CULTURAL INCLUSION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SEND

Author: Paul Morrow

Publisher: Routledge, nasen / Spotlight

ISBN: 978-0-367-64123-8

Price: £26.99

Use the QR code and the Preview Book button to view chapter 1.

Paul Morrow provides an insightful exploration of the reasoning and experience of access to cultural and artistic experiences for young people with SEND. This book is a great resource for practitioners both in education and the field of the arts seeking to enhance cultural inclusion and to understand its impact at a personal level. The book presents topics with the theoretical background and moves to provide a set of questions, tools and frameworks for you to audit your own practice and understanding. The chapter with the voice of lived experience from parent carers highlights the challenges and showcases the good practice that exists around inclusion in cultural settings and advice for those who want to improve.

While it covers many areas, practitioners may feel there could have been more emphasis on the implementation of inclusive strategies in specific educational contexts. An exploration of digital access as a means to improve inclusion and the use of technology would have been beneficial for those outside London as the book is very London-centric in its examples. Overall, it successfully illuminates the complexities of cultural inclusion for young people with SEND and offers practical guidance for fostering a more inclusive and equitable educational environment.

@nasen_org

On-demand webinars

I attended the excellent SEND and AP Improvement plan webinar and found it very informative. However, I was struck by how many people were on the call. It seems that SEND is high on the agenda for many schools, and perhaps those schools not attending may be so overwhelmed in dealing with the current workload that they are unable to engage, and instead it is something planned for the future. What is nasen’s take on this?

Headteacher, Stroud

Editor: Thank you for your feedback. We hope that the webinars we provide will be in demand across the sector and will be informative and succinct for a sector that has so much to deal with. Your second point is something we have noticed. Workload post-Covid has returned to its height and time is precious. If there are things we can improve for our members, such as timing during the school day or week, then please get in touch and we can ensure these sessions fit with what the sector needs. We do also provide recordings, so although turn-out may not have been as many as you would expect, accessing on-demand has continued to prove popular in our post-Covid world. The recording is available here: bit.ly/3MmoII8

Inclusive resources

My school recently subscribed to Rockerbox News, and we noticed the co-produced resource with nasen. As a SENCO I am always the only one seemingly with an eye on the implications for pupils with SEND and, when it comes to whole school events, when I am trying to advocate for those pupils who may not be able to engage I often appear to be negative about the arrangements. Your resource really helped when planning for a whole school Coronation event. Can we expect any more?

SENCO, Gravesend

Editor: That’s great feedback. Rockerbox News is one of our new partners and the company is working in collaboration with our education team to continue to deliver inclusive news to schools. The Five ‘Be’ Considerations for Inclusive Awareness Days (available here: https://bit.ly/44rjV0j) was the first in a series of planned co-produced resources. Keep checking our website for further resources as they become available.

Early years briefings

As a member of the Early Years sector, I came to value and look forward to the Early Years Meeting the Needs of Every Child series of briefings. I see from the website that Mandy Wilding has left nasen and I am wondering if these will cease, or will they resume in the near future?

EY lead, Farnborough

Editor: Mandy has retired and is enjoying her newfound freedom! We do have a new education officer with an early years remit, Anna Speke. Anna will begin focusing on our early years offer and there are some interesting programmes in the pipeline to look out for.

The Meeting the Needs of Every Child sessions were extremely well attended and successful. Although the funding for these sessions has now ended, there are many other EY resources available via the website: https://bit.ly/3NE7Tul