Wowsers, both Archie and I are feeling over the moon with the fantastic week we’ve had. Now I know that we go on and on about how much we love doing what we do, but some weeks this just hits harder. This week was jam packed full of AWESOMENESS and we are truly grateful. So, here we go….

Our Positive young minds publication.

Positive young minds is a resource blog for all things related to positive child mental health, SEND and staff well being by the epic Lynn How.

Lynn explains

“These areas have always been of interest to me throughout my 23 years in education and has been at the heart of the various roles and further postgraduate learning I have undertaken in that time. I have noticed over my time in education a marked increase in mental health issues in children and colleagues in various institutions. As professionals, we are never short of work supporting children and families in this area.

I am also the editor of Teacher toolkit (https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/author/l-how/) and I have behind me a wealth of experience writing academically for qualifications. Currently I hold NPQH, MA Education with SEND and Mental Health focus, NASENCO award, FCCT and Elklan Speech and Language award. I have also undertaken training in Trauma in Education and accreditation and coaching qualification.

Through my SENCO work, I have been training new SENCOs with SEND Station as well as developing my own SENCO training programs. I am a practicing SENCO for one day a week as well.”

So, I am sure that when you see the list of Lynn’s remarkable qualifications and achievements you can understand that we were ELATED that she would even consider publishing little old us.

Career wise, this is HUGE for us and we are forever grateful for the remarkable opportunity to speak on such an epic platform. Thanks Lynn, we are truly thankful!

Check out our piece ( and the brilliant positive young minds website ) on the link below 🙂

Reasonable Adjustments For Our Pupils With Autism

Our kindest and most emotional public review yet.

When we started our non profit journey back in early 2020 we had one aim. We wanted to support pupils that were ( for whatever reason) not able to access the 1:1 funding and support that they needed in their mainstream schools. Here we are now in 2024 and thankfully we have been able to evolve and grow, something that we aim to continue to do moving forward .

However, I must admit that the hours of 1:1 support that we donate each week is very often one of my personal highlights. Selfishly, it takes me back to a TA role which ( for the most part) I LOVED. It means that I can still feel like a school team member but not lose ANY of my (occasionally loud and bubbly) personality. I have genuinely made friends for life along the way, for which I feel very lucky.

One of these lovely friends wrote a public review of the work that we do and I was moved to tears. It has been a privilege to support this family on the TOUGH diagnosis journey and to provide educational support and 1:1 care. Thank you for such beautiful words!

• 

Our first BEACH appeal fundraiser.

Our followers will know that we have been lucky enough to be asked to be official fundraisers for the BEACH appeal. Last Friday our little Daisy hosted her first ever assembly. She discussed the importance of the work that our NHS do here locally. With almost all of us having had to access A and E, treatment, therapy or meds, it’s hard to believe that we get this for FREE!

Archie, Herbie and I depend HEAVILY on our local services. They help us support, manage and treat all of the complications that come along with having a neurodivergent brain. We are so proud to be able to say thanks to the UHD charity by fundraising and spreading awareness in this way.

Our first fundraiser ( Daisy’s Bake sale) was a hit!

With the help of her school pals and her super supportive teachers, we were able to raise £102.70 . It was AWESOME to be able to donate such a lovely amount into their account. Hopefully the first of many donations over this academic year.

Thank you to Adrian, Sheila, Daisy and Ian for making, donating or buying the many cakes, sweets and treats that we were able to sell. It was brilliant fun for a very worthy cause.

Lots to get through, so buckle up 😉

What a sprinting start we have had to our first week back. 🏃‍♀️

We began our week by producing another FREE school staff resource to share with ALL educating staff. One of our key drivers is that we don’t want the lack of school funding to be a reason for school staff to not fully understand the needs of their SEN pupils.

There is a wealth of FREE information out there (if you have the time and energy to seek it) but we know that school staff are already so busy, so we are here to help.

There is no payment needed to use our resources and no strings attached. All we ask is that if you have found our resources to be helpful, that you give us a shout out online. This way, we keep our Neuro-affirming, advocacy message going….that’s our ONLY aim!

Please see here a link to our school staff training, the EBSA training itself and our YouTube channel as a whole- it is new, small but MIGHTY!

https://www.youtube.com/@awesomearchiesensupport

If you have any questions or would like more details, please do drop me an email on awesomearchieontour@gmail.com

Giant Rainbow Chair at the NEC

Massive thanks to Dave and Martyn from Reformed plastics for all you do to help Awesome Archie. The UK’s first giant rainbow chair, created in Archie’s honor, has been having a jolly old time up in Birmingham.

The fact the there are thousands of people who pose on the chair for pictures and us knowing that Archie’s face is in each and every one of them, means a lot. We know that there have been many conversations had, after seeing this awesome piece of kit and so we are forever grateful to you.

Our youngest team member Daisy, leads her FIRST EVER Awesome Archie assembly- in conjunction with The BEACH appeal.

The UHD charity are calling everybody across Dorset and the surrounding areas to help them fund a variety of additional items that will ensure the new BEACH building at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital has everything it needs to take their healthcare into the future – above and beyond what the NHS will fund.

Over £500million has already been invested to reconfigure the services at University Hospitals Dorset to improve the way care is provided for the hundreds of thousands of patients that depend on their hospitals each year.

The new six-storey building is the size of 115 tennis courts and is known as the ‘BEACH’ for Birth, Emergency, Critical Care and Children’s Health Department. This building will provide new purpose-built maternity and children’s units, an improved major emergency department and one of the biggest critical care units in the country.

So, imagine our excitement when the UHD charity asked if we at Awesome Archie non profit would like to be official fundraisers! We of course said YES!!! What a privilege to be able to support such a worthy cause.

To put our support plan into action, we kicked off by adding lots of little local fundraising events into our diary ( details will follow) and added the BEACH appeal information to our in school assemblies. This week we made an assembly it even more exciting!

Daisy (Archie’s baby sister) has always been one of his biggest cheerleaders. Superhero siblings like her, have to compromise so much to ensure the correct care of their loved one. She has FOREVER been a support for Archie and wants to continue as she grows older to help others like him.

Daisy decided that she wanted to organise an after school bake sale to not only raise money for the BEACH appeal, but to spread awareness of neurodivergency. She launched this by hosting an assembly that she incredibly presented ON HER OWN!!! We are obviously enormously proud. See her in action here ⏬

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2159933321067457?locale=en_GB

Now, the Bake Sale itself is only open to school pupils and their families however, if you would like to contribute to the fund then you can scan the QR code below. No amount is too small, it all makes a HUGE difference!

Just mention in the comments that you have donated because of Daisy’s work with Awesome Archie 🙂 THANKYOU SO MUCH!!!

Halloween can be a really tricky time for our autistic loved ones.

We at Awesome Archie have compiled a few tricks ( and treats) to help you on your way….see what we did there?!

Please simply click on the link below to find out lots of hints and tips to have an AWESOME Halloween!!

https://awesomearchienonprofit.my.canva.site/

Have a spooktacular time

Rebecca and Archie x

What a fantastic weekend we have just had.

We are just back from the tes SEND show in the London business design center in Islington. There is so much to go through so be braced 😉

“tes” is the UK’s leading SEND show dedicated to SEND content, and specialist SEND suppliers. Its the perfect opportunity for people like me to elevate my learning and source those resources that make a difference to the SEND children that we proudly support. Over the two day exhibition we had access to…

42 CPD-certified seminars from leaders in the SEND community 

SEND Leadership Summit – an immersive all day conference for senior educators to learn and collaborate

3 Free to attend theatres showcasing new and innovative products and services

Over 100 exhibitors – including companies you won’t see anywhere else!

The show attracts visitors from a wide range of roles across the public, non- profits ( like us) and the private sectors from early years, primary, secondary, FE, special schools, Pupil Referral Units, local authorities and more.

1. SEND practitioners in all settings
2. SENDCos
3. Local authority children’s and families’ services
4. Commissioners of services
5. Counsellors and therapists
6. CAMHS professionals
7. Youth service leaders
8. Health and wellbeing boards
9. Children and family social workers

• 

• 

• 

I spent the entire time talking to the most interesting, educated and empathetic people. We were given permission to record them and share their products and important work on our vlog. Click here to view ➡ https://youtu.be/LjZMs5gPh-Y

We have so many recommendations on the vlog, but here are some details of some of the people that we feel are more relevant for our schools, families and readers.

The SENDcast is a one-stop-shop for SEND content, with information all in one place for teachers, parents and anyone else supporting children or young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Keep up to date with best practice, policy changes and improve your knowledge around SEND with our free weekly podcast and CPD online training sessions.

Having worked with thousands of schools, the B Squared Team understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We created The SENDcast to support teachers, other professionals and parents. 

We want to say a huge thanks to Dale and Simon for taking the time to talk to us. Archie I cant wait to be on your podcast in the near future and we would HIGHLY recommend SEND cast! https://thesendcast.com/

Connections in Mind are a family of organisations that are committed to raising awareness of executive functions. The partnership is made up of Connections in Mind Coaching, Connected Minds Parenting, THE CODE, and Connections in Mind Outreach.

Victoria Bagnall, co founder and managing director, spoke to us about the school training that her and her team provide. Thanks so much for all you do and keep up the AWESOME work. Click here for booking details ➡

Smartbox create assistive technology for disabled people who experience difficulty with speech, to communicate and live more independently.

Grid ( what Jay was showing us here) is used by children and adults with communication difficulties across the world, to have a voice and live and learn more independently. Take a look here ⬇

Try GridBuy Grid

To be honest, I could go on and on.

THANKYOU tes and to all of the fantastic participants , we are refreshed, re-educated and raring to go !!!

Wow, what a few weeks…. lets get into it!

You will notice that our blogs tend to be monthly these days. This is because our diary is full and we are ensuring that our Vlogs and social media support content is updated daily. This means that we can be a quick refence “on the go” for those who may be in need but, as you can imagine, it takes up a fair bit of time. Do please follow us on all of our socials for “real time” Awesome Archie content.

Oakhaven Fundraiser

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Josh and I were lucky enough to Vlog at the Autumn Equinox Country Festival in support of Oakhaven Hospice

Simon Parker, John Ilsley, Steve Rickman and Dita Broster welcomed 1500 people to a fun day at Rodlease Fields in Boldre on Sunday 22 September 2024, celebrating the local community and music, and raising funds for Oakhaven Hospice.

The programme included

John Conway and the Swing Jazz Quintet

Dorset Guitar Orchestra

Choirs: One Way Ticket and Beaulieu Banknotes and special soloists

Amazing Pianist Peter Roper-Curzon

and The John Illsley Band

Not only that, there was a tug of war, wellyboot wanging, raffle, coconut shy, children’s activities and games plus farm animals and machines.

There was also a wide range of food and drink 🙂 Pizzas supplied by Super Brothers and Burgers and hotdogs supplied by Butchers on the Green!

It was a lovely day. Now, the rain did come down but it certainly didn’t dampen our spirits. Do check out our vlog of the festival here ➡ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrWZOgnoiy0&t=8s&ab_channel=AwesomeArchieSENSupport

The Eaglewood school.

Next it was Awesome Archie’s turn to work with me as we headed off to The Eaglewood school.

The new build school was stunning. Its so nice to se an academic setting that was built for purpose. The staff were kind and Mr Gilbert was very welcoming to us.

The school mission statement of Raising Aspirations and Changing Lives captures the school philosophy that every student needs to find the balance between being academically ready and emotionally prepared for their next steps. Only then will they achieve the self esteem needed to be independent and successful.

Mark Gilbert, Head Teacher.

It was awesome to see Archie engaged in such a “grown up” meeting and we are very excited to potentially be working with Eaglewood a little more in the near future. As always, we must thank Head teacher Mark Gilbert for giving us such a precious amount of his time to hear what we had to say 🙂

and finally DAISY GOT HEAD GIRL!!!

So, I know that it will come as no shock for you to hear how proud we are of our kids. Growing up these days is blooming tough and throw in our neurodivergent family stuff into the mix, it gets even tougher. Today however, we had the most joyous of celebrations… our daughter got Head Girl.

Education has not always been plain sailing for her! There have been REAL challenges along the way but, she has never wavered. She endlessly tries, she is honest and kind and is not afraid to stand up for what’s right!

Equality and diversity in education are more crucial than ever in the world we live in today. The goal of education goes beyond merely offering knowledge. It’s also a fantastic method for fostering empathy. Ensuring that all students, regardless of their race, identity, or ability, have equal access to a high-quality education . Furthermore, it helps to prepare students to thrive in a beautifully diverse world.

Daisy was chosen as head girl because the school said that she shows and lives all of these values! WE ARE OVERJOYED!

Daisy, I hope you know that we couldn’t be prouder and we will support you all the way in your new important position.

WOWSERS, what a week.!!!

We started in our usual way, content creating, researching and attending meetings but, two of these meetings were a tad different to our usual.

Firstly I had a wonderful phone call with the brilliant author Emma Juhasz!!!

Emma writes on her website…

“As an educational author and writer for young children, I carve complex topics into a format that children can easily grasp, offering them an insight into environments that they may find hard to understand.

My unique and inspiring content can be translated into any topic or format. 

Let me help you captivate, entertain and educate young readers to learn more and ignite their imaginations!”

Thankfully Emma’s next book needed a little of Awesome Archie’s autism life experience.

Now, we aren’t going to spill any tea (obvs) but it is a really exciting connection for us. Emma’s “reach” is vast and so to feel a small part of her next creation is a real honour.

Thankyou Emma, looking forward to our next chat 🙂

Please check out her brilliant work here ➡ https://emmajuhasz.com/

Awesome Archie Has Surgery has been selected for the £1.5m fundraiser “The BEACH Appeal.”

Cast your mind back a few months and you may remember that our gorgeous Archie had some minor surgery in Poole hospital. The operation itself was uncomplicated but the lead up for us was a tough part. I spent a long time illustrating a social story to help support Archie and grow his understanding of the procedure and what to expect.

Thankfully Archie’s surgery not only went swimmingly, but the care and attention given by the Bearwood ward staff was just incredible. So incredible in fact that we decided to turn our illustrations into a book to thank the team! We also hoped that it may support other families like ours in the future.

We had NO idea where this little gesture would lead…

Archie has been invited to be one of the faces to help promote The BEACH Appeal and our book is being ordered by the hospital to distribute to children in pre-op ❤. For Archie and I, this is a dream come true! We are so immensely grateful!

The BEACH Appeal

What is The BEACH Appeal?

In April 2024, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity launched a £1.5million fundraising campaign, named The BEACH Appeal, to transform care for Dorset.
The charity is fundraising to provide additional items for the brand new six-storey building, the BEACH Building, which is based at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

It is known as the BEACH Building as it reflects the services in the building – Birth, Emergency, Critical Care and Children’s Health.

The building is the size of 115 tennis courts, and will be open to the public in 2025.

Why is it important?

The NHS will provide the necessities for the BEACH building. However, our charity aspires to enhance the building by fundraising for items which are above and beyond NHS provision. Our team has worked closely with clinical leads to determine items which will provide the greatest benefit to our patients. Items identified include an additional CT scanner, a wellbeing garden for our critical care unit, mood lighting for our maternity suite, enhancements to mental health rooms in our ED, and an onsite classroom.

We have been amazed at the public response to the appeal so far. To date (12/09/2024) we have raised an incredible £280k towards our target. We have received many generous gifts from individuals, grants from trusts and foundations, and in memory of loved ones, as well as a £50k donation from the local bus operator morebus. Many local groups, such as Poole Town Football Club and a local craft group called Crafting Grannies, have supported us through hosting events.

However, we have a long way to go to reach our target of £1.5 million. We are calling everybody across Dorset to come together to help raise funds to enhance our hospitals. The BEACH Appeal is a once-in-a generation opportunity for us to transform care together for everybody across Dorset.

Clearly you can see that Archie and I are so proud and excited to be a small part of this amazing effort!

So, until December 2025, we will now be focussing ALL of our fundraising efforts for The BEACH Appeal as we want ALL children to have an education and FUN…. even when faced with long stays in hospital!

There are lots of little events in the pipeline and we will keep you posted however, if you want to check it out or donate right now….hers the link!

https://www.uhdcharity.org/current-projects/beach-appeal/

Right, time for a coffee;)

Stay AWESOME!!!

Carnival floats, low demand weeks and a Disney Cruise to Spain!

• 

Welcome back to all of our lovely blog readers, we hope that you have had a truly lovely summer. Whether it was a case of day by day survival or adventures galore… you made it!!!

This summer was a lovely low demand one for our kids (up until the final part) and I have been quietly beavering away with some exciting new facets to our work. We have lots of really exciting events coming up, which I will share with you at a later date but, for now, this was our summer…

Awesome Archie non profit ‘s giant rainbow chair float joins the Christchurch carnival.

“Christchurch Carnival attracted crowds “bigger than ever” with hundreds turning out to enjoy three days of events from the parade to a tug-of-war and an appearance by ‘Elton John’.

Organisers thanked all those who attended, adding: “With all the unsettling news that has touched so many of us and stretched across the country we felt that it was more important than ever to be able to put on three days of fun and celebration of Christchurch and the place we call home.

You showed us the real power of social media: helping make this year even bigger by sharing all our posts and content. This means that on Saturday we’d never seen crowds like it. By the time Elton was playing His Song you were stretched all the way down to the bandstand and overflowing onto the riverside.” Stated the New Milton advertiser and times.

We spread our message of Autism advocacy and affirmation with the help of our remarkable sponsors Reformed Plastics. As always we are so grateful to them for their unwavering support . We are also immensely proud of the Christchurch Carnival committee for the vast inclusion improvements that they made to this years event. AWESOME!!!

For more information do hop over to our socials to see videos , pictures and more 🙂

• 

• 

The launch of Awesome Archie’s Vacay vlog!

Whether it be through work or play, we are fortunate enough to travel a little bit. This led us to consider the challenges that neurodivergent can families face while on holiday. We are 100% the family that has to youtube our hotels, our destinations, even our room types. For us this makes the planning so much easier and the transition from home to ” holiday home” so much smoother.

Changes in routine, unpredictability, crowds, unfamiliar noises, sights and possibly new dialects or accents can be overwhelming for our autistic boys, and me too actually. However, with a little planning and the tried-and-tested approach, we hope that we can help, even just a little. We will share Vlogs of our holidays, room and cabin tours, amenities, shopping reviews , photo package info, food types… you name it, we aim to share it.

The channel itself is brand new and we now have the gruelling task of getting the word out to get some subscribers. We want to help fulfil Archie’s dream of becoming a full time content creator as he leaves school this year , so please subscribe , like and share 🙂 It could change the life of a kid who has never given up!!

The link to our channel is here ➡ https://www.youtube.com/@awesomearchiesvacayvlog

We must say a whopping thanks to all of the crew on the Disney Dream. We had the most magical time and cannot wait to we get on board once again 🙂

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

So, as we head back into another academic year, Archie and I are so very grateful. Grateful for your support, your views, your content shares and likes. It all makes a MASSIVE difference in our work to increase peoples understanding of living life as an autistic individual.

Stay awesome peeps!

Now I know that not everyone has the luxury of only working during term time, but you can still use this approach, even on your days off to make things a whole lot simpler this summer!

As a family we have had “low demand” summers for the last decade. They have truly been transformative for our neurodivergent kids, their siblings and me!

The aim of the low demand approach is to minimise a child’s anxiety and stress by reducing the demands and expectations that are placed upon them. This is simply not an option during the term time. We have to wear uniform (not Archie) get up to an alarm, go to bed at a set time etc., In our low demand summer holidays we don’t!!

This approach encourages us to think about aspects of our own parenting, such as the language that we use and the strategies we implement to reward, praise or sanction behaviour. By minimising our children’s anxiety and stress, we make a positive impact upon their overall mental health and wellbeing. When children are relaxed, feel safe, secure, and have a more equal power relationship with us as parents, they are way more receptive to learning opportunities and activities.

We know that we have a little Disney trip coming and so we reserve all the available space around that to do absolutely nothing! Low demand, low anxiety, happy kids 🙂

Over the years we have had few comments about this , particularly about the unlimited screen time thing, but hear us out…

– Online gaming (safely and closely monitored of course) is one of the only ways that many children with autism feel safe to interact in game play. The playground is noisy and confusing, board games have too many people getting over excited and none of the other options give total control. We asked our boys why they love gaming so much and this is what they said.

“I play Dummynation because it is fun. It is a bit like the old fashioned game Risk, but online. I can change history, make empires that wouldn’t normally exist and alter borders. I also complete geography quizzes on websites such as ‘Sporcle’ and ‘Jetpunk’ to help me with my geography knowledge”. Herbie.

“I like playing video games because often it helps take my mind off of the regular stresses of the day, though even when I am not stressed, I very much enjoy them. In most cases, you can do whatever you want in a game with no real life consequences. For example, my favourite game at the moment is called ‘War Thunder’ where you get to drive (and of course crash) realistic planes, boats and tanks, whereas, believe it or not, you cannot do this in real life”. Archie.

Surprisingly though, our kids wont spend all day everyday attached to a screen, in fact it feels like the less time restraint I place on it the less they want to play. They just love knowing that the option is there.

Here is a great link to the National Autistic society chatting about this further ⬇ https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/stories/stories-from-the-spectrum-barrington

– PJ days. This obviously doesn’t mean that we have to stay in our PJ’s… that would defeat the object! It’s merely a chance to dress as you wish, PJs, nighty, pants or a tutu for all I care 😉 Its the ability to have an option when you usually can’t!

-Cooking together. Allowing the kids to choose what they actually want to eat and giving them the option to help cook it. Who’s got time for that during term time?! We have found that our kids eat so much more when they have a freedom to choose and yes, there will be 3 different meals and a bit more washing up but it’s great… I promise.

-Saying no to visitors and limiting socialising. We will never pressure our children to fit into someone else’s schedule. It’s THEIR summer too!!!

These are just a few examples of what WE do. We share this so that if you feel like your summer holidays are just a chaotic nightmare, then you could give it a go too… you may be pleasantly surprised!

Working predominantly online can be tough at times. We all know that social media can be a cruel place but, we at Awesome Archie non profit are optimistic in our approach. Archie and I really hope that the content we create uplifts, educates inspires or just lightens the mood.

Autism is a HUGE subject and we know that so many parents and educators simply don’t have the time to read, research and study. Thankfully Archie and I do. We spend most of our days learning about Autism, ADHD and trying to support families like ours because it is TOUGH sometimes!

Here is an example of the daily content that we create to better support ourselves ( we are always learning) and YOU!!! Please do follow us on our socials for a quick and accessible spot of support 🙂 Links at the bottom of this page 🙂

Social links here 🙂

https://www.instagram.com/awesome_archie_official/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3650909864922453

https://x.com/ClipJane

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-clapcott-018935217/