Introduction

We hope you have had a good month back at school despite all of the challenges you have faced since returning. We want to thank you for all of the work you are doing to continue delivering within your schools and county.

ACTIONS

Inclusive Health Check

As part of the lead school core offer, we need your help to help drive the completion of the Inclusive Health Check on the School Games website. Please can we ask you to work with your counties to help boost the number of completions.

Step into Sport

This month we should be seeing the majority of Step into Sport delivery, please do remember to book in your athlete mentor visits to help support your event. A reminder of where to find the resources can be found here.

If you do have any issues with getting your SIS event done during this time period, please let Roshni know ([email protected]).

Inclusion 2024 Live Week and Networking Session

From 07-11 February YST held an inclusion live week which was a week of free-to-access content for all practitioners. During this week we also had an optional drop-in networking session which you can now rewatch back. You should have all received all the links to rewatch all of these sessions from Theo. If you would like these to be resent, please email Theo ([email protected]). 

SEND Shooting Stars - New resource introduction and training 28 March – 3.30-5pm

Just a reminder of this FA training to introduce the new Shooting Stars SEND resources that a number of our Lead Inclusion Schools have been involved in developing. Please share with any schools and/or Girls Football Partnerships in your counties that may be interested in piloting these new resources in the summer term. Please feel free to use the blurb below to promote to your partners:

SEND Shooting Stars - New resource introduction and training Monday 28 March at 3:30-5pm

Be one of the first schools to test this new exciting resource, as we look to engage up to 50 schools in this pilot. The training is to introduce the new SEND resources, which have been designed in consultation with a number of YST Lead Inclusion Schools to ensure the Shooting Stars programme is more accessible for girls children with SEND. 

To register please book here.

Please contact Chris Smith on [email protected] or 07825 123987 if you have any questions.

UPDATES

CMO guidelines for physical activity for young disabled people

On Wednesday 16 February, the new CMO guidelines for physical activity for young disabled people were published. The recommendations, underpinned by research from Durham University, the University of Bristol, and Disabilities Rights UK, note that the health and wellbeing benefits include stronger muscles and improved confidence. While chief medical officers have previously issued physical activity guidelines for UK children and young people, it is the first time such recommendations have been made for those with disabilities.

The guidelines can be found here and you can download the infographic.

This is an incredible example of how you, as a national network of Lead Inclusion Schools, are able to influence at a national (and global) level. Thank you to both Claremount and Durham Trinity School who shared their expertise on the report, and their pupils who co-created the infographic. Thank you to you all for the work you do and the leadership you show - you are exceptionally well thought of across government departments, national stakeholders, and of course all of us.

You can rewatch the session on the guidelines we had during Inclusion Live Week here.

Calling teaching assistants, teachers, SENCOs and Senior Leaders!

Bath Spa University and the University of Birmingham are undertaking research into the experiences of those working in schools and the access they have to SEND CPD and SEND expertise. 

We are interested to hear about the training and CPD you have had over the past 5 years. Has this changed your teaching or approach? What expert support have you accessed? What do you feel has been the impact on your role in school and the children you work with? What would you like access to in the future?

If you can spare up to 30 minutes for an online interview, please follow this link and leave your details. We will then contact you with more information about the project, including information about how your contributions will be used if you decide to take part. All contributions will be anonymised. 

Participants will receive a £15 amazon voucher as a thank you.

This is a Whole School SEND research project, undertaken by Bath Spa University and the University of Birmingham. Please email Dr Helen Curran ([email protected]) to find out more.

ASK Research

In December we commissioned ASK Research to evaluate the Inclusion 2024 work we do. They are experts in evaluating educational programmes and specialise in support for pupils with SEND. You can read their latest work on pupil, family and staff experiences of special school provision during the pandemic here.

ASK Research will be working with us over the next 3 years of the programme. Amy Skipp, Vicky Hopwood, and Claire Tyers will be analysing the monitoring data you submit 3 times a year, evaluating the events we run and measuring the impact of the CPD you provide as part of Inclusion 2024. As part of your memorandum of understanding as a LIS you agreed to take part in the evaluation so we hope you will be happy to work with them and tell them about your role and thoughts on the programme, as well as provide links with other schools you have worked with. By understanding what works and anything that needs to improve we can make our work more effective, so the programme has maximum effect and we can demonstrably improve the provision of PE and school sports for pupils with SEND across the country. 

CPD

New SEND Training - The Virtual Pool

Lorna Crust from Majorie McClure will be hosting two virtual sessions this month. It is a great training session for those that are interested in SEND swimming.

Please see the information to join the sessions below:

The Virtual Pool - Exploring Mini Water Polo

When: Monday 14 March 2022, 12:45 PM

• Join Zoom Meeting 
• Meeting ID: 685 241 8407
• Passcode: Training

The Virtual Pool - Introduction to Halliwick method of teaching SEND swimming

When: Thursday 24 March 2022, 05:00 PM

• Join Zoom Meeting
• Meeting ID: 685 241 8407
• Passcode: Training

Beyond the School Gates: Exploring Opportunity and Aspiration into FE and Beyond

Whole School SEND have a webinar series that focuses on aspiration, provision, and opportunities from KS4 through to FE and beyond. Professionals, families and learners themselves will illuminate their sessions with their authentic experience and journey through education. The series will feature guest speakers from ETF and DFN Project Search, and will explore curriculum, PfA and long-term outcomes, transitions and connectivity across the system to best support students and families.

They have recently done a session titled ‘Beyond the School Gates: Exploring Opportunity and Aspiration into FE and Beyond’ which features uplifting and inspiring stories of eight young people/adults with very broad and varied needs. The session can rewatched here.

PUBLICATIONS

Winter Paralympic Games (04-13 March)

The winter Paralympics is on this month and you can watch the full coverage of the events on Channel 4.

If you are feel inspired by the games, have a look at our new fantastic Inclusive Sports Programme resource. Here you’ll find a suite of videos and activity cards for adapted sports inspired by the Winter Paralympic Games, hosted in Beijing in March 2022. All sports and activities have been designed so they can easily be delivered in a school setting.

Youth Sport Trust Conference Awards

Last week, the day before the YST conference at the Awards dinner, Lead Inclusion Schools were recognised for their exceptional practice.

These included:

• Alfriston School - UK Award Winners for their ‘Supporting Girls with Autism project’
• This involved co-creating with autistic girls a PE offer that was accessible and meaningful for them, which then created a ripple effect engaging more girls not just from their school but across others in their county. They also contributed to national resources that are now available for all schools and partners to access (found here)
• Lesley Byrne - Slated Row Special School Highly Commended for the Campbell CARE Award.
• Redwood School, Manchester - Highly Commended for Outstanding Inclusive Practice
• Bincombe Valley Primary School, Dorset - Highly Commended for Outstanding Contribution to the Community.

All of the award winners from the night can be found here.