Snapshots from the world of SEND

June

• 16 June: issue 16 of The SEND Practitioner published (a special issue for the Autism Show featuring Dr Temple Grandin, Steve Silberman and Dr Sue Sheppard).
• 17 and 18 June: exhibited at the Autism Show, where Dr Sue Sheppard spoke about the innovative work in schools supporting learners with autism.
• 22 June: ‘What parents told the government’s review into the SEND reforms’.
• 23 June: the Brexit vote fell in favour of the UK leaving the European Union by a slim majority.
• 23 June: ‘Poor pupils are still let down’, warns Ofsted boss.
• 24 June: Dr Mark Turner (our director) responded to the Brexit vote.
• 27 June: ‘How will Brexit affect children and young people with disabilities
• 27 June: Our learning design and psychology team popped over to Krakow for the EU-funded project: Q-Tales.
• 28 June: ‘Two-thirds of parents fear child’s mental illness a life sentence’.
• 29 June: Ofsted considers scrapping outstanding grade, says new chief inspector.
• 30 June: Real Group reviewed the reforms with colleagues at London’s SEN Policy Forum.

July

• 1 July: the DfE sent an update on the EU referendum result and its impact on the DfE
• 4 July: concerns raised that special schools are being ‘left out’ by the academy system…
• 7 July: delegates encouraged to enrol on our new one-day face-to-face Assessment and Access Arrangements Update (AAU) course.
• 8 July: Nicky Morgan presses ahead with the process of appointing Amanda Spielman as the new Ofsted boss – despite concerns about her suitability.
• 13 July: our delegates graduated from Middlesex University…
• 13 July: Dr Sue Sheppard penned a super piece on the importance of developing flexible programmes of support for learners…
• 14 July: SEN finally to be part of England’s core teacher training…
• 15 July: Kay Bedford OBE left Swiss Cottage School, after 21 years at its helm.
• 16 July: Edward Timpson MP confirms that he will remain Minister of State for the DfE.
• 25 July: DfE updated its SEN statistics…

August

• 3 August: DfE published the July edition of their SEND newsletter…
• 3 August: we interviewed the Children’s Commissioner for England (Anne Longfield OBE) for issue 17 of The SEND Practitioner.
• 4 August: Sue wrote an important piece on whether initial teacher training should include specialist autism training…
• 15 August: a poll of education staff suggests that too many pupils with SEND in England lack crucial support…
• 19 August: an excellent overview of exam access arrangements and the key role that they play…
• 22 August: sad news about the recent passing of Brian Rix. He made a huge contribution to Mencap and SEND during his lifetime…
• 23 August: Ofsted boss in Isle of Wight row quits…
• 24 August: during July and August, the DfE published five outcome letters from inspections of local area services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities…
• 25 August: we officially welcomed four new colleagues to our growing organisation (Hannah Fairall, Abby Grieve, Andrew Heap and Katie Hickmott)…
• 31 August: the European Commission signed off our Q-Tales collaboration in Luxembourg.