SEND Hub North West

🌱Supporting staff leading Enhanced Provision for pupils on alternative curriculum pathways.

Yesterday, we delivered a team training session on engagement and motivators. We explored the Engagement Model and an observation template to better understand how deeply pupils are involved in their experiences.

We also briefly touched on the importance of using the right assessment approach - one that looks laterally at progress, recognising, celebrating, and affirming every step forward. These steps may appear small to others, but to us, they are significant and meaningful milestones in each child’s journey. 🌱

Observations across different areas help identify patterns of engagement, shaping provision, support planning and next steps.

💡Engagement is a vital precondition for learning.

👉Get in touch to explore how this approach could support your setting.

The power of music and movement

From their earliest stages of life, music offers a powerful way for children to explore communication, interaction and self-expression, writes Natasha Bretten.

https://senmagazine.co.uk/content/specific-needs/speech-language/29186/the-power-of-music-and-movement/

Boogie Mites

📣Meet Louise

🌱Louise brings over 18 years of experience in education, including senior leadership and Deputy Headship, with a strong focus on SEND. She now leads the SEND Hub North West service, driving a strategic, strengths-based approach to supporting schools. Through SEND consultancy, she works alongside schools to strengthen systems, refine processes, and support inclusive provision that works in everyday practice - not just on paper.

She has particular expertise in developing enhanced provision and alternative pathways for pupils with more complex needs, helping schools create meaningful, sustainable support.

🌱Friday Round-Up
Planning training, meeting new SENDCos, pupil assessments to sensory journeys, gently holding anxiety to shaping what comes next - a full week, and as always, no two weeks are ever the same.

🫶🏻As we head into the weekend, a gentle reminder to pause, refill your cup and put on your own oxygen mask first. We can only support others well when we look after ourselves.

💡We have very limited spaces left for school visits this term - if you require a visit this term, please do get in touch. Bookings for September are open, and any bookings made before 1st July guarantee our current price structure, so we encourage schools to secure their dates early.

Wishing you a restful weekend ✨

🌱Looking ahead to the next academic year? 🌱

Our experienced SEND team partners with schools to strengthen provision and remove barriers.

Do you need support with monitoring your SEND provision and using this to shape your inclusion strategy? We’re here to help you plan with purpose.

📅 Book by 1st July to secure your place for September 2026.

SEND Hub North West | SEND Assessments | North West, England, UK Specialist teachers delivering SEND assessments, tailored support and practical strategies for schools across the North West. Get in touch to discuss your needs.

🌱 We’re delighted to welcome Claire to SEND Hub North West - SEND Specialist Teaching Service .

Claire joins us as a highly experienced Autism Advisor, HLTA and Thrive Practitioner, bringing over 20 years experience in supporting learners from EYFS to KS5 across mainstream and specialist settings.

Claire’s career has included leading outreach support in her previous setting, alongside supporting families within the home. She brings a wealth of practical, hands-on expertise, with a deep knowledge of autism and trauma-informed practice.

Claire will be supporting schools to profile learners and implement enhanced provision, helping mainstream settings meet the needs of learners with more confidence and clarity.

We are incredibly excited to have Claire on board and look forward to the impact her knowledge, passion and experience will bring to the schools we work with.

🌱The most effective teaching begins with understanding the learner in front of us!

Monday Motivation: How well do you really know your non-speaking pupils?

If someone asked you about one of your learners, would you talk first about their diagnosis, support needs, and communication system?

Or would you be able to tell them:
❓What makes them laugh
❓What captures their attention
❓Their favourite topics, people, and activities
❓what motivates them to persist when something is difficult
❓What makes them feel safe, comfortable, and ready to learn

For pupils with complex communication needs, these insights matter. Knowing what interests and motivates a learner helps us build stronger relationships, create meaningful opportunities for communication, and make literacy learning more engaging and purposeful.

Families are often our greatest source of this knowledge. The things that light a pupil up at home can provide powerful starting points for learning in school.

This week, choose one non-speaking pupil and ask yourself:
❓What truly motivates them?
❓What are they passionate about?
❓How am I using that knowledge to support communication and literacy?

Sometimes the most effective teaching begins with understanding the learner in front of us.

🌱The start of the summer term also marked the beginning of a new chapter for one school and a small group of wonderful children.

These photos show the initial set up of the enhanced provision at the very start of the term. It was so special to see the children beginning to settle and engage in their new environment and since then, they are flying.

The focus has been on supporting regulation, engagement, early social communication skills and early learning.

We can’t wait for our next visit to check in with how both the children and the team are getting on and to support next steps.

🫶🏻What a privilege it’s been to support the team at Balshaw Lane Primary School .