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The SENDcast

The SENDcast

By: Dale Pickles
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 The SENDcast is a weekly podcast focusing on Special Educational Needs, it is an amazing way to keep up to date with all the different areas within SEN, best practices and to improve your knowledge around SEND.B Squared Ltd. Parenting & Families Relationships
Episodes
  • Rare but Recognisable: Isla's FOP Story with Nicky Muller

    Rare but Recognisable: Isla's FOP Story with Nicky Muller
    Apr 23 2026

    Today is Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) Awareness Day, and to mark the occasion we're sharing an episode focused on raising awareness of this rare condition.

    In this conversation, Nicky Muller - a former trustee of FOP Friends and mother of Isla, who has FOP - joins Dale to share practical insight into supporting children with rare conditions and to tell Isla's inspiring story.

    Nicky explains that FOP causes the body's soft tissues to progressively turn into bone, often after flare-ups triggered by injury or sometimes viruses. She highlights how unpredictable this is, and how it affects daily life - particularly movement, risk management, and schooling.

    A key focus is Isla's recent transition to secondary school where they discuss difficulties around inclusion, PE participation, breaks/lunchtime, and the emotional impact. Nicky highlights the importance of school-wide awareness and an inclusive culture. Stressing that genuine inclusion is not just about the support in place, but whether a child feels safe, seen, valued and able to belong.

    "The best one-on-ones are the ones where you don't even know they're there. Isla's voice is the voice that's heard - it's so difficult for her to feel not only included but valued."

    Nicky Muller

    View all podcasts available or visit our SENDcast sessions shop!

    About Nicky Muller

    Nicky is an FOP awareness advocate and mum to Isla who is now 12 and diagnosed with FOP as a baby. A former trustee of the UK charity, FOP Friends and a career in Marketing, she combines lived experience with expertise to drive awareness, fundraising and support for families.

    Contact Nicky

    https://www.fopfriends.com

    https://www.facebook.com/fopfriends

    https://www.instagram.com/fop_mum/

    https://x.com/FOPFriends

    nickyjmuller@gmail.com

    https://www.youtube.com/FOPFriends

    Useful Links

    www.fopfriends.com

    • B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk
    • Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast
    • Email Dale – dale@bsquared.co.uk
    • Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe
    The SENDcast is powered by B Squared

    We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.
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    53 mins
  • Supporting Young People with Long-Term Illness in Education with Josh Pelled

    Supporting Young People with Long-Term Illness in Education with Josh Pelled
    Apr 16 2026
    Bright Futures' research estimates that around 270,000 young people (age 5–24) miss 20% or more of their education each year due to long-term illness. The consequences for qualifications, employment and wellbeing are severe - for example, 79% of 18-24 year‑olds who are out of work due to ill health only have qualifications at GCSEs or below, compared with 34% of their peers. These young people don't just lose learning: prolonged absence damages social connections, confidence and everyday school experiences. "Returning to normal" needs careful planning, not a simple reinstatement of lessons. Josh Pelled, CEO of Bright Futures UK and a two-time cancer survivor, founded the charity based on his lived experience of missing significant portions of his education. Josh joins Dale to discuss 'supporting young people with long-term illness in education', covering the academic, social, and mental-health impacts of prolonged absence, the difficulty of reintegration, and how technology can help maintain learning and connection but cannot replace full inclusion. "We can try to do things to bridge the gap between illness and education and make sure that a young person feels as supported as possible." Josh Pelled Listen to Josh delve into the practical, emotional, and systemic challenges faced by ill students and explore how educators, SENCos, and pastoral teams can be more proactive in helping these students stay connected to learning and community life. View all podcasts available or visit our SENDcast sessions shop! About Josh Pelled Joshua Pelled is the Founder and CEO of Bright Futures UK, a pioneering charity dedicated to reintegrating young people into education after serious long-term illness. His journey is deeply personal, having survived cancer twice— first at the age of five and again at sixteen. These experiences revealed the profound educational and social challenges that come with prolonged medical absences, inspiring him to create a support system he wished he had. Contact Josh https://www.brightfuturesuk.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightFuturesUKOfficial/ https://www.instagram.com/brightfuturesuk/ info@brightfuturesuk.com Useful Links ONS Statistics – People with long-term health issues Statutory Guidance – Ensuring a good education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast Email Dale – dale@bsquared.co.uk Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe The SENDcast is powered by B Squared We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.
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    44 mins
  • Assessing Complex Learners with Jordan Garrett

    Assessing Complex Learners with Jordan Garrett
    Apr 9 2026

    The needs around SEND in schools are increasing - both in numbers and complexity of needs – and many schools are struggling with the best way to support their learners effectively. They want to do the best for their students, but the DfE provides very limited guidance on supporting learners with SEND.

    Jordan Garrett from Sensory Classroom joins Dale to discuss 'assessing complex learners'. Jordan brings a wealth of experience from specialist and mainstream settings, plus years of curriculum and resource development, and offers practical, classroom-tested advice.

    Their discussion includes:

    • Clear explanation of the gaps in current guidance and why schools struggle to turn these into day-to-day practice.
    • Practical, person-appropriate approaches for curriculum and assessment that meet learners where they are - including translating mainstream topics into meaningful, multi-sensory lessons.
    • How to use frameworks to track small steps of progress, show meaningful outcomes to parents and plan bespoke learning without creating lots more work.
    • Ideas for making regulation, communication and sensory needs the foundation of teaching so pupils can access academic learning.
    • Advice on building collaboration between teachers and TAs, using APDR cycles, and choosing trusted, adaptable resources rather than one-size-fits-all "solutions".

    View all podcasts available or visit our SENDcast sessions shop!

    About Jordan

    Jordan is an experienced Specialist Education Teacher in the UK. She shares daily ideas, support and resources to support supporting adults of non-speaking children with SEN.

    Contact Jordan

    https://sensoryclassroom.org

    https://www.facebook.com/share/z4JM3rfbXWsuw2Kb/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

    https://www.instagram.com/sensoryclass

    https://www.tiktok.com/@sensoryclass

    Useful Links

    Sensory Curriculum

    • B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk
    • Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast
    • Email Dale – dale@bsquared.co.uk
    • Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe
    The SENDcast is powered by B Squared

    We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.
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    1 hr and 12 mins
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Really enjoying this podcast - some great insights and strategies as a mum with an audhd child.

Really interesting topics

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