TheSchoolRun.com closure date
As we informed you a few months ago, TheSchoolRun has had to make the difficult decision to close due to financial pressures and the company has now ceased trading. We had hoped to keep our content available through a partnership with another educational provider, but this provider has since withdrawn from the agreement.
As a result, we now have to permanently close TheSchoolRun.com. However, to give subscribers time to download any content they’d like to keep, we will keep the website open until 31st July 2025. After this date, the site will be taken down and there will be no further access to any resources. We strongly encourage you to download and save any resources you think you may want to use in the future.
In particular, we suggest downloading:
- Learning packs
- All the worksheets from the 11+ programme, if you are following this with your child
- Complete Learning Journey programmes (the packs below include all 40 worksheets for each programme)
You should already have received 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep. If you haven’t received these, please contact us at [email protected] before 31st July 2025, and we will send them to you.
We are very sorry that there is no way to continue offering access to resources and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.
Explaining special needs to children
Children with special educational needs may need extra help at school because of a range of issues, including emotional and behavioural difficulties such as ADHD and ADD, difficulties with speech and language, problems with how they relate to and behave with other people, or sensory impairments. These needs are a normal part of classroom life, and according to an Ofsted report which was published last year, around 1.7 million schoolchildren in England are regarded as having some form of special need.
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- Weekly programme for each school year
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- Keeps your child's learning on track
However, it can be confusing for children if they see one of their peers being treated differently, and explaining that some children have needs different to their own that must be met can be tricky. So if your child asks you why another child in their class is getting extra attention for their behaviour, or why a classmate needs special equipment and extra adult support at school, what do you say?
Differences are a positive part of life
SEN consultant, trainer and author of SEN: A Parent’s Guide, Vicki Dawson, says that it is very important that parents teach their children that differences are a positive part of life. “If children ask questions about why other children are different it is important to acknowledge that we are all different,” explains Vicki. “Parents have an important role to play in teaching their children that differences can be a positive.”
Emphasise to your child that we all have different talents, and that some children may have trouble learning some things, but that they may be very good at other things.
If children are being treated differently in the classroom Vicki Dawson advises that a parent should explain that the teacher is in control and is doing their best for every child. “Reiterate that the teacher is very clever and knows how to handle all the children in that class differently to teach them to behave nicely,” says Vicki.
Also, Vicki says that answering children’s questions, no matter how difficult they may be, is essential to promoting acceptance of their peers.
Set good examples
Parents of a child with special educational needs may also find that they are the subject of questions from their child’s classmates. Forum member and mum JacquiL explains her son’s ‘differences’ by saying that his brain works in a unique way. “I always tell children that his brain is 'wired' differently to theirs, so that while they can learn things like reading, his brain won't let him do that as it would rather he climbed a tree!”
