SEN2008 – another successful ISC special educational needs conference

Written by Hayley Dunlop

One of the most popular dates in the busy ISC events calendar is the annual SEN conference for Learning Support Workers, SENCos and Heads from UK independent schools. Feedback for previous ISC SEN events has always been exceptional, and SEN2008, which took place on Tuesday 4th November at Hotel Russell in London, was consequently a sell-out, with over 250 delegates and more than 20 exhibitors making this year’s SEN event the most popular yet.

ISC schools recognise that providing children who have special educational needs (SEN) with high-quality learning appropriate to their needs is vital for these pupils’ long-term success and development. The ISC SEN events are therefore crucial for independent schools, to ensure they remain updated on the latest legislation, and also providing a rare and valuable opportunity for delegates to network and share best practice on topics such as dyslexia and ADHD. The lively exhibition area also enables practitioners to view the latest resources, materials and techniques to aid and improve their specialist teaching.

For the third year in a row, delegates were provided with much food for thought from a variety of high-quality speakers through a series of engaging, interactive sessions. Speakers ranged from educational psychologists, lawyers specialising in SEN, and representatives from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Topics on the agenda included a valuable overview of the Disability and Discrimination Act, the controversial children’s database ContactPoint, dyspraxia, speech and language difficulties and school inspections.

Further information about choosing an independent school for a child with special educational needs (SEN) is available on the ISC website here

SEN2008 was strongly supported by five sponsors. Details of each can be found in the downloadable conference programme

SEN2008 was followed the next day by the first ever ISC Marketing Conference, Marketing2008 Aimed at Heads, Marketing Managers, Development Directors and Registrars, the inaugural event advised schools on the importance of improving and adapting marketing activity in the light of the many economic, social and technological changes faced by independent school marketers. The event proved to be the largest one-day marketing event in the independent education sector, and following excellent feedback from attendees and exhibitors, ISC hopes to run a similar event again next year.

The SEN2008 programme is available here.

For more information on SEN view our special educational needs section in our Parent Zone

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• A public school education for my child?
• Educational mobility

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 1:05 pm by Hayley Dunlop and is filed under News, Special Educational Needs (SEN). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.