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sharonlsmith.bsky.social
‘Dr. mum’. Learning about: ‘wacky philosophies’, creative research approaches, education, disability, inclusion, (not)belonging, becoming, co-production, risk/vulnerability, policy, Down syndrome. Co-director Special Needs Jungle https://linktr.ee/sharonls
73 posts 875 followers 943 following
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NEW POST: @captaink77.bsky.social looks at Ofsted/CQC Area SEND Inspection outcomes and finds most are mediocre. But, he asks, are inspectors looking to go easier on local areas? www.specialneedsjungle.com/m...

submitted 2 hours ago • 0 comments

Ofsted offers first look at new report cards for schools, including scores for inclusion www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

The second edition of our Dementia Workbook launches tomorrow (Wed 29 Jan) at noon! Join us for a free webinar to find out more about this unique ‘must have’ tool for caring for adults who have Down’s syndrome. Register here: www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/our-work/ser...

submitted 37 days ago • 0 comments

NEW POST: Should “SEN Support” be made a legal duty to make it work children with SEND? And what would that look like? Catriona Moore of IPSEA and Imogen Steele of Contact have teamed up to lay it out for us www.specialneedsjungle.com/should-sen-s... #SEND #SENDfamily #SNJ

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

Hello Bluesky!! Not long now until my fundraising trip to climb Kilimanjaro for the Down's Syndrome Association. If you would like to donate, you can do so here: downssyndrome.enthuse.com/pf/sarah-cla...

submitted 43 days ago • 1 comment

“Relevant to anyone interested in how we can learn about the changing world we live in through creative engagement with different ‘things’.” @sharonlsmith.bsky.social on a valuable new book edited by @rcecoleman.bsky.social , @katjungnickel.bsky.social and Nirmal Puwar. buff.ly/4irA5Ob

submitted 43 days ago • 0 comments

For those supporting people who have Down’s syndrome, our new pain resource suggests ways to help them communicate and identify pain and offers strategies to deal with that pain and where to seek medical advice. Click here to download 👉 www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/wp-content/u...

submitted 50 days ago • 0 comments

If you’re new here you can find our directors here: @tanialt.bsky.social @renatawatts.bsky.social @sharonlsmith.bsky.social @gilliandoherty.bsky.social & team members @captaink77.bsky.social @catrionamoore.bsky.social @rachel.stopsafetyvalve.uk Why not give them a follow! #TeamSNJ

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

There are around 10k private school kids in Edinburgh. 51 have moved to state schools in January. As I've repeatedly said the effects of VAT on fees are going to be minimal. www.thetimes.com/article/ab42...

submitted 48 days ago • 115 comments

⭐We want to hear from you! ⭐ The theme for Down's Syndrome Awareness week 2025 is #ImproveOurSupportSystems. We would love to hear your thoughts! 🤔What does good support looks like to you? 🤔 What would you like support to look like in the future?

submitted 78 days ago • 1 comment

NEW POST: The same but different: Understanding #SEND and inclusion in schools today. A really important article from two leading SEND experts, Malcolm Reeve and @amandawr8.bsky.social of #WholeSchoolSEND, Please forward to your child’s school www.specialneedsjungle.com/u...

submitted 52 days ago • 1 comment

This is a great story from @journo-jess.bsky.social - emphasis firmly on the impact on families of Birmingham’s SEND dysfunction www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

submitted 74 days ago • 1 comment

£100m that could have gone on support. On education! As a SEND parent, unless you work directly with or are one, you might not understand the exhaustion of just doing the morning routine let alone fighting ‘professionals’ to ‘allow’ your child to be educated (a public service?).

submitted 74 days ago • 0 comments

The FT have also covered some of the causes of the crisis, although perhaps unknowingly. www.ft.com/content/5147...

submitted 74 days ago • 6 comments

Thank you @sharonlsmith.bsky.social for your book review. You've really captured how the methods featured were often craftily and imaginatively developed 'to carve out spaces and forge productive relationships' of resistance, respect, collaboration + care thesociologicalreview.org/reviews/how-...

submitted 83 days ago • 1 comment

NEW POST: 2024 saw a 55% rise in SEND Tribunal appeals. LAs had a 1.3% success rate that cost them £153m. But the cost to families? Incalculable. @CaptainK77 points out what it all means, along with our usual infographics from @TaniaLT www.specialneedsjung...{SOCIAL_NETWORK}&utm_medium=ZM

submitted 84 days ago • 0 comments

Sharing this on behalf of Fern If you are a parent of a young person with Special Educational Needs who has attended an SEN school and post-16 provision, please clink on this link to complete the survey: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/XPBS88/

submitted 84 days ago • 0 comments

Academic post of the day

submitted 85 days ago • 0 comments

We need help from adults aged 40+ with Down's syndrome and family/carers to make a film together to train health & social care staff. We want you to share your experiences of falling & ideas about what helps you to move safely, to help staff to support you. Please get in touch! 📍London, UK

submitted 85 days ago • 2 comments

UK govt and local authorities indicating preparedness to reduce already inadequate #SEND provision by tweaking definitions of SEND, mainstream, specialist etc, thereby denying children of their right to an education that meets need. Orwellian doublethink at its most insidious.

submitted 86 days ago • 0 comments

I'm looking for Creative Writing academics - do you know any here? I made a Starter Pack for those I've spotted already, but I know there must be many more (and my list skews female right now!). Reply to be added (or taken off, of course). Thanks! go.bsky.app/3Tumz8d #AcademicSky #writingcommunity

submitted 112 days ago • 40 comments

NEW POST: Many LAs are drastically cutting Post-16 transport, leaving disabled young people unable to get to college safely. A new report shows 65% of learners missed the academic year through transport issues. Ruth Perry of Natspec explains more… www.specialneedsjung...

submitted 91 days ago • 1 comment

People who have Down’s syndrome don’t work? Do they? A 🧵 about Down’s Syndrome. 1/9

submitted 91 days ago • 1 comment

NEW POST: Our SEND funding analyst, Matt Keer, looks behind the headlines at the SEND funding announcement. Will £740m make mainstream schools truly accessible? Plus SEND safety valve deals halted—we’ll take that as a win! www.specialneedsjung...

submitted 92 days ago • 2 comments

Thank you @thercn.bsky.social - 💯 With two more trials of women due soon, this is urgent www.rcn.org.uk/About-us/Our...

submitted 93 days ago • 0 comments

If you're posting about International Day of Persons With Disabilities, please make sure that your content is accessible. Caption videos, add alt text to images, format hashtags properly, write in plain language, and don't use ableist words or phrases. Thanks! #IDPWD #Disability #Accessibility

submitted 93 days ago • 0 comments

Where are our European #philosophers of #education at?! Come to this in the summer! #PESAConference2024 #philsky #academicsky #edusky

submitted 93 days ago • 0 comments

Here's the debate from yesterday's vote on the Assisted Dying Bill. It's worth a read wherever you sit on this. hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024...

submitted 97 days ago • 0 comments

A new government white paper has promised a “fundamentally different” approach to employment support, including “tackling ill health as the biggest driver of inactivity”, but it has left critical questions unanswered about Labour’s plans for disability benefits.

submitted 97 days ago • 0 comments

A disabled Labour MP has vowed to push her government to implement the UN disability convention into UK law, as she delivered a lecture set up to remember a much-admired activist.

submitted 97 days ago • 2 comments

Pinned post: This Bluesky account is based on my own personal views. Sharing posts ≠ endorsement, it might just be that I find something interesting or useful to have on my feed. I reserve the right to delete posts because I either change my mind or want to tidy up my feed. Please be kind. Thanks 😊

submitted 96 days ago • 0 comments

My direct appeal to @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social & Keir_Starmer in the light of yesterday's vote on AD. If they sincerely care about dying people, surely now they will publicly & urgently commit to properly funding our threadbare, neglected palliative care? www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

submitted 97 days ago • 31 comments

"Stories of crisis and struggle told by parents and carers who never sought a campaigning role". Some reflections from a session we hosted with @chrischirp.bsky.social on the challenges in special educational needs and disabilities provision. www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

submitted 98 days ago • 1 comment

The Assisted Dying Bill has passed Second Reading. What I would ask now is that all those who spoke out about their concerns for disabled and vulnerable people in society, get yourselves out on the streets and fight for them. Be real allies. Defend the human rights of my learning disabled son. 🙏🏼

submitted 97 days ago • 9 comments

NEW POST: What is Ordinarily Available Provision for learners with #SEND? And is it a friend or foe when it comes to getting the right support? We have Part 1 of a two-part article from veteran SEND expert, Philippa Stobbs OBE www.specialneedsjungle.com/ordinarily-a... #SEND #SENDfamily

submitted 98 days ago • 0 comments

The day is here. MPs will debate the Assisted Dying Bill from 9:30 until approximately 14:30. They will vote at least three times (and possibly up to five). Our guide to the Private Member's Bill process explains the day's events step-by-step.🔽 https://buff.ly/4ePWj9A

submitted 98 days ago • 3 comments

Not on my watch Nigel - abortion time limits protect those who face the tragedy of fatal foetal abnormality from being forced to give birth to a baby that will die, not a weapon for you to get votes.

submitted 98 days ago • 15 comments

As SEC members, we fully endorse this comprehensive submission to the Curriculum & Assessment Review. Capacity issues mean we haven't done a separate one ourselves but everything in here is what we would say, so we're happy to let it speak for us. councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/defaul...

submitted 98 days ago • 0 comments

NEW POST: Think work first: Julie Pointer expands on the recent Lords report about helping disabled young people thrive, by explaining more about how NDTi is increasing opportunities for supporting young adults with #SEND into work www.specialneedsjungle.com/think-work-f...

submitted 100 days ago • 0 comments

Looking forward to attending this next week 👌

submitted 99 days ago • 0 comments

It's important to have your say on the Change NHS consultation! Watch Harshi and Emma, from the Our Voice network, explain. youtu.be/pu-JllDqhAM?... Find all the important links, including to the Easy Read version of the survey, here: loom.ly/pOAj_Sw

submitted 104 days ago • 0 comments

Last week was UK Parliament Week and Sam, Alex, Bethan and Joe shared their thoughts with us after spending time discussing it with their Our Voice colleagues. #ukpw youtube.com/shorts/00O3r...

submitted 99 days ago • 0 comments

Excellent piece in a week when the 'economically inactive' are targeted. 4 in 10 parents of children with special educational needs have stopped working [prob higher figure in reality] with mothers are hit hardest. There's much that sibling carers will see in this too. #SEND #familycarer

submitted 99 days ago • 3 comments

This #LearningDisability Starter Pack includes a growing number of #JusticeforLB ers go.bsky.app/J6k8Rsr inc @sarasiobhan.bsky.social @lizpiercy.bsky.social @jennywalkabout.bsky.social @alexadwilson.bsky.social @profkrc.bsky.social @karachrome.bsky.social @davidh7.bsky.social @sabasalman.bsky.social

submitted 101 days ago • 4 comments

We need to remember that SEN is a policy framework devised by the Govt If SEN is a problem, it’s one of the Govt’s own making If ~30% of kids need something that is ‘additional to and different from’ that which is typically provided, perhaps we need to start thinking more about typical provision?

submitted 103 days ago • 4 comments