There’s this amazing new podcast by some Mackem areshole...

Finally got around to starting to listen to this (can't believe I first heard about it in June - sorry Pete!) and its bloomin' fascinatating.
Put aside the fact that I'm not involved in SEN work its still a brilliant listen on a number of levels. First and foremost more lovely* Pete 'Lovely' Wells and his infectous humour. Secondly an insight into a really important but often forgotten (by those not involved) part of education.
But thirdly and most importantly really good lessons in storytelling as you begin to understand quite the amount of thought and consideration that's gone into what appear on the surface to be simple stories but when you break them down are fantastic examples of quite breath-takingly compact storytelling designed and executed to get across so much. Truly Mr Wells (Lovely) is the Wagner (J) of children's storytelling.
Well worth checking out and and have to make special mention of Episode 3 where Pete talks to a hero of the field (from what I can gather) Les Staves who gives a frankly chilling insight into how much this area has moved on since the 70s. While we watch the world do its best to lurch into a downward spiral its heartening to see how much as a sociality things have progressed.
Thanks for the heads up Pete and sorry it took me so long to get to this.
*I've realised its impossible to type Pete Wells in a sentence without also typing the word lovely... see.