New resource from SEN Assist and the London Grid for Learning aims to bring Shakespeare to learners with special educational needs and disabilities.

A new resource developed by award-winning SEND specialists SEN Assist and hosted by not-for-profit educational trust London Grid for Learning (LGfL) aims to bring the Bard to pupils with complex learning needs. Complementing LGfL’s already extensive SEND provision Early Shakespeare is suitable for learners on the P scales of all ages and abilities.

‘School days are the best days of your life’. We’ve all heard the saying, and for some, the lucky ones, it really is true. For others, however, the very thought of going to school is enough to fill them with dread, perhaps because they are being bullied, can’t engage with learning, or have mental health difficulties; as a result, they might begin avoiding school altogether.

When a child becomes truant or worse, is excluded, the general perception is that this is because they are a ‘problem child’. However, the reality is rarely that cut and dry.

Former teacher and founder of EDLounge, Sam Warnes (pictured) discusses. 

Issued with photo: Gizelle Stacey and Belinda from TFW, shortlisted for The People's Award

Staff from Regard – the UK’s fourth largest private provider of supported living and residential services for people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and acquired brain injury – are anticipating with excitement an awards evening in Birmingham on 14 July which they will be attending as finalists in five different categories.

The National Learning Disabilities Awards celebrate excellence in the support for people with learning disabilities and aim to pay tribute to individuals and organisations who excel in providing quality care.

nasen Live, the hugely popular special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) conference, returns on July 7 and this year, the event, which will take place at the Birmingham ICC, will be officially opened by renowned theoretical physicist and role model for SEND, Professor Stephen Hawking CBE.

The conference will once again give visitors including SENCOs, school leaders, teachers, governors and other education professionals, as well as parents and carers, a unique platform to celebrate outstanding practice and provision for children and young people with SEND.

The Together Trust’s Service Director, Jill Sheldrake, has visited Buckingham Palace to receive her MBE for services to children in the North West.

Jill has worked for the Together Trust for over 20 years. She was awarded her MBE by His Royal Highness Prince Charles and joined by her parents and her daughter, Charlotte aged nine.

She said: “I can honestly say that the last 23 years with the Together Trust have been inspirational for me, I have worked hand-in-hand with colleagues at every level with one common goal and that is to ensure that every individual we work with has the opportunity to achieve their aspirations.”

The health of people with learning disabilities ‘urgently’ need to be targeted in a Type 2 diabetes prevention drive, Leicestershire researchers have said.

In a recent study of 930 adults from across the county with learning disabilities a high proportion, more than two-thirds (68 per cent), were discovered to be overweight or obese, putting them at risk of developing diabetes in the future.

The research team, from the Leicester Diabetes Centre, wanted to find out whether people with learning disabilities could be at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. A further aim was to develop a lifestyle programme to help people with learning disabilities stay healthy. 

Bone fractures are a very common injury in children and a new study• highlights the increased risk amongst children with low levels of Vitamin K2, the little known compound that plays a key role in helping blood clot and support bone and cardiovascular health, and is largely obtained from cheese and eggs.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is common in children with autism, with antipsychotic medicines typically being prescribed whether these occur separately or collectively.  Whilst these may offer benefit for some children and young people, for others alternative adjunctive therapy options are needed in addition to medicines.  There is now a growing body of evidence that omega-3 and 6 fatty acids could work as a suitable adjunctive therapy with and to conventional medications.  Dr Emma Derbyshire discusses the role and latest evidence behind these important fatty acids.

A huge splash of colour has arrived in Liverpool for the summer, as 200 brightly coloured umbrellas have been suspended over a busy city centre street. The goal behind this initiative is to raise awareness and understanding, encouraging discussion around Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism.

Devised and curated by Liverpool-based ADHD Foundation, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary as a charity, the Umbrella Project transforms Church Alley (leading up to the Bluecoat) into a canopy of colour until the end of August. The individual umbrellas have also been personally signed by children from St Oswald’s primary school in Old Swan and across Merseyside, many of whom have ADHD, autism and other neurodevelopment conditions.

- digital platform provides a single source of health, medical, social and emotional information that is managed by individuals and their carers and can be shared with everyone in the care circle -

Southampton, 22nd June 2017, UK start-up, Kuradocs, has announced a new online application, Liferaft, that helps people living with disabilities and their carers to ease the administrative burden that comes with managing complex life-long conditions.