New Friends

DYT Consultant Emma Green reflects on one of the biggest SEND events in the calendar, the TES SEN Show…

One of the reasons I love my job is because of the wide variety of experiences it affords me. Last week brought me to the TES SEN Show.

Throughout the two days the London Design Centre was buzzing with enthusiasm and awash with professionals from a wide range of fields. I was also pleased to see many parents visiting the show this year. It was wonderful to witness a centre full of people with one vision: improving inclusive education for all young people, a matter very close to our hearts at Driver Youth Trust. What a great end to Dyslexia Awareness Week 2017!

Driver Youth Trust were proud to have a role in the event this year – with two members of our team leading seminars across the conference:

• DYT Consultant Teacher Nancy Gedge delivered a talk on inclusion offering ‘The View from the Other Side of the Fence: Why Include? Who is it for?’. Nancy explored the thorny issue of inclusion through the eyes of the parent, the child and the school. By following the experience of a parent and child from diagnosis to the school years, Nancy illustrated the philosophical underpinnings of inclusion to reveal its benefits, particularly for teachers and the school.
• Elsewhere, Speech and Language Therapist & DYT Professional Advisor Wendy Lee delivered a seminar on the success of the Year 7 communication curriculum that was put in place at inner-city schools to boost the level of spoken language.

New Friends

Meanwhile, I spent my time talking to a wide range of people at our stall; some had heard of Driver Youth Trust before, some had heard our speakers at the show and some were drawn in by the mention of literacy and the work we do. Not only did I get a chance to share some of the fantastic work of my colleagues (and make many a teachers’ day by telling them about free resources available on our website within the Drive for Literacy toolkit), I also had the opportunity to make new connections which open new avenues for collaboration and discussion.

It was also great to meet teachers, practioners and professionals from a variety of different backgrounds all bringing something new to table on SEND and dyslexia. It really was inspiring to hear about their recent work, so look out for:

• Numberella – a new Maths game due to be launched early next year.
• The Illustrated Guide to Dyslexia And Its Amazing People by Kate Power and Kathy Iwanczak Forsyth.
• ‘Fundraising Friday’ on 13^th October 2017 for the Dyspraxia Foundation as part of Dyspraxia Awareness Week’.

Overall the day was a resounding success with a number of schools interested in hearing more about our flagship Drive for Literacy programme; I’m sure this will lead to some interesting collaborative work with our current school network. If you’d like to hear more about Drive for Literacy, follow this link to for all the information.