vulnerable means different things to different groups of people, and it’s important to still differentiate between vulnerable because of need and vulnerable because of risk, especially when talking about children with SEND
Public Accounts Committee Inquiry report adds pressure to #fixSEND. SEND Review MUST NOT delay further
It seems like a lifetime ago, but for most of last year, you couldn’t move for official inquiries into the state of SEND in England. Parliament’s Education Select Committee started …
Changes to children’s social care – implications for disabled children’s short breaks
With Alice Irving, barrister, Research Assistant The Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 make wide-ranging changes to, amongst other things, the role of social workers and local authorities in reviewing provision …
What’s wrong with Oak Academy’s specialist curriculum?
with Karen Wespieser, curriculum lead for specialist content at Oak Academy A couple of weeks ago a group of volunteer teachers, backed by the Department for Education, launched an online …
Coronavirus: EHCP laws temporarily “relaxed” as LAs told to just do their best
and SEN Lawyer, Hayley Mason, SNJ Legal Columnist The Government yesterday announced temporary amendments to the SEND regulations around legal duties and timescales for Education, Health and Care Plans. They …
How is the coronavirus lockdown affecting the mental health of children with SEND?
With so many children with SEND finding school an anxiety-inducing experience, has home learning during the coronavirus lockdown helped, or exacerbated the state of their mental health? Families will also …
Coronavirus: Sensory resources for children with SEND
We are living through strange times; big things are happening to small people. I have a five-year-old son and I am six months pregnant. My pregnancy counts as ‘high risk’, …
My trans-daughter, an unexpected gift
with Caroline Watson & Hannah Watson Today we have a subject that we haven’t covered before on SNJ: Having a child or adolescent who is transgender. It’s not a special …
Why the Coronavirus lockdown adjustment for people with disabilities and mental health conditions was the right thing to do
and Alice Irving, barrister, research assistant to Steve Broach. The current public health crisis has affected us all. But for disabled people and those with mental health conditions, or those …
Campaign: Family carers deserve at least minimum wage for their 24/7 work
When you care for a disabled child or adult, you are often not able to work full or even part-time, because of your caring duties. For this, you’re entitled to …
Could remote hearings be the new normal at the SEND Tribunal?
SEND legal practitioners attend a periodic Tribunal User Group session – no surprises for guessing the latest was a remote session because of the #CoronavirusLockdown Tribunal hearings are also now …
SEND with Daulby: Keeping it loose for home learning
As I write this about being relaxed while home learning, I am aware of the irony that yesterday I screamed at my 14-year-old daughter that she was ruining her education …
How has special education needs evolved in the 40 years since the Warnock Report?
with Professor Geoff Lindsay, Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR), University of Warwick Everyone in the SEND sector should recognise the significance of the 1978 report on special …
Care in a time of coronavirus (ii): Using health direct payments to pay family members for care
Some children and adults receiving direct payments for complex health needs will be avoiding all non-essential face-to-face contact during the Coronavirus pandemic, including minimising the number of carers coming in and out of their home. One potential solution to these challenges is for ‘direct payments’ to be used to allow family members to be paid to provide care.
