This paper draws on my experience working as a special needs support staff member in a special school in the UK for young people with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) issues. The purpose of this paper is to share my understanding of practices that enable staff in an SEMH school to attend to the needs of their students. Although I have…

This article presents new insights into the views of families regarding the educational opportunities for their children in special school settings. It reports on a study designed to capture the perspectives of families regarding the opportunities to consult and engage with teachers on the education of their child or children with disabilities…

Bullying is a public health priority but to date, there is a lack of evidence-based anti-bullying programmes or interventions designed for use in special schools. KiVa is a successful anti-bullying programme for mainstream schools currently used in 23 countries. This brief paper outlines the co-development and adaptation of two KiVa lessons into…

Children and young adults who are 'looked after' can present teachers and teaching assistants with a variety of day-to-day classroom challenges and a range of complex behaviours due to adverse childhood environments. This group of vulnerable young people have very complex social and emotional behaviours that require a considered approach of…

The importance of reducing restraint and restrictive interventions in special schools has been recognised across the four nations of the UK. Government guidance for England and Wales, and recommendations produced by Restraint Reduction Scotland, both reference Positive behavioural support (PBS) as an evidence-based approach that can be used to…

The increasing complexity of children with SLD and PMLD can make day-to-day teaching challenging and emotionally taxing. Regular opportunities for teachers to reflect upon practice can help teachers make sense of what happens in the classroom and see the relationship between their personal theories, values and beliefs, and their thinking,…

Parental choice remains a central theme in education policy in England. Parents have the right to choose how their children are educated. For some families this choice is surrendered, with volition and intention, to their local authority which allocates school places after parents, statutory guardians and families have made their decisions. Where…

This article explores the views of a small group of teachers who specialise in supporting children with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Frequently literature exploring the relationship between parents and teachers of children with SEN uses language which is confrontational, even aggressive. This research, based within a specialist school in…

Education in Croatia is based upon principles of inclusion and individualisation. However, the effective inclusion of learners with special educational needs, including those with autism, has been identified as limited. To better understand the situation within primary education in the country, a survey of specialist teachers from mainstream and…

This article discusses how one special school for pupils with moderate-learning difficulties reflects themes in the literature on pupil motivation. It aims to highlight good practice and is based on reflections from prolonged working with the school as an advisory teacher, illustrated with teacher, pupil and parent comments from Y6 Education…

Educators usually recognise the value of drama-in-education, but hesitate to use it with unpredictable diverse groups that have limited communication and social understanding. This article evaluates a professional development initiative in an all-age special school (3-19 years) in eastern England as a whole-school improvement strategy to promote…

The paper provides a first person account of participant evaluation research of curriculum innovation in a school serving students with profound learning difficulties. It describes how the aspirations of the school leadership team to introduce science, combined with advisory support, overcame the initial anxiety of teaching staff about teaching an…

This article provides an insider account of one school's journey towards a curriculum offer which makes use of a meaningful, mastery project-based approach. The initiative incorporates consideration of self-determination theory to secure outcomes which are relevant to the needs of students. The account offers insights into a work in progress and…

This article considers some aspects of the 'what, why and how' of individualising reflective assessments. It is an attempt to understand what works well in a special needs setting but it can also be applied within a mainstream context. The article comprises evidence, in the form of practitioner observations, during the author's work with eight…

This article details a piece of small-scale action-based research in a school for students with learning difficulties. It focusses on the use of Drama as a means whereby confidence of those students who are at a point of transition to employment can be enhanced. Using qualitative-based mixed methods of data generation, a range of issues are…