Consultancy in Special Educational Needs & Disability
Consultancy in Special Educational Needs & Disability
A teaching assistant, history teacher and senior leader, David has led special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision in London schools for over 15 years. He has worked closely with the Department for Education to develop SEND policy and was an expert advisor to the Timpson Review on school exclusions. David has worked directly with over four hundred school leadership teams across the UK to improve their provision for disadvantaged children.
David was Director for SEND at the London Leadership Strategy, advisor to the Mayor of London's education team and currently provides support to a range of teaching school alliances and local authorities on the strategic development of SEND provision.
David is author of the SEND Review Guide, a national peer-review framework that has now been downloaded by over 5000 schools. He is also editor of Great Expectations, leading an effective SEND strategy in school, published by John Catt Educational:
http://www.johncattbookshop.com/great-expectations-leading-an-effective-send-strategy-in-school
David has sat on a number of SEND consultations at the DfE and gave oral evidence at the Public Bill Committee on the Children and Families Bill. He has also spoken at a number of SEND conferences including The Academies Show, NASEN, TES SEN Show and international conferences in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, India, South Africa, Poland and Ethiopia.
David is also a trustee of the KPMG Foundation, which seeks to bring about systemic change in business and society and unlock the potential of the most disadvantaged children in the UK.
David was awarded an OBE for Services to Education in the 2016 New Year's Honours list
David has a keen interest in International SEND and Inclusion policy development and he is working closely with governments in Malaysia, Seychelles and Thailand to develop and advise on policy.
Malaysia
David was commissioned by the Ministry of Education in Malaysia to support development of their SEND policy. The aims of this project included:
David continues to work with the Malaysian Education team to broker links in best practice between English and Malaysian schools.
Thailand
David worked with the Ministry of Education in 2016/17 Thailand to conduct a policy review on Inclusive Education by exploring 3 areas; policy, practice and culture. The focus included:
Seychelles
In 2013, David was commissioned by Ms Macsuzy Mondon, Minister of Education in the Seychelles, to complete an audit of special educational needs provision and practice.
David completed a series of visits and interviews with a number of stakeholders including:
As a result of the project, an eight-point plan was produced, and the final report fed into the national SEND policy framework.