April | 2024 | Ben Newmark
1 post published by bennewmark during April 2024| Ben Newmark
Saying the SEND system is in crisis is no great reveal; it is proving ruinously expensive while failing to deliver either improved experiences or outcomes. One consequence of its long-term failure has been great antagonism between families and schools, with the idea parents must fight tooth and nail for the support their child needs now […]| Ben Newmark
We all know teachers should have high expectations of pupils. Teachers who think their pupils can learn and do lots set more challenging work than those doubting their capacities and this leads to …| Ben Newmark
Curriculum, explicit instruction, intelligent assessment, leadership and history| Ben Newmark
Two years ago, at a conference I described the process my wife and I went through to get our daughter her EHCP. I used a phrase familiar to those of us with children who find life harder and need m…| Ben Newmark
Conversations about special educational needs are already tough and I predict they are about to get even more difficult. Two opposing paradigms are on a collision course. The first holds that devel…| Ben Newmark
A few years ago, in the Golden Era of Edu-Twitter, Berny Andrews and I suggested the Department of Education needed a team of philosophers. We were only half joking. Very often the success or failu…| Ben Newmark
Six years ago, my wife and I learned our then one-year-old daughter Bessie had been born with a rare genetic condition called Williams Syndrome – it’s fascinating and you should look it up. It means with some very distinctive and charming personality features, Bessie lives with a life-long learning disability. This is not something gone […]| Ben Newmark
AI is stalking the world for problems it can present itself as the solution to – problems you did not even know you had. It will organise our calendars and write emails to our bosses and employees. AI will paint our pictures and script our film. It will write our poetry and letters to our […]| Ben Newmark
My final point is – I hope – the logical culmination and expression of the previous four. Inclusion is primarily the business of classroom teachers and nobody can do it for them. While the superstructure around inclusion can obscure this it does not make it any less true. “Inclusion” can’t be done by a SENDCO […]| Ben Newmark
In 1429 a French peasant with no military experience led an army against the Anglo-Burgundians, driving them from their bastion and forcing them to retreat across the Loire River. At the age of thi…| Ben Newmark
It is hard to talk about things when people don’t have a shared understanding of the words they use, and words usually don’t mean anything on their own – terminology is only given meaning thr…| Ben Newmark
