Routledge Teaching Special Needs: Strategies and Activities for Children in the Primary Classroom: 37 (Routledge Library Editions: Special Educational Needs)

First published in 1993.This book is about teaching Children with Special Needs in mainstream primary classroom. Normal practice was, and often still is, to remove children who find it difficult to learn in the classroom environment and teacher them in small groups elsewhere. This damages their self-esteem and impacts negatively on their ability to learn. Out premise that it is better to change the classroom so that all children can be successful learners within it. It takes the view that it is beneficial for all children to learn to be helpers of each other within the classroom and for all children to be helped. The book offers a range of strategies including teaching the children skills for working in a pair and how to use structured group work to deliver any curriculum. This has developed into an approach called Talk for Learning which is applicable to all children and all ages of learners. About the Author Sylvia McNamara is currently a freelance consultant trainer, who has previously worked as Reader in Special Educational Needs at Nottingham Trent University and lecturer in SEN at Leicester University. This experience underpinned her subsequent roles as Director of Education for Birmingham and Croydon, Director of policy for QCDA and most recently CEO of Octavo – Croydon Traded services for Schools, a mutualised company. She was responsible for the services of both Educational Psychology and School Improvement and raising the standards of the Authorities in which she worked. Gill Blenco was deputy headteacher then headteacher at a Leicester city school with a Unit for the Visually Impaired. She was a county Advice and Improvement Advisor across Leicestershire running the Behaviour and Attendance strategy and supporting and developing schools that were categorised by Ofsted as failing. Currently Gill is the Director of her own company providing support and training for teachers, SEN co-ordinators, classroom and SEN support assistants. She provides consultancy to schools, coaching Headteachers and governors and on how to best meet the needs of the whole range of learners in their school.