What Makes a SENCO Sweary? Volume 2: SENCo Summer Workload

Every Thursday in The Sweary SENCo Facebook group, I ask: What has made you become a Sweary SENCO this week Around a year ago, the responses became the first What Makes a Sweary SENCO? blog post. In previous years, I considered giving the Thursday post a break. After all, schools were closed. SENCOs are on holiday. I didn't want to encroach on that time with my Thursday post.

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SEND Support: When Reasonable Adjustments Aren’t Enough

When "Just Adapt More" Stops Being the Answer. Adaptive teaching and reasonable adjustments should always be the starting point for supporting pupils with SEND. Every teacher should be adapting their teaching, and best practice teaching benefits all learners. But somewhere along the way, we've created a serious misconception in education: that if a student isn't making progress, the answer is simply to add another reasonable adjustment.

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Free Inclusive School CPD!

Free inclusion CPD? Yes please! 🙌 You're about to give your SEND and inclusion practice a bit of a boost — without spending a penny. Pop your details in below and I'll send your first

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Nurture Provision Resource pack

Positive Young Minds Nurture Provision Resource Pack Create a calm, safe and supportive nurture environment with this ready-to-use collection of practical resources designed for primary schools, nurture groups, SEND provisions, pastoral teams and wellbeing spaces. Developed by Lynn How, Educational Consultant and SENCO, this pack contains a wide range of visual supports, regulation tools, intervention resources and staff documentation to help children develop emotional literacy, self-regulation, resilience and confidence.

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JCQ 2025/26 Access Arrangements: What schools need to know now!

Positive Young Minds has collaborated with Scanning Pens to support access arrangements. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has released its 2025/26 Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (AARA) guidance—and it’s packed with updates that every school should be aware of. Whether you're a SENCO, Exams Officer, or school leader, these changes are designed to empower learners, streamline processes, and better prepare students for life beyond the classroom.

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Understanding Personalisation and the Engagement Model in SEND Provision

When high-quality teaching, adaptation, and Tier 1 and Tier 2 support have been tried and are still not enough, schools are left with a difficult but necessary question: what do you do next when a child cannot access or attend the mainstream classroom in a meaningful way? This is the point at which personalisation becomes essential, and where the Engagement Model provides a clear, statutory framework for understanding progress beyond the traditional curriculum.

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Adaption, Scaffolding, Differentiation or Personalisation? – Key Concepts Explained

There has been a lot of confusion over recent years about how these both stand alone and overlap. Here are my thoughts on each concept and how these concepts can be practically applied in school. Let's start with my definitions: AdaptionAdaption is the planned and responsive adjustment of teaching approaches, resources and strategies to reduce barriers to learning so that most pupils can access the same learning objective.

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The Hybrid Inclusion Model: The Best of Both

The Hybrid Inclusion Model: Many are working within best-fit - not fully accessing the curriculum or using a 100% personalised pathway.

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The Hybrid Inclusion Model: The Best of Both

In schools, we often talk as if curriculum is a binary choice. Either students access the same curriculum as everyone else, or they move onto something more personalised. However, many children are accessing something of a best fit, in-between model, which has student needs at the centre. That’s where the Hybrid Inclusion Model comes in. In reality, many students are working within a best-fit, in-between model.

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Know Your Worth: UPS Pay for UPS Teachers

Teachers are trying to escape untenable workloads, toxic cultures, or leadership that’s worn them down - but far too many hit the same wall: a new school offering them M6 when they’re already at UPS3. It’s happening everywhere, and it’s quietly becoming normalised. That should worry all of us. The narrative is always the same. ‘Budget constraints.’ ‘We can’t justify upper pay scale from the start.’ etc, etc, etc (yawn).

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EHCP Needs Assessment Application Writing Service

Introduction ✨If you or your your team is struggling to find the time or headspace to write a strong EHC needs assessment request, I can take it on for you. This service provides a fully written EHCNA application for one child, based on the information you supply. I can use your county’s paperwork so everything aligns with local expectations. Staff/parents can send information in whatever format is easiest — notes, documents or voicenotes or zoom interview. I’ll shape it into a clear, well-structured request that reflects need accurately and meets the SEND Code of Practice and the legal jargon required to move forward. So far I have successfully navigated 14 EHCNAs all with successful outcomes (eventually!).

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CPD Shop - Positive Young Minds

The place to find my webinars & resources for SENCos, teachers and educationalists. If you need something else I also take requests!

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SEND Identification For Schools and Parents – Downloadable Guidance

Accurate and consistent identification of special educational needs is central to inclusive practice. Yet it’s also one of the areas that causes the most uncertainty for teachers and leaders. Schools are often different in how they decide which children they add to their SEND lists. This blog offers an overview to help colleagues understand how SEND identification in school, what evidence is needed, and how our ‘ordinarily available’ support framework and graduated response fit together.

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💪Menopause and Perimenopause in the Classroom

A webinar to support with menopause and perimenopause. This resource will help you help yourself and provide information for your school.

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Sign the Petition

Improve Pay and Conditions for Special Needs Coordinators (SENCos) - Enough is Enough!

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Why We Need to Be AI-Savvy in Coaching

AI will never replace the richness of human coaching, but it can widen access to structured reflection. That’s why I created TalkSavvy™ Coach, an evidence-informed reflection partner built on my C.R.A...

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How Teachers Can Help Students Navigate Academic Burnout

Student life is a time of discovery, growth, and preparation for the future. However, beneath these positive narratives lies the growing reality of academic burnout. According to a ResearchGate study, burnout is common among students in the UK. The rise of perfectionism in the education system is the main reason for 50% of the students surveyed showing signs of academic stress.

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Practical Strategies for Supporting Anxious Learners

By Helen Murry Anxiety in children and young people is more common than many realise. It can show up in subtle ways, such as a reluctance to join group activities, frequent stomach aches before school, or sudden difficulty concentrating. For some students, these signs are temporary responses to new situations, but for others, anxiety becomes a persistent hurdle. According to the NHS England, over 20% of children aged from eight to 16 years had a mental health disorder.

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SENCOs and SLT: Clarity Needed

Another ongoing SENCo issue is not having a say in key school decisions surrounding inclusion in our schools. Many SENCos report that they have either limited influence or no influence when it comes to inclusion within their school. As someone who has had experience of this issue in the past, I understand all to well how frustrating it is to have SEND slated in an OFSTED report, and fingers of blame pointed, even when my influence over key decisions within school were marginal at best.

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School Holiday Workload: Why SENCOs Need Protection

It’s now September, and as we reflect back on the summer holiday period, many SENCOs are once again left questioning why the system continues to allow statutory deadlines to fall during times when schools are officially closed. The ‘back to school’ dreams had already begun before term started, because for many of us the work never stopped. If we are serious about tackling burnout and retaining experienced SENCOs, change is needed — and urgently.

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SENCo Pay: Clearing Up Confusion & Setting Out Fair Standards

Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) carry statutory responsibilities under the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice. These include coordinating SEND provision, liaising with parents and external agencies, overseeing EHCPs, training staff, and ensuring legal compliance. Yet many SENCOs are paid inconsistently, sometimes underpaid (or not paid for the role at all), or given unsuitable allowances due to misconceptions.

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SENCo Support: 5 Years On – Urgent Call for Protected Time

In January 2020, the National SENCO Workload Survey Report (“The Time is Now: Addressing missed opportunities for special educational needs support and coordination in our schools”) drew attention to long‐standing issues in SEN provision: workload, insufficient time allocation, under‐resourcing, growing expectations, and the pressure to meet legal requirements under the SEND Code of Practice. Today, SENCos across my networks report that they are often not even receiving the basic release time outlined in this document, let alone any additional time for the increasing demands.

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TikTok - Make Your Day

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Book review: 'Starting Out as a Primary SENCO' by Lynn How - R.I.S.E. Magazine

Starting Out as a Primary SENCO: Finding your first post, the first year and beyond serves as a guidebook for new and aspiring SENCOs and those early into

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