The SENDcast

In this week's show Dale is joined by Fintan O'Regan are discussing how every school leader is a leader of SEND.

Fintan is a trainer and consultant for schools and school support systems including, Social Services, Health, the Police and Foster carers. He has worked with a number of organisations including NASEN, Institute of Education, Leicester University, the UK ADHD Network and the European ADHD Alliance. And before this he was a headteacher of a specialist school for students with ADHD, ASD an ODD. Fintan is a regular here in our studios, he has recorded a number of episodes of the SENDcast, he is a regular speaker at our Virtual SEND Conferences and has recorded a training course for us around Exclusion.

For schools to be truly inclusive on behalf of SEND in order to reach out to all teaching staff and to support the SEND department then whole school leadership team need to be totally committed in their approach to achieving this. Most schools have 3 types of teachers those that appear willing and able to adapt their teaching practices, those that are reluctant and those that might. In order to secure those that might and bring in those who are reluctant this needs to come from the top down.

For a number of years the organisation NASEN has promoted the excellent approach to supporting children with SEND and those that support them especially SENCos with the premise that every teacher and not just specialist teachers are teachers of SEND. However the reality, is that to actually achieve this the directives and application of this in practice really needs to come from all the members of the SLT in order for this to filter down to all of the staff.

Resources/Links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

https://www.theschoolrun.com/SEN-code-2014

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2020/08/31/supporting-children-with-special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-to-return-to-school/

https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/rona-tutt%E2%80%99s-guide-to-send-inclusion/book250123

O'Regan F (2018) Successfully Managing Children ADHD Second edition :Routledge Falmer Press

O'Regan F (2020) Supporting behaviour in the classroom: Sage publications limited https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Guide-Teachers-Supporting-Behaviour/dp/1529718554

Website – www.fintanoregan.com

Email – [email protected]

Twitter – @fintanoregan

For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://sendcast.wpengine.com/sendcast-episodes/

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Dr Trisha Waters. Trisha is an educational therapist who began her career supporting pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties, after that she led the MA in SEN & Inclusion at the University of Chichester and is now the director of the Centre for Therapeutic Storywriting.

The use of story writing to develop both emotional resilience and improve writing skills can supports pupil wellbeing while also developing academic writing skills. It draws on psychological awareness of pupils' emotional and cognitive development and is a therapeutic teaching intervention developed to be safely implemented by education professionals.

Resources:

Video: Introducing Therapeutic Storywriting Groups - https://www.therapeuticstorywriting.co.uk (video on home page)

'Therapeutic Storywriting: A Practical Guide to Developing Emotional Literacy in Primary Schools' by Trisha Waters - https://www.therapeuticstorywriting.co.uk/book

Therapeutic Storywriting Research Papers - https://www.therapeuticstorywriting.co.uk/research/research-tsw-groups

Contact Trisha:

Website: www.therapeuticstorywriting.co.uk

Twitter: @TherapyStoryhttps://twitter.com/therapystory

Facebook: Centre for Therapeutic Storywriting

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Al Start. Al is a singer-songwriter who specialises in music for children and schools through her company Go Kid Music. Al has worked with children through creative art organisations and local authority play services. Al has also has toured the UK and East Coast USA performing her music.

Songs get stuck in your head. We remember songs for years, we remember nursery rhymes from our childhood. They help in so many ways. It make sense to use songs and music more widely in school. The next step is to use topic-based songs for learning the vocabulary, key facts, retaining information and bringing a new dimension to cross curricular topic work.

By introducing music and singing into all areas of the curriculum and not just for music lessons, schools can enable a mixed ability class to learn collaboratively, creatively, and 'level the playing field' in terms of ability. This enables students who may struggle to learn in a conventional way to take part and feel confident in their learning.

Songbooks published by Collins Music:

"Sing! Play! Learn! with Go Kid Music" Topic songs for KS1 & KS2: Primary | Primary Music | Sing! Play! Learn! with Go Kid Music – Collins

https://www.singup.org/

Contact Al Start:

Website: Go Kid Music

Twitter: @gokidmusic

Facebook: facebook.com/gokidmusic

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Georgina Durrant to discuss the importance of learning through play.

Learning through play is so important for all young children, but perhaps especially for children with Special Educational Needs. Play can help children practise and develop a whole range of skills from fine and gross motor skills to creativity, emotional regulation and working memory. It can also help relax overstimulated children and help form social connections.

Children have missed out on a lot due to the pandemic and while there's a lot of pressure to 'catch them up' academically, we need to be very aware that children have also missed out on play - and play is hugely important for developing key skills for young children. In this episode, Dale and Georgina discuss the need to be empowering parents and teaching professionals, and that learning through play is vital for children and their emotional wellbeing as well as development of skills.

Georgina is a the founder of the award winning SEN Resources Blog, author of '100 Ways your child can learn through play' and a tutor for children with SEND.

The SEN Resources Blog, www.senresourcesblog.com which shares fun play based learning activities, reviews of recommended resources for children with SEN and advice.

My tutoring website www.cheshiresentutor.com

Georgina's book: '100 Ways Your Child Can Learn Through Play (Fun activities for young children with SEN) Amazon https://amzn.to/3t9ddsR

For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://sendcast.wpengine.com/sendcast-episodes/

In this week's podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Dr Susie Nyman to discuss empowering mental health for students with SEND.

Susie is the Curriculum Manager at The Sixth Form College, Farnborough. She is passionate about discovering how children learn and supporting them in ways which enable them to succeed. She has provided training to PGCE students at Kingston University, and in a number of local schools and colleges on teaching strategies. She also delivers talks on multi-sensory techniques around the world.

Joining Dale today is Ginny Bootman. Ginny is currently a SENCO of 2 Primary schools, but has been a teacher for a very long time (in her own words), a senior manager and headteacher. She has also found time to write articles for TES and speak at a number of events.

All too often the home school relationship can become strained for a number of reasons. This episode looks at the role empathy plays and the building of the spider's web of trust to pave the way for a real team approach when supporting families who have children with additional needs. This has come about through discussion with parents to identify the barriers they feel are put in front of them often inadvertently by educational settings.

This is aimed at SENCOs, Head Teachers and parents. The approach discussed today can be used by anyone in any setting to begin to really empathise with those around us and put ourselves in others shoes.

Resources:

Brene Brown - Her work on empathy - https://twentyonetoys.com/blogs/teaching-empathy/brene-brown-empathy-vs-sympathy

Jamil Zaki - The War for kindness , building empathy in a fractured world - https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Kindness-Building-Empathy-Fractured/dp/0451499247

Dr Andrew Curran - The little Book of big stuff about the brain - His work helps educators understand that what they are doing has a scientific background.- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Book-Stuff-about-Brain/dp/1845900855

Logos, Ethos, Pathos - The Rhetorical Triangle: How these can be used to understand the view of the parent during meetings - https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/RhetoricalTriangle.htm

Website – www.ginnybootman.com

Twitter – @sencogirl

Dale's guest is Fintan O'Regan, Fintan is a trainer and consultant for schools and school support systems including, Social Services, Health, the Police and Foster carers. He has worked with a number of organisations including NASEN, Institute of Education, Leicester University, the UK ADHD Network and the European ADHD Alliance. And before this he was a headteacher of a specialist school for students with ADHD, ASD and ODD. Fintan is a regular here in our studios, he has recorded a number of episodes of the SENDcast, he is a regular speaker at our Virtual SEND Conferences and has recorded a training course for us around Exclusion.

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and would therefore be seen by most people as being a challenge and not an opportunity. Indeed some years ago Dale heard a parent describe to another parent that ADD stood for Attention Devastation Disorder such was the impact on her life. Language is important and as a result we suggest reframing the term ADHD in a more positive and accurate way. In addition we discuss both the history and future of the term and outline a range of strategies and suggestions to support individuals with ADHD at school and at home.

Resources:

O'Regan F (2018) Successfully Managing Children ADHD Second edition :Routledge Falmer Press

O'Regan F (2020) Supporting behaviour in the classroom: Sage publications limited https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Guide-Teachers-Supporting-Behaviour/dp/1529718554

Cave S and O'Regan (2021) Attention difficulties: How to help: Pavillion books group:

O'Regan F (2020) 100 top tips for Supporting Parents with Children with ADHD

O'Regan F (2018) Supporting children with ADHD: Learning Behaviour

The Defiant Child: Douglas Riley

Joining Dale today is Lorraine Petersen. Lorraine has 25 years' experience in the mainstream school environment as a teacher and Head Teacher. From 2004 – 2013 Lorraine was CEO of Nasen, a charitable organisation supporting all those who work with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

She has been a chair, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at many national and international events and conferences as well as a consultant for a number of national organisations.

In 2009 Lorraine was awarded an OBE for her services to education.

In 2013 Lorraine established Lorraine Petersen Educational Consultancy and currently works independently, delivering training and supporting schools and local authorities on SEND, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Safeguarding.

Lorraine in currently Director of Chadsgrove Teaching School Alliance, is Chair of Governors at Chadsgrove School and a Governor at Lokrum Fields, a newly opened independent special school.

Resources:

National SENCO Workforce Survey 2020 - https://nasen.org.uk/news/senco-workforce-survey

This week, Dale is joined by Alison Knowles. Alison is an emotional therapist who supports emotional resilience. In this episode we are talking about self preservation as a parent of a child with SEND.

Alison is the creator of the Ollie Model, the author of the series of Ollie and his Super Powers books, trainer of Ollie coaches and an emotional therapist.

Useful Links:

https://www.facebook.com/OllieandhisSuperPowers

https://twitter.com/bemoreollie

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWDj-PRjboIg2cu-KZsEMVA

https://www.instagram.com/ollie_and_his_super_powers

https://www.ollieandhissuperpowers.com/

This week Dale is joined by Al Start to discuss some helpful tips to help teachers use music and songs in the classroom.

Al has worked with children for over 20 years in a variety of ways and over the last 15 years she has been creating, teaching and performing songs for children.

Singing with children can be a scary idea if you're not musically trained, but introducing music and singing into children's daily learning routine will open up so many opportunities for learning, creativity, behaviour management and wellbeing. With some handy tips, anyone can use singing and music without a musical background.

There isn't enough support for teachers to try music in the classroom - but the benefits are plentiful - for both pupils and staff.

Music is always way down on the curriculum and thought of as a specialist subject. However it should fill your classroom throughout the day, whatever subject you're teaching.

Resources:

Go Kids Music – https://gokidmusic.com/

Where you can find songs and albums, songbooks and membership

Sing Up - https://www.singup.org/