“It is probably wise to recognise the possibility that SEBD are not only encountered in the classroom – staffrooms have their fair share…”

“It is easy to be fooled by the apparently dismissive attitude that some young people show towards to school. It may be the case that for many students school is, indeed, ‘boring’ but this does not mean that it is unimportant to them. On the contrary, the school is the main site where young people establish their independent identities outside the family unit. From their earliest experiences of schooling, children are engaging with a key social institution as individuals in their own right. Whether they see themselves as succeeding or failing, socially and academically, they cannot escape the impact of these experiences on their developing identities. Relationships with teachers are central to this identity formation process.”

“Foster carers play an absolutely crucial role in the child care system. The vast majority of looked after children live in foster care. Carers are there at the sharp end, dealing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with all of the consequences of abuse, neglect or whatever family difficulties have led children to be looked after. Yet in spite of this, in my view foster carers are underpaid and often overlooked and under-appreciated.”

“My boys go back to school next week. I can’t believe how quickly the holidays have passed by! In addition to all of the usual preparation, next week I will be performing some extra tasks to make sure that the school year gets off to as smooth a start as possible. Here are my Top 5 Back-to-School Guerrilla Tips…”

“The introduction of market and subsequently business principles into care environments since the 1990s has meant that its associated language and terminology has deeply permeated current management ‘speak’. It has always intrigued me when working with leaders and managers in my role as an educator, mentor and manager, how easily these trip off the tongue or become part of our everyday language and applied to practice often in an uncritical way.”

“When you look at it on paper it is difficult to see why the current system for meeting the needs of children with SEN is so prone to failure. On paper it seems to work, but in practice there are some big weaknesses that lead to its failure.”

Exploring Bullying with Adults with Autism and Asperger Syndrome is the new workbook by Anna Tickle, a clinical psychologist, and Bettina Stott, who after many years working in the field is currently studying towards her MA in Autism. Here, Anna and Bettina answer some questions about their new book. Tell us about this project – how[... read more]

“I have had email correspondence with our children’s school and government on this issue, and I have to say that they are all very vague about how SEN will be managed in academies and free schools.”

“Prior to our children having statements, we had to fight for everything each time a problem arose, mostly without success…It was extremely labour-intensive.”

“Although I could hardly believe it, it began to dawn on me that although I wanted my children to have more help at school, the school did not want to do anything ‘extra’ for them and I could not understand why…”