Writing on SEND practice, AI in inclusion, and the work of building tools that respect professional judgment.
26 June 2026
Every assessment a school does sits in a separate silo. CAT4 in one spreadsheet, Boxall in another, EAL bands on a Post-it. Nobody joins the dots. That's the problem OMNIA was built to solve.
Read post24 June 2026
The specialist assessment gets the attention. But Part 1 of Form 8 is where most of the time actually goes — and where most of the risk sits.
Read post23 June 2026
Trust leadership conversations about SEND tend to focus on outcomes, compliance, and inclusion philosophy. That framing is increasingly out of step with reality.
Read post22 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 7 min readEvery school has a provision map. Almost none of them are doing what a provision map is actually supposed to do.
Read post20 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 6 min readThere is a particular kind of disorientation that comes with starting the SENDCo role. This is for anyone in their first year, or about to start.
Read post18 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 7 min readThe Education Endowment Foundation is probably the single most cited source in UK education research. Citing the EEF is not the same as using the EEF correctly.
Read post17 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 7 min readOfsted inspections create a particular kind of anxiety for SENDCos. The good news is that what inspectors actually look for is more consistent and more knowable than the anxiety suggests.
Read post16 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 6 min readThree major policy conversations are reshaping how we think about SEND in England. The SEND White Paper, the inclusion rights agenda, and the Every Child Achieving and Thriving framework are asking different questions. But they share the same answer.
Read post15 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 6 min readSMART targets have been part of SEND planning for decades. The acronym is familiar to every SENDCo. The reality is that most targets written in most plans are not genuinely SMART. Here is what the difference actually looks like.
Read post13 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 7 min readOne in three SENDCos are considering leaving the profession. Not because they have stopped caring about the pupils. Because the system has made caring about the pupils almost impossible to sustain.
Read post12 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 6 min readThe SEND Code of Practice uses the word 'partnership' to describe the relationship between schools and parents of children with SEND. In practice, that partnership often looks like a letter sent home, a meeting once a term, and a hope that the email was read.
Read post11 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 6 min readEvery school has a Management Information System. Most SENDCos use it to look up pupil data, then open a separate document to do anything useful with it. That gap is the problem OMNIA was built to close.
Read post10 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 7 min readEvery EHCP must be reviewed annually. Most SENDCos know the deadline is coming. Too many still miss it. This is not a compliance failure. It is a capacity problem with a structural solution.
Read post9 June 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 6 min readMost multi-academy trusts have a SEND policy. Fewer have a SEND system. The distinction matters more than it might first appear.
Read post27 May 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 5 min readThe conversation about AI in SEND planning has focused on the wrong thing. The right question is not what the AI can do. It is what the AI is drawing on.
Read post26 May 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 7 min readWriting a DLP, ILP, or BSP from scratch takes most SENDCos between 45 and 90 minutes per plan. Multiply that by a typical caseload and the numbers become uncomfortable. Here is what AI-assisted drafting actually changes — and what it does not.
Read post24 May 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 5 min readOMNIA's Specialist Support Prompts reads your documented provision data and prompts your team when a pupil's pattern suggests specialist external involvement could help. No diagnosis. No screening. Just the right question at the right time.
Read post23 May 2026
By Chris Pressdee-Rudd · 6 min readThe DfE has confirmed teachers and SENDCos can use AI to draft support plans, staff guides, and parent communications. Here's what the guidance does — and does not — actually mean in practice.
Read post