The new handbook that’s helping every teacher to be a teacher of SEND
with Erica Wolstenholme, Whole School SEND National Coordinator As it says in the SEND Code of Practice, Every Teacher is a Teacher of SEND. But far too few come out …
Category: Columnists
How much impact will Early Years SENCOs in disadvantaged areas make to boosting early identification of SEND?
Recently, SNJ co-hosted Will Quince, Minister for Children and Families, on a parent webinar to talk about the solutions his team will be proposing to the colossal challenges facing the …
Moving Towards Neurodiversity Inclusion
It’s Neurodiversity Celebration Week! When I launched Neurodiversity Celebration Week over three years ago, I never imagined that my campaign would be so widely embraced and well received. As a …
“Impowering” the future of SEND where parents and SENCOs just need to be less “demanding”
As the SEND Review Green Paper edges closer – maybe within a week – we decided to look into something that lots of parents have been talking about, not least …
We don’t need ”fundamental SEND reform”. Just sharpen the teeth of the legal system we already have.
Getting the Children’s Minister’s attention at a webinar this week attended by 200 parents of children with SEND was an excellent opportunity to give him an unmediated insight into our …
Opinion: Birth-injury compensation payouts highlight the disparity in support for children born disabled
SNJ note: Parent-carer of a child with complex needs and SEND campaigner, Rachel Adam Smith, joins us as a columnist. Her article is followed by the views of a paediatric …
Creative reasonable adjustments for SEND learners that don’t have to cost a thing
Today we welcome a new columnist, Susan Lenihan, SEND parent, former headteacher and a SEND Community Alliance campaigner Some time ago SNJ asked the question on our social media: What …
Helping our disabled children understand that difficult experiences don’t define them or their future
Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week 2022 is supporting the theme of ‘Growing Together’. The aim is to help and support children to understand and learn from previous experiences that they …
What’s the point of the Down’s Syndrome Bill? One parent’s view, plus a legal opinion
with Dr Kieron Smith, father of a child with Down’s syndrome, followed by legal opinion from barristers, Victoria Butler-Cole QC, Steve Broach, and Nyasha Weinberg of 39 Essex Chambers The …
Councils wasted £253 million fighting parents at the SEND Tribunal since 2014 reforms
Somehow, it’s already early December. That means it’s time for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service to release their set of annual figures about the work of the Special Educational …
Let’s rename bullying for what it is: abuse
It’s Anti-Bullying Week 2021 and here we are with a new theme to try to stamp out bullying. The chosen theme this year is ‘One Kind Word’ One Kind Word …
Heidi’s Down’s syndrome abortion case: It’s complicated
with input from Colette Lloyd Why have we called this article, “it’s complicated’? Because it is completely understandable that a great many women do not want any further restrictions on …
EOTAS: Education Otherwise Than At School. What is it, and can I get it?
with Nicole Lee, solicitor, SEN Legal Today’s article is from my colleague, Nicole Lee, a solicitor at SEN Legal who is an expert on Education Otherwise Than At School as …
New Budget funds for SEND capital spending. But how did LAs spend previous cash? We checked…
This post contains original research. If you would like to use this, please get in touch. Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer introduced his autumn Budget. He also introduced the …
My experience with EMDR as an autistic young person
After a prolonged blogging dry spell brought on by the torture of lockdown, I am back in business with my writing. This time around I will recount what EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) has done for me. What is …
Mr Zahawi: Publish the SEND Review—but make sure it solves the RIGHT problem
A government reshuffle: it’s as good as anything else for a temporary distraction. There’s always the hope it might result in a minister who really knows and cares about the …
Exploring the “subtle spectrum” of autistic discovery
What is The Subtle Spectrum of autism? People looking for the genetic roots of autism have identified around a hundred genes linked to being autistic. The combination of these genes …
The SEND Tribunal single appeal route works. DfE must give families certainty it’s here to stay
Tribunal’s powers to make recommendations on health and social care ‘to continue’ – but why has it not been made ‘permanent’? The national trial of extended powers for the SEND Tribunal to hear …
Will the Judicial Review Bill torpedo SEND claims or is it damp squib?
With Eduardo Reyes, Features Editor, The Law Society Gazette Judicial review is the process of asking a court to look at the decision of a public body – such as …
Is the DfE’s SEND funding “safety valve” on a collision course with schools and families?
It’s a strange time out there, and it’s a strange time in the world of SEND too. Some sort of big change is on its way in England — via …