News

The Mason Trust Charity has reached a significant milestone - it is 10 years old this year!  To celebrate this milestone anniversary, Founder, Yvonne Mason is personally funding and hosting an Anniversary Ball on the evening of 14 September 2018 at Sprowston Manor Marriot Hotel and Country Club, Wroxham Road, Norwich NR7 8RP.  Tickets for the Ball, destined to be one of Norfolk's social events of the year, cost £50 per head, and can be purchased through the Eventbrite website.  Booking a table for 10 people qualifies for two free bottles of wine.

The Mason Trust is a charity founded in 2008 with the mission of inspiring the young people of East Anglia to fulfil their potential. 

The National Marine Aquarium (NMA) has partnered with two local Plymouth schools for students with complex needs to offer tailored visits to assist with their learning and development.   

Students from Mount Tamar Special School (aged 5-16) and Longcause Community Special School (aged 8-16) will visit the NMA via a series of scheduled sessions. Led by the NMA's Discovery and Learning team, the students will have the opportunity to discover more about art, science and technology, as well as learn about the many marine animals that reside at the Aquarium and the marine environment.

Harvey Sihota, the founder of Neurokinex, and his team have opened a brand new, ground-breaking children's facility which treats patients with paralysis. Among the guests at the launch were the families and clients of Neurokinex, who are making great gains with this innovative treatment, and also Matthew Reeve, elder son of the late Christopher Reeve and supporter of spinal cord injury research and development. Here, Harvey describes to Education for Everybody how the paediatric facility near Gatwick came to be...

What is the background of Neurokinex: where and when did the concept begin?

Neurokinex was conceived in 2013, following my own injury in 2009 which left me paralysed.

The Explore Learning Hillsborough team have been recognised for their excellent work for children with autism. The popular provider of extra tuition for children, has been nominated for a Sparkle Sheffield Business Award for Excellence in Autism Awareness and Customer Service.

The Explore Learning Hillsborough centre has been selected by Sparkle Sheffield as having gone above and beyond to embrace autism awareness and all while excelling in customer service for those affected.

The centre were nominated for their specialist training and community workshops. In addition to completing Sparkle Sheffield Autism Awareness Training the team have dedicated resources for staff so they can tailor their approach to support children of all backgrounds and abilities.

A mobile sit-stand workstation which brings a mobilised solution to the classroom has been developed by Canadian brand StarTech.com – which produces a range of sit-stand products. The mobile workstation STSCART (pictured) offers a large surface area and easy sit-to-stand height adjustment, providing a workspace that’s both versatile and practical.

The mobile workstation enables students to reduce sedentary time and increase focus and allows teachers to create a more dynamic and interactive learning environment. Its heavy-duty cart design means it’s ideal for classrooms and its large, stable surface area makes it easy for users to position their laptop or writing surface comfortably, or attach a compatible monitor arm to use the cart as an aid for training or presentations.  

Dr Adam Boddison, Chief Executive of the National Association of Special Educational Needs (NASEN) talks to editor Victoria Galligan about the need for a review of exclusions and for SEND schools to have a clear purpose for assessment.

How does the NASEN help educational professionals in SEND schools?

Two special schools have won £200 each towards plants and gardening equipment after entering a competition to design a garden capable of growing food for the healthiest packed lunch in Essex. The Healthy Packed Lunch Plot Competition was open to all primary and special schools in Essex. It encouraged pupils to design a kitchen garden plot and create a recipe for a healthy packed lunch using its produce.

A charity is calling on the public to use social media to urge the Prime Minister to take a walk in our shoes, people with learning disabilities.

Hft, a national charity supporting adults with learning disabilities, is using a crowd-sharing platform to launch a campaign facilitating opportunities for people with learning disabilities to share their concerns and help shape future policy decisions.

Walk in our Shoes was launched with a Thunderclap appeal urging Theresa May to encourage MPs to spend time with people with a learning disability. It will see tweets sent flash-mob style simultaneously from hundreds of accounts.

An innovative house showcasing a range of assistive technology to support independent living has been launched at a school in Liverpool. The project is the result of a unique partnership between St Vincent’s School, NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and Hft, a national charity supporting people with learning disabilities across the UK to live the best life possible. The smarthouse is a self-contained flat which showcases a variety of personalised assistive technology and how it can be used to support people with visual impairments and other disabilities to live more independently.