Hi, I'm Tina, a former experienced teacher, and I have been working with PANS PANDAS UK, a charity focused on these post infectious neuro-inflammatory conditions for around three years. These conditions can cause children to quickly deteriorate from doing well in school to having complex needs. Awareness about these conditions is currently low, but it is improving thanks to recent advances in the medical field, a Parliamentary debate and media coverage. PANS/ PANDAS can present with some unusual characteristics, and this combined with a lack of awareness and training for schools has made things more difficult. The recent recognition of both PANS/PANDAS as distinct diseases by the NHS, now presents a great opportunity to raise further awareness across education. 

I am an experienced education leader with over 25 years across all school phases, specialising in inclusive education and special educational needs and am Managing Director of Momenta Connect which is part of Outcomes First Group, a trusted leader in education, attendance and clinical services.

I have spent over 30 years in education working in many different roles from teaching assistant to mainstream class teacher, senior leader within several special needs schools, Headteacher of an all-age special needs school and finally an independent consultant. Alongside the practitioner roles in my spare time, I spent nearly 20 years as a researcher. I completed a master's degree, a PhD in Special Education, presented nationally/internationally at conferences and became a published author of my research. I have just written a book on the teaching of reading to all learners, due in March! I am passionate about making a positive difference to the lives, attitudes and outcomes of those who may struggle to learn. I have learnt that it is only through a change in the culture of the adults that we can really make a difference to the opportunities for all children and young adults.

I am a Clinical Director at Momenta Connect.  I work closely with educators, clinicians and local systems to create approaches that are sustainable, scalable and centred on the needs of children and young people.

Hello, I'm Lynn. I'm an educational consultant supporting all things SEND (but especially SENCos). I have 20 years of primary teaching and SLT experience. I have been an Assistant Head, Lead Mentor for ITT and SENCo. I love to write and also have my own SEMH and staff mental health blog: www.positiveyoungmind.com I hold an MA in Education, NASENCO and NPQH. My particular areas of interest are wellbeing (staff and pupil), SEND, SLCN, children’s mental health, leadership, mentoring and coaching. Recently I started an Educational Consultancy business for SEND (SEND support) and Teacher Wellbeing (The Wellbeing Lady). All my SENCO freebies can be found here: https://positiveyoungmind.com/senco-resources/  I have a teacher coaching group on Facebook; a group for those wishing to improve their work-life balance in school or who need support in moving out of teaching: https://www.facebook.com/groups/coachingforteacherwellbeing  Looking forward to connecting!

I'm an experienced school leader, researcher and specialist in alternative education, inclusion and learner engagement. As Assistant Head of Teaching & Learning (Quality) at Tute Education and a Research Associate and convenor within BERA’s Alternative Education Special Interest Group, my work focuses on ensuring that every young person has a meaningful pathway and a supported destination.

Arising out of my Senco experience I trained as a Caspari Educational Psychotherapist when I became aware of children who were not learning because they had 'too much on their minds'. As an Educational Psychotherapist, as well as offering clinical work to children in schools, I also offered clinical supervision to counsellors and school staff working 'at the sharp end'; and together with Educational Psychologist Dr. Tina Axup, I facilitated support groups for counsellors, Nurture group Staff and Special needs staff.  . I worked for 7 years in a project offering psychotherapy to children affected by domestic abuse, alongside their mothers receiving their own counselling and support from Women's Aid, with links into both Education and Women's aid. As part of this project I offered both staff support and training.    Subsequently I worked as a psychotherapist, consultant, trainer and staff supervisor at a PRU for 3 years, working where I saw first-hand the difference an understanding, nurturing relationship-based approach could make to both children and staff. For many years I offered Inset training to school staff including an 8 session powerpoint course funded by Southend Borough Council for their school staff.   When I retired I put all my learning and training experience into a book: "Understanding, nurturing and working effectively with vulnerable children in schools". Routledge 2020, a handbook for school staff working with puzzling and challenging children.   It offers a comprehensive and accessible exploration of the difficulties faced by teachers and schools from at-risk and disaffected children, including repeated trauma and insecure attachment patterns. It describes how a thoughtful ‘relationship based’ approach (which sees problematic repeated behaviours as unconscious communications that can be thought about and responded to from a position of understanding, rather than purely managed or drugged away) can both alleviate such difficulties, and offer a ‘second chance attachment’ experience. This experience of being thought and ‘wondered’ about by a trusted adult can slowly enable the even most vulnerable pupils to discover it might be safe to let down their all-consuming defenses a little; thus freeing them to feel secure enough to begin to learn.      it includes teacher friendly theory, for example understanding the effects of trauma on the brain, on the inner world and on behaviour; and of dysfunctional attachment patterns and unconscious processes which happen all the time in school.           It also includes: Practical suggestions in note form – making them easy to use, refer to and assimilate Many case examples, and helpful ways to think together about puzzling children and situations A wealth of ideas for ways forward, including differentiated responses to children in the light of their particular patterns, developmental stages and unmet needs. Over the last year I have completed a series of posters for school staff and trainers around these themes, which I hope will become useful resources for teacher and Senco trainers, and reminders for school staff struggling with challenging children. They are available to download and print out for free on my website: www.angelagreenwood.net