SENDsational Learning

09/04/2026

🌈When supporting little learners who have a visual impairment (VI) it’s important to create a sensory-rich environment and use clear communication strategies in order to promote as much independence as possible.
Over the years I’ve attend numerous training courses with organisations such as the RNIB and SENSE. In addition to having personal experience, supporting a loved one with a VI.

🌈Here are my top tips for supporting children’s learning when their vision is impaired.

💭COMMUNICATION & ENVIRONMENT
Use touch alongside spoken language.
Keep furniture and belongings in consistent places to foster independence.
Reduce glare from lighting and think about using contrasting colours when it comes to resources i.e yellow/black.
Provide lots of sensory cues i.e use rugs to mark areas such as the reading corner or smells to define areas within the home/classroom.
When using objects of reference, select them carefully, making sure they have sensory properties such as, using bubble bath to smell to signal its bath time.
Ask your child’s SLT or SEND Practitioner about Canaan Barrie On-Body Signing System to promote communication skills.

💭PLAY & LEARNING
Provide activities in trays so that children can explore without toys falling out of reach.
Use hand under hand support, rather than hand over hand (this can be very scary when your vision is limited).
Promote “active learning” providing lots of opportunities for children to explore independently. Fastening toys/objects to frames/trays on wheelchairs means that a child can easily retrieve items themselves if they fall out of reach.
Use on-body songs, rhymes and stories to provide a more meaningful experience for little learner’s.
Allow processing time and follow a child’s lead accordingly.

There’s so much we can do to support learning and development when a child has a visual impairment, working with other professionals such as specialist VI teachers is essential. It’s all about teamwork✨

03/04/2026

Looking forward to seeing the wonderful team at The Glowsticks Project soon. 💚

✨ Kerry from SENDsational Learning is delivering a Parent/Carer drop in here at The Glowsticks Project.

Date: Wednesday 22nd April 2026
Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm

SENDsational Learning is a National Portage Association Registered Service offering developmental support for children and families.

Kerry is an experienced SEND Practitioner with over 22 years' experience of supporting children with a range of complex needs and disabilities.

If you feel you need some SEND support with your child/ren feel free to drop in and have a chat 🙂

02/04/2026

📸Very late to the party with this social media trend, however later this month will mark one whole year of SENDsational Learning, so it seemed a good time to reflect and jump on the “band wagon” & follow the trend.

🌈Truth be told if life hadn’t thrown me some “health related curve balls” I’d have never been brave enough to leave the NHS, working in a job I loved to try independent practice.

🌈Having said that nearly a year on I’m still here working away, things have a funny way of working out don’t they. Let’s see what the next chapter holds… ✨

11/03/2026

🌈Supporting a child’s communication skills is at the heart of everything we do at SENDsational Learning, as communication underpins ALL aspects of learning across ALL areas of development. ☺️

🌈As early years practitioners we must support, nurture and promote a child’s communication skills from the earliest point possible.

🌈Supporting communication will look different for every child, it’s not a “one size fits all” approach and takes an amount of skill & experience to be able to adapt strategies for individual children.
It’s important to work alongside other professionals such as Speech & Language Therapists to ensure the best outcomes for our little learners….
That’s where the magic happens, there’s no better feeling than seeing our little stars achieve their goals✨

My top three tips to support communication are:

1️⃣ Reduce your language levels. Keep it simple, don’t overload little ones with too much information at once.
2️⃣ Support spoken language with visuals, such as objects, pictures and signs to help support a child’s understanding.
3️⃣ Follow a child’s lead by copying their actions, vocalisations and play to promote social interaction.

Simple strategies which you can use straight away to help support communication development.

📸 Thank you to for capturing this beautiful photo of one little learner working hard on his communication skills with me.
Another big thank you goes to his Mum for sharing it with me. 🥰

02/03/2026

🌈Not all children are motivated by toys. Some children prefer:

🕺🏼People Play - things like tickles, chasing games, rough & tumble play & peek-a-boo.
🧺Heuristic Play - exploring everyday objects.
⭐️Sensory motor Play - like swinging, crashing and bouncing.
🫟Messy Play - exploring textures.

🌈Play looks differently for every little learner I work with and that’s okay.

🌈Every child has the right to play, we just need to know how to facilitate their play to meet their individual needs in order to support learning and development.

🌈If you’d like to learn more about how to facilitate your child’s play skills, or find out how to adapt activities accordingly to cater for sensory impairments get in touch today. Enquiries to:
✉️kerry@sendsationallearning.co.uk

25/02/2026

🌈Always grateful for lovely parent reviews like this.
Thank you for sharing as it helps to give other potential families reassurance in a practitioner’s skills.

🌈As I always say the pleasure really is all mine, thank you for trusting me to support your little stars ✨

20/02/2026

🌈A child’s surroundings can have a profound effect on how they present in sessions.

🌈For example children will often feel most comfortable and confident at home or in a quieter clinic environment.
This often results in them showing you their skills for learning and communication more readily.

🌈In busier environments such as nursery, school and group sessions children may appear quieter or they could be busier than usual, finding it harder to focus.
Having said that, they could in fact be quite the opposite too and be more confident, excited to engage & thrive on other children’s enthusiasm to join in.

🌈This is why from a practitioners point of view it’s good practice to see how children present across different environments in order to gain a true representation of their skills.

🌈Learning and adapting to different environments can be hard work for our little learners it’s important to meet them where they’re at, adapt targets accordingly across environments if needs be and follow their lead.

13/02/2026

My SENDsational week looked like this 👆🏼.
How was yours? 🌈✨

03/01/2026

🌈H A P P Y N E W Y E A R
I hope you’ve had a lovely time making memories.

🌈I’m looking forward to being back in clinic from Tuesday 6th January and i’m super excited to see what this year brings for SL.

Lots of exciting things coming up…
✨Working with school age children means lots of new schools to visit.
✨I’ve had some lovely enquiries for initial assessments, I can’t wait to meet you and your little learners.
✨I’ve also got some exciting news on collaborations with other fabulous services coming up too.

🌈Wishing you and your little learners good health, happy times and lots of FUN for 2026.

🌈Thank you for your continued support, encouragement and trust.
Email enquiries to kerry@sendsationallearning.co.uk

19/12/2025

🌈As I get ready to sign off for Christmas, I wanted to take the opportunity to say “thank you” to everyone for your support.

Since launching SL in April it’s been a steep learning curve in self employment for me (a big change from my NHS role).

I found out not only do I need to be a SEND Practitioner but a secretary, accountant, content creator🫣, cleaner and everything in between 😵‍💫😆.

Has it felt overwhelming at times? Definitely.
Has it been worth it? Absolutely. 🌈💖

I’m grateful for the wonderful families I’ve met, fabulous professionals I’ve worked with and most of all the amazing little learners I get to support.
I’m so proud of every single one of you. ✨

🎄Have a wonderful Christmas everyone, I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year for more SENDsational Learning adventures.

Much love
Kerry xx 🌈

17/12/2025

🌈There’s so much going on in my head when I’m working with your little learners.
Constantly assessing & thinking of how to support targets naturally in play takes an amount of skill.

What works for one child may not work for another, that’s where an experienced practitioner will adapt and amend programs and targets as you work through each therapy session.

There’s so much more going on than “just play”! 🥰

12/12/2025

🌈SENDsational tips to help your little learners thrive over the Christmas period.

✨KEEP ROUTINES WHERE YOU CAN
Christmas can be busy and unpredictable which can be confusing and overwhelming for our little learners.

✨USE VISUALS SUPPORTS
Such as timetables and now and next boards to support understanding.

✨PREPARE CHILDREN WITH SOCIAL STORIES
Helping them to understand what will happen at various social gatherings and events.

✨TURN DOWN THE FESTIVE SPARKLE
Whilst twinkly lights and decorations provide lovely sensory environments, they can be too much at times for some little learners.

🎄Most importantly make sure you celebrate Christmas in your own way, have fun and enjoy every minute of the festivities.