A New Direction's I Am Network is a free professional development programme for London special school teachers and mainstream SENDCos. Each year, teachers in the Network collaborate with us on I Am Festival, and work together to improve creative and cultural opportunities for children and young people who are D/deaf, disabled and neurodiverse.
Being a creative subject teacher in a special school or a SENDCo in a mainstream school can be isolating. You are often a department of one person. Opportunities to share practice, seek advice, and develop relationships with other creative subject teachers can be quite limited. A New Direction’s SEND network provides a way of sharing good practice with other teachers who are working in a huge range of SEND settings across London. It also provides an opportunity to meet and share strategies and ideas for bringing the curriculum to life in ways that meet students' needs.
Over the past four years, the Network has grown from 10 to 40 teachers, and is now a flagship for arts and creativity - offering teachers the chance to engage in social, high profile, feel-good events!
