Build your own SEND learning experience

Explore two days of expert-led CPD seminars covering the challenges and opportunities facing SEND professionals. From inclusive practice and early identification to mental health, communication and preparing for adulthood, discover practical ideas to take back to your setting.

One ticket gives you access to every CPD seminar across both days, so you can choose the sessions that matter most to you.

Browse the 2027 programme below and start planning your visit to Tes SEND Show North on 5–6 February at Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester.

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Speaker presenting at Tes SEND Show North 2026
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11:00
  1. From Frustration to Fun: Rethinking Maths for Learners with dyscalculia or maths difficulties
    45 mins
    Learners with Dyscalculia or maths difficulties often feel anxious and frustrated in maths lessons and find it challenging to keep up with the pace of class work. This session will focus on supporting …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Rob Jennings
    Rob Jennings, Co-founder - The Dyscalculia Network C.I.C
    Speaker image for Cat Eadle
    Cat Eadle, Co-founder - The Dyscalculia Network C.I.C
  2. Early identification and responding to emerging needs, and the importance of the APDR cycle
    45 mins
    In this session the importance of early identification will be explored, and how getting to know our pupils can help us put support in place, earlier. We will look at supportive tools and strategies f …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Sam McFarlane
    Sam McFarlane, Education Officer - nasen
  3. Why Your SEND Pupils Have Switched Off : A Psychological Toolkit for Re-Engaging SEND and AP Pupils
    45 mins
    This session explains why the usual behaviour management strategies don't cut through anymore... and what we should do instead. Dr Ben Levy draws on 25 years' practice as a Senior Educational and Chil …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Dr Ben Levy
    Dr Ben Levy, Senior Educational and Child Psychologist; Founder - Magic Lessons
  4. From Inclusion to Independence: Preparing for Adulthood in every Classroom
    45 mins
    How can mainstream schools build aspiration, belonging, agency and adult-life outcomes from the earliest years
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Richard Kirkup
    Richard Kirkup, Programme Lead for Children and Young People; Chair - National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi); Special Education Consortium
12:15
  1. ADHD and Literacy: Strategies that Actually Work for Reading, Writing and Oracy
    45 mins
    This practical session explores how ADHD affects reading, writing and oracy through attention, working memory, processing, task initiation, language and comprehension. It explains why some pupils can …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Stephanie Batey
    Stephanie Batey, Founder and CEO - Inclusive Teacher Co
  2. Beyond Attendance: Understanding and Responding to Anxious Non-Attendance in Autistic Young People in Mainstream Settings
    45 mins
    Anxious non-attendance is often misunderstood as behavioural or attendance-related when it may instead reflect unmet needs, anxiety and overwhelm. Drawing on autistic lived experience, this session wi …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Jenny Hewitt
    Jenny Hewitt, Director of Services - Daisy Chain
  3. The Reality of Type 1 Diabetes: What Every Educator Should Know
    45 mins
    This 45 minute session explores the growing prevalence of Type 1 Diabetes among children and young people and the implications for education settings. Delegates will gain an understanding of current d …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Gail Donlon
    Gail Donlon, Lead LSA for Intervention / Together Type 1 Young Leader
  4. AI Manipulation and Deepfake Threats
    45 mins
    This presentation examines how artificial intelligence is transforming the creation and manipulation of images, videos and identities, and what this means for children's safety. It explores the risks …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Phillip Painter
    Phillip Painter, Safeguarding consultant - Confederation of School Trusts
13:30
  1. Creating Joyful Play Experiences for Young Autistic Children.
    45 mins
    This seminar introduces a way to play that enables adults to create joyful play experiences for young autistic children. This intersubjective approach from New Zealand has successfully supported paren …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Neil Stuart
    Neil Stuart, Former National Education Manager
    Speaker image for Carole Wood
    Carole Wood, Education Advisor and teacher of the Deaf
    Speaker image for Alison Taylor
    Alison Taylor, Former university lecturer in SENDI
  2. Making Thinking Visible: Practical Strategies for Metacognition and Executive Function
    45 mins
    This seminar explores how metacognitive approaches and executive functioning strategies can improve outcomes for all learners, particularly those with SEND and neurodivergent profiles. Participants wi …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Dawn Cranshaw
    Dawn Cranshaw, North West Regional Lead for Whole School SEND - Whole School SEND, nasen
  3. AAC Essentials: Building Communication Rich Classrooms
    45 mins
    Many learners with speech, language and communication needs use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to learn, participate and express themselves. This practical seminar introduces aided l …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Katy Leckenby
    Katy Leckenby, Specialist teacher, AAC consultant and Partnerships and Consultancy Manager - Ace Centre
  4. Social, Emotional and Mental Health; Managing Risk and Suicide Prevention
    45 mins
    This seminar will cover how whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing can act as protective factor against suicide and self-harm, how to recognise and support pupils at risk and how postv …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Dr Hannah Hulme
    Dr Hannah Hulme, Educational Psychologist - Tameside Educational Psychology Service
14:45
  1. Connected Classrooms: Embedding Mental Health into Mainstream Practice
    45 mins
    Supporting a whole child in mainstream education requires balancing academic growth with mental health and emotional well-being using trauma infoprmaed approaches . By embedding social-emotional learn …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Cate Marsden
    Cate Marsden, Director of External Partnerships - Woodbridge Trust
    Speaker image for Vicky Barker
    Vicky Barker, Head - Woodbridge SEND Service
  2. From strategy to everyday practice: making mainstream inclusion happen
    45 mins
    Rochdale will share its evolving approach to mainstream inclusion, bringing together education, health, specialist expertise and digital innovation. Through practical examples including the developmen …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Francesca Soan
    Francesca Soan, Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) for SEND - NHS Greater Manchester
    Speaker image for Charlotte Mitchell
    Charlotte Mitchell, Assistant Director for Schools and Inclusion - Rochdale Borough Council
  3. Supporting Children with Complex Needs
    45 mins
    Drawing upon related theory and practice, this workshop explores how practitioners can develop their understanding of complex needs through meaningful connectivity in the classroom. Practitioners will …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Laura Mills
    Laura Mills, SEND Regional Lead - nasen Spotlight
    Speaker image for Dr Julia Lindley-Baker
    Dr Julia Lindley-Baker, SEND Regional Lead - The Elliot Foundation
  4. Using the Mixed Ability model to enrich experiences in SEND, Mainstream and Community physical activity sessions.
    45 mins
    We will explore the versatility of Mixed Ability activities to radically change the way we think of, join in and enjoy sports, leading to a fairer and more equal society. We will share examples of bri …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Tom Beattie
    Tom Beattie
    Speaker image for Hayley Fitzgerald
    Hayley Fitzgerald, Professor of Disability Sport - Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University
    Speaker image for Mark Goodwin
    Mark Goodwin
    Speaker image for Katie Peacock
    Katie Peacock, Founder - Exclusively Inclusive
16:00
  1. The AI Mega Prompt Approach: Transformative Leadership and Learning in SEND
    45 mins
    Discover how the AI Mega Prompt Approach can transform the way SENDCOs, teachers and support staff use AI to support inclusive practice in mainstream settings. Moving beyond simple prompts and generic …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Martin Bailey
    Martin Bailey, Director (Animate 2 Educate) & Digital Enrichment Leader (Birchwood Primary School) - Animate 2 Educate
  2. Specialist Inclusion Bases: From Ambition to Implementation
    45 mins
    The lexicon of inclusive provision may be changing, but schools have been developing these models for decades. Their strongest examples show what is possible when ambition is matched by deliberate sys …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Amanda Goldthorpe-Hall, MBA, CMgr FCMI
    Amanda Goldthorpe-Hall, MBA, CMgr FCMI, School Business Leader - Philip Southcote School
  3. The Sweet Spot: How Small Changes in the Early Years Can Transform Communication, Regulation and Learning.
    45 mins
    Increasingly, parents and early-years practitioners recognise differences in communication, sensory processing, play and emotional regulation long before a child receives assessment or diagnosis. This …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Ange Anderson
    Ange Anderson, SEND and Neurodiversity Adviser, Author and Former Special School Headteacher
  4. Seeing the Whole Child: Using an Intersectionality Lens in SEND Practice
    45 mins
    Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) will relate to multiple, intersecting identities, including ethnicity, gender, disadvantage, language, culture, disability and others. T …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Dr Chandrika Devarakonda
    Dr Chandrika Devarakonda, Associate Professor - University of Chester
11:00
  1. Effective Working with Outside Agencies in Mainstream Settings
    45 mins
    This session will explore how schools can develop effective, purposeful partnerships with outside agencies to improve outcomes for learners with SEND. It will consider when and why to seek specialist …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Zoe Mather
    Zoe Mather, Education Officer - nasen
  2. Avoiding SEND Mis-interventions in mainstream settings.
    45 mins
    Schools often respond to SEND with more interventions, more paperwork and more adult support. Yet some well-intended approaches can reduce independence, narrow access to the curriculum and make inclus …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Halui Angus FCCT
    Halui Angus FCCT, Science teacher, former headteacher and founder of The Excellence Classroom
  3. A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Preventing Autistic Burnout
    45 mins
    In this presentation, Jess and Helen, both Autistic and ADHD, former teachers and parents of multiply neurodivergent children, bring experience from across early years, primary, and secondary settings …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Jess Garner
    Jess Garner, Founder & Director, Ba Hons, PGCE, MA Autism (Distinction) - GROVE
    Speaker image for Helen Edgar
    Helen Edgar, Founder; SEND Teacher, Autistic Advocate, BA Hons, PGCE, PGDip SEND - Autistic Realms
  4. Rethinking SEND in the early years: what children really need from us in mainstream settings
    45 mins
    This thought provoking session challenges ideas about SEND in the early years and replaces them with a strengths based, developmentally informed understanding of how very young children learn best. It …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Jayne Carter
    Jayne Carter, Programme Development Lead - Partnership for Children
    Speaker image for Vicky Cook
    Vicky Cook, SENDCO - St Peter at Gowts C of E Primary School
12:15
  1. Safeguarding professional identity and teacher wellbeing
    45 mins
    This seminar explores how professional identity shapes wellbeing, coping, and practice whilst working within increasingly complex educational environments. Drawing on research into teacher identity, i …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Dr Julia Lindley-Baker
    Dr Julia Lindley-Baker, SEND Regional Lead - The Elliot Foundation