Special Episode: Turning the Tables — Georgina Durrant Becomes the Guest! SEND Strategies for the Secondary Years

SEND in the Experts with Georgina Durrant — Special Book Launch Episode

This week on SEND in the Experts, we’re doing something completely different. Host Georgina Durrant steps out of the interviewer’s chair and into the hot seat as a guest to celebrate the release of her brand‑new book, SEND Strategies for the Secondary Years.

To mark the occasion, Georgina is joined by her colleague and friend Michelle Windridge, who takes over as guest host for this special behind‑the‑scenes conversation.

If you support, teach, or parent young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), this is an episode you’ll want to save, share, and return to again and again.

⭐ What’s Inside This Special Episode

Michelle guides Georgina through an honest, insightful and deeply practical discussion about the challenges facing young people with SEND in secondary school, and what adults (parents and teachers) can do right now to support them.

📘 Why Georgina wrote SEND Strategies for the Secondary Years

Georgina explains why this book matters so much at a time when the SEND system is described as “broken”, “under‑resourced” and “in crisis”. Instead of waiting for system‑level reform, she focuses on what teachers, parents and carers can do immediately to support young people who are struggling with communication, emotional regulation, organisation, literacy, sensory needs and more.

🎯 Why the book is structured around needs, not diagnoses

Secondary teachers often see hundreds of pupils a week, and many young people mask or go unnoticed. Georgina shares why focusing on areas of need (rather than waiting for diagnosis) empowers adults to act early and confidently.

📚 The unique pressures of the secondary years

From complex language demands to fast‑paced lessons and a more intense social world, Georgina breaks down why secondary school can be especially challenging for neurodivergent young people, and why timely support is crucial.

🛠️ Practical “no‑wait” strategies teachers often overlook

Georgina shares simple, powerful adjustments that make a huge difference at school and home, including:

• reducing spoken instructions
• using visual supports
• breaking tasks into steps
• offering processing time
• practical movement breaks
• sensory‑friendly classroom tweaks
• organisation scaffolds like routines and checklists
• 
  

These strategies don’t require a diagnosis, an EHCP or extra funding , just awareness and intention.

🌱 A neuro‑affirming approach in action

Georgina explains how to create environments where neurodivergent young people can thrive as themselves, not as a version of themselves that fits a neurotypical mould.

💬 Real stories from young people and adults

The book includes powerful case studies from teenagers and adults reflecting on their secondary school experiences. Georgina shares what she learned from their honesty, especially the importance of early identification, feeling understood, and the life‑changing impact of the right adult at the right time.

🎧 Why You Should Listen

This episode is essential listening for:

• Secondary teachers wanting practical, realistic SEND strategies
• Parents and carers supporting young people with SEND
• SENDCos and school leaders looking to strengthen whole‑school SEND practice
• Anyone working with neurodivergent young