The SENDcast

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Angharad Welch to discuss verbal reasoning and how to use questions to help extend these skills. Angharad Welch isa Speech and Language Therapist who runs Find the Key Speech and Language Therapy. Angharad has worked with a number of organisations including NASEN and ourselves at B Squared, she also speaks at various events. Verbal reasoning is understanding what has been said. Verbal reasoning is similar to comprehension, it is what phonology is to phonics. If a pupil is struggling to understand the world around them or make predictions, this will have a huge impact on their development. A pupil needs to be able to observe, then compare and then use expressive language. There is a lot going on, there is a lot to unpick and questions are key to this development. You can use questions to help support a pupils understanding, but not all questions are equal. Useful Links Blank Questions – https://www.thesendcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Blank-Questions.jpg Contact Angharad Welch Website – www.findthekeyslt.co.uk Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/findthekeyslt Email – findthekeyslt@hotmail.com Twitter – @FindthekeySLT

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Lorraine Petersen OBE to discuss how schools can support transition from primary to secondary school. A significant number of young people, especially those identified with SEND will encounter difficulties in the transition to a new school if not properly supported. During this session Lorraine will give practical examples of how to manage transition from primary to secondary school. The number of pupils who are either excluded or are not in school due to anxiety is rising in Years 7 and 8. This is often due to a poor transition process for these pupils moving from primary to secondary. For transition to work effectively, it needs to be a partnership between the primary school, secondary school, parents and carers and the pupil. Useful Links 100 Ideas for Primary teachers – transition to Secondary School – Bloomsbury Press - https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Ideas-Primary-Teachers-Transition/dp/1472910702#ace-g0832847424 Nasen mini-guide – Transition - https://nasen.org.uk/uploads/assets/d120f943-7f8b-48c6-bc5b0d2ab448c54d/transition.pdf

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Sarah Jane Critchley to discuss school refusals, school phobia and illness. Sarah-Jane has the benefit of both a professional AND personal perspective. Sarah-Jane was previously the Programme Manager for over 10 years at the Autism Education Trust. Pupils with autism often struggle with attending school for a number of reasons. Her daughter Beth has autism and also suffers from migraines which meant from Year 3 onwards she missed a lot of school and missed over 50% of her GCSE classes, eventually dropping out of school in year 12. Schools are struggling with an increase in mental health issues in pupils, with escalating numbers of young people unable to attend school as a result. As many as 1:10 pupils were recorded as absent from school in 2016/17. Children not in school, unless they are electively home educated, get offered less education at a lower level with a knock-on effect on their long-term outcomes. If children are unable to attend school it has a catastrophic effect on the family, often resulting in parents being unable to maintain employment and tipping the family into economic disadvantage. Where a child's needs are clearly not being met in school, attendance is often impacted, their educational and life outcomes are seriously affected. Some parents have children who are so anxious they are unable to attend school. In some cases this has led to families being taken to court when the school has made little attempt to work with the family. School refusal is an odd term. It implies they are simply deciding not to go to school. For lots of pupils it is not a choice, they cannot cope with school. In this podcast we discuss a variety of reasons a pupil doesn't/cannot attend school. We discuss how a school's attitude to a pupils attendance can make a big difference. A child may present themselves as being happy at school, but present themselves very differently at home. They may use all their energy coping with school life and run out of energy when they get home. Schools and parents have to work in partnership to move forward. There are also a number of options for pupils who are unable to attend school full time. We explore dual registration, flexi-schooling, hospital schools, online schools, home education and visiting tutors. There are a number of options, some may be short term, others could be longer. Useful Links DfE Attendance Guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-attendance Not Fine in School website for parents and professionals https://notfineinschool.org.uk/home Emotional Distress Detector Toolkit https://differentjoy.krtra.com/t/DMZtVGKHe1Za How to contact Sarah-Jane: Twitter: @SarahJaneCritch Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahjanecritchley/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/differentjoy/

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Wendy Lee to discuss the language and literacy link, the impact a pupil's language difficulties has on their literacy. Wendy is a speech and language therapist for over 30 years, with a wealth of experience. Wendy was a professional director of the Communications Trust until 2015, being involved in a range of projects as well as inputting on national policy and research. Wendy is currently the director of LINGO which provides consultancy, professional development, resources and speech and language therapy. The Language and Literacy link is the link between a pupil's language difficulties and their literacy difficulties. It seems obvious when you think about it, if a pupils struggles with speaking an listening, they will probably be lacking skills when it comes to reading and writing. Many children with SEN have poor spoken language skills. It is estimated that at least 10% of all children have some difficulties with speech, language and communication, will have SLCN; this may be a primary need, as with Developmental Language Disorder or it may be a Language Disorder linked to another condition, such as cognition and learning or autism. Limited language impacts on literacy. Sometimes, it is language that is the foundation of literacy difficulties, though rarely is this the focus of literacy teaching or support. The podcast will explore how a focus on language could support those children with limited literacy skills. Useful Links Who are poor comprehenders? - https://readoxford.org/who-are-poor-comprehenders Improving literacy in key stage 1 - https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/literacy-ks-1/ Improving literacy in key stage 2 - https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/literacy-ks-2/ IPEELL: Using self-regulation to improve writing https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/ipeell/ Westerveld and Gillon Oral Narrative Program 2007 - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275017556_Westerveld-and-Gillon-Oral-Narrative-Program-2007 Lingo - www.lingospeech.co.uk How to contact Wendy Lee Twitter - @Lingo_speech Email - wendy@lingospeech.co.uk

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Sarah Jane Critchley to discuss Exclusions, how legal are they and why isn't more being done to prevent them. The statistics are shocking and terrible and more needs to be done. In this episode we discuss the different types of exclusion, when are exclusions are illegal, the two way link between mental health and exclusion and that there are alternatives. Sarah-Jane Critchley is passionate about helping autistic people, their families, friends and supporters live happier lives of their own choosing. She is the internationally recognised author of 'A Different Joy: The Parents' Guide to Living Better with Autism, Dyslexia, ADHD and More...'. and contributor to two titles on autism and girls. Sarah-Jane spent 10 years as Programme Manager of the AET. Whilst there she commissioned the AET's guides to exclusions. She also spoke at the NAHT 2019 SEND and the NAS 2019 Professional Conference on exclusions, and what schools can do to avoid them and to parents' groups on Exclusions, Absences and Illness. Exclusions continue to increase, nearly 8,000 pupils permanently excluded from school. One of the limited bits of good news is, that is only a small percentage of schools that are excluding pupils, 85% of schools excluded NO pupils at all in 2016-17. Sadly 78% of exclusions were pupils with SEND, Children in need or on Free school meals. Exclusions have a big lifelong effect on a child. Exclusions can cause a "collision course with failure" (Robert Halpern MP – Chair of the Education Select Committee). Gang members are 5.5 times more likely to have been excluded than the rest of the population. 85% of children in Young Offender Institutions have been excluded. Useful Links: DfE SEND Code of Practice https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25 DfE Exclusions Guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion Autism Education Trust exclusions materials https://www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk/exclusions/ Timpson Review of exclusions 2019. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/edward-timpson-publishes-landmark-exclusions-review How to contact Sarah-Jane: Twitter: @SarahJaneCritch Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahjanecritchley/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/differentjoy/ Email: sarah-jane@differentjoy.com For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://www.thesendcast.com/sendcast-episodes/

In this episode our guest is Lorraine Petersen OBE, who has over 25 years experience as a teacher, and head teacher. She was previously the CEO of the National Association of Special Needs -NASEN. Lorraine received her OBE for her services to education. Lorraine will be talking about supporting Anxiety and Trauma. This week's show is on Supporting Anxiety and Trauma. The prevalence of 5-15 year olds experiencing emotional disorders (including anxiety and depression) has increased by 48% – from 3.9% in 2004 to 5.8% in 2017. In 2020 that number has probably increased again. This week we have one of our regular guests, Lorraine Petersen OBE. Lorraine is an educational consultant with 25 years experience working in schools and since 2004 has been supporting Special Needs in a variety of ways, as the CEO of NASEN and as a consultant, director of a teaching school alliance and Governor. Lorraine has received numerous awards for her work, including her OBE.

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Wendy Lee to discuss how schools can support children with Speech, Langauge and Communication Needs (SLCN) in mainstream schools. Wendy is a speech and language therapist for over 30 years, with a wealth of experience. Wendy was a professional director of the Communications Trust until 2015, being involved in a range of projects as well as inputting on national policy and research. Wendy is currently the director of LINGO which provides consultancy, professional development, resources and speech and language therapy. Around 10% of pupils having Speech, Language and Communication Needs, this is a topic that applies to every teacher. In areas of social disadvantage, upwards of 50% of children can have speech, language and communication needs impacting on learning and life chances. Some of these children will need expert support from speech and language therapists, working with school staff and parents, some will benefit from targeted support. All are part of the school community and learning in mainstream classrooms. They will benefit from teachers and support staff understanding how their language and classroom strategies can support these children to access the curriculum and to be part of the classroom and wider school community. Useful Links The Communication Trust – Online CPD https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/projects/professional-development/online-short-course/ The Communication Trust – What Works https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/projects/what-works/ The Communication Trust - Supporting Children and Young People's Speech, Language and Communication online training http://www.platform3online.org.uk/index.html Lingo Speech – Products and resources to support SLCN https://www.lingospeech.co.uk/resources/ Bercow Report – 10 years on https://www.bercow10yearson.com/ Inclusion Development Programme (DfE) https://www.idponline.org.uk/ How to contact Wendy Lee Website: www.lingospeech.co.uk Email: wendy@lingospeech.co.uk Twitter: @lingo_speech For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://www.thesendcast.com/sendcast-episodes/

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Sarah Jane Critchley to discuss Autism Girls, why so few are identified, the lack of support that is available and why this all needs to change. Autism in girls is a big topic, and Sarah Jane has lots of experience, both professionally including through her work with the Autism Education Trust and personally as her daughter who is soon to be starting university has autism. Autism is one of Sarah Jane's passions. She is a member of the National Autism in Girls Forum and a contributing author to the book 'Autism in Girls' as well as her own book 'A Different Joy: The Parent's Guide to Living Better with Autism, Dyslexia, ADHD and more…'. We talk about how, due to the different types of play, boys and girls engage in at a younger age, the traits were often hidden for girls due to how they played. Girls are often better at masking symptoms. There is no typical profile, they can all be very different, we discuss all the different things you can look for. There are lots of girls and women now being diagnosed with autism. What can be done and where do you get support? The earlier the diagnosis/recognition, the better. A leading cause of death in late diagnosed autistic adults is suicide, with women being more at risk. More needs to be done to prevent this, and it needs to start as early as possible. We share a few tips on how to make school better for girls with autism. Useful Links Sarah-Jane Critchley: A Different Joy: The Parent's Guide to Living Better with Autism, Dyslexia, ADHD and more…https://www.amazon.co.uk/Different-Joy-Parents-Living-Dyslexia/dp/0993255140 I have a chapter co-written with Beth in Judith Hebron and Caroline Bond. Educating Autistic Girls https://www.amazon.co.uk/Educating-Girls-Autism-Spectrum-Developing/dp/1785924605 Barry Carpenter, Francesca Happe and Jo Egerton: Girls and Autism: Educational, Family and Personal Perspectives https://www.routledge.com/Girls-and-Autism-Educational-Family-and-Personal-Perspectives-1st-Edition/Carpenter-Happe-Egerton-Hollins/p/book/9780815377269 A Different Joy Website. Lots of useful information including a Mastermind group for autistic women – https://www.differentjoy.com NAS Autism in girls and women online training module https://www.autism.org.uk/professionals/training-consultancy/online/women-and-girls.aspx Scottish Autism's Women and Girls SWAN https://www.scottishautism.org/services-support/support-families/women-and-girls-online-support Not Fine in School website http://notfineinschool.org.uk/ How to contact Sarah-Jane: Twitter: @SarahJaneCritch Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahjanecritchley/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/differentjoy/ Email: sarah-jane@differentjoy.com For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click here… https://www.thesendcast.com/sendcast-episodes/

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Lorraine Petersen OBE to discuss how SENCOs and class teachers are meeting their legal requirement for pupils on SEN Support. 8 out of 10 pupils with a SEND are sitting in mainstream classrooms requiring SEN Support – that means they are in receipt of additional and/or different provision to their peers – or are they? With the tightening of school budgets, lots of schools have had to reduce the numbers of support staff which has had a direct impact on SEND pupils and the support they receive. Class teachers have a duty and a responsibility to ensure that these pupils are in receipt of the additional and/or different provision required however many have not been trained to support their complex needs. What is the SEN Register for? Is it just a list of names or is it a list of names you are tracking and monitoring, ensuring they are receiving support and is it effective? What should schools be doing for pupils on SEN support? Are you looking for barriers/issues? When progress in English or Maths is low are you just working on the areas they are struggling with? Are you looking at the wider picture? Asking why? There is lots of information and guidance out there, but before you access that you need to aware of your pupil's needs, asking questions and looking at the wider picture. This is something the whole school needs to think about, not just the SENCO and it needs to be led by the senior leadership team. This will start with the curriculum you are teaching, making sure the pupils have the foundations to build on when the progress up the school. Before moving on and chasing progress, make sure pupils have the basic stepping stones. Useful Links Graduated Response guidance from Norfolk LA - https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/-/media/norfolk/downloads/children-and-families/send/education-and-training-0-25/sen-support-guidance-provision-expected-at-sen-support.pdf?la=en Cheshire East Toolkit for SEND - https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/livewell/local-offer-for-children-with-sen-and-disabilities/education/supporting-send-in-education/send-toolkit.aspx Graduated Response Guidance from Worcestershire - http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/11603/send_graduated_response.pdf The SEND Gateway - https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/ SEN Suport – Research Evidence on effective approaches and examples of current good and outstanding practice - https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/download.sen-support-research-evidence-on-effective-approaches-and-examples-of-current-practice-in-good-and-outstanding-schools-and-colleges.html For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://www.thesendcast.com/sendcast-episodes/

In this week's podcast Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Wendy Lee to discuss how schools can support pupils in Early Years settings with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN). With many children are starting school with poor speech, language and communication skills, more needs to be done to support them. There is strong evidence around prevalence, with numbers rising to over 50% of all children in areas of social deprivation having poor language that impacts on wider development. The impact of poor understanding, limited vocabulary, poor sentence and narrative skills can have wide reaching and long-term impact, not just through primary education, but through secondary school and beyond. The early years is the first port of call for many of these children and early years teachers and practitioners can go some way to identifying needs and supporting language development. Useful Links Education Endowment Fund (EEF) – Early Language Development https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/evidence-reviews/early-language/ Education Endowment Fund (EEF) – Preparing for Literacy https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/preparing-for-literacy/ The Communication Trust – Online CPD https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/projects/professional-development/online-short-course/ The Communication Trust - Supporting Children and Young People's Speech, Language and Communication online training http://www.platform3online.org.uk/index.html The Communication Trust – Talking Point https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/projects/talking-point/ Lingo Speech – Products and resources to support SLCN https://www.lingospeech.co.uk/resources/ Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) – Language as a wellbeing indicator https://www.eif.org.uk/report/language-as-a-child-wellbeing-indicator For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://www.thesendcast.com/sendcast-episodes/