A Square Peg in a Round Hole

Linda Tallent has many years of experience as an early years teacher. She now works as a Primary Teaching and Learning consultant, providing advice, support and training to early years practitioners, senior managers and local authority officers. Her areas of specialism are Raising Boys' Achievement and Developing the Outdoor Learning Environment. Her work has been recognised and acknowledged nationally. Jean Thompson was for many years a practising special educational needs teacher. In this role she was involved in teaching and meeting the needs of children with moderate to complex special educational needs. Following ten years of teaching in Germany, Jean was appointed lead teacher in a mainstream resource base for children with complex speech, language and communication needs. Over the years, Jean has developed a passion for meeting the individual needs of all children, in particular, those with special needs and learning difficulties and ensuring their successful inclusion into the appropriate provision. In recent years she has worked in Gateshead as early years area SENCo and is currently SEN and Inclusion consultant.