PRESS PACK
SEN Information Point
Stand SN90
CONTENTS
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nasen at Bett
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Dr Adam Boddison
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Leadership Conference

nasen trustee honoured with OBE

nasen live 2016
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About nasen

Nasen at Bett
Nasen, hosting the SEN Information Point at Bett 2016, is the leading UK professional
association embracing all special and additional educational needs and disabilities. The
organisation promotes the education, training, development and support of all those
working within the special and additional educational needs and disabilities sector. Nasen
has a strong influence on policy and practice in the area of special educational needs
through consultation and research with its members. Membership of nasen is an invaluable
source of advice, offering a range of benefits to support teachers, governors, teaching
assistants and the entire education support network in the delivery of high quality inclusive
practice. Benefits include education research and resources, professional development
conferences and seminars with world-class speakers plus print and online journals and
magazines and exhibitions. Nasen is offering 20 per cent off membership during Bett 2016.
Why do we need to invest in SEND CPD for teachers and
practitioners?
• The need for high aspirations for all children and young people including those with SEND
• Increasingly complex needs of children and young people within mainstream schools and
settings
• The requirement on education settings to use their best endeavours to ensure that the
needs of all their learners are met
• Recalibration of the role and responsibilities of education professionals under the SEND
Code of Practice
• The need for education professionals to be learners themselves and to reflect on their
practice
• The central role that high quality practice should play within all SEND provision
In addition to the above, the current outcomes for children and young people with SEND
are a cause for concern:
What does effective CPD look like?
In response to this question and with funding from the DfE, nasen has developed an offer
of free online CPD for all mainstream settings across England.
This offer is based on sound principles, identified by various research, of what constitutes
good CPD:

Prolonged; the most effective lasted for at least 2 terms, with most more than a
year

Includes a ‘rhythm’ of follow-up, consolidation and support activities

Designed for participants’ needs – ensuring the ‘buy-in’ through making the content
relevant to the participants’ day to day experiences of, and aspirations for, their
pupils.

Includes activities to reinforce messages in the training and test ideas from
different perspectives through collaboration
Nasen welcomes new chief executive
Nasen is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Adam Boddison as chief executive of
nasen as of January 2016.
Following a career as a teacher at both primary and secondary level and having undertaken
the role of governor at two primary schools, Dr Boddison has sat on various regional and
national education committees and has overseen a number of international education
projects. His experience in teacher training with an emphasis on SEND specialism,
combined with his strong background in research focusing on inclusive education and
educational technology, have given him broad insight into the demands of SEN
practitioners and the children that they support.
To meet these demands, Dr Boddison intends to work closely with nasen’s members and
stakeholders to support practitioners, co-constructing and sharing best practice methods
to enhance SEN provision across the United Kingdom and further afield.
Stephen Bajdala Brown, chair of nasen’s trustees, said: “It is with pleasure that we
announce the appointment of Dr Boddison to chief executive of nasen. Dr Boddison joins
us at a pivotal time. The SEND reforms are becoming more embedded, while professional
development becomes more collaborative and evidence-based, and Dr Boddison’s
background in education, research and teacher training will help nasen continue to be at
the forefront of these changes. Until January 2016, nasen’s senior team will continue its
work managing nasen’s training, events, research and policy links, working closely with
members to effectively communicate the needs of the sector.”
Dr Boddison said: “Nasen’s work with its members helped shape the recent policy reforms
and has also demonstrated the breadth of expertise available within its membership base
and the wider education sector. Working closely with our members and stakeholders to
share and build on this expertise is a role that I am proud to undertake.”
Nasen Leadership Conference
Securing Excellence and Building Confidence: Teacher Development for SEND
Friday 5th February, Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, London
In response to the national policy change for SEND needs, nasen will once again be hosting
its Leadership Conference on Friday 5 February, to highlight the key developments and
improvements in the quality of provision for children, young people and their families in
schools and settings.
“High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to
pupils who have or may have SEN”, explains Adam Boddison, CEO of nasen. “Achieving
this is the challenge for many providers. How should schools review and, where necessary,
improve, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils
and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered?”
During the conference, the Department for Education’s Stuart Miller, deputy director for
SEND, will be providing the keynote speech, alongside a range of seminars being led
throughout the event by expert practitioners and leaders in the SEND field. The event
promises once again to offer education professionals unique insight and knowledge into
how best to offer the best possible provision for children and young people with SEND.
Dr Boddison continues: “Embedding quality of teaching and progress for children and
young people with SEN, as a core part of performance management arrangements and its
approach to professional development for all teaching and support staff, should enable
every teacher to teach every child.”
The nasen Leadership Conference provides an opportunity for education leaders to
examine strategies to support teacher development using evidence based practice to tailor
teacher/practitioner support to the needs of the setting. The ambition to provide the
highest quality teaching support for all pupils can be realised by a whole school SEND
strategy with teacher development at its heart.
This is an essential conference for school leaders who value their teaching staff and who
will not compromise on the quality of provision for vulnerable pupils.
For full details of member discounts and how to book your place visit the events page of
the nasen website at www.nasen.org.uk
Nasen trustee honoured with OBE
Executive principal of Whitefield Academy Trust and trustee of nasen, Elaine Colquhoun,
has been awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), in the Queen’s New
Year Honours list.
The New Year Honours list for 2016 recognises the achievements and service of
extraordinary people across the United Kingdom. Other SEN professionals to be honoured
include Lindsay Rousseau of NatSIP, Sal Cooke previously of Techdis and Barry Carpenter
(CBE).
“Elaine was an incredible asset to nasen during her tenure as principal, and as this honour
recognises, the work she has done and continues to do within the special educational
needs (SEN) sector as a whole is inspiring,” said Dr Adam Boddison from nasen. “The work
she does is an example to us all, and here at nasen we couldn’t be more thrilled and proud
to hear of her achievement.”
Elaine has worked for most of her career in the field of special education, working as a
headteacher for 17 years in two outstanding schools. “I’d particularly like to thank the
headteachers who taught me so much, especially Margaret Hutchinson from the Cedars
School, whose belief in me was awesome,” said Elaine. “I’d also like to thank the excellent
teams at Whitefield Schools and Hill Top School who make differences every day to the
lives of pupils and young people.”
The Whitefield Academy Trust currently consists of two schools and is one of the largest
special education providers in the UK. The Academy provides education and care for pupils
with profound, severe and complex difficulties from the ages of three to 19 years, including
pupils with Autism and visual impairments.
Elaine has wide-ranging local, national and international experience and perspective in the
field of SEN. She worked as an additional inspector seconded to Ofsted in which she worked
in conjunction with HMI for a year. As part of this work, Elaine has led a wide range of
inspections across mainstream secondary and middle schools, as well as a variety of
special education schools.
In addition to her work within schools, Elaine has served as principal of nasen for three
years, working at the strategic level of this national charity for seven years in presidential
roles. She has written book reviews, published articles in Special magazine and appeared
on BBC News 24 and BBC Radio 4. Elaine has also visited, worked in and delivered training
conferences nationally and abroad, including Poland, Taiwan, Ireland, India, Hong Kong
and Russia, helping to improve the lives of children and young people with SEND across
the globe.
“It was such a wonderful surprise to learn that my work had been honoured in this way,”
Elaine said of her appointment. “I am immensely proud to have received this award, which
is shared with the many dedicated and hardworking people who I have worked with over
the years. I have always been passionate about special education and promoting the rights
of high quality education for all students regardless of their challenges.”
~Ends~
Nasen Live 2016: New Venue
This year’s nasen Live event will be taking place at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
The new programme has been based on analysis of our successful 2015 event and the
valuable delegate feedback received. Requested was more information on ‘what works’ at
classroom level concerning effective intervention and support for special educational needs
and disabilities (SEND). Our seminar programme and exhibitor listings will reflect this.
Nasen Live 2016 will take place on a Friday and Saturday – 29-30 April 2016. By offering
the event on a Saturday we can extend nasen Live to a broader audience, and improve
accessibility for those who find it difficult to take time out of their busy working week to
attend – again in response to delegate feedback.
Nasen Live 2016 will again aim to meet the professional development needs of all those
working within the special and additional educational needs field. Since the last nasen Live,
embedding the SEND Code of Practice continues, and nasen’s focus remains to drive
support for teachers, practitioners and SENCOs across the 0–25 age range. With 25
seminars across the two-day event, free SEND updates and briefings, there is a jampacked programme for everyone to access and enjoy.
The venue
The Royal Armouries in Leeds is a multi-million pound purpose-built museum that opened
to the public in 1996. Located at Leeds Dock, the museum is only a short distance from
the centre of Leeds. Travel to and from the venue couldn’t be easier and all transport
details will be available on our brand new nasen Live 2016 webpage, coming soon.
Leadership summit
Nasen is delighted to welcome a wide range of professional experts and partners who are
contributing to our seminar programme across the two days. Our exciting programme
includes a new feature exclusively for school leaders – a leadership summit, after school
hours, with refreshments. This will take the form of a structured panel session where
leading speakers in SEND will present a series of short keynotes, each addressing a main
feature of strategic leadership for SEND, including funding implications of proposed
changes for SEN, schools’ commissioning services and developing new provision.
Focus On SEND Training – Nasen’s Online offer
Our free online offer for SEND continuing professional development (CPD) for all – Focus
On SEND Training – will be showcased at nasen Live 2016. The online offer of support and
training for every teacher of every child will be freely available to access at the event, with
nasen staff on hand to explain the benefits of this new resource for you and your staff.
SEN resource and service suppliers
As always, nasen Live will showcase the best SEN resources and service providers.
Companies such as Rising Stars, LDA, Special Direct, Yellow Door, SEN Learning have
already signed up to the event, to name but a few! Exhibitors at nasen Live really
appreciate being able to talk to delegates face to face, as practitioners’ feedback is
extremely useful in developing their products and services.
Who should attend?
Nasen Live caters for anyone working in the field of special and additional educational
needs and disability, including leaders and headteachers, SENCOs, class teachers, support
staff, local authority staff and many more. We continue to campaign hard on behalf of our
members to ensure that the whole setting and school workforce is properly skilled to meet
the needs of all pupils, especially within the SEN support requirements now placed on
schools, settings and colleges. Why not bring along a colleague to nasen Live, or plan your
school training day needs around our seminar programme and briefings? Nasen Live
provides fantastic opportunities to increase the depth of your SEN knowledge and
understanding.
Why nasen Live 2016?
At a time when we as professionals are meeting an increasingly diverse range of needs
within a new framework of identification, assessment and support for SEN, nasen believes
that a dedicated SEN show is crucial to ensuring quality special needs provision across the
sector.
About nasen
Nasen is the leading UK professional association embracing all special and additional
educational needs and disabilities. The organisation promotes the education, training,
development and support of all those working within the special and additional educational
needs and disabilities sector.
Membership of nasen is an invaluable source of advice, offering an exclusive and vital
range of benefits to support teachers, governors, teaching assistants and the entire
education support network in the delivery of high quality inclusive practice. Benefits
include fresh and creative education resources, dynamic conferences and seminars with
world-class speakers.
An inspirational professional development programme, plus print and on-line journals and
magazines, exhibitions and access to recently completed research are also available.
Furthermore, nasen contributes greatly and has a strong influence on policy and practice
in the area of special educational needs through consultation and joint projects with other
professional bodies.
To find out more, visit www.nasen.org.uk or contact:http://www.nasen.org.uk
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