On Monday’s INSET Day, more than 900 child-facing colleagues from across our Trust came together at Magna Science Adventure Centre for our first WPT SEND Conference, ‘Understanding Neurodiversity’ – a significant moment in our shared journey towards more inclusive practice.
The day was designed to deepen our understanding, challenge our thinking and strengthen our collective commitment to children and young people with SEND.
We were privileged to hear from Stephen Connolly, Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, who shared insights into the realities of living with autism, drawing on both lived experience and research to challenge conventional assumptions about communication, behaviour and need. His message emphasised that behaviour is a form of communication and recognising non-traditional expressions allows autistic students to progress without conforming to expectations that do not fit them.
Our second keynote speaker, Dr Alexandra Leedham, Clinical Psychologist at Autism Unpicked, explored neurodiversity masking, particularly in girls, highlighting the invisible effort many children make to blend in, the risk of under-identification and the impact on mental health when needs go unnoticed.
We concluded with “Step Into Their Shoes”, a short documentary exploring the profound dedication and relentless advocacy of parents to their neurodiverse children, serving as a powerful reminder for staff to communicate with deeper empathy and understanding.
The statistics underline why this work matters. Around one in five school-age children in England are identified as having SEND, and one in three pupils with an EHCP have autism as their primary need. These are not marginal numbers, they represent a substantial proportion of the children in our classrooms every single day. Our ambition at Wickersley Partnership Trust is to move from passive compliance to active inclusion, and our commitment is that ‘true excellence is inclusion’. This means going beyond meeting statutory requirements and instead creating a culture where difference is understood, valued and supported through everyday practice.
SEND provision is undergoing one of the most notable reforms in decades. Earlier this week, the UK Government announced a multi-billion-pound generational reform geared towards making specialist support available in every school and community, and putting inclusion at the heart of mainstream education. As part of this, the Government has unveiled a £200 million SEND teacher training programme with the aim of making high-quality training in supporting students with additional needs accessible to all teachers and school staff.
For our Trust, this national direction reinforces the work we have already begun. Far from being a standalone session, the conference served as the cornerstone of our broader, ongoing programme. Getting everyone together in one room was a major highlight and a testament to our continuous commitment to applying insight into practical classroom strategies. With six integrated resources led by specialist teachers under our Trust umbrella, we’re proud to already have a strong in-house bank of expertise. We are continuing to develop these resources and build this specialist knowledge further. Our long-term goal is to draw on this expertise to drive our SEND improvement journey across mainstream schools, ensuring that quality, evidence-based support reaches every classroom and that all colleagues feel confident to meet the diverse needs of our students.
Ann-Marie Lee, Executive School Improvement Partner at Wickersley Partnership Trust, said: “What we saw at our conference is the power of collective insight and commitment. It’s about embedding empathy and understanding into everything we do so that every child, regardless of need, feels genuinely seen and supported. Our aim is to create a Trust where inclusion isn’t a policy or a programme but the lived experience in every classroom, every single day. We’re proud to continue to invest in our people and equip them with the expertise to lay the foundations for lasting change that will benefit our students and families for years to come.”
Dr Alexandra Leedham, Clinical Psychologist at Autism Unpicked, added: “I hope the audience took away a clearer understanding of some of the subtle presentations we may see and what to look out for in girls who may be autistic or neurodivergent in some way, and feel they have some additional skills to support this further. I also hope that they are aware that they can reach out to other services for advice and support so that we can work together in partnership to support the wellbeing of neurodivergent children. The environment is key to understanding and supporting neurodivergent children, learning from them, their families and working in partnership with other teams to ensure a more inclusive space for all. This includes adaptations and working directly with children to learn from them what they find works and doesn’t and adapting this over time.”
We would like to thank everyone who made the event possible – the organisers who brought it together, the colleagues who attended, and to our keynote speakers who shared their professional and personal insights so openly. The conversations and reflections from the day will continue to shape how we support every student with SEND across our Trust.
