Illuminating great practice for children and young people with SEND is something we love to do at SNJ. Last year I was delighted to attend the Shine A Light Awards, that recognises outstanding work in the field of speech and language.
In 2017, Pearson, who hosts the awards, is once again putting the spotlight on the incredible contributions of teams, settings and individuals across England who support children and young people’s speech, language and communication.
That means those working in schools, early years settings and other organisations, as well as SLT professionals. But it's not just for practitioners - there is a young person's award too, which was the highlight of last year for me. Our columnist, Malcolm Reeve is among those on the judging panel again.
So today, I'm really pleased that Chris Hall, Director of Clinical and Talent Assessment at Pearson is on SNJ to tell us all about the awards and how you can be a part of them.
Recognising excellence and illuminating good practice
The flagship Shine a Light Awards, run in partnership with The Communication Trust, is returning by popular demand. The Awards feature 10 categories including a brand new award for SEN School or Group of the Year, which aims to highlight the exceptional work carried out in SEND schools and colleges across the country.
Award Categories
The full list of categories is as follows:
- Early Years Setting of the Year Award
- Primary School of the Year Award
- Secondary School or College of the Year Award
- The Communication Commitment School of the Year Award
- SEN School or Group of the Year Award
- Young Person of the Year Award
- SLCN Innovation Award
- Communication Champion Award
- Augmentative and Alternative Communication Award
- Pearson Outstanding Achievement Award
The continued popularity of the Shine a Light Awards proves how much is being achieved across the country to support young people with speech, language and communication needs – work that is too often unrecognised.
These awards are exceptional and I am honoured to be a part of it with Pearson. It is so important to share and celebrate these achievements so that we can continue to innovate and raise awareness of best practice.
Since its launch during the National Year of Communication in 2011, the awards have recognised the work of over 98 teams and a wide range of individuals and they can’t wait to put even more in the spotlight.
If you would like to showcase what you have achieved - whether you’re a setting, team or individual - then please enter. The awards website is now open for applications and further details on how to apply can be found at www.shinealightawards.co.uk. Applications close at 11:59pm on 12th January 2017.
Good luck!
Chris Hall
Director, Clinical and Talent Assessment, Pearson
Chris has spent his career in health and educational publishing. He has been the Director of Clinical Assessment for over 10 years and worked on the development of many of our key assessments and helped over see the move to Q - interactive across all markets. In his spare time, Chris is Chair of Governors at Hitchin Girls School, occasional charity marathon runner and aspiring sheep farmer.
Find photos from last year's awards here on Facebook
Follow Pearson on Twitter @PsychCorpUK
*SNJ DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Pearson for this sponsored post*
Tania is an experienced broadcast and print journalist & author. She also runs a PR, web & social media consultancy, SocialOro Media.
Tania is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
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