95% of schools have seen an increase in pupil anxiety, which makes anxiety and mental health evermore important topics. We need to support student’s well-being so they can get the most out of their learning and fully engage in school life, but it doesn't always require big changes.

Our new special guest, Sue White, joins Dale for the first time on the SENDcast to discuss ‘How schools can build positive well-being among students’. We process visuals much faster than we process language, so when anxious, a visual can enable more effective communication. Sue comes from a background of visuals and symbols so she highlights how we can give students the tools they need to be able to express their emotions.

Listen to this episode to hear how you can use visuals and symbols to enable students to communicate their feelings and build positive well-being in your setting.

“We're making everything inclusive, we're reducing the anxiety, we're giving everybody access and hopefully having a positive and happy classroom in the process.”

About Sue White

A qualified primary teacher, Sue’s passion for building children’s vocabulary came after teaching a child with specific learning difficulties. Sue could see that the child’s behaviour in class was borne from a frustration of not being able to fully participate in lessons. Determined to help, Sue started a long journey of learning how to help children who process learning differently. She first became a SENCo and later specialised in a range of developmental disorders where lack of vocabulary development impacted on attainment.   

Sue discovered that symbols – visual representations of words – can help all children comprehend spoken and written text, communicate better, as well as build confidence, independence and vocabulary. She has been with Widgit since 2018 where she has advised hundreds of schools on how to use symbols to improve learning and support delayed language development.  

Contact Sue White

Website - https://www.widgit.com

Email - [email protected]

Twitter - @Widgit_Software

Instagram - @widgitsoftware

Facebook - facebook.com/widgitsoftware26/

Useful Links

Sue recently co-authored a report: Walking the talk: A vocabulary recovery plan for primary schools.

30 day free trial of Widgit Symbols software to helps schools improve children’s language and literacy skills https://www.widgit.com/language  

• B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk

• Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast

• Email Dale – [email protected]

• Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe