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Education Elephant

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Education Elephant

We are Ireland's growing leader in online training and support for parents, teachers and healthcare

25/08/2026

The SENCOs who feel most in control by spring are often the ones who started building the picture early.

Not because they have everything figured out.

Because they started asking the right questions:
🔎 Which pupils may need closer attention?
📊 What does the assessment data tell us?
🧩 Where are the gaps in learning?
🤝 Who needs support, and what kind?

September is your opportunity to screen early, build the picture, and know who needs support before the pressure builds.

Your September head start matters.

What’s the first thing on your SEN calendar this term?

27/07/2026

Dyspraxia in secondary school doesn't always look like what we expect.

Sometimes it looks like a student who takes much longer to copy from the board. Or someone who can explain an answer confidently but struggles to get the same ideas onto paper.

It can look like forgotten equipment, unfinished written work, difficulty following multi-step instructions or a student who seems exhausted by tasks their peers complete relatively easily.

And that creates a risk.

Difficulty can be mistaken for carelessness.
Slow output can be mistaken for lack of effort.
Disorganisation can be mistaken for poor motivation.

Developmental Coordination Disorder ( ), commonly known as , can affect students in ways that become particularly noticeable as the pace, organisation and written demands of secondary school increase.

So we've put together a practical guide for secondary teachers covering:

• signs you might notice in the classroom
• why difficulties can become more visible in secondary school
• the hidden demands behind written tasks
• 10 practical adjustments teachers can make
• when concerns should be shared with the SENCO or learning support team
• considerations around assessment and exam arrangements

Because recognising the difficulty is only the beginning.
The important question is what we can change to help the student show what they actually know.

Read the full guide: Link in the comment

16/07/2026

Some of the most meaningful feedback never comes through a survey.
Sometimes, it arrives as a handwritten note.

Recently, one of the schools we support needed to be up and running with whole-school testing in just 6 days.

Ordinarily, the process would take much longer.

Our team rolled up their sleeves and worked alongside the school, providing guidance, answering questions and doing everything possible to make it happen.

A few days later, this card arrived. Reading words like these is a reminder of why we do what we do.

At Education Elephant, we believe supporting schools doesn't end when they purchase a product.

Whether it's implementing , delivering professional training or helping schools make sense of assessment data, our role is to be a partner throughout the journey.

A special thank you to Sanet Jooste, whose commitment and willingness to go the extra mile made such a difference for this school.

To our team, thank you for continuing to put schools and students first.
And to the schools we work with, thank you for placing your trust in us.

It is a privilege to support the important work you do every day.
💚

07/07/2026

Most schools already have plenty of data.

Reading ages.
Standardised scores.
Teacher observations.
Assessment reports.

The real challenge is turning that information into decisions that improve student outcomes.

That's exactly what LIFE Multi Academy Trust set out to solve.

Rather than introducing another assessment process, the Trust built a whole-school assessment strategy using to support earlier learner identification, strengthen classroom practice and create a more consistent approach across its schools.

The result wasn't simply better reports.
It was better conversations.
Better interventions.
And better-informed decisions for learners.

We've captured their journey in our latest case study, including:
◉ Why traditional screening wasn't giving teachers the answers they needed
◉ How SWIFT became part of a whole-school approach to assessment
◉ Practical lessons from implementing assessment across a Multi-Academy Trust

If you're reviewing your school's assessment strategy or planning for September, we hope you'll find it valuable.

📖 Read the full case study here: 🔗 Link in the comment

29/06/2026

September doesn't start in September. It starts in June.

Right now, many SENCOs are focused on exams, transition meetings, handovers, support plans and getting through the final weeks of term.
But the students who will need support in September are already in your school.

The question is:
What is your data telling you about them?

Before the summer break, there is a valuable opportunity to review screening data, identify students who may need follow-up, evaluate the impact of interventions, and make informed decisions about September priorities.

The schools that begin the new academic year most confidently are rarely the ones with the biggest teams or budgets.

They're often the schools that take the time to review their evidence before the holidays begin.

In our latest article, we explore:
✅ How to use end-of-year screening data effectively
✅ Which students should be prioritised in September
✅ Why progress monitoring matters before summer
✅ How screening data can support access arrangements evidence
✅ A practical six-step checklist for SENCOs before term ends

Because a thirty-minute review in June can save weeks of reactive work in October.

🔗 Link in the comments

What is the one thing you always try to complete before breaking up for summer?

23/06/2026

A student forgets the instructions before they've even started the task.
Another loses track halfway through a maths problem.
A third struggles to take notes while listening.

From the outside, these behaviours can appear to be inattention, poor organisation, or a lack of effort. But sometimes the challenge is something less visible.

Working memory.

Working memory plays a critical role in reading, writing, problem-solving, note-taking and following instructions. Yet working memory difficulties are often misunderstood because we tend to see the outcome, not the cognitive process behind it.

That's why observation alone isn't always enough.

In our latest article, we explore:
✅ What working memory is
✅ Why does it have such a significant impact on learning
✅ How working memory is assessed
✅ What low working memory looks like in the classroom
✅ How schools can identify students who may need additional support

Because understanding the reason behind a difficulty is often the first step towards providing the right support.

🔗 Link in the comments

Have you noticed working memory difficulties being mistaken for attention or behaviour concerns in school?

22/06/2026

One of the least talked about parts of being a SENCO?

"Translation"

Not languages.

People.

Translating what a psychologist means into something practical.
Translating what a teacher observes into something measurable.
Translating what a parent is worried about into something actionable.

Translating reports, recommendations, concerns, data, emotions, expectations and sometimes frustrations.

Half the job feels like helping different people understand the same child from the same page.

Just SENCO life doing SENCO life things.

17/06/2026

Today is Thank a Teacher Day.

A day to recognise the people who do far more than deliver lessons.
Teachers notice the student who suddenly becomes quiet.

They spot the learner who is trying hard but still struggling.
They ask questions, make adjustments, offer encouragement, and often provide the consistency that helps a young person believe in themselves.

Much of that work happens quietly and without recognition.

Behind every assessment, intervention, support plan, and student success story is a teacher who chose to take the time to understand.
For many students, those moments matter more than we will ever know.

So today, we simply want to say thank you.

Thank you for the patience, care, expertise, and commitment you bring to classrooms every day.

The impact of a great teacher is rarely measured in a single lesson. It is often seen years later in the confidence, opportunities, and futures they help shape.

09/06/2026

🚨 Webinar Alert

What happens when assessment information becomes part of a school's wider strategy, not just another data point?

On 30 June, we'll be joined by Vicky Johnson, Director of SEND, to explore how LiFE Multi-Academy Trust used assessment information across six schools to strengthen identification, support, inclusion and school improvement.

🎥 Beyond Screening: Building a Whole-School Strategy for Student Success

In this practical case study, we'll explore:

✅ What effective identification systems look like in practice
✅ How assessment information can support teaching, intervention and CPD
✅ Building consistency across multiple schools
✅ Linking learner profiles with attendance, wellbeing and engagement
✅ Lessons learned from implementing a MAT-wide approach

This is not a product demonstration.

It's an opportunity to hear directly from a trust that has embedded assessment into everyday decision-making and student support.

📅 Tuesday 30 June
⏰ 4:00pm – 5:30pm

🔗 Registration link in the comments.

25/05/2026

Access arrangement season can become one of the most pressured times of year for many SENCOs and support teams.

Not because the work isn’t being done.

More often, pressure builds because evidence pathways were never designed to work smoothly under deadline conditions, and by the time applications are being prepared, systems can quickly become reactive.

If that feels familiar, you’re not alone. It’s something many schools experience.
One of the most important questions is not simply whether evidence exists.
It’s whether the evidence reflects the right things.

Defensible evidence usually has four things in common:

▪ Current — reflects how the student is functioning now
▪ Consistent — evidenced across subjects and over time
▪ Specific — clearly describes the difficulty, context, and observed impact
▪ Contextual — reflects the student’s normal way of working

The schools that tend to navigate access arrangement season more smoothly are not always the most resourced.

Often, they are the schools that built clearer evidence pathways earlier and had more structured systems in place for gathering evidence over time.

We’ve put together a short practical overview exploring what stronger assessment evidence often includes. PDF attached below 🌱

What tends to create the most pressure for your team during access arrangement season?

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Tuesday	9am - 5pm
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Friday	9am - 5pm

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https://educationelephant.ie/

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