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On this week’s podcast Dale will be discussing building resilience in the early years with guest Dr. Tina Rae. Tina is a consultant psychologist with over 30 year’s experience working with children, adults and families. Resilience is a word that some people hate, some understand and other are a bit unsure of what it means. I have met some people who think resilience is made up and dismiss it. I have also seen work in primary schools where they are helping children to become more resilient, talking about a growth mindset. Resilience has lots of different names – resilience, grit, determination and many other names, but they all have a common thread, which is being able to cope. How else can we describe resilience?   Useful Links Rae, T. (2014) Building Resilience. Every Child Journal. 4(6) 31-39 Rae, T. (2015) The power of positive thinking Every Child Journal. 5(1) 44-53 Rae, T. (2016) Building Positive Thinking Habits Increasing Self-confidence and resilience in young people through CBT Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. (2016) Bouncing back and Coping with change Building Emotional and Social Resilience in Young people aged 9-14 Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. & Such, A. (2017) Emotion Coaching A resource bank for parents, carers and professionals London: Nurture Group Network Rae, T., & Wood, J. (2019) The Essential Resilience and well-being tool kit for the early years Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. (2019) Mindfulness Activity cards Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. (2019) Happy Habits Activity cards Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers

This week Dale is joined by Carol Allen & John Galloway to discuss the pro's and con's of a fixed curriculum. The curriculum in schools is supposed to be broad and balanced, but it often isn’t. Schools are sometimes only focusing on areas they are held to account for. One thing that has been eating away at the over the last few years is the four broad areas of need and the lack of focus on these areas in schools, in a number of ways. We will come back to this later, lets start at the beginning with children being entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum. Where is it going wrong? Carol is an education advisor for ICT and Inclusion in particular supporting the London Grid For Learning and Hartlepool LA.  She was named one of the top ten educators for 2018 in the field of educational technology. This was down to all her amazing work on inclusion. John is a specialist in the use of technology to improve educational opportunities for children and young people with special educational needs. He spends the majority of his time working with Tower Hamlets LA, but also does lots of working as a writer, consultant and trainer.   Useful Links:  

In this episode Dale's guest is Kate Browning. Kate is an independent consultant supporting schools make improvements around SEND. In this episode we are talking about SENCO time management, focusing on the key elements. In a world where there is less guidance, less money, more demand and continual changes, teachers, SENCos and leaders need a way to keep up, that fits in with their lives. The SENDcast is the answer!

In this episode Dale welcomes Alison Knowles back to the show. Alison is an emotional therapist. This does not mean that she often cries during therapy. She supports emotional resilience. In this episode we are talking about why we are the way we are. We are born different, we are born at different times, different generations with different challenges. We have different experiences, different ideals, we all respond differently to situations and take different things away from events. Because of this Alison, you feel we don’t fit into boxes and we don’t need labels. They discuss The Ollie Model explanation of why we are different, why we believe what we believe, why we don’t need labels and don’t fit into boxes. Knowledge is power. Knowledge gives control and control makes us feel safe and able to cope. Understanding that everyone is different and therefore should be treated differently. 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 Keywords Everyone is individual and unique Everyone sees the world differently People don’t need to stay stuck in the model of the world they have created. Why shouldn’t we put labels on people Why shouldn’t we put people into boxes

This week Dale is joined by 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 supports them by providing behaviour management strategies for children and families struggling with SEND and behaviour issues. Before this 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 all of this he was a headteacher of a specialist school for students with ADHD, ASD an ODD. There is so much disinformation on the subject of ADHD partly as it is a relatively new term that many people still see as an excuse and not an explanation and partly as the media has portrayed the use of medication as a chemical cosh for children. Dale and Fintan look to demystify what can be a confusing term for many and will focus on traits and not the label. Useful Links/References: Cooper P and O’Regan F (2001) EDUCATING children with ADHD: Routledge Falmer Press O’Regan F (2002) How to teach and manage children with ADHD: LDA a division of McGraw- Hill O’Regan F (2005) ADHD : Continuum International O’Regan F (2005) Surviving and Succeeding in SEN Continuum International O’Regan F (2006) Challenging Behaviours Teachers Pocketbooks O’Regan F (2006) Troubleshooting Challenging Behaviours Continuum International O’Regan F (2008) The Small Change 2 BIG DIFFERENCE series Hyperactive, Inattentive and Disorganised, Special Direct O’Regan F (2018) Successfully Managing Children ADHD Second edition :Routledge Falmer Press

This week’s show is on How to Become a Dyslexic Grade Riser. An approach to help students with dyslexia to learn and prepare for exams. Our guest is Dr Susie Nyman, 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. Susie is amazing, she has spent her teaching career really looking at how people learn. In this episode we discuss how students can become dyslexic grade risers. This approach is designed to help students with dyslexia, but as many things it will benefit all students. Useful Links:  

On this week’s podcast we will be discussing understanding and managing anxiety in children and young people with guest Dr Tina Rae. Tina is a consultant psychologist with over 30 year’s experience working with children, adults and families. A recent survey undertaken by the charity Young Minds in March 2020 revealed that the current coronavirus pandemic is having a profound effect on young people with existing mental health conditions. Although they understood the need for the measures taken in response to the virus, the report says, this did not lessen the impact. Many of those who took part in the survey reported increased anxiety, problems with sleep, panic attacks or more frequent urges to self-harm.   Resources and Useful Links: Rae, T. (2020) A Toolbox of Wellbeing Helpful strategies and activities for children, teens, their carers and teachers Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T., Such, A. & Wood, J. (2020) The Well Being Tool Kit for Mental health leads in schools A comprehensive Training Resource to Support Emotional Wellbeing in Education and Social Care Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T., Walshe, J. & Wood, J. (2020) Supporting Adolescents with anxiety and stress: Evidence based strategies Buckingham Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. (2020) Motivation Matters Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. (2019) Sensory Activity cards Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. (2019) Mindfulness Activity cards Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. (2019) Happy Habits Activity cards Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. & Such, A. (2019) The ASD Girls’ Wellbeing Toolkit An Evidence based Intervention Promoting Mental, Physical & Emotional Health Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers Rae, T. (2019) The Well Being Tool Kit for Teens London: NurtureUK   Anxiety UK 03444 775 774 (helpline)  07537 416 905 (text) anxietyuk.org.uk Advice and support for people living with anxiety. Childline  0800 1111 childline.org.uk Support for children and young people in the UK, including a free 24-hour helpline.   As well as this podcast, B squared also run the Virtual SEND Conference and Parent Talks. The Virtual SEND Conference is a conference for schools that runs twice a year. It is a virtual conference, so the conference comes to you, over the internet. We record every session, this means you can watch the videos whenever you need to. You can purchase access to future or past events. For more information visit www.virtualsendconference.com. At the end of the episode I will be giving you a discount code so you can save some money when you purchase access.

In this week’s podcast we are talking about managing the SENCO Workload. Our guest is Natalie Packer, an independent education consultant, specialising in SEND and school improvement. Natalie develops and delivers a wide range of training and support to schools, multi-academy trusts and other organisations. She is a member of nasen’s 0-11 Advisory Group, and also supports the Whole School SEND review process. On top of this and being a Governor and Trustee Natalie has also found time to write books The Perfect SENCO and The Teacher’s Guide to SEN. Useful Links: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/media/bathspaacuk/education-/research/senco-workload/SENCOWorkloadReport-FINAL2018.pdf   - original Bath Spa / nasen workload survey report https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/media/bathspaacuk/education-/research/senco-workload/National-SENCO-Workload-Survey-Report-Jan-2020.pdf - follow up report SENCO Induction Pack – available on https://www.sendgateway.org.uk SENCO Forum for questions – https://www.sencoforum.com Focus On training for staff available at www.nasen.org www.ipsea.org.uk - courses available on knowing the SEND law https://www.provisionmap.co.uk - provision mapping software https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-SENCO-Natalie-Packer/dp/178135104X - Natalie's book!

For over 20 years, Kate Browning has been passionately committed to championing the SENCo role in schools. Over this time, she has worked as a class teacher, SENCo, Local Authority School Improvement Officer for SEN and most recently as Education Development Officer for nasen. This week Kate joins Dale to discuss the intricacies of identification of SEND and the common mistakes made by all parties in this process.   If you want to get in touch, let us know your thoughts, suggest topics or anything else, please send an email to hello@thesendcast.com If you have enjoyed the SENDcast, why not look into the Virtual SEND Conference, this is a conference that like the SENDcast is run by B Squared, but it covers all aspects of SEND. What makes this conference different is that it is accessed across the internet. The conference runs twice a year, in March and November and each conference has 12 highly valuable sessions designed to help you, with each session having something you can take away. You can buy tickets for future events or past events, the videos are always available. The cost for each conference is £60 and this covers the entire school, not per person. As a listener to the SENDcast, we are offering you a 10% discount, just use the code Sendcast10. Thank you for listening, we will be back next week with another episode of the SENDcast.

We need to give people the tools to be empowered to help themselves and their family – looking inside themselves and not having to look elsewhere for help. This week's guest Alison Knowles. Alison is the author of Ollie and his Super Powers series of books and creator of the Ollie Model.  Ali has her own private therapeutic practice in Cambridgeshire where she works with people of all ages, helping them to remove limiting beliefs, fears and phobias, and negative emotions. More and more parents began to bring their children to Ali because of her easy and relaxed approach. Our aim is to be in every school, so we also empower teachers and support staff.  Kids become mentors themselves as they learn the Ollie Model and use it on themselves and others. 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

In this week’s podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Lana Grant to discuss Autism and Coronavirus – The new normal for children and their families Lana has a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and is also a parent of children on the autism spectrum Lana is a specialist SEN advisor and an advocate for SEN children and their families. Lana has worked Lara’s first book “From Here To Maternity, pregnancy and motherhood on the Autism Spectrum” was published in 2015. Lana also contributes to various aritcles, podcast and delivers talks at various shows and events. We recorded this episode on the 1st of September 2020 and over the next few days the majority of students across England are returning to school. Everyone has responded to the pandemic and the lockdown differently. For people with autism in particular there have been some positives of lockdown and returning to normal or a “new normal” could cause a lot of anxiety. In the podcast, we discuss the outcome of the pandemic and what it means for our children and their parents/carers.  How have autistic people coped going into lockdown and then coming out?  What are the concerns for the future and how can we support families to move forward in these seasons of change and unpredictability? For autistic people in particular there have been some positives of lockdown. A parent had commented to Lana that it was if the whole world now knows what autism is like…needing to socially distance, the need for routine and rule-following, less crowded places, not being able to read people’s expressions due to face coverings.  Then we came out of lockdown and this increased lots of people’s anxiety and mental health as things began to change almost back to normal. Contact Lana Grant Website – www.lana-grant.co.uk Email – enquiries@lana-grant.co.uk Twitter – @LanaGrantAutism For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://www.thesendcast.com/sendcast-episodes/

In this week's show Dale is joined by Carol Allen and John Galloway to discuss utilising modern technology to enhance the class room experience. Carol is an education advisor for ICT and Inclusion in particular supporting the London Grid For Learning and Hartlepool LA.  She was named one of the top ten educators for 2018 in the field of educational technology. This was down to all her amazing work on inclusion. John is a specialist in the use of technology to improve educational opportunities for children and young people with special educational needs. He spends the majority of his time working with Tower Hamlets LA, but also does lots of working as a writer, consultant and trainer. Useful Links:   Carol Allen on Twitter - @caroljallen John Galloway on Twitter - @Johngalloway

There is nothing worse than the loss of someone who is important to you whether you loved them or not. and many of our children will have experienced that pain, whether in their own families, or in their wider social circles. What can we do, as the adults who support them to make sure that we are helping them as they grieve without adding to their pain? In this week’s podcast Dale is joined by Sarah Jane Critchley to discuss how best to support children and staff to understand death, bereavement and loss. Useful Links: Sunderland, M., Hancock, N., Armstrong, N. (2003). The Day the Sea Went out and Never Came Back. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315172934 and Sunderland, M., Hancock, N. (2003). Helping Children with Loss. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315170862 Rankin, H. (2019). Supporting Children through Bereavement and Loss & When the Sun Fell Out of the Sky. London: Routledge, ISBN 9780367179663 https://www.routledge.com/Supporting-Children-through-Bereavement-and-Loss--When-the-Sun-Fell-Out/Rankin/p/book/9780367179663 Books Beyond Words – When Someone dies from Coronavirus & other resourceshttps://static1.squarespace.com/static/551cfff9e4b0f74d74cb307e/t/5e9578851288b77c2683f29a/1586854025277/When+someone+dies+from+coronavirus+V1.pdf Books beyond words – When Mum died - https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk/bookshop/paperbacks/when-mum-died?rq=bereavement and when Dad died https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk/bookshop/paperbacks/when-dad-died?rq=bereavement   Great resources for teenagers from Young Minds https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/feelings-and-symptoms/grief-and-loss/ Child Bereavement UK https://www.childbereavementuk.org/ Newsround - Coronavirus: What to do if someone you love has diedhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52283247   How to contact Sarah-Jane: Twitter: @SarahJaneCritch Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahjanecritchley/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/differentjoy/

This week's guest is Dr Susie Nyman. Susie is passionate about discovering how children learn and supporting them in ways which enable them to succeed and is the Curriculum Manager for Health and Social Care at The Sixth Form College Farnborough, where she has strived to raise students’ achievements and support them in a way which enables them to succeed. This episode is a lively discussion of easy-to-replicate Multi-sensory Techniques which have been developed on a shoestring, inspiring students with dyslexia to become grade risers and ultimately achieve stellar results. Susie will discuss innovative tried and tested Multi-Sensory Techniques she has used in the classroom setting at The Sixth Form College, Farnborough as well as in Curriculum Support at The Oratory School. These are published in the latest ‘BDA Dyslexia Friendly Schools Good Practice Guide’ and ‘The Multi-sensory Toolkit’ by Oaka books. Find Susie on https://www.drnymanconsultancy.co.uk/   Useful Links: •   Eastap, L. and Gregory, J. (Ed’s) (2018) Dyslexia Friendly Schools Good Practice Guide 2nd Edition, British Dyslexia Association - https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/shop/books/dyslexia-friendly-schools-good-practice-guide-2nd-edition •   Nyman, S. (2019) The Multi-Sensory Teaching Toolkit. Chichester: Oaka Books - https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oakabooks.co.uk%2Fproducts%2Fdr-susie-nymans-multi-sensory-teaching-toollkit&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFxrU-D5KzFR3CrynYVuv_L4kR17Q •   Nyman, S. (2019) Sensory Support for Dyslexia. Clitheroe: SEN Magazine - Issue 103 - https://issuu.com/senmagazine/docs/sen103 •   YouTube BDA ‘Dyslexia teaching points: Multi-sensory techniques for teaching science’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIzZzbrlK9c YouTube ‘Multi-sensory’ Oaka Books videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r5i4c7OLDk

If we are really going to make a difference to pupils with SEND in our schools, then the development and organisation of provision needs to be led from the top. No matter how good an individual SENCO or SEND team in a school might be, they will only ever be able to make real improvements if the senior leadership team are on board. This is why a whole school approach to developing SEND provision is so important. This week on the show our guest is Natalie Packer, author of The Perfect SENCO. Natalie has extensive experience as a trainer and can offer specialist training and advice that is flexible and tailored to the needs of your school. You can find Natalie: on Twitter - @NataliePacker http://www.nataliepacker.co.uk   Useful Links: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-SENCO-Natalie-Packer/dp/178135104X - Natalie's book - The Perfect SENCO https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Expectations-Leading-Effective-Strategy/dp/1911382489 - Great expectations by David Bartram (a book on leading SEND strategy) https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/media/bathspaacuk/education-/research/senco-workload/National-SENCO-Workload-Survey-Report-Jan-2020.pdf -  Bath Spa / nasen workload survey report updated SENCO Induction Pack – https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/whole-school-send/sencos-area/ WSS SEND Review - https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/whole-school-send/find-wss-resources.html    

This week we welcome Lana Grant to the show. Lana is a specialist advisor and advocate for people with autism and their families. COVID has changed many things and children have been out of formal education for many months.  There is talk of catch up lessons, extra homework etc but how does this look for our most vulnerable pupils?  Is it time for a new way of teaching and learning? The curriculum introduced in 2014 is not fit for purpose, particularly for our SEN/neurodiverse children.  The future of schooling is uncertain in the current time with the pandemic still amongst us.  We need to act now to ensure that we are not caught out as we were in March.  We need a living curriculum that doesn’t measure success and worse failure on if you pass a phonics assessment in year 1 etc.

This week on the show Fintan O'Regan returns to discuss good mental health and the power of mood. Fin is one of the leading behaviour and learning specialists in the UK. He is currently an SEN and Behaviour Consultant for the Schools Network and an associate lecturer for Leicester University, the National Association of Special Needs, Tribal Education and the Institute of Education. Contact Fintan: https://www.fintanoregan.com/ 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 the Recovery Curriculum, designed to help heal the trauma of COVID 19. This is the second part of this episode, so if you missed the previous episode, please go listen to that one first. In a post-COVID world, many children in our schools will have experienced a number of losses and the schools they are returning to are not the same as the places they left.  They have lost routine, structure, friendship, opportunity and freedom.  How can listening to them and their parents help their academic as well as emotional recovery? Useful Links: Recovery Curriculum Think Piece by Professor Barry Carpenter and Matthew Carpenter - https://barrycarpentereducation.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/recovery-curriculum-loss-and-life-for-our-children-and-schools-post-pandemic.pdf Tina Rae. A Toolbox of Wellbeing - Helpful strategies & activities for children, teens, their carers & teachers. Hinton House, 2020. http://hintonpublishers.com/isbn_template.php?isbn=978-19-12112-55-5&x=65&y=39 Happiness Box – Beverley Cockbill - https://www.evidenceforlearning.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Rationale-for-the-Happiness-Box-Bev-Cockbill-Recovery-Curriculum-LearningShared-Ep-7.pdf Books Beyond Words – Coping with coronavirus https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk/coping-with-coronavirus Mental health Journals for 4 stages  KS1/2 KS2/3, KS3/4 and KS 4/5 from Butterfly Print UK  https://www.butterflyprint.co.uk/product-category/mental-health/mental-health-journals/   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 Sarah Jane Critchley to discuss the Recovery Curriculum, designed to help heal the trauma of COVID 19. We ran a little longer than normal, so this show has been split into two parts, but don't worry the second part will be available as soon as you've finished this one. In a post-COVID world, many children in our schools will have experienced a number of losses and the schools they are returning to are not the same as the places they left.  They have lost routine, structure, friendship, opportunity and freedom.  How can listening to them and their parents help their academic as well as emotional recovery? Useful Links: Recovery Curriculum Think Piece by Professor Barry Carpenter and Matthew Carpenter - https://barrycarpentereducation.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/recovery-curriculum-loss-and-life-for-our-children-and-schools-post-pandemic.pdf Tina Rae. A Toolbox of Wellbeing - Helpful strategies & activities for children, teens, their carers & teachers. Hinton House, 2020. http://hintonpublishers.com/isbn_template.php?isbn=978-19-12112-55-5&x=65&y=39 Happiness Box – Beverley Cockbill - https://www.evidenceforlearning.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Rationale-for-the-Happiness-Box-Bev-Cockbill-Recovery-Curriculum-LearningShared-Ep-7.pdf Books Beyond Words – Coping with coronavirus https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk/coping-with-coronavirus Mental health Journals for 4 stages  KS1/2 KS2/3, KS3/4 and KS 4/5 from Butterfly Print UK  https://www.butterflyprint.co.uk/product-category/mental-health/mental-health-journals/   How to contact Sarah-Jane: Twitter: @SarahJaneCritch Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahjanecritchley/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/differentjoy/

In this episode we will address some of the concerns but also consider some of positives that returning to school will have for children and young people and Fintan O'Regan is joining us to discuss. Fin is one of the leading behaviour and learning specialists in the UK. He is currently an SEN and Behaviour Consultant for the Schools Network and an associate lecturer for Leicester University, the National Association of Special Needs, Tribal Education and the Institute of Education. Contact Fintan: https://www.fintanoregan.com/ For more podcast episodes from the SENDcast click below… https://www.thesendcast.com/sendcast-episodes/