This series of webinars entitled ‘Understanding SEND’ is designed for any member of staff within the Trust.
These short sessions are intended as a starting point for awareness and understanding of different SEND needs, with signposting to further reading, research or training for those who wish to explore the topics in more depth.
The sessions are recorded from live webinars, with a 20-minute presentation from experts, with 10-minute opportunity for questions and answers for those who attend.
Understanding ADHD in the classroom
In this webinar Dr Adrianne Kulig-Reid, Educational Psychologist, provides insights into supporting children and young people with ADHD:
• Understanding ADHD: What it is – and what it isn’t
• The learner experience: How ADHD can affect focus, organisation, and relationships.
• Classroom strategies: High-impact approaches to improve engagement, reduce frustration, and support self-regulation
Introduction to Sensory Needs and Wellbeing
In this webinar Alice Hoyle, co-author of Co-author of Becoming a Sensory Aware School provides an introduction to Sensory Needs and Wellbeing offers insights on the following areas:
o An overview of different sensory needs and how they affect learners.
o Potential barriers students may face in the classroom.
o Broad strategies to support sensory wellbeing and inclusion (time permitting).
This webinar is designed to raise awareness and provide practical insights for creating sensory-friendly learning environments.
Understanding Emotions: Tools to Thrive
Big feelings can feel overwhelming and scary. Often this can mean that CYP find it difficult to communicate how they are feeling in a healthy way.
This session provides psychoeducation around big feelings. It explores what ‘big feelings’ are, why a child might experience these, and introduces some practical strategies and tools to help with managing big feelings in a healthy way.
Understanding SpLD in Maths and Dyscalculia
In this webinar, Louise Langford, Assessor (APC-PATOSS) and Teacher for SpLD in Maths and Dyscalculia, SD/PD Lead and Regional Community Co-Lead for Southwest special schools, introduces specific learning difficulties in Maths and Dyscalculia and how this can impact on learners. She also provides a range of strategies which are useful to support learners who experience difficulties in Maths.
Understanding and Working with the Psychology of Autistic Neurodivergence
In this webinar, Mark Adams Educational Psychologist will help participants to understand some aspects of the psychology of autistic neurodivergence, while enabling you to generate practical strategies that can support autistic individuals. Additional resources will be provided to supplement the material covered in the session and signpost further reading if desired.
Mark has 27 years' experience of working in education as a teacher, Educational Psychologist, and Coaching Psychologist. He is the Director of Aspen Psychology Services, an independent psychology service that has provided core educational psychology services to the Cabot Learning Federation since 2013.
Introduction to Anxiety
In this session, member of the Mental Health Support Team explore what anxiety is and our body’s response to anxiety, focusing on our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours. We normalise that everyone gets anxious while exploring when anxiety can be unhelpful and what keeps it going. As well as learning about anxiety, there will be some strategies to support children and young people for managing and overcoming anxiety.
Understanding EAL and SEND
In this session, Mike Eatwell, gives staff a really practical look at how to support learners who use English as an Additional Language — including those who might also have SEND needs. We will explore what’s really going on when pupils are learning English, unpick common issues that arise between language needs and SEND, and share simple, classroom ready strategies. Colleagues will leave with real examples, helpful tools and ideas they could use straight away, all linked to the HEART values. At its heart, the session focused on making learning clearer, fairer and more accessible for every child.
Understanding PDA
Staff in schools are often finding themselves working with an increasing number of students who present with a demand avoidant profile, or who are identified as having PDA. In this short introductory session, Pippa Whittaker aims to give a summary of PDA and some helpful strategies, and signposting towards further reading and training.
