This month we have undergone important changes at JustDifferent.  We are pleased to announce that JustDifferent will now be delivering our charitable workshops free of charge.

As a charity it is our aim to reach all schools in England.  We do not wish to exclude any school from receiving a workshop due to the fee. 

 We are asking for a suggested donation of only £50.00 a day for primary schools.  It costs JustDifferent £420.00 per day to deliver our workshops.  

 As there is no fee, we also encourage schools to support JustDifferent with an activity from our fundraising pack, which is available when your booking is confirmed, or can be download from this website. Each activity in the pack is designed around disability and difference and reinforces the messages delivered in our workshops. You may decide however to use one of your own tried and tested fundraising activities.  

Requests for workshops are coming in thick and fast, so please make your booking as soon as possible to avoid joining a waiting list.

CENMAC invite disabled students from across the London Borough of Greenwich, their teachers, parents and carers as well as SENCO’s and Speech & Language therapists.  The exhibition includes representatives from suppliers of a variety of assistive technologies.  JustDifferent took a stand and we were delighted to talk to lots of students who were interested in our job opportunities; as well as a number of teachers and SENCO’s who felt that our workshops would greatly benefit their schools.

The highlight of the day was Toby’s inspirational talk entitled ‘My achievements with AAC’.  Despite being given a slot towards the end of the day the meeting room was packed to capacity. The presentation was extremely well received, there were so many questions at the end that Toby’s session over ran and he had to continue answering them in the corridor outside to make way for the next presenter!

All in all this was a very worthwhile event, we met some interesting people and CENMAC and Charlton School should be applauded for their efforts.

Key Stage 3 Workshop
• A one hour session
• Lots of audience participation and active discussion.
• Identifying different types of disability and their characteristics
• Our disabled presenter will share with the group his or her personal experiences, with particular reference to developing independence and the challenges of secondary education.

Key Stage 4 Workshop
• A two hour session
• Group discussion and encouraging the group to ask those ‘uncomfortable’ questions.
• The disability movement and its influence in the UK
• Disability ‘etiquette’
• Our disabled presenter will share with the group his or her personal experiences, with particular reference to choosing a career and seeking employment.

Both of the above satisfy the requirements of the PSHE and Citizenship parts of the National Curriculum. Additionally we have been asked on several occasions to support mentoring programmes in schools and we are now able to offer a modular mentoring programme aimed at students in Key Stage 4.

“Thank you so much for arranging our visit with Ross today, he was absolutely fantastic. The girls loved meeting him and I think that they all feel more informed and confident now in their approach to disability. I am sure that we will be asking him to come again in the summer term to see the groups he didn’t see today”.

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There is nothing like actually confronting the issues! I think I speak for a lot of teachers when I say that with little personal experience of disability, it is difficult to talk to the children with real meaning and understanding.

The workshop was a real learning experience for me, and I know that experiences like this are the best way to learn and gain an understanding for children and adults.

The photos and commentary were excellent as it really showed the children that Toby can do the things that they can and enjoys lots of the same things. The photos challenged their ideas on what a disabled person can and cannot do. This fitted in very well and would enrich the learning experience for this aspect of the curriculum.

Thank you so much. I was certainly challenged today and I know the children were too. I admire what you are doing and hope it really takes off as this is a perfect way to introduce children to the issues of disability.

Very good! Well-structured, with opportunities for the children to interact, a varied presentation style to keep children focused.

I think it is a very important issue which does not always get enough coverage, and this workshop is a very good way of teaching these areas.

Thank you very much! I think it is very important for the children to have the experiences of working with learning from all different kinds of people and they certainly enjoyed the workshop.

The children thoroughly enjoyed being able to go in the wheel chair and look at how it all worked. It was really beneficial and the children were talking about it for the rest of the afternoon.

I really hope more of the workshops will continue within schools as they are great for the children. Thank you.

I learnt that it doesn’t matter if you are in a wheelchair. You can still do wonderful things and do sports. I never knew that people in wheelchairs could really do amazing things. I learnt that people with disabilities can do some things that you think they can’t do.