Wasting money, wasting potential: The cost of SEND tribunals  Read the report here: Probono Economics, Sept 2023 A new report by Pro Bono Economics, commissioned by the Disabled Children’s Partnership, reveals that more than 11,000 SEND tribunals - contesting decisions by local authorities - were registered in England in 2021-22, an increase of 29% on the previous year. These tribunals were brought by parents, carers and young people disputing council decisions about an education, [...]

Educational psychology services: workforce insights and school perspectives on impact  DofE Research Report, June 2023 This research aimed to a) explore the range of services delivered by EPs beyond statutory EHCPs and how service delivery may look in the future; b) explore the demand for EP services, and whether the service was effective at meeting schools’ needs and its impact on children and young people; and c) explore the drivers and barriers to EP [...]

NEW: Calming kittens and activity cards from TTS  Developed Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd Can be purchased from TTS Calming Kittens offers young children in early years and KS1 a toolkit to understand and manage their emotions. Through engaging strategies, children learn to calm themselves and gain better emotional self-control. The activity cards assist practitioners, teachers and parents in discussing emotions with children. By using these tools, they can help children understand [...]

A Reading Fluency Intervention in the UK, 2021 By Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd (PDF of this Blog Post, including charts) Study details This study evaluated a 12 week intervention delivered by regular teaching staff as a whole class, to assess whether it could make a difference for 8-9 year old children. The study included 103 students from two Local Authority schools and five teaching staff. Both schools were rated as outstanding [...]

Reading Fluency: Why Assessment Matters By Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd This blog is based on a doctoral study undertaken at University College London (2014-20). Thirty years as an Educational Psychologist in the UK and I am still routinely asked how to help children who are struggling to learn to read. The UK’s illiteracy rates are high (around 20% for school leavers at ages 11 and 18) and have been for decades. [...]

SEN in England data release – the headlines he government have issued the full set of data relating to Special Educational Needs in England. This release combines information from the school census, school level annual school census, general hospital school census and alternative provision census on pupils with SEN. The data was release on 16th June 2022, and relates to academic year 2021/22. The headlines show: EHCPs up from 3.7% to 4% Almost 1 [...]

Teacher Handbook: SEND This handbook has been developed by NASEN and Whole School SEND as a resource for teachers to use over time as they embed inclusive practice in their classrooms: it is not intended that it is read cover-to-cover. It has been written for both primary, secondary and specialist colleagues: teaching assistants, teachers, senior leaders and headteachers. The handbook includes whole-school and whole-class approaches as well as subject-specific and condition-specific guidance. They have [...]

A Reading Fluency Intervention in the UK, 2021 By Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd (PDF of this Blog Post, including charts) Study details This study evaluated a 12 week intervention delivered by regular teaching staff as a whole class, to assess whether it could make a difference for 8-9 year old children. The study included 103 students from two Local Authority schools and five teaching staff. Both schools were rated as outstanding [...]

Reading Fluency: Why Assessment Matters By Dr Paula Williams, Educational Psychologist, Psychology4Learning Ltd This blog is based on a doctoral study undertaken at University College London (2014-20). Thirty years as an Educational Psychologist in the UK and I am still routinely asked how to help children who are struggling to learn to read. The UK’s illiteracy rates are high (around 20% for school leavers at ages 11 and 18) and have been for decades. I [...]

The May / June 2021 issue of Special Educational Needs (SEN) Magazine is free to download this month. It covers a wide range of subjects including: SEN law Speech and language update Effective Leadership Student-centred learning Visualising date Dyslexia and prejudice Fostering Language through play Developmental Language Disorder Fitness Sleep Autism and school refusal Tech/ICT EHCPs Mental Health and wellbeing Pandemic Food and Diet Self directed learning Long-term disability Recruitment