Partnership Working to Support Special Educational Needs & Disabilities

Dr Rona Tutt OBE   has taught pupils of all ages in state and independent, day and residential, mainstream and special schools. She has been a winner of the Leadership in Teaching Award, received an Outstanding Reviewer Award for her work on the International Journal of Educational Management and an OBE for her services to special needs education. She is a Past President of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and continues to be involved in their work, particularly in the field of SEND.  Since moving on from headship, Rona she has been in constant demand as a speaker, reviewer, writer and judge.  She has been on the Expert Reference Group of the Autism Education Trust (AET) since its inception and was the Interim Chair of Hertfordshire’s All-Age Autism Partnership Board from April 2015- March 2016. In the same year, she was asked to be on the Strategic Advisory Group for ‘Kids,’ a charity for disabled young people and their families and to be their writer for the DfE- funded  project Making it Personal, which is known as MIP3.  She represents NAHT on the Special Education Consortium (SEC) (an umbrella group for over 30 organisations involved in SEN & disability); the Joint Unions Group on SEN Issues; and the National SEND Forum (NSENDF).  Rona is vice chair of governors at two schools, one is a secondary school for pupils who have  moderate learning difficulties (MLD), autism, and speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). The other is an all-age school for profoundly deaf pupils, where many pupils have British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language rather than English. Having trained originally as a Teacher of the Deaf, Rona is working through her exams in BSL and learning about deaf culture.  Rona is the author of: ‘Every Child Included,’ (2007); she co-authored ‘Educating Children with Complex Conditions - understanding overlapping and co-existing developmental disorders (Dittrich and Tutt 2008); wrote ‘Partnership Working to Support Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in 2010; co-authored How Successful Schools Work – The Impact of Innovative School Leadership (Tutt and Williams 2012) and ‘The SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years’ (Tutt and Williams 2015).

′It is a must-have for all those who wish to know more about how the education sector has and continues to change to meet the increasingly complex needs and challenges to help all children get the best education that’s relevant and right for them′- Educate, Robert Keatley′This should be compulsory reading for all who aspire to school leadership - it is written in clear, no nonsense English and is 100% accessible. Rona gives a clear overview, with case studies, of ways in which Education can be improved and made more accessible to children and young people with SEND. As an exercise in debunking fears and advocating progressive, development partnership working, the book is a pleasure to read. By bringing the work bang up to date, and even handedly dealing with all forms and types of school, Rona makes her book valuable to anyone in education′ - Andy Lister; Director, SENtral Consultants Ltd. ′This concise and practical book encourages professionals to reflect on how partnership working can enrich the lives of children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities′ - Toby Salt, Deputy Chief Executive of the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children′s Services and author of the Salt Review (into the supply of teachers for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties)

• Working in Partnership with Pupils and ParentsThe Creation of Schools with a SEN SpecialismPartnership Working Between Groups of SchoolsSchools Working in Partnership with Other OrganisationsSchools Working in Partnership with Other ServicesSuccessful Strategies for Partnership Working