Scone well

03/11/2024

I’m trading today Leamington Xmas 🎄 market. You can find me outside Tesco

31/10/2024

Well if you’ve got a hole
In the drive you may as well make use of it. 😂

30/10/2024

First one of the season for me. I will be trading in Leamington this Sunday. Come along and say hello 👋

Event planning, management and logistics in Warwickshire. From festivals to local markets, find out how CJ’s Events can help make your next event a success.

28/10/2024

I was talking to a grandmother last week about schooling. ‘I can see the difference’ she said. ‘When my children were young, primary school was relaxed. If the weather was good, they went outside and ran around. If they were sick, they stayed at home. Now with my grandchildren they are seated in desks for more of the day and if they are ill, they are worried that they’ll lose their 100% attendance for the term. The pressure is on to pass their phonics test when they are six and then to learn their times tables at speed by the time they are nine. They feel it and and their parents feel it too’.

There’s lots of talk about SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) at the moment, and how increasing numbers of children are being identified as SEND. It’s less common to ask questions about what SEND really means, and whether the education system creates more children ‘with SEND’ as it becomes more pressured and rigid.

For what SEND really means is that a child cannot learn in the way which mainstream education expects. They cannot keep up with expectations, either for academic work or for behaviour. SEND is something which happens in the interaction between a child and the education system. In a system where no 6-year-old is expected to sit still and learn to write their name, then a 6-year-old who just wants to run around outside isn't a problem. In a system where everyone is meant to be able to read by age 6, then they are.

We know from research that if a child is young in their year, they are more likely to be identified as ‘having SEND’. We know that summer born boys are far more likely to be identified as ‘having SEND’ than autumn born girls. We know that the impact of this immaturity resonates through the years, with the youngest in the year doing less well at GCSE. We know that the number of children ‘with SEND’ is going up year on year.

It's not really plausible that more children each year have difficulties in learning, nor that being born in August makes you more likely to have learning problems than if you are born a few weeks later in September.

It’s far more likely that in the push to ‘drive up standards’ the education system is becomes less, not more, suited to how children develop and learn. It’s more likely that the system is penalising immaturity – and children are inherently immature. That isn’t a lack or a defect, it’s a defining part of childhood.

As the education system becomes more rigid and pressured, we’d expect more children not to be able to manage without adaptations. This is exactly what we see. Those children are holding up the flag for all the others, saying that this system is not child-friendly and doesn’t take account of developmental needs and differences.

What if, instead of having higher expectations of the children, we had higher expectations of the education system? What if those expectations were of flexibility, reducing pressure and prioritising lifelong learning and wellbeing instead of short-term testing?

What if we saw the increasing number of children ‘with SEND’ as a sign that the system isn’t working for the many ways in which children develop, rather than a sign that more and more children have learning difficulties? We’ll never sort the ‘SEND crisis’ until we start looking at SEND as an interaction between children and the education system. The more rigid the system is, the more children it will fail.

Illustration by Missing The Mark from the book A Different Way to Learn.

26/10/2024

This is my fab cousin and her amazing hubby. Follow along to see the great work they are doing.

05/10/2024

01/10/2024

The auction will help Northleigh House, which has helped vulnerable children since 2012, to expand.

24/09/2024

News and updates from Food Standards Agency

23/09/2024

CHAIR YOGA - a seated complete practice. A supportive and friendly community with spaces open this term.

Do you know someone who would benefit from our chair yoga group? One of ’s training accreditations is in chair and assessable yoga and she offers a Wednesday morning session at 10:30am.

Besides a full and rewarding practice there’s a wonderful community of students where friendships have formed and it’s become a lovely supportive group.

Booking links can be found in our bio, on our website or you can contact us via email or message and we’ll get back to you.

17/09/2024

17/09/2024

Northleigh House School in Warwickshire are hosting a fundraising auction featuring 90 original postcard-sized artworks featuring some stellar UK artists and creatives.

14/09/2024

Impromptu visit to Kineton this morning. Stopped off . Yummers !

14/09/2024

📣There’s only two more Public Open Days to visit Charlecote Mill this year. Tomorrow and the 13th of October. Tomorrow we will be joined by our friends & with all their lovely goodies for sale too. Who’s coming? We look forward to welcoming you 🌊⚙️🌾

08/09/2024

Don’t hate me for mentioning the C word. But this Xmas chutney takes a long time to mature and turn into the perfect accompaniment to your cheese and cold meats.

07/09/2024

Hanging out today with the fab team Leamington. Offering tastings on my hand made artisan preserves, marmalade and chutney. Lovely to meet so many new customers. Jams and marmalade available now, chutney coming mid October.
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24/08/2024

Stocktake time. Autumn planning and getting ready for what’s shaping up to be my biggest year so far. I’m very grateful for all your support ❤️

24/08/2024

Come along and explore this amazing historical Charlecote Mill

Looking for something to do on bank holiday Monday that doesn’t cost the earth?! Why not come along and discover Charlecote Mill, the last working watermill in Warwickshire. With our good friends &
Details in the poster below 🌊⚙️🌾