StarlightMcKenzie
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starlightmckenzie.bsky.social
StarlightMcKenzie
@starlightmckenzie.bsky.social
Meetings are not Outcomes (MANO). Passionate about fairness, transparency and accountability In SEN.

Parent Education System Tester
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
Extraordinary: Mandelson told Epstein that JP Morgan should "threaten" then cabinet colleague and chancellor Alistair Darling over tax on bankers' bonuses. In plain language: "Minister conspired with US bank against own government".
More brilliant FT reporting
www.ft.com/content/91e8...
Mandelson told Epstein JPMorgan should ‘threaten’ UK government over banker tax
Then business secretary advised sex offender on how Jamie Dimon should lobby chancellor
www.ft.com
February 1, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
A government-funded speech and language screening initiative found an unexpected proportion of young children have unidentified needs, an evaluation report has said

schoolsweek.co.uk/speech-and-l...
Speech and language pilot reveals 'shocking' level of need
Analysis suggests 6 in 10 children given universal screening were found to have speech and language needs
schoolsweek.co.uk
January 30, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
Imagine just going to the toilet when needed - so subversive
January 30, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
They mean internal AP warehousing, a portacabin in the playground where they stick kids who would otherwise be identified as having SEND. Maybe even an offsite ‘facility’. They can’t expel them because they just passed a CWB amendment to ensure no kids can be home educated without LA agreement.
January 29, 2026 at 11:21 PM
So improve home-school relationships by imposing a school dictated controlling contract onto families?

Why not just be nice to them instead?
'While the challenges are pervasive, there is a significant opportunity for the government to implement transformative solutions that can repair the weakened social contract between schools and parents'

schoolsweek.co.uk/repairs-to-t...
Repairs to the school-parent contract must come from the top
The situation is not irreparable, and the first small steps have already been taken
schoolsweek.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
"If we build it – a stronger team around the child that doesn’t require an EHCP – they will come, and EHCPs will gradually revert to being a less frequently required backstop."

Read @jojohutchinson.bsky.social on SEND reform and the schools white paper: epi.org.uk/publications...
January 29, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
However, the tribunal reported that, following the governing body’s recommendations the apology from the senior leadership team had not happened, and deaf awareness training had not been implemented.
February 26, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
New: School subjected deaf member of support staff to disability discrimination and victimisation after requiring her to work on-site during pandemic, tribunal finds
www.educationuncovered.co.uk/news/173631/...
February 26, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
“Everyone acts chaotic and out of control”
It’s a tiring old space this. I do feel like I’m acting out the stories over and over again. As a professional & parent. I’ve not got the energy to say that they are 2 months late for the annual review of the twins…
January 15, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
An epic read for Monday: Ella's Human Rights Claim www.georgejulian.co.uk/2024/12/16/e...

I spoke with @ellychapple.bsky.social about Northumberland Council unlawfully issuing care proceedings and the impact on their family

Also #MotherBlame #LearningDisabilty #DeafBlind #HumanRights #JusticeforLB
December 16, 2024 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
NEW POST: The Commons Public Accounts Committee #SEND report warns of a "lost generation" of children. But SNJ's @captaink77.bsky.social finds warnings all a bit pointless when decision-makers don’t know what they value more—money or children’s futures... www.specialneedsjungle.com/p...
January 15, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
“Stop and think about the absurdity of the State of New Hampshire arguing in court on an icy morning that school buildings and heat are not required to provide an adequate education for our children,” Zack Sheehan, executive director of the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project said.
State Quiet, School Districts Cautiously Optimistic About School Funding Case
Supporters of a group of school districts led by Contoocook Valley (ConVal) that sued the state over education funding were cautiously optimistic after oral arguments before the state Supreme Court on...
indepthnh.org
January 5, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
3 wks after instituting an opening routine, I asked for feedback from my 8th graders. they had good suggestions on how to improve the routine. Best was hearing how it helped them get their brain ready for history. And for my students with ef issues, they really appreciated the consistency
December 26, 2024 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
What's better than the past and future? The present because it's a gift. #DadJoke #EduSky #GoogleSlides
December 24, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
Googling Stuff: Then v Now.
December 11, 2024 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
‘"The EU went from being the easiest market in the world to quite literally the most difficult to get food into," he said.’
'Mind-boggling' Brexit rules hit British food exports by £3bn a year
British food sales to the EU have fallen by more than 16% on average across the three years since Brexit, a new report found, with businesses blaming new border checks.
news.sky.com
December 3, 2024 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
NEXT WEEK is a big week for democracy in the UK & barely a mention from mainstream media.

Our parliamentary democracy exists to make sure a government can’t just do whatever it wants. That must be respected - and that includes THIS GOVERNMENT👇
🚨Our parliamentary democracy exists to make sure a government can’t just do whatever it wants. That must be respected - and that includes THIS GOVERNMENT

Liberty will be back in court NEXT WEEK to #DefendDemocracy.

This is why I shall be standing with them👇

youtu.be/qk5aiRXRuU0?...
Labour Government backs Tory power grab by appealing Liberty High court victory
YouTube video by Peter Stefanovic
youtu.be
November 30, 2024 at 7:19 AM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
Nothing profound, but: When people use algorithms to analyze “the world,” they are analyzing that algorithm’s intervention into that world, not the world itself. This can be fine, but people neglect to acknowledge this when arriving at conclusions. There is an “unobserved observer” bias.
November 26, 2024 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
Yup - the Local Authority’s tick-list of what happens in the years up to transition is really just a series of exasperating statements about “what should have happened but didn’t”.
November 26, 2024 at 1:14 AM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
2. I had no idea (my children went to a maintained school) that academies may offer little or no redress for complaints. And, it’s obvious really, but academies aren’t subject to these LGO procedures. This is neither logical nor fair, says the Ombudsman.
November 23, 2024 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by StarlightMcKenzie
4. The academy system contributes to "an extremely complex landscape where different people have access to different levels of redress depending on which school their child attends, or have no access to redress at all…this is neither logical nor is it fair.”
November 23, 2024 at 3:28 PM