SEN and Disabilities Seminar Series 2022/23
Presented by Katie Murray and Madeleine Bennett, Fernwood School, Nottingham
This seminar will explore the power of concept imagery and how it can be used as an inclusive and holistic teaching strategy. It will explore how it can be particularly successful as a reading intervention, used in conjunction with a multisensory intervention for dyslexic children and EAL learners, as well as a teaching strategy within a mixed attainment mainstream setting.
The interactive seminar will equip participants with practical strategies that can be applied in the classroom and as discreet intervention practice within their setting alongside occasional private practice.
Biographies
Katie Murray
Katie Murray has been an English and special education teacher for over 15 years, teaching in both mainstream and special secondary settings. In 2017 she completed her MA in Special and Inclusive Education at the University of Nottingham, where she was awarded a Postgraduate Academic Excellence Award. Her research interests are young children’s experiences of learning to read; the emotionality of the reading experience and the holistic practices that benefit children learning to read. Katie has had articles published by BERA on the experience of learning to read.
Katie facilitates multisensory workshops for parents, children and schools to help develop and promote holistic and inclusive reading strategies for children with special educational needs. Find out more about Katie's work. www.loveofliteracy.co.uk
Madeleine Bennett
Madeleine Bennett studied English Literature and Theatre Studies (BA Hons) at the University of Lancaster. Upon graduation in 2007, she went on to train as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities, working for Mencap in Derbyshire - this sparked her interest in SEND. She returned to education in 2009, completing her PGCE in Secondary English at the University of Nottingham. She taught English at Friesland School in Derbyshire, before becoming assistant faculty leader with responsibility for KS3 English at the school.
Madeleine moved to The Fernwood School in Wollaton in 2014 as assistant faculty leader for English with responsibility for KS4, before becoming Head of English in 2020. She has been working with Katie Murray to develop the use of visualisation and concept imagery within the English classroom at The Fernwood School since 2021.