Twilight Talk: Re-engaging Learners with SEND Through Online Provision

Webcasts
18 Sep 2026

Twilight Talks

For some learners, the traditional school environment can become overwhelming, inaccessible, or unsustainable. You may recognise the pattern:

A student experiencing emotionally based school non-attendance (EBSNA)
A neurodivergent learner struggling with sensory or social demands
A young person whose confidence in education has steadily eroded

This twilight session will consider what constitutes evidence-based best practice in structured digital provision for pupils with SEND. The data from Nisai Learning, interrogated through the collaboration with the University of Staffordshire, reveals a striking pattern among over 7,000 students.

This is a cohort characterised by significant complexity of need: 86% face at least one identified barrier to learning and average attendance levels before beginning digital provision had plummeted to 22%. In contrast, once enrolled in structured digital provision, average attendance within that provision has consistently exceeded 70%. This is not a marginal improvement. It is a fundamental change.

The session will explore how online education, at its best, functions as a bridge, supporting learners to reconnect with education and move closer to school, college or the workplace. The key question is not whether to use online provision but how do you ensure it truly works for the learner and the school?

Please do complete our short evaluation after finishing watching this webinar.

You can read more about our Twilight Talks sessions on our dedicated page.

Suitable for: A parent/carer, Administration Staff, Assistant Head Teacher, Consultant, Deputy Head Teacher, Early Years Practitioner, Educational Psychologist, Governor, Head Teacher, Inclusion Manager/Leader, Newly Qualified Teacher, SENCO, Senior Leader, Student, Support staff, Teacher, Tutor, Young person, Other

Complete our short evaluation

Dr Charlotte Fearn

Charlotte is an education researcher specialising in inclusion, digital alternative provision and the use of data to improve outcomes for learners with SEND. She leads a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between the University of Staffordshire and Nisai Learning, examining how digital learning can support students who are poorly served by mainstream education. Drawing on more than a decade in teaching, her work combines classroom experience, mixed-methods research and data analysis to explore what equitable digital provision looks like in practice.

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Paul Keenleyside

Paul spent over 20 years as a special educational needs teacher, school leader and advisor in both mainstream and special education settings. As an educator his focus has always been on two key groups of young people; those with social and emotional difficulties, and those who are neuro-diverse – and on the significant overlap between the two. Paul is focused on the role that true innovation and positive disruption can play in creating change in education systems for the most vulnerable learners.

Contact Paul Keenleyside