Shine news
3rd October 2018
Education Update
October 2018
Welcome to Shine’s Education Update for October with news, information and advice about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities for families and professionals.
The return of the school run can be emotional for children, parents and carers after the summer break. Here are some links to organisations and resources to help with those frantic mornings and the pressures of the return to school life.
Ideas for Supporting Families:
Shine’s website has advice about the transition from nursery to primary school and from primary to secondary school, plus information about self-help and independence skills.
https://www.shinecharity.org.uk/education/education-2
Resilience in day-to-day life is difficult and Mindfulness claims to sustain children’s “natural curiosity and helps them engage more deeply with others.”
Follow the link to find out more about Mindfulness techniques for children and young people.
https://mindfulmonsters.co.uk/
This organisation helps children, young people and adults adjust constructively to change, disappointments and setbacks, to move on in life with greater strength and resilience.
It is not a therapy, instead Emotional Logic helps harness emotions in order to control feelings and manage depression.
To find out more, follow the link -
https://www.emotionallogiccentre.org.uk/
This guide, designed for adoptive parents of children with additional needs, contains good advice for all parents of children and young people with SEND.
Shine is recommending a book a month to families of children under 5 with activity sheets to share, giving parents and carers ideas for enjoying and exploring recommended stories in different ways. Reading aloud and talking about books with children is a great way to encourage speech development and good fun too.
This month a book for older children is recommended which has a positive message, activities to complete and is written from the perspective of a wheelchair user, Aaron ‘Wheelz’ Fotheringham.
Do you want to test a pen reader?
Reader C-Pens have donated 2 reader pens to Shine, which staff can borrow to show to teachers as examples of helpful technology for older children and young people.
For further details email firstcontact@shinecharity.org.uk
Shine is preparing an education survey to find out how SEND changes are affecting children with conditions like spina bifida and hydrocephalus in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so keep a look out for the questionnaire to complete and share your experiences later in the autumn term.
Support for schools – advice, resources, training and recommended practice:
Results show that 6 out of 10 like information via e-learning so the Council for Disabled Children is promoting their modules on health resources and good classroom practice via this link and pdf –
This guide to working memory is for classroom activities and was created following research by the University of York.
https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/WM-classroom-guide.pdf
Dana website has lesson plans for children and young people that explain how the human brain works. Follow the link to download free lesson plans -
http://www.dana.org/uploadedFiles/BAW/Protect%20_Your_Brain_Lesson_Plan_K-5.pdf
Dates for your Diary
This show for SEN professionals and parents covers all levels of education and has 42 CPD certified seminars. https://www.tessenshow.co.uk/
The event costs £199 but there’s Free parent zone resources and guides to all social media, including Netflix, Twitch, Influencer marketing, peer pressure and digital detoxing.
https://parentzone.org.uk/trending/free-school-resources
https://parentzone.org.uk/advice/parent-guides
These Junior Games are a great way for young people aged 12 to 18 with a physical disability to discover a range of sports in a welcoming and friendly environment. Click on the link to find out more. https://www.wheelpower.org.uk/sport-events/national-junior-games
This workshop is for parents and carers only. Places can be booked via - events@witherslackgroup.co.uk
The flyer link is - https://witherslackgroup.co.uk/site/uploads/hall-cliffe-ehc-plan-event-digital-2.pdf
Further events are advertised on the main website -
https://witherslackgroup.co.uk/events-support?need=ehc
Hydrocephalus nurses from the children’s hospital in Sheffield, Shine staff and parents will be there, making presentations and answering questions.
There are still places left for the Manchester event but the Sheffield seminar is almost full. If you would like more information and a poster to share then please contact events@shinecharity.org.uk or phone 01733 555988
Do join us at the South West PDNet Group on 18th October 10.00 – 2.30pm (9.30 for coffee) Babcock Office, Units 16 and 17, Blackdown Park, Southview Industrial Estate Willand EX15 2QW M5 – junction 27.
We have some input from an Acquired Brain Injury Specialist; it would be interesting to know how people are using the PDNet standards; there will be time to do a round-up of how what is happening around the region so please do come with anything you would like to share.
Bring your own lunch, there will be Tea, Coffee and Biscuits available
If you are planning to come, have any questions or anyone has anything they would like to suggest for the agenda, please let me know jenny.woolf@babcockinternational.com
Disability Rights UK has free training for school careers advisers in Leeds on 16th October, Taunton on 15th November and Birmingham on 15th January 2019.
Follow the link for more details about dates and venues -
The 6th annual conference for SENCOs focuses on high quality teaching and provision for children with SEND. http://entrust.education/Event/72470
There will be speakers from Nasen and national policy makers, as well as workshops on Early Intervention. http://conference.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/SEN-website-agenda-1.pdf
Details about the event are available by following the link - http://www.academiesshowbirmingham.co.uk/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term&utm_content=The%20Schools%20%26%20Academies%20Show&utm_campaign=19.18%20-%20Academies%2018%20Attends
Thanks to Sharon, Jo, Angela, Christine and to everyone else for their many ideas, advice and contributions to the Update for October.
If you’d like to share information or news about Education for Shine staff, parents and professionals in the next Education Update then contact Jan via firstcontact@shinecharity.org.uk
All contributions gratefully received.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this Update is accurate at the time of publishing. The information provided does not constitute legal or professional advice and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher.