News

Keep up to date with all of the latest news, headlines and features from across the SEND sector.

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News listing

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Youth Mental Health Day

Today marks youth mental health day in the UK and, with older teenagers and young adults being deemed the groups whose mental health was affected most by the pandemic, this focus on mental health is a timely one.

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Back to School Guide for Children and Young People 

The Children’s Commissioner’s website has published a guide for children and young people on their return to school this week detailing what to expect and who to contact if they are worried.

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The Good Childhood Report 2021

The Children’s Society has produced its tenth Good Childhood Report on the well-being of children (aged 10 to 17) in the UK.

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Understanding your autism diagnosis – lived experience videos

Ambitious about Autism have worked with their Ambitious Youth Network to create a library of videos of children, young people and adults talking about their lived experience of being diagnosed with autism.

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Evidence of Efficacy of mental health school-based intervention report

A new report from the Early Intervention Foundation around adolescent mental health and school-based interventions provides schools with a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of what works, for whom and under what circumstances.

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New Early Years Resource!

Calling all Early Years practitioners! nasen is delighted to have produced a new resource for Early Years practitioners called ‘At a Glance’.

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Access Arrangements Online Deadline Extension

Please see the attached document for details of the AAO extension to 10th September.

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New sponsorship from award-winning EdTech company Scanning Pens 

nasen are delighted to announce new sponsorship from the award-winning EdTech company Scanning Pens. Scanning Pens supplies text-to-speech devices to support people with dyslexia, and other people whose daily lives are impacted by literacy differences. 

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‘WeThe15’ global human rights movement launched for persons with disabilities

WeThe15 is a new global human rights movement looking to end discrimination for the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities.

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nasen announces new CEO: introducing Annamarie Hassall MBE

After a highly competitive national search, nasen’s board of trustees has confirmed that Annamarie Hassall MBE, Strategic Director of the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) has been appointed CEO and will join the organisation at the end of September.

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Access to Work Guidance Updated

The Department for Work & Pensions has updated its guidance for users and employers around the Access to Work grants. Access to Work is a publicly funded employment support programme that aims to help more disabled people start or stay in work.

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COVID-19 Operational Guidance Updated for Education Settings

The operational guidance for all settings was updated on 17th August to provide further clarification of the new self-isolation rules and other changes affecting education.

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Children with Autism respond well to puppets

New research from ‘Yale Child Study Center’ demonstrates that puppets can hold the attention of children with autism, raising the potential for developing more engaging therapies.

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A-level Results 2021

The A-level results based on Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs) were released today and, unlike last year, they appear to have been well received by students and parents.

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nasen Live is next month! Are you joining us?

For many SEND and education professionals, next month’s nasen Live 2021 conference will be one of the first opportunities they have had to come together and share learnings as we look to the future after the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Exclusion Data released

The statistics on permanent exclusions and suspensions for the academic year 2019/20 have been released by the Department for Education.

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Update to Mental Health First Aid training for primary schools

The Department for Health and Social Care has confirmed that the proposed rollout of the mental health first aid training to primary schools, due to be completed by 2022, is not to be implemented.

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Free audiobooks via Amazon Alexa

Amazon Alexa has teamed up with the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s Talking Books service to offer access to thousands of books for free.

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NICE consultation on draft guidelines on disabled children and young people with severe complex needs

NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has issued draft guidelines for consultation. Based on the principles in the SEND Code of Practice (2015) they are designed to support professionals.

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National Disability Strategy issued

The Department of Work and Pensions has issued the disability strategy which sets out the Government’s vision to improve the everyday lives of disabled people.