Welcome to our latest edition of the Catalyst Courier. If you have information to share or topics, you’d like us to cover please get in touch ([email protected]) 

Our latest SENDCO Network was held in person, at the Old Parsonage, with information from Dr Teresa Regan, Managing Director and Principal Educational Psychologist who led feedback on the recent national conference she attended to hear the DfE updates on the SEND Implementation Plan including some information about Alternative Provision. There was also a workshop led by Trainee Educational Psychologist Sally McCormick on the (changing) role of the EP and an update from Catalyst on sharing resources and information.

Catalyst Courier December 2023

Welcome to our latest edition of the Catalyst Courier. If you have information to share or topics, you’d like us to cover please get in touch ([email protected]) 

Our December SENDCO Network was held in person, at the Old Parsonage, with information from Dr Teresa Regan, Managing Director and Principal Educational Psychologist who led discussion around the new government SEND Implementation Plan and what this means for us locally. As well as a workshop on – Writing SMART outcomes and an update from Catalyst on sharing resources and information.

Our next SENDCO Network is 31st January 2024

Welcome to our latest edition of the Catalyst Courier. If you have information to share or topics, you’d like us to cover please get in touch ([email protected]) 

Our November SENDCO Network was held in person, at the Old Parsonage, with information from Dr Teresa Regan, Managing Director and Principal Educational Psychologist who led discussion around the new MCC EHCP pilot and subsequent Catalyst audit with input from SENDCos and feedback from SENDCos on experiences of recent OFSTED inspections.

Welcome to our latest edition of the Catalyst Courier. If you have information to share or topics you’d like us to cover please get in touch ([email protected]) 

Due to the conference preperations we did not send out a Catalyst Courier in May or June, so we have included information, slides and resources from the May SENDCO Network, and the Catalyst Conference in the July edition of the Courier. 

• The May SENDCO Network at the Old Parsonage included a workshop with Dr Rebecca Wright on Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism. 
• We have also published a page with information from our June conference: Inclusion Matters 2023: "It takes a village to raise a child...fostering resilient communities through inclusive practice.
• The July SENDCO Network was also held at the Old Parsonage, with information from Dr Rhonda Boaler, Educational Psychologist on her doctoral research into Emotionally Based School Avoidance. Dr Teresa Regan then facilitated a discussion on the Manchester LA EHCP pilot. 

"......fostering resilient communities through inclusive practice"

In our present times of global upheaval, our school communities need to be places of security and stability for our children. All schools work with children and families who face many challenges as they interact with an education system that struggles to accommodate diverse needs. Increasingly, schools have become the only remaining ‘universal service’, open to all and free at the point of access, with increased pressures on school staff as other services have fallen away or ceased to exist at all.

“It takes a Village to raise a child…” is an African proverb meaning that an entire community of people must interact with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. Equally, if that community neglects or forgets about some of their children and young people, life chances may be diminished with an impact that can become lifelong.

Our Inclusion Matters conference this year offered an opportunity for school staff, education professionals, educational psychologists, parents and carers to come together and consider what it means for a school to be at the centre of the ‘village’, to listen to ideas from others seeking solutions, to experience different ways of coming together as a community and to gather strategies and resources to sustain educational professionals, parents and carers through the coming months.

Welcome to our latest edition of the Catalyst Courier. If you have information to share or topics you’d like us to cover please get in touch ([email protected]) 

This SENDCO Network was held at the Old Parsonage, with information from Kivlan Legate, Trainee Educational Psychologist on his doctoral thesis project 'Community Cohesion in Schools'. Dr Teresa Regan and Grace Stevens had updates on resources that have been posted to the website.  

Welcome to our latest edition of the Catalyst Courier. If you have information to share or topics you’d like us to cover please get in touch ([email protected]) 

With the Easter holiday starting next week, you might like to take time out to visit the Primary Schools Spring Art Exhibition at The Old Parsonage, set in the beautiful grounds of the Parsonage Gardens. Local schools represented include: Beaver Road, The Birches, Cavendish, Lancasterian, St Catherine's, St Wilfrid's, Broad Oak, Didsbury CE and West Didsbury CE.

Download the poster and further information here.

Welcome to our latest edition of the Catalyst Courier. If you have information to share or topics you’d like us to cover please get in touch ([email protected]) 

This SENDCO Network was held virtually, with information from Sally McCormick on parents and carers of autistic girls 

You can access a copy of the slides here: Working with Parents and Carers of Autistic Girls

In the session, we heard from Sally about her research carried out as part of the Doctorate in Education and Child Psychology at the University of Manchester. Her research aims to explore how Educational Psychologists can work effectively with parents or carers of autistic girls. Autistic girls are underrepresented in the literature, and there is also a gap in the literature on how to support parents and carers of autistic girls.

Welcome to our latest edition of the Catalyst Courier. This year, our aim is to produce a newsletter following each of our SENDCO Networks, with news and information arising from the monthly SENDCO Network meetings. If you have information to share or topics you’d like us to cover please get in touch ([email protected]) 

The first SENDCO Network of this academic year was held virtually, with information from our Early Years Intervention and Support Service (EYISS) Senior Educational Psychologist Hannah McHugh, and Assistant Psychologist, Grace Stevens. 

Dr Teresa Regan also led a session with an update on the SEND review, a discussion on the Ofsted research paper: ‘Alternative provision for primary-age pupils in England: a long-term ‘destination’ or a ‘temporary solution?’ and signposting a report from the Children's Commissioner.

On Friday 24th June, adults from a variety of backgrounds, with an interest in education gathered together at Gorton Monastery after 3 years since our last Catalyst Psychology conference. This conference asked participants to reimagine how school might become a place where the pressure to be identified, rehabilitated and conform to the dominant culture, can feel less overwhelming for all.