Concept Training

Welcome to Concept Training 👋 We are a group of experts in Special Needs; with a massive bank of experience and qualifications. We have been helping people across the UK to better understand those with #specialneeds and #learningdisabilities for more than two decades! 💙

The funding has been widely welcomed, and rightly so. For years, teachers have been saying they want more support to feel confident meeting the needs in their classrooms, so any investment in that is a genuine step forward. The issue is scale. Spread across every school and every teacher in the country, over three years, the money does not reach very far per school. Education experts have already warned it is likely to disappoint many teachers who were hoping for something more substantial. For most settings, it will help a little rather than change the picture entirely. The needs in classrooms, though, are not waiting. More children with additional needs are being taught in mainstream settings than ever, and staff are being asked to support them well right now, this term, not in three years’ time. That leaves school leaders with a choice. Wait and hope the national funding filters down in a way that makes a real difference, or take practical steps now to make sure staff feel equipped for the children in front of them. The good news is that building confidence across a team does not have to be expensive or complicated. Affordable, practical training exists, and it can make a real difference quickly, without waiting for reform to catch up. If you would like to explore how to support your team now, rather than later, take a look at our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #sendreforms #additionalneeds #sendtraining #schoolleaders #inclusion

However this first half term has gone for you, you have earned the break. The first half of the autumn term is one of the most demanding stretches of the school year. New classes, new dynamics, children still settling, and for many staff, the steady work of getting to know pupils whose needs are only now becoming clear. It is a lot, and it rarely lets up until the moment half term finally arrives. So before anything else, this is simply a thank you. To the teachers, teaching assistants, SENCOs and leaders who have spent these past weeks showing up for the children who need them, often quietly going above and beyond without anyone noticing. It matters, even on the days it does not feel like it. If this half term has thrown up challenges, a child who is harder to reach than expected, or moments where you wished your team felt more confident, that is worth sitting with too. The start of a year often surfaces exactly where a bit more support or understanding would help, and half term can be a good moment to think about what the rest of the year could look like. For now though, rest comes first. Whatever the next half term holds, you will meet it far better after a proper break. Wishing all the schools we work with a restful half term. We will be here when you are ready. If there is an area your team would like support with next half term, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #halfterm #teacherwellbeing #additionalneeds #sendtraining #education

In a lot of schools, most of the additional needs expertise sits with one person. That is a risk worth thinking about. Ask most schools who understands additional needs best, and the answer is usually the SENCO. They are often the ones staff turn to, the ones who know the children, the strategies and the paperwork inside out. That depth of knowledge is invaluable. The problem is what happens when everything rests on one person. When that individual is off sick, stretched too thin or leaves, the understanding can walk out of the door with them. Staff who relied on them are suddenly less sure of themselves. Consistency slips. The children who need the most stability are often the ones who feel it first. There is also the day to day reality. One person, however knowledgeable, cannot be in every classroom at once. If the wider staff team does not share at least a working understanding of the needs around them, support ends up patchy, dependent on who happens to be available rather than being part of how the whole school operates. The new SEND reforms speak to this directly. The expectation now is that supporting additional needs is a whole school responsibility, not something delegated to a single member of staff. Spreading that knowledge more widely is quickly becoming something schools are expected to do, not just something that would be nice to have. Training the wider team does not diminish the SENCO's role. It protects it, and it means the children are supported consistently whoever is in the room. If you would like to build understanding more widely across your team, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #additionalneeds #sendtraining #schoolleaders #senco #inclusion

Understanding is a large part of the reason why 👇 Government figures show that only around 34% of autistic people were in employment in the 2024/25 financial year, compared with 82% of non-disabled people. It is one of the widest employment gaps of any group, and it is not because autistic people do not want to work. The National Autistic Society has found that more than three quarters of unemployed autistic people would like a job. So what sits behind the gap? A great deal of it comes down to understanding, or the lack of it. Recruitment processes that unintentionally disadvantage autistic candidates. Workplaces that feel overwhelming. Managers who want to help but have never been given the knowledge to know how. Too often, autistic employees end up masking their difficulties or leaving roles they were more than capable of doing well. None of this is inevitable. When employers understand how autism can present at work, and make a few straightforward adjustments, the difference for an autistic colleague can be enormous, and the whole team benefits. That is exactly what our Supporting Autistic Colleagues in the Workplace course is for. It helps managers, HR professionals and teams understand autism in a work context, recognise where the everyday barriers lie and respond with practical, achievable changes. If your organisation wants to be somewhere autistic employees can genuinely thrive, this is a good place to begin. 🗓 20 November 🕘 9am to 11am 💷 £95 + VAT 💻 Delivered live and online Explore dates and book your place here: concept-training.co.uk/cours… #autismintheworkplace #neurodiversity #inclusiveworkplace #hr #autismawareness

A lot of workplaces want to be more supportive of their autistic employees but are not quite sure where to begin. The good news is that the things which help most are often simple, cost nothing and benefit the whole team, not just one person. Here are a few practical examples worth sharing with your team: 👉 Give clear, direct instructions. Veiled hints or vague requests can be genuinely hard to interpret. Saying exactly what you mean, and when you need it, helps everyone. 👉 Warn people about changes in advance where you can. A last-minute change of plan or an unexpected meeting can be unsettling. A little notice goes a long way. 👉 Be mindful of the sensory environment. Bright lighting, background noise and busy open-plan spaces can be draining. Offering a quieter space or the option to wear headphones can help enormously. 👉 Do not rely on eye contact to judge engagement. Someone can be listening intently without looking directly at you. Assuming otherwise can lead to real misunderstandings. 👉 Ask, rather than assume. Every autistic person is different. The simplest and most respectful thing you can do is ask a colleague what actually helps them, rather than guessing. None of these require a policy change or a big budget. They just require a bit of understanding, and a willingness to think slightly differently. If you would like to help your team build that understanding more deeply, our Supporting Autistic Colleagues in the Workplace course is a great place to start. Explore it on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #autismintheworkplace #neurodiversity #inclusiveworkplace #hr #autismawareness

Over the years we have spoken with hundreds of schools, and the same questions come up again and again. So we thought we would answer some of them properly. If there is a question you have that is not here, feel free to ask in the comments. We are always happy to help. If you would like to talk through what might suit your setting, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #additionalneeds #sendtraining #schoolleaders #cpd #educationtraining

When an autistic child stops coming to school, autistic burnout is often the reason nobody has named. Attendance is a real worry for schools at the moment and when a child starts to struggle to attend, it is not always clear why. For autistic children in particular, one of the most common and least understood reasons is burnout. Autistic burnout is not the same as being tired, and it is not a child being difficult or disengaged. It builds up over time, often from the sheer effort of coping in an environment that was not designed with them in mind. Masking their differences, managing sensory overload and navigating social demands all day can be utterly exhausting. Eventually that exhaustion catches up, and for many children it shows itself in an inability to keep attending school. Part of the difficulty is that burnout is so easily misread. It can look like withdrawal, refusal or a sudden drop in engagement, so the real cause often goes unrecognised, and the child ends up being supported in a way that does not match what they actually need. Our Understanding Autistic Burnout and Why It Impacts Attendance course gives staff a proper understanding of what burnout is, what causes it and how it affects learning, focus, working memory and emotional regulation, as well as attendance. It also covers the signs to look for in both identified and unidentified autistic children, what genuinely helps recovery and what hinders it, and how schools can work alongside parents to support a child back to school. With attendance under so much scrutiny, this course sheds light on one of its most overlooked causes. 🗓 11 November 2026 🕘 9.30am to 12pm 💷 £95 + VAT 💻 Delivered live and online Explore dates and book your place here: concept-training.co.uk/cours… #autisticburnout #schoolattendance #additionalneeds #sendtraining #autismsupport

The SEND rules are changing. Is your mainstream school ready for what comes next? Earlier this year the government published its schools white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, setting out the most significant reforms to SEND in a generation. Behind the detail sits one clear direction of travel. Mainstream schools will be expected to meet a wider range of needs than ever before, and to do it well. For school leaders, this is both an opportunity and a challenge. Inclusion is moving to the very centre of how schools are judged, resourced and expected to operate. The expectation is no longer that additional needs are something handled by a single person or a separate department. It is that every classroom, and every member of staff, plays a part. That is a considerable shift and it raises an important question. Is your team genuinely equipped for it? The reforms place real emphasis on early identification, consistent support across a setting and staff who feel confident meeting need in the classroom. For many schools, that will mean closing a gap between what is now expected and what staff have actually been trained to do. The schools that will navigate this well are the ones who start preparing now, rather than waiting for change to be forced upon them. Building staff confidence and understanding ahead of time turns a daunting shift into something manageable and puts you in a far stronger position for what lies ahead. This is exactly the kind of preparation we help schools with. If you would like to make sure your team is ready for the new SEND landscape, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #sendreforms #inclusion #additionalneeds #sendtraining #schoolleaders

Here is why it matters more than ever. Autistic adults are part of every workplace. They bring skill, insight and real strengths to the teams they are part of. Yet many workplaces, often without realising it, are set up in ways that make it harder for autistic employees to do their best work. It is rarely down to a lack of goodwill. More often, it comes from a simple lack of understanding. Not knowing why a colleague finds certain situations difficult, how communication styles can differ or what small adjustments could make a genuine difference. Our Supporting Autistic Colleagues in the Workplace course is designed to fix this. It helps managers, HR professionals and teams understand how autism can present in a work setting, why certain environments and situations feel harder and the practical, straightforward changes that help autistic colleagues thrive. This is not about grand gestures or sweeping change. It is about understanding, and the confidence to make small adjustments that benefit not only autistic employees, but the whole team around them. Delivered live and online by an experienced practitioner, the session is practical, genuinely useful and relevant to any organisation that wants to support its people well. The next course is on the 8th October, so this is your last chance to book onto this date. 🗓 Available dates: 8 October | 20 November 🕘 9am to 11am 💷 £95 + VAT 💻 Delivered live and online Explore dates and book your place here: concept-training.co.uk/cours… #autismintheworkplace #neurodiversity #inclusiveworkplace #hr #autismawareness

The first few weeks of a new school year are always a lot. New classes, new dynamics and for many staff, new children whose needs are still becoming clear. By now the initial rush has usually settled just enough for the real picture to start emerging. This is often the point where certain challenges begin to surface. A child who is finding it harder to settle than expected. A pattern of behaviour that is proving tricky to understand. A member of staff quietly wondering how best to support a particular pupil. If any of that feels familiar it is worth knowing you do not have to work it all out alone. Whether it is a specific area your team wants to feel more confident in or a challenge you would simply like to talk through, we are always happy to help point you in the right direction. Here is to a term that settles well for your team and for every child in your care. If there is an area your team would like support with this term, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #backtoschool #additionalneeds #sendtraining #schoolleaders #educationtraining

Many staff carry a quiet worry that they are not doing enough for the children who need them most. It is rarely spoken about openly, yet it is one of the most common feelings in education. A teacher or teaching assistant, doing everything they can, lying awake wondering whether they are truly meeting the needs of a particular child. Whether they handled a moment well. Whether they are letting that child down without meaning to. This worry does not come from a lack of care. It comes from the opposite. It is felt most deeply by the staff who care the most, the ones supporting children with complex needs while managing a full classroom, often without having had the training to feel genuinely confident in how to help. Over time, that quiet worry takes a toll. It adds to stress, it chips away at confidence, and it is one of the reasons dedicated staff can start to feel overwhelmed or burnt out. Good training does not only benefit the children. It lifts a weight from the staff too. When someone finally understands why a child behaves the way they do, and walks away with practical strategies they can actually use, something shifts. The uncertainty eases. Confidence grows. That quiet worry starts to quieten. Supporting your staff to feel capable and confident is not only good for them. It is good for the children they support, and for the whole culture of a school. If you would like to help your team feel more confident and supported this year, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #staffwellbeing #additionalneeds #sendtraining #schoolleaders #educationtraining

Good training does not just get good feedback. It gets recommended, rebooked and rolled out. Any provider can point to a positive comment on a feedback form. The real measure of quality is what a school does next. Whether they come back. Whether they extend the training to more of their staff. Whether they put their own name behind it and recommend it to others. That is exactly what happened with Pendle View Primary School, a large special school supporting pupils with a wide range of additional needs. Fran Clayton, Deputy Head, first sent staff on a range of our courses, from Positive Ways of Changing Behaviour to Intensive Interaction and Understanding Attachment Disorders. The feedback from her team was consistently strong. Strong enough that she chose to bring the training into school for all of her staff, and now regularly recommends us to colleagues in other Lancashire special schools. In her words: "Offering high quality and relevant training to our staff is of high importance and using a training provider such as Concept Training always guarantees this. The feedback I receive from my staff is always outstanding and has resulted in me buying the training into school so all our staff have the training. I regularly recommend the courses delivered by Concept Training to my colleagues in other Lancashire Special Schools." Fran Clayton, Deputy Head, Pendle View Primary School This is what we work towards with every course. Training that does not simply inform on the day, but earns the trust of the people who book it, again and again. If you would like to see how our training could support your team, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #additionalneeds #sendtraining #schoolleaders #specialeducation #educationtraining

Executive Function has quietly become one of the most important things your staff need to understand. Here is why. The government's schools white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, has elevated Executive Function from an implicit part of cognition and learning to a standalone area of development, recognising the central role it plays in a child's ability to access learning and manage everyday demands. With schools now beginning to align to the new SEND landscape from this academic year, it raises a genuine question. How well does your team actually understand what Executive Function is, and how to support it? The signs are familiar in every classroom. The child who cannot get started, who loses track halfway through a task, who struggles to organise themselves, hold instructions in mind or manage their emotions when things do not go to plan. What is far less understood is what sits beneath these difficulties, and how much of a difference the right strategies can make. Our Executive Function and the New SEND Landscape course helps staff understand what Executive Function really is, including the neuroscience behind it, what it looks like when it is working well and when it is not, and practical strategies to strengthen it in the classroom. It is suitable for staff working across primary, secondary and further education settings. "I learned a lot from the training course. I think it is very useful to know what is happening to children inside their heads, to be able to understand their behaviour and actions. Brilliant online course. Denise was very knowledgeable and approachable. I found the course very useful and it will have a positive impact on the children in my class." Jessica McCook, Christie Memorial Primary School 🗓 16 September, 1pm to 3pm | 13 October, 9.30am to 11.30am 💷 £85 + VAT 💻 Delivered live and online Explore dates and book your place here: concept-training.co.uk/cours… #executivefunction #sendreforms #additionalneeds #sendtraining #educationtraining

Attendance is one of the biggest challenges facing schools right now and one of the most closely monitored, but behind the data sits something more complex. For a growing number of children not attending school is not defiance or disinterest, it is genuine emotional distress. Anxiety, low mood and other emotional barriers can make walking through the school gates feel impossible for some children, and when the reasons behind this are not fully understood, it becomes very difficult for staff to respond in a way that actually helps. Our Emotional Barriers to School Attendance course is designed to help staff understand why some children become school avoiders and what genuinely makes a difference in supporting them back into school. The training covers the reasons a young person might begin to avoid school, strategies to prevent school avoidance and strategies to support those who are already avoiding. It also covers the relevant legislation and guidance, including the statutory Working Together to Improve School Attendance guidance, along with useful resources and associations that can support schools and families. It is suitable for all ages and settings, and gives staff practical tools they can use straight away. If attendance is a priority for your setting this year, this course offers both understanding and practical strategies to help. 🗓 Available dates: 17 September | 22 October 🕘 9.30am to 11.30am 💷 £85 + VAT 💻 Delivered live and online Explore dates and book your place here: concept-training.co.uk/cours… #schoolattendance #emotionalbarriers #additionalneeds #sendtraining #educationtraining

Every school wants to be inclusive, but inclusion is not a single policy or a line in a development plan. As the new term begins it is a good moment to pause and reflect honestly. Here are a few questions worth asking about your own setting. Do all staff, not just your SENCO, feel confident supporting children with additional needs? When a child is struggling, do staff understand what might be driving it, rather than only seeing the behaviour? Is support consistent from adult to adult, or does it depend on who happens to be in the room? Do new and less experienced staff feel equipped to support the needs in their class? Does your team feel confident, or quietly unsure, when a child's needs are complex? If any of these gave you pause, you are not alone. These are exactly the areas most schools are working to strengthen, and they are also the areas where the right training makes the biggest difference. Inclusion is not about having every answer. It is about making sure the adults around a child feel confident, consistent and supported, so that every child can be too. If you would like to help your team feel more confident this year, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #inclusion #additionalneeds #sendtraining #schoolleaders #educationtraining

Heard about Sensory Circuits but not sure if they would benefit your pupils? It is a question we are asked a lot and the new school year is the perfect time to answer it. Some children arrive at school already overwhelmed. Before the day has even begun they are unsettled, unable to sit still or struggling to focus, and that first part of the morning sets the tone for everything that follows. The reality is simple. A child who is not regulated cannot fully access learning. Before we can expect a child to sit, focus and engage they often need support to feel calm, organised and ready. This is exactly what Sensory Circuits are designed to do. A Sensory Circuit is a short sequence of physical activities, usually around ten to fifteen minutes, that helps children regulate and prepare for the day ahead. It moves through three stages, alerting activities to wake up the body and brain, organising activities to challenge balance and coordination and calming activities to help the child settle and feel ready to learn. Built into the start of the day this simple routine can make a real difference to how a child feels, behaves and engages, and it needs no specialist equipment or hours of planning. Our Sensory Circuits course is one of our most requested for good reason. It gives staff a practical, manageable approach they can put in place straight away. It is suitable for staff supporting children with sensory processing difficulties and a range of additional needs including autism, dyspraxia, ADHD and general learning difficulties, across both specialist and mainstream primary settings. No prior knowledge is required. Josie Markham of Meynell Community Primary School in Sheffield said it was a "Very informative training, would highly recommend." 🗓 Available dates: 29 September | 21 October | 13 November | 15 December 🕘 9.30am to 11.30am 💷 £85 + VAT 💻 Delivered live and online Explore dates and book your place here: concept-training.co.uk/cours… #sensorycircuits #sensoryprocessing #additionalneeds #sendtraining #educationtraining

Across the country, mainstream schools are supporting a wider range of needs than at any point before. Children who may once have been taught in specialist settings are now, quite rightly, learning alongside their peers. Inclusion is no longer a specialist concern. It is part of everyday practice in every classroom. However inclusion in principle and inclusion in practice are two different things. For it to truly work the adults in the room need to feel confident. They need to understand the needs in front of them, know how to adapt their approach and feel equipped to respond when a child is struggling, rather than unsure of what to do. The reality is that many staff have not had the training to match the growing complexity of needs they are now supporting. This is not a criticism of them. They are working incredibly hard, but without the right knowledge even the most dedicated team can feel stretched, and it is often the child who feels the gap most. This is where the right training makes all the difference. When staff genuinely understand the children they are supporting, inclusion stops being a pressure and starts being something a whole school can do well, consistently and with confidence. As more is expected of mainstream settings the schools that thrive will be the ones who invest in their staff, so that every child, whatever their need, is truly supported. Plus it doesn't have to be expensive - our courses start from just £85 + VAT! If you would like to help your team feel more confident supporting additional needs this year, explore our courses on our website or comment TRAINING and we will send details over. #additionalneeds #sendtraining #inclusion #mainstreameducation #schoolleaders

As schools across Scotland have headed back we wanted to say we are here and ready to support you for the year ahead. From autism, behaviour and sensory needs to attendance, attachment issues and so much more, our practical training is designed to help your staff feel confident supporting every child who walks through the door. Wherever you are in Scotland, our courses are delivered live and online, so distance is never a barrier to great training. Here is to a positive start to the new school year. If we can support your team this year, we would love to hear from you. #backtoschool #scotlandschools #additionalneeds #sendtraining #education

Every new school year brings new faces to the team. Newly qualified teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and those simply new to a setting. While they may bring energy and fresh ideas, supporting children with additional needs is something many feel underprepared for. These are a few of the things we believe every member of staff would benefit from understanding, whatever their role. Save this to share with your team or pass it on to someone starting somewhere new this year. If you would like to help your staff feel more confident supporting children with additional needs, we would love to help. Explore our courses here: concept-training.co.uk/cours… #additionalneeds #sendtraining #backtoschool #teachertips #inclusion

September is one of the busiest times of the year. Getting your whole team together for live training is not always realistic when everyone is finding their feet with a new term. The good news is that training does not have to happen all at once, or even live. Our recorded training sessions give your team the flexibility to learn whenever it suits them. Each session comes with a 12 month licence, so it can be used as many times as you need throughout the year. They are ideal for delivering twilight training, supporting new staff as part of their induction, revisiting a topic when it becomes relevant, or sharing learning across the wider team. Sessions can be paused and discussed as you go, which makes them especially useful for team based learning, and supporting resources are included. At £225 + VAT, they are a practical and cost effective way to keep training going, even when time is tight. Explore the recorded sessions here: concept-training.co.uk/video… #additionalneeds #sendtraining #recordedtraining #cpd #schoolstaff