Architect - working for HPE WW, focus on virtualization + Cloud. Microsoft MVP - CDM + Azure. Author x 5. Quins fan! England Rugby L2. My tweets are my own.
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I often question the value of the LADO, Ofsted, and the DfE, when it comes to these situations.
Parents are suing a special school after a BBC investigation uncovered shocking CCTV footage showing autistic children being locked inside calming rooms and abused. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq89…
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They cause harm. Especially when used as a long term punishment. Funny thing is LA has given one an award/grading. Didn’t stop a child calling for help because of suicidal feelings. Tool to help get children out of their school without permanent exclusion.
What are your experiences of isolation rooms? What do you think about the Government’s expansion of ”inclusion bases”?
inews.co.uk/news/i-found-my-…
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Is that a joke? EPs aren’t independent and work for the LA. There is where your problem starts #WeAreRichmond
NEW POST: Educational Psychologists should be at the heart of SEND reform, says Andrea Honess of the @BPSOfficial supporting children, families and schools to thrive specialneedsjungle.com/educa…
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Parents and carers should be concerned about SEND in the borough of Richmond period.
Parents and carers are concerned that reforms to the special educational needs system could strip their children of important rights. Change is desperately needed, but we must avoid trapping families in an endless doom-loop of disputes.
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The lack of support, CAMHS, and Local Authorities all play their part to criminalise children that need help.
Study shows over half of those arrested in London may have undiagnosed ADHD & 1 in 20 may have undiagnosed autism. It prompts questions of how unmet needs contribute to patterns of criminalisation. This goes back to a lack of early ID & support in school bps.org.uk/research-digest/h…
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I’d consider looking at how existing money is spent to ensure fiscal responsibility goals are met first before claiming any impact #WeAreRichmond
Our local authority @lbrut faces crippling cuts in government funding over the next 3 years which will hurt our most vulnerable residents hard. I challenged ministers to take away the cliff edge in these cuts to funding so that vital local services can be protected.
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Soaring bills? Is it SEND or the mismanagement of SEND by LAs? I’d argue that it’s the LAs. #WeAreRichmond
This Times “speculation” had better be wrong—It would actively cause harm to children—there isn’t the expertise or infrastructure needed for this cruel plan. If it’s accurate, we will campaign against it vigorously. Which parent or school would back it? archive.is/KFcWB
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Then you have the opposite end of the spectrum, where an LA focus on care home spending due to a lack of understanding adoption, breakdown through lack pratical help, and the needs of previously looked after children #WeAreRichmond
Bleak example of a local council prioritising foster care over children’s homes to save money, not because it is the right option for children in care swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news…
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I’d also like to see LAs not using this as a primary strategy to failed adoptions, when the LAs themselves lack an adoption strategy to support families in the first place plus lack an understanding of the problem. Regional Adoption Agencies don’t work #WeAreRichmond
No one should be getting rich off the backs of vulnerable children. I am calling for radical, thoughtful investment with integrity to stop the profiteers who have turned the vital care of young people into a gold rush 👇🏻 observer.co.uk/news/national…
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Not sure some specialist schools are that capable either #WeAreRichmond
NEW POST: Teacher training firms don’t think they—or their trainees—have the skills to support mainstream pupils with complex SEND. The NASBTT’s Emma Hollis discusses how they aim to bridge the gap. specialneedsjungle.com/compl…
ALT image shows a representation of trainee teachers listening to a lecture colourised in pink and blue
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Where is @Ofstednews in all this. Councils have to notify Ofsted if a child is placed in an unregulated care home, no?
Nine in 10 councils across England are placing children in unregistered homes which can charge up to £30,000 a week per child. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqjg…
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I don’t know about fostering but the adoption system is broken WeAreRichmond
Six challenges facing adoption and fostering - and how to fix them - CYP Now cypnow.co.uk/content/in-dept…
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Can’t even get an education school year 2024/25 and nobody is listening to the child #WeAreRichmond
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Only Sheffield? #WeAreRichmond
Sheffield Council action to deal with “widespread failings” in SEND children’s services thestar.co.uk/news/politics/…
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Much needed #WeAreRichmond
Mum fights for autism law after daughter's death. Lolly's Law would see professionals having detailed and proper training in autism, and how it presents itself in women. bbc.com/news/articles/ce352r…
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No “rigour” in our EHCP. Even the fact that the EHCP is a legal document means nothing to our LA. They do as they please it seems #WeAreRichmond
Supporting kids with Send is expensive. But the cost of not doing so is far greater | Carrie Grant | The Guardian - thanks to @theguardianfeed for giving me the opportunity to write about this important subject. theguardian.com/commentisfre…
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Maladministration. Breaching Data Protection. Seems they can get away with making it up and never have to change the false narrative #WeAreRichmond
Social Work think they know every. Their court reports are largely fabricated to paint their picture. Court never challenges the veracity of these reports they’re taken as fact
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Unconscious bias, always looking to validate the problem and not open minded enough to help. Everything is outsourced and they take no responsibility either #WeAreRichmond
This blame game is endemic across the UK. How many families have been destroyed by such cruel assumptions? I know it all too well. My own daughter was taken from me under false accusations, with years of harm caused by the system meant to protect her. The trauma never leaves.
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Social services are ignorant about many topics. Especially when it comes to children’s care #WeAreRichmond
Thanks for covering this. There is so much ignorance about ME in social services. Why are social workers not trained? I'm currently being ghosted by @CambsCC who are ignoring all my emails & leaving me without care for weeks. I wonder if they think I'm making it up too.
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The biggest issue for me is that EHCPs aren’t the holy grail that people think they are. LAs fail to deliver and that is if they can write an effective EHCP in the first place. #WeAreRichmond
Super-proud of my @IPSEAcharity colleague Kate Cox explaining so clearly why children with SEND need a legal right to support with education.
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