Create a Truly Inclusive Environment Where Children with Special Needs Can Thrive

When a child's diagnosis and difficult moments fill your day, it's easy to stop noticing what's brilliant about them, and to believe nothing you do is making a difference. It is. Every positive interaction wears a path in a child's brain that's easier to walk next time.

The 4S framework from Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson gives you a simple way to think about inclusion: every child needs to feel safe, seen, soothed and secure. A fifth S, special, puts the child's strengths at the centre. You'll look at the physical, social, emotional and cognitive environment, and why changes made for one child usually help the whole class, including anyone whose needs haven't been picked up.

You'll leave with a one-page 5S planning sheet: the child's name and what makes them special in the middle, with the pluses and minuses under each S.