Barriers to Mental Healthcare for Autistic People with Dr Joanna Grace

Too many children with SEND are missing out on school residential trips every year - and it needs to change. Nicholas Hands, CEO of Boundless Outdoors, joins Dale to discuss how we can make residentials and outdoor learning truly inclusive for every child. Together, they explore why so many children with SEND are excluded from residential trips - often not through deliberate decision, but through assumptions, poor planning, and a culture of saying no without even asking the question. Nicholas is refreshingly clear: the activity adaptation is almost always the easy part. It's the funding, the staffing ratios, and the paperwork that create the real barriers. They also discuss the transformative power of the outdoor environment itself - why it acts as a leveller, why children who struggle in the classroom often thrive outside it, and why the child nobody notices suddenly gets to shine when everyone is facing the same challenge together. "You can remember the school trip you went on. You can't remember second period French." Nicholas Hands

If you missed the Tes SEND Show - or were there but couldn't make every session - this is worth a listen.

Attendance is not the problem. It's the signal. And until schools start treating it that way, children with EBSA will keep falling through the gaps. In this episode, Dale is joined by Jack Mallaby, Assistant Headteacher and SENCO at Chiltern Way Academy, a specialist autism provision, to discuss emotionally based school avoidance - and why the answer is never more pressure. Together, they explore: - Why bums on seats is not the same as safety, engagement, or belonging. - Why celebrating 100% attendance without considering why a child achieved it misses the point entirely. - How a relational approach - relationship before curriculum - reduces incidents, builds trust, and saves time in the long run. - Why reasonable adjustments are rarely as complicated as schools fear, and why giving a little gets you so much more back. - Why consequences should replace punishments - and what a genuinely reflective conversation looks like in practice. - Why collaboration between schools, families, and young people is not optional: parents are the experts on their own children. "The attendance is the effect. It's what you're seeing as a result of something. It's a flag saying something's going on - but schools often don't see it as a flag." Jack Mallaby About Jack Mallaby Jack Mallaby is an Assistant Headteacher and SENCo working within a specialist autism provision. He previously led Learning Support and SEND in a large mainstream secondary school, giving him experience across both mainstream and specialist settings.

If you missed the Tes SEND Show last week - or were there but couldn't make every session - this is worth a listen.

Behaviour policies were never designed to be a log of misery. But for too many children, that's exactly what they've become. In this episode, Dale is joined by Adam Hayes, Managing Director of Therapeutic Thinking, to discuss behaviour policies - and what it would actually take to make them work for every child. Adam brings extensive experience across social care and education, and a refreshingly honest perspective on why so many schools are still punishing children for having an unmet need rather than helping them address it. Together, they explore: - Why behaviour policies too often focus entirely on deficit - what children aren't doing - rather than building a shared understanding of what we value and why. - What a behaviour curriculum actually is, and why it's the missing piece that turns a policy from a document on a shelf into something that's lived and breathed across a school. - Why children should be taught why a rule exists, not just expected to follow it. - Why every interaction is an intervention, and why children need to feel liked, loved, respected, or safe before behaviour change can happen. - The problem with rewarding 100% attendance. - Why we need bold children who ask why — and what we lose when we train that instinct out of them. "Experiences lead to feelings, and feelings create behaviours. If my intervention wouldn't work in the staff room, why do I think it will work in the classroom?" Adam Hayes A candid, thought-provoking, and at times genuinely funny conversation that will make you look at behaviour very differently. About Adam Hayes Adam has extensive experience in both Social Care and Education, both mainstream and SEND, having worked across the full range of ages and stages of education. He joined Therapeutic Thinking Ltd. from his role with Hertfordshire County Council. During his time with Hertfordshire Adam held a range of roles including Area Manager for Integrated Services for Learning, County Inclusion Lead, and Behaviour Advisor and Hertfordshire Therapeutic Thinking County Lead. Adam has a solution-focused approach which ensures that young people are at the centre of all that he does. This child centred work has been positively recognised by the stakeholders he works with. Adam has become the managing director of Therapeutic Thinking and as such is taking this positive, well considered approach forward and sharing it more widely with Local Authorities, Trusts and standalone schools. B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast Email Dale – [email protected] Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe The SENDcast is powered by B Squared We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.