Who benefits from inclusive education – and how?
with Prof Brahm Norwich & Dr Peter Gray, SEN Policy Research Forum Who benefits from inclusive education? It is an enduring question that applies as much to children and young …
Category: Columnists
Why does Josh’s review seem to think disabled children are “Not Known to Social Care”?
From what I can see, the independent review of children’s social care doesn’t seem to be much interested in finding out about the experiences of disabled children and their families outside the …
SEND researchers identify key lessons for teaching children with special education needs in lockdown
We’ve just launched our new report (PDF link) with Nuffield (Amy Skipp, Vicky Hopwood & Rob Webster With Jenna Julius & Dawson McLean, NFER February 2021), on special education during …
If we truly want effective SENCOs, the government must act to make it possible
The Special Needs Jungle Coronavirus Survey sought the views and experiences of over a thousand parents and carers of children and young people with SEND between 3-30th June 2020. The National …
How to reclaim a positive mental attitude while parenting in a pandemic
Happy New Year (if it’s not too late to say that)… But it’s more like out of the frying pan into the fire in another national lockdown. This time, the …
Blockbusting: What’s Happened to the £780m in Extra SEND Funding?
In 2019, the Government announced the biggest increase in school funding in years – a three-year funding programme, pumping an extra £2.6bn into the schools budget in 2020, and pledging to increase …
95% of decisions in favour of parents, but nobody wins at the SEND Tribunal
2020 is a year that most of us will be glad to see the back of. But before we kiss it good riddance, here’s a quick look at some figures …
MPs call on the government to act quickly on home education register
The number of children – including children with SEND – who are home educated by their parents’ choice, has increased steadily over the last five years, and sharply over the …
Ambitious and inclusive sensory story-telling
About a decade ago an impossible dream of mine came true. Special Needs Jungle was a part of that happening, but where that dream began is hard to pin point. …
Why I’m using my new global United Nations role to promote neurodiversity and the importance of equality
Tania’s note: At SNJ, we want to pass on our huge congratulations to Siena for being selected for this incredible, exciting, global United Nations opportunity. Siena is an amazing young …
Introducing Oak National Academy’s new online specialist curriculum
It’s been an academic year like no other, but I think we can all agree that teachers and families have done an exceptional job supporting children during school closures. With …
Ofsted/CQC SEND inspectors dropping by soon, but in learning mode
It seems like a lifetime ago now – but there was a time when local SEND services were subjected to at least some external accountability. Ofsted & the Care Quality …
Myth-Busting the ‘magic’ of multiple multi-sensory rooms
Tania’s note: as many of you know, Joanna Grace is a Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist, (normally) running training events throughout the UK, and occasionally further afield. In 2010 she …
Observing many ‘nows’ to infer a choice, for people with profound learning disabilities
Here is a situation you will probably have encountered: an adult holds out two toys to a child, asking, “Which do you want to play with?” The child indicates one …
SEND 2020: What’s the current state of Ofsted local area inspections?
Four years ago, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission started inspecting local SEND services. Thanks to COVID-19, inspections are on hold – so now’s a good a time as any …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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’, …
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 …
