1st Edition
Once Upon an Outreach Teacher Stories, Tips and Insights into Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools
An outreach teacher’s job is full of challenges, questions and surprises! Once Upon an Outreach Teacher is a collection of stories about young people with special educational needs and disabilities at the heart of mainstream schools, and about the people who support them and help them succeed.
The authentic, insightful and sometimes humorous stories explore themes ranging from the learning environment, pupil independence and the importance of self‑esteem, to working with parents and other professionals. Each chapter is accompanied by checklists or helpful tips drawn from real‑life situations to increase understanding, offer solutions and provoke further thought. The stories and anecdotes, which follow the author’s life as an outreach teacher, span from nursery to secondary settings and share both the struggles and the triumphs of children and young people. The author goes on to consider inclusion more broadly and what the future may hold.
This unique and informative collection will appeal to anyone who works in mainstream or special schools who is looking for an entertaining read which will also enable them to better support their pupils. It will be of particular interest to working and aspiring outreach teachers, special educational needs coordinators, teachers and teaching assistants and anyone who is interested in what is happening in our schools today.
1. Making a Difference: How outreach teachers, and others, can help 2. Safety First: Practical tips for the job, working in the community 3. Lobby: The busy job of the office manager, and other school teams 4. Mud and Twigs: The importance of play for primary and secondary pupils 5. Shiny Things: Passing on good advice, start and finish trays 6. Dogs: How animals can help, parent’s point of view 7. Wrong Again: Talking to children, trigger words 8. What’s the Difference: Inclusion, gender dysphoria and history of special education 9. System:Dyslexia and self-esteem 10. Tweaks: Ways to help engagement in primary school 11. Yes, but…:Teacher’s point of view, and quick and dirty tips 12. A Word about Phonics: Phonics and whole word methods of learning to read 13. Upon Reflection: Masking in autism, not making assumptions 14. Just like Mum and Dad: How children copy, and how we can use that 15. And the Award goes to…: Motivators used in schools 16. It’s Not Fair! : Perfectionism, sense of right and wrong 17. Feeling Cross: Feelings in school, pupils and staff 18. Leaving Mum: Emotion Based School Avoidance 19. Away with the Fairies: Attention and focus 20. Chat with Liam: Young person’s point of view 21. Ups and Downs: Supporting child with Down syndrome 22. Don’t Forget to Remember: Working memory and retention 23. Top of Every Field: Dyslexia 24. Best Half Hour of the Week: Complex needs 25. Outreach Confidential: Ethical dilemma, involving young people 26. Ouch: Self-injurious behaviour 27. Independence: Growth mindset, learned helplessness 28. Environment: Classroom and sensory issues 29. TA Very Much: Teaching assistants’ points of view 30. The End: Leaving the job 31. Dysartia: Imagined disorder, if creativity was valued more than literacy and maths
Biography
Ginny Brown qualified as a teacher in Nottingham in 1980. Since then, she has taught in a range of special and mainstream schools and has held various positions including classroom teacher, teaching assistant and deputy head. Ginny is now an outreach teacher, working within a team that supports the needs of children and young people with a range of learning needs in dozens of schools, from nursery to secondary.
