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Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are disproportionately over-represented in official statistics on exclusion suggesting that mainstream schools are failing to meet their needs. We argue for the importance of looking at the cultures of schooling. School belonging (or connectedness) has been widely associated with a raft of positive outcomes although there is relatively little research that has focused on pupils with SEND. This paper contributes to that gap presenting questionnaire data collected on the barriers and supports to inclusion and girls' feelings of belonging in school. The needs of girls who identify as having SEND can be more difficult to discern, their strategies for coping effectively masking their difficulties. Our data reveal that the girls in the study with SEND feel less connected to school than other girls. Their scores for their sense of belonging were significantly associated with the barriers and supports they encounter across a range of school contexts. It was the relational aspects of schooling that were most important for girls with SEND. Feeling you belong means that you feel safe to be yourself, that you do not need to hide your "quirky bits," with the attendant demands on mental health.

Purpose: The paper focuses on exploring the influence of structural and functional characteristics of demonstrations on their effectiveness. Design/Methodology: In the framework of AgriDemo-F2F project, we analysed the responses to 345 post-demonstration questionnaires filled out by the attendees of 31 demo events held in 12 EU countries. Factor analysis was employed and on a subsequent step a linear regression to predict general effectiveness. Findings: Results indicate that the very first steps in the organisation of on-farm demonstration are of critical importance for the successful delivery of their objectives, particularly decisions relating to relevance to farmers' needs and the structure of the event. Moreover, the paper offers first evidence that when/if on-farm demonstrations are appropriately structured and delivered they can meet their objectives regardless of the status and strength of the corresponding AKIS. Practical implications: Demonstration organisers should take special care with regard to the relevance of the topic and the group (demonstrator and attendees) as well as of the structure of the event. Theoretical implications: The various elements influencing the success of on-farm demonstrations are examined together and ranked. Originality/Value: The study generates important (theoretical and practical) insights concerning the success of a widely used technique of advisory/extension services, that is on-farm demonstrations, based on a large data-set from demonstration events through out Europe.

Students' experience of learning, relating and belonging are crucial to their participation in school. With ever growing concern about young people's mental health and levels of informal and formal exclusion it is timely to investigate how schools can be supported in meeting the social and psychological needs of learners. The focus of this paper is the development of a questionnaire to investigate the relationship between pupils' experience of belonging and the barriers they encounter in the school setting. Our aim was to test out the tool prior to full standardisation. Data was collected from 722 students across four secondary schools. Four factors were identified within the scale with one factor, that which measured emotional security and comfort, demonstrating moderate correlations to all other scales indicating that it had an underlying relationships to different aspects of the school environment. Students who disclosed SEND had a greater likelihood of demonstrating low connectedness than would be expected by chance alone, with some differences in the degree to which particular items were predictive of overall levels of connectedness.

Background: Having a haematological condition can adversely affect the quality of life (QoL) of family members/partners of patients. It is important to measure this often ignored burden in order to implement appropriate supportive interventions. Objective: To measure current impact of haematological conditions on the QoL of family members/partners of patients, using the Family Reported Outcome Measure‐16 (FROM‐16). Methods: A cross‐sectional study, recruited online through patient support groups, involved UK family members/partners of people with haematological conditions completing the FROM‐16. Results: 183 family members/partners (mean age = 60.5 years, SD = 13.2; females = 62.8%) of patients (mean age = 64.1, SD = 12.8; females = 46.4%) with 12 haematological conditions completed the FROM‐16. The FROM‐16 mean total score was 14.0 (SD = 7.2), meaning 'a moderate effect on QoL'. The mean FROM‐16 scores of family members of people with multiple myeloma (mean = 15.8, SD = 6.3, n = 99) and other haematological malignancies (mean = 13.9, SD = 7.8, n = 29) were higher than of people with pernicious anaemia (mean = 10.7, SD = 7.5, n = 47) and other non‐malignant conditions (mean = 11, SD = 7.4, n = 56, p <.01). Over one third (36.1%, n = 183) of family members experienced a 'very large effect' (FROM‐16 score>16) on their quality of life. Conclusions: Haematological conditions, in particular those of malignant type, impact the QoL of family members/partners of patients. Healthcare professionals can now, using FROM‐16, identify those most affected and should consider how to provide appropriate holistic support within routine practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how and why student teachers made use of information and communication technology (ICT) during a 1-year initial teacher education programme from 2008 to 2009. This is a mixed methods study involving a survey (N = 340) of the entire cohort and a series of semi-structured interviews with a sample of student teachers within the cohort (N = 21). The study explored several themes, including the nature of student teachers' use of ICT; variation in the use of ICT; support for, and constraints on, using ICT; attitudes to ICT and to teaching and learning more generally. It was found that nearly all teachers were receptive to using ICT--more so than their in-service counterparts--and made frequent use of it during their placement (internship) experience. The Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) was central to nearly all student teachers' use of ICT, in good part, because it was already used by their mentors and was widely accessible. Student teachers' use of ICT was categorized in three levels. Routine users focused mostly on the use of the IWB for whole class teaching; extended users gave greater opportunities for pupils to use ICT for themselves; innovative student teachers used ICT in a greater range of contexts and made more effort to overcome barriers such as access. ICT use was seen as emerging from a mix of factors: chiefly student teachers' access to ICT; their feeling of "self-efficacy" when using ICT; and their belief that ICT had a positive impact on learning--in particular, the impact on pupils' behavioural and affective engagement. Factors which influenced ICT use included mentoring, training and support. Limitations on student teachers' use of ICT are explored and it is suggested that new teachers need to be supported in developing a more discerning use as they begin their teaching careers.