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The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

SEND

Rob Jones
5 March 2015

Evidencing impact of the pupil premium

How do you evidence your pupil premium funding? Deputy head, Rob Jones, reports back from our recent conference, ‘The Pupil Premium: Evidence Impact & Drive Progress’, and shares some insights from the day. The art of the batsman is to ‘mind the gap’ between wicket and bat. The art of the...
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Gareth D Morewood
11 February 2015

Inclusion: what do parents and carers think?

To cap off this series on inclusion, three parents and carers explain, in their own words, how much the inclusive culture of our school has meant to them. If you haven’t already, be sure to read the first , second and third parts of this blog series. Dianne Dianne is the mother of George (now aged...
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Tom Kerslake
10 February 2015

Cultural change in SEN provision – a call to action for schools

Following last September’s revision of the SEND Code of Practice, there is now the expectation that every teacher should be a teacher of pupils with SEN, and this has led to much talk of a ‘cultural change’ in SEN provision. Moving from a system that was deemed ‘not fit for purpose’ by the...
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Gareth D Morewood
2 February 2015

Inclusion: the data and debate

Keeping inclusion at the heart of what you do, while maintaining excellent levels of progress for all pupils: is such a thing possible, and what do the numbers tell us? In the first part of this series we considered what the term ‘inclusion’ constitutes in the modern day, and in the second we...
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Sara Boomsma
29 January 2015

Supporting high-quality SEND

Yesterday, it was our inaugural Supporting High-Quality SEND Teaching in the Classroom conference. The event was attended by nearly 150 education professionals including SENCOs, Assistant Headteachers and Inclusion Managers, to name but a few. The day kicked off with an inspiring keynote from...
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Gareth D Morewood
19 January 2015

Inclusion: what it means to young people

While it is easy to frame young people’s words to match our own agenda, we need to consider what inclusion means to young people. On aspiration 'I know I need support in school and it isn’t always easy – lots of other people do as well. Being in High School is very important to me so I can do the...
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Gareth D Morewood
12 January 2015

Inclusion: what's in a name?

There has often been a lot of confusion as to what the term ‘inclusion’ encompasses - here are my thoughts. ‘The term 'inclusive education' has become so used and abused that it has little meaning.’ ~ Corbett, 2001 In the modern world of the SENCO, as seen most recently in a number of blog posts...
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Alex Masters
16 December 2014

‘Tis the season... 12 festive educational pieces to share!

On the first day of Christmas, Optimus gave to me... 12 top tips to ensure you and your school have the best Christmas! Get traditional...and bring back Christmas ... or create your own nativity to tell a ‘real’ Christmas story Engage children in a multicultural setting Use the religious and...
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Gareth D Morewood
15 December 2014

EHCP transition reviews: reflecting on the process

One of the biggest challenges that SENCos face is ensuring the facilitation of multi-agency involvement . Although there clearly isn’t any ‘magic bullet’ here, and local issues are most definitely a significant factor, the following action plan ensured the best outcomes for our reviews. Ensure...
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Gareth D Morewood
10 December 2014

EHCP transition reviews: our experiences and practical advice

During the last week of November, our Year 11 transition reviews took place for 11 of our students with statements of SEN. Although the reviews were planned in advance, and assessments were coordinated to avoid too much pressure on the young people and parents/carers, this was nothing short of some...
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