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The Virtual School for Special Education Needs and Disabilities SEND) is a service for educators.
We work with mainstream schools, including academies and free schools, to support them to meet the needs of their learners with SEND. We work with other departments in the council and health, to help schools fulfill their duties set out in the Equality Act 2010, the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice 2015. We do this through:
- SEND Know How, to inspire, inform and empower through a professional development suite that includes conferences, videos, workshops, SEND forums, webinars, ITT links, presentations, NQT training and Norfolk SENDCo Now training.
- Targeted support
- Offering advice and challenge
- Co-producing the SEN Support Guidance: provision expected at SEN Support
The Virtual SEND oversees the allocation of Element 3 SEN funding for schools from the high needs block (HNB).
We want to ensure that all Norfolk schools feel supported by us and have an inclusive culture. We foster relationships with other agencies working within the field of SEND, including local groups and national organisations.
Clare is Head of Southampton Inclusion Partnership and Outreach Service, based at Springwell Special School in Southampton. She holds an MSc in Specific Learning Difficulties from the University of Southampton and an MA Ed in Special Needs and Inclusion from the University of Winchester. Clare is also Director of SEND for the HISP Learning Partnership and provides coaching, training and strategic support for SEND improvement across a range of schools within and beyond Southampton.
Clare is the Deputy Regional SEND Lead for South East region.
Youth Sport Trust are a children’s charity working to ensure every child enjoys the life-changing benefits that come from play and sport. They are also one of Whole School SEND's newest Consortium partners. YST harness the power of sport, physical activity and PE to increase young people’s life chances through improved wellbeing, healthier lifestyles and greater attainment. In this way we are helping children to become school ready, promoting inclusion and tolerance and giving young people a sense of belonging. Their work reaches around 20,000 schools across the UK and we operate on a local, national and global level. We lead in schools, partner in the community and support in the home.
Alistair is a Deputy Regional SEND Leader for Whole School SEND in the East of England and East Mindlands. He currently leads two teaching schools and has extensive experience working as a teacher and senior leader across a range of specialist and mainstream schools. In his role as a specialist leader of education (SLE) and Teaching Schools lead Alistair has supported many schools and colleagues to develop their SEND provision and improve outcomes for all learners. More recently Alistair has enjoyed leading Physical development for Oak National Academy and is passionate about raising aspiration and participation levels for SEND learners in sport.
Vicci has worked at the YST for over a decade in a variety of roles in sport and inclusion. As the national lead for the Trust’s Targeted Interventions work, she drives positive social action and addresses inequalities for young people, and leads on the DfE SEND Inclusion in PE, school sport and physical activity grant called Inclusion 2020. Vicci is also both a Chair of Governors in a primary school and a Trustee in a Multi Academy Trust for young people aged 4-19, including a Teaching School.
Kate is Head of Physical Education and Achievement at the Youth Sport Trust managing the team and overseeing their education curriculum work with the Department for Education, Ofsted, Sport England and partners. Kate writes course content for YST membership, oversees PE programmes and initiatives and supports the YST learning academy in developing and delivering content. Kate joined the Youth Sport Trust in January 2014 as Development manager for Physical Literacy. Previously, she spent 13 years teaching in 4 secondary schools and working across 6 primary schools in the North West of England. Kate is an ex-Director of Specialism, Head of PE and Senior Leader in charge of Teaching and learning. Kate supported the LA in delivery of professional development for Primary PE colleagues in Sefton. She was a consultant working with YST inducting and mentoring new Heads of Department and Directors of specialism in their posts. Kate was part of the writing team for National curriculum 2008, authored the Assessment guide for Youth Sport Trust and was an examiner for AQA.
Julie is an established English consultant with an extensive knowledge of the curriculum, assessment and effective learning and teaching approaches. Prior to this role, her experience of teaching in primary schools in both Oxfordshire and Devon included key roles in piloting and developing many aspects of English across FS, KS1 and KS2. Currently, she delivers CPD and school support on behalf of Oxfordshire Teaching School Alliance Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust, Oxfordshire EYFS and many partnerships and Mats. She has been awarded the Gold Quality Mark for Professional Development by the London Institute of Education and is an accredited Edge Hill Every Child Counts trainer for 1stClass@Writing. She has designed and delivered many professional development programmes and training materials to support schools in English, including interactive remote CPD. Her passion and enthusiasm for engaging children in the curriculum is seen through her creative approaches, which inspire both teachers and learners. As a firm believer in working alongside schools, Julie is keen to ensure that support provided is bespoke to individual school needs.
Senior Subject Specialists at the PSHE Association
Jenny taught PSHE education since qualifying as a teacher in 2009 and was the Team Leader for PSHE education and Citizenship in two London schools. She has also completed a Masters in Teaching and Learning. Now, as the Senior Subject Specialist at the PSHE Association, Jenny works closely with the Principal Subject Specialist to lead the Subject Specialist team. This role includes overseeing and contributing to the work of the team; writing guidance documents and teaching resources, providing training, advice and support to PSHE leads and teachers, and quality assuring PSHE education resources.
Education Officer and Editor of nasen Connect
Zoe began her career on the Graduate Teaching Programme in 2000 as a secondary maths teacher. She then furthered her practice across several secondary schools holding roles including outreach and SENCO. Her most recent post before joining nasen, was as Assessment and Achievement Lead as part of the SLT of an autism-specific all-through special school.
Rosie graduated from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2019, where she studied Classical Music and Voice. The training gave Rosie the opportunity to perform with renowned artists and sing a lead role with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. During her third of study, Rosie was diagnosed with Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia, which led to interests in neurodivergent psychology and Music Therapy. Rosie then went on to study a Master’s degree in Psychology at Bristol University, where she was also diagnosed with ADHD. As a postgraduate student, she researched counselling interventions for children with additional needs and her dissertation explored parent experiences of accessing and navigating SEN support services for young children. Alongside her Master’s, Rosie worked as a 1:1 SEN support worker in a charity setting for children with a wide range of needs. Rosie hopes to train as a Counselling Psychologist and specialise in supporting families and children with neurodiversity, SEN and SEMH. One day, Rosie hopes to establish a private inclusive counselling, assessment and training service for children, families and adults with SEN and SEMH.
Anja Rellstab is a trainee teacher at the University of Manchester. She is currently studying for her PGCE after having done her BSc in Physics at UCL. As a neurodiverse student (ASD) Anja has had a passion for SEND advocacy since they were a pupil in secondary school where she went through most of her education without much support from her teachers. Anja started a YouTube channel to explain her needs to a wider audience and it has over time become a community where people can share their own school experiences too. Since creating the YouTube channel, Anja has expanded her advocacy to giving talks on autism to university students and teachers with SEND learners. Anja has also taken steps to improve representation of autism in the media, especially autistic girls, by collaborating with authors and screenwriters. Anja has found her own experiences valuable in identifying areas where pupils might have difficulties and how to then make adjustments accordingly. She hopes, through delivering training, to enable all practitioners to have a greater understanding of pupil needs, including Speech, Language and Communication Needs and to leave you with more ways in which you can support all learners, including those with SLCN.
Scarlet is a passionate ambassador for neurodiverse individuals in educational settings. Having struggled in mainstream education with undiagnosed ADHD and ASD, she then navigated two English degrees at Goldsmiths University of London, and is planning to embark upon a PhD. Currently, Scarlet works as both a specialist English Tutor for students outside of mainstream school, and as an Education Assistant at Portfield School- a special school for children who hold an autism diagnosis. She has also belonged to the charity Autistica’s Insight Group for autism research for the past four years, and is an alumni mentor for students with disabilities at Goldsmiths University. Outside of work, Scarlet remains fascinated with the representation of neurodiversity in modern literature, and has recently given talks on William Faulkner and autism. She also enjoys taking her assistance dog Peppa for very long walks.
Jack Grange, is a British rapper, songwriter, Mental Health and neurodiversity advocate. Jack was diagnosed with ADHD during the latter stages of his time in education. Before this he endured several years of feeling misunderstood leading him to hit rock bottom. His own personal experiences gave him a massive passion for creating vital awareness around neurodiversity and to use his platform to make a positive change. Jack currently delivers presentations to both students and teachers in a wide range of education settings, including Pupil Referral Units and mainstream provision. Jack has also appeared on BBC National news, radio stations and a number of online magazines. Jack also recently attended the all party parliamentary group (APPG) for ADHD and has worked with charities such as The Princes Trust. He is also a young ambassador for the ADHD Foundation.
Leon Allain is an autistic young adult currently studying for a master’s degree. He feels his school education was vital in enabling him to pursue his studies and reach this position. As a result, he wishes to help ensure that all pupils are able to achieve in school by highlighting the importance of schools having an awareness of autism. He hopes that autistic pupils may then face fewer barriers whilst trying to access the curriculum. Autism is still generally misunderstood within our society and these misconceptions can have an impact on the way autistic students are perceived within the education system. Leon hopes that from this webinar you are able gain a greater understanding of autism and will be able to use this knowledge to better support the autistic pupils that you work with and those you may work with in the future.
Catherine Clifton is very passionate about topics which are important to her, such as autism, dyslexia, as well other topics such as geography which she is in her first year of a foundation degree for geography, which she would like to teach in the future. In her spare time, she can be found in nature or participating in events with organisations such as Our Bright Future and the National Trust. She hopes that the session will support school staff to better understand what dyslexia is and that this deeper understanding makes it easier to consider what practical ideas for teaching and modifications to their classroom they can make. A key idea she hopes will take away with them is that children and young people themselves will be the expert on their own needs and therefore talking openly about what can help will be central to ensuring effective support.
Angela recently received an MBE for her services to children and young people with special educational needs (SEND). She is CEO of The Sea View Trust - an inclusive MAT, with schools in Haslingden and Blackpool. With 30 years of teaching and leadership experience in both primary and special schools, Angela also works with the Teaching School Council as the National Representative for SEND and as a Regional Representative for Lancashire and West Yorkshire nasen Whole School SEND. Angela is a driven and committed system leader, and in her role as a National Leader of Education, has supported schools, trusts, and Local Authorities in a range of educational improvement priorities.
Louise is the Executive Headteacher of Tor View School, an Outstanding Special School in Lancashire, and Valley College, an education provider for post 19 learners with SEND, both are part of The Sea View Trust. She is an experienced school leader, having been Assistant Head, Deputy Head, Headteacher and now Executive Headteacher, leading the school through its fourth Outstanding Ofsted inspection. Louise is committed to system leadership and has supported a number of schools as a Specialist Leader of Education for SEND.
James is an Acting Director of Teaching School at East Lancashire Inclusion Partnership, Tor View – part of The Sea View Trust based in Haslingden, Lancashire. He is an experienced school leader having worked in Primary, Secondary, PRU/Alternative Provision and Special Schools as Assistant Head and Deputy Head. He also supports schools as a Specialist Leader of Education for SEND and was part of a team that collaborated to develop a SENCo and SEND Leader training package about High-Quality Teaching. He is a new tweeter and can be found at @inclusion_JFP
Becky is an Executive Assistant Headteacher and Inclusion Lead across 5 Primary Schools in Oxfordshire run by the Multi-Academy Trust GLF Schools. She has previously held positions as Headteacher of Ambitious about Autism’s Treehouse School in North London and as Acting SENCO in a large secondary comprehensive. Becky holds Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and completed an MSc in Psychology of Education at the Institute of Education, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Applied Behaviour Analysis at Bangor University and holds the NASENCO Award through Oxford Brookes University. She is a Specialist Leader in Education in the area of SEND. In her role as SEN Improvement Lead across GLF Schools, Becky currently leads the GLF Primary SENCO Network, facilitating exchanges of good practice between schools across the MAT. Becky has experience of designing and implementing SEND-specialist CPD programmes and developed a Teaching and Learning Policy based around current research on Cognitive Load Therapy. Becky has a sound knowledge of SEND practice, policies and research and is dedicated to improving education for children and young people with SEND.
Amy Loxley is a Speech and Language Advisor for I CAN, the UK’s leading children’s communication charity. With 14 years’ experience as a Speech and Language Therapist, Amy has worked with a diverse range of client groups across early years, primary and secondary phases, and in community, mainstream and specialist settings in the UK and Australia.
Amy’s current work includes developing a range of resources on Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) for mainstream school staff, including a series of introductory and intermediate webinars, a downloadable DLD guide, and a school workforce development package. She is also involved in developing and piloting I CAN’s Teletherapy service.
Amy has authored articles for various magazines and blogs, and part of her role includes collaborating with I CAN’s communications team on content that is shared on their website, social media channels and other publications. Other recent work for Amy has included working with a partner to develop a website with information on the links between music and communication.