You can't finish it until you start it...

Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor
4th May 2021

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You can't finish something until you start it...

We too often (and too easily) fantasise in our minds about how good something is going to be after we finish it, that we sometimes actually forget to start it in the first place! We then find when we eventually do, that it is by then too late to do everything that we wanted to, or in the way that we wanted to do it, so we then find ourselves with our backs up against the wall, trying to meet a deadline.

Actually, I'm not against deadlines - in fact, I think that deadlines are good things. Setting yourself ​self-imposed deadlines is also important if you really want to get something done. I remember reading once a quote from somebody successful saying that they did not need more time, they needed a deadline! 

In fact, setting yourself a deadline is especially good where you tell another person (or other people) publicly about it. This is because you are then ultimately accountable to them and so will do whatever you can not to let them down. People say that it's very easy to let yourself down, but it's much harder to let another person down.

To meet deadlines properly, you always need to start something as early as possible, workout properly what you have to do, create a timeline and then try and stick to it. You then constantly need to prioritise and re-prioritise, as things usually never go the way you planned. So always build in a little extra time for yourself to do things.

Finally, you should always break big tasks down into lots of little ones and do them (successfully) one at a time. You will be amazed later to then look back and see how much you have achieved by doing things in this way,  expending much less effort than you had at first thought the overall job would take. 

​But like so many things - you will have to first try to do things in this way and be prepared to fail a few times but be willing to learn from your mistakes, before you will see that it actually works

Go on, try it!

​In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
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• YOU CAN END UP IN A DIFFERENT PLACE TO WHERE YOU STARTED
  
• BUT YOU CAN AWAYS GO BACK AGAIN
• LATEST NEWS ONLINE

 
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.

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YOU CAN END UP IN A DIFFERENT PLACE TO WHERE YOU STARTED
When I started writing this first section, I was intending to share with you an article I had seen on the  Council for Disabled Children's website. However, whilst then trying to find the original source of the writing, I found myself reading a number of things on the Department for Education's 'blog' called: 'The Education Hub', with recently published articles entitled:

We're making school uniforms more affordable - here's what you need to know
Everything you need to know about summer schools
What you need to know about Primary School National Offer Day

So, I have first provided the above links to the articles, which you may find useful.

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BUT YOU CAN AWAYS GO BACK AGAIN
As I say, I was at first going to share with you an article I had seen on the Council for Disabled Children's website, entitled: 'Minister Ford Publishes Blog on Her Visit to Special Schools and the Impact of the Pandemic on Children and Families',. It reports on the writings from Vicky Ford MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, about her visits to Special Schools during the pandemic.

But just because it didn't make it to the first section, I'm still including it here, so you can still read it for yourself if you want to.

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LATEST NEWS ONLINE
There was  actually quite a lot of news of interest this week.

Here are the news articles that I found useful:

Lockdowns hurt child speech and language skills - report
Autistic teens face 'barbaric' treatment, parents tell MPs
NSPCC child abuse helpline has record call numbers in pandemic
Labour says catch-up scheme ‘failing’ as tuition reaches only 1% of pupils in England
Ministers urged to ‘come clean’ over pupil funding changes in England
Schools struggling to access tutoring programme for disadvantaged children

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Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
 
- IPSEA
- Council for Disabled Children
- Contact
- Scope  
- Special Needs Jungle
 
I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get a digital copy of the magazine:  Autism Eye which is very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with Autism.

Keep safe until next week.

With best wishes
 
Douglas

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