Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion at BGU!

Our Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion (SENDI) programme has been a hive of activity over the past months!

From international trips to museum visits, staff and students engaged with our SENDI courses are sharing the ways they have enriched their teaching and learning in 2025.

In January, Dr Julia Lindley-Baker, Programme Leader for SENDI at BGU, travelled to Mumbi in India to attend and present at the 3rd International Conference on Education ‘Embracing Diversity: The Intersectional Experience’.

Julia said: “My trip served as a reminder that diversity and inclusion is a global experience, and that we should always seek to broaden our views beyond our local and national contexts as there is so much to learn and discover.

“International experiences provide opportunities for cross cultural engagement, bringing global perspectives into the classroom. They enrich student learning by fostering critical thinking, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the interconnected world we live in.

“I believe that such exposure helps our students to become more globally competent and better prepared to navigate diverse professional and social environments.”

Recently, our 2^nd year SENDI students visited The Mental Health Museum in Wakefield, as part of their learning for the module ‘Labels and Acronyms: Categories of Need’.

At the museum, staff and students explored issues of stigma and stereotyping around mental health, learning about the ways in which people considered to have mental health difficulties have been treated.

Rebecca Fielden, Lecturer in SENDI at BGU, said: “The information throughout the museum helped us to understand that how ‘need’ is portrayed and viewed by society changes and impacts the ways that people are cared for and treated.

“We also took part in some wellbeing activities to bring a sense of balance to the experience, as some of the content was particularly hard-hitting.

“Overall it was a wonderfully interesting experience. Both staff and students each took away something valuable from the experience that we wouldn’t have access to in the classroom.”

Also this year, our 1^st year SENDI students visited Wild in the Woods – a forest bushcraft, campfire cooking, wildlife and outdoor play space.

The purpose of the visit was to explore holistic approaches to learning and developed for their module ‘The Whole Child’.

Whilst there, students played and explored, taking part in pond dipping, whittling, toasting marshmallows, engaging in free and risky play and relaxing in the sunshine. In particular, they learned about the importance of nature-based learning and the importance of children learning through exploration.

The activities of our SENDI staff and students don’t stop there! Lecturer Rebecca is due to speak at two upcoming conferences this summer.

To keep up to date with SENDI at BGU follow us on Instagram @bguliuncoln and SENDI BGU on Facebook!