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A one-off, focused support session designed to address a specific, pre-identified challenge. Together, we’ll explore the issue in depth and develop clear, evidence-informed strategies tailored to your unique context - giving you practical tools you can apply with confidence.

A continuous mentoring approach designed to offer structure and support, while remaining adaptable to the changing needs of your family. Stay on track with guidance that evolves as you do. Monthly mentoring session.

A three-session mentoring program designed to help you regain clarity, build confidence, and move forward with renewed momentum. Each session is tailored to your needs, offering space for reflection, practical guidance, and achievable next steps.

At RECAP, one of our core aims is to make research more accessible to families. Behind every study are passionate researchers working to better understand children, learning, development, and family life. In our Research Spotlight  series, we introduce the people behind the research - sharing their work, insights, and why their findings matter in the real world for parents and carers. Today's work is from: Dr Poppy Gibson, Lecturer in Education, The Open University Dr Sagun Shrestha, Research Associate, The Open University Helena Staszkiewicz, Associate Lecturer, The Open University Did You Know? ➤  Collaborative tasks can lessen feelings of isolation that distance learning sometimes brings (Yu, 2020). ➤ However, Venter (2024) found that students are not always positive about online group work. ➤  Anxiety can be caused by having to be dependent on others to achieve a desired outcome but also students may worry about letting others down (Hilliard et al., 2020). What was the research looking at? Distance learning can be a flexible, more manageable way to study online without the need to attend a campus each day. But how do students feel when group work is introduced and expected as part of their distance learning course? Collaborative activities develop the ability to work as part of a team; this is seen as an important skill in the workplace (Hilliard et al, 2020), and often the hope is that navigating these group dynamics can be a useful tool to take forward into other settings. This project wanted to offer insight into real lived experiences of distance learning students, to find out their perceived benefits and challenges of having to work with others in online spaces, with the hope of gathering understanding to inform planning at module level for those designing learning activities. How did you conduct your research? Funded by The Praxis Scholarship Hub at the Open University, this project explored the experiences of six adult students when collaborating online. After obtaining ethical approval, students were recruited through an email advert. The six students took part in two online group activities where they had to work together to create a presentation and a science activity, and then each student had a 1:1 online interview with the researchers to understand more about their lived experiences of working with peers online. Through an interpretative lens, this research project used thematic analysis to draw out perceived barriers and challenges that students felt when collaborating online with various tools. What are your key findings? The key positives of online group working that emerged from the data are: Students found forum discussions an easy way to build on what others had said in a way that encourages thoughtful interaction. The chance to meet someone new and learn from them. The development of empathy and understanding from hearing other students’ experiences. Issues around collaborative activities that emerged from the data are: Lack of participation from some members. Difficulty in establishing communication. Taking time to decide which tool or platform to use. Any recommendations? The researchers suggest that tutors can help to support distance learners if collaborative work is set, through these strategies: 1. Longer planning in collaborative activities; give students more time for group tasks than independent tasks to factor in the necessary time for the initial communications to happen before the work can begin. 2. The findings suggest students prefer being instructed on which tool or platform to use, rather than having a choice, as this creates another group decision to navigate. 3. Where possible, tutors should give structured guidance and steps as to how the group may want to approach the project, such as ideal deadlines for which different parts of the activity should be completed, which can help things run more smoothly.   Your final word …  Working on projects like this help us advancing inclusive practices and promoting outcomes for our learners. We can only do this if we hear voices of the learners themselves and listen to their lived experiences. What are the skills and values that can be developed through online collaboration in distance learning? Tell us in the comments References and Recommended reading: Hilliard, J., Kear, K., Donelan, H., & Heaney, C. (2020). Students’ experiences of anxiety in an assessed, online, collaborative project. Computers & Education, 143, 103675. Venter, A. (2024) ‘Exploring the downside to student online collaborations’, The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning , 19(1), pp. 64–78. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17159/ijtl.v19i1.18853 . Yu, E. (2020) ‘Student-Inspired Optimal Design of Online Learning for Generation Z Student-Inspired Optimal Design of Online Learning for Generation Z’, The journal of educators online, 17(1).

When we talk about neurodiversity in education, the conversation often centres around policies, diagnoses, or support plans. But behind every policy discussion are families navigating the day-to-day realities of school life. While writing my upcoming book, Neurodiversity Through the Educational Years (Due to be released by Emerald Publishing later this year - more details soon!) , I spoke with families whose experiences span early years, primary school, secondary school, alternative provision, and transitions into adulthood. Their stories reveal something important: The challenges neurodivergent children face in education are rarely about ability. They are far more often about the fit . Here are a few of the patterns that emerged. When Struggle Is Invisible One of the most prevalent themes across the stories was how often children’s difficulties were missed in the early years. Many children appeared to be coping on the surface. They were quiet, compliant, or academically able. Teachers saw children who were working hard and behaving well. But families often saw a different picture at home. Children came home absolutely exhausted. They experienced anxiety, meltdowns, or shutdowns after holding everything together at school. This phenomenon is often described as masking  - when a child suppresses their natural responses in order to fit into an environment that feels difficult or overwhelming. The problem is that masking can make children appear to be coping, which delays understanding and support. The silence they present can be mistaken for being fine . Compliance to the rules at school can be mistaken for being fine . Thriving academically and reaching educational milestones can be mistaken for being... you guessed it... fine ! Behaviour Is Often a Signal, Not a Problem Another theme that emerged repeatedly was how behaviour is interpreted by others. Many families described situations where their child’s distress was seen as defiance or disruption rather than communication. Yet when you look more closely at these situations, the behaviour often made sense. Children were overwhelmed by noise. They struggled with unpredictable routines, and they were navigating sensory overload or social confusion. When behaviour is treated purely as something to correct, the underlying need can remain unaddressed. A neurodiversity-affirming approach encourages us to ask a different question: What is this behaviour telling us about the environment or the child’s needs? Families Become Advocates Across the stories in the book, families often found themselves becoming advocates - sometimes unexpectedly. Parents described learning new terminology, researching support pathways, attending meetings, and navigating complex systems simply to access the help their child needed. This advocacy was rarely something families wanted. It was something they felt they had to do. When support systems are difficult to navigate or slow to respond, families often become the bridge between their child’s needs and the system that is meant to support them. Over time, this advocacy can become emotionally exhausting. Thriving Happens When Environments Change Despite the challenges many families described, there were also powerful stories of success. Children who had struggled in one environment often thrived in another. This might be: a specialist provision an additionally resourced provision within mainstream school alternative education pathways home education flexible or blended timetables What these environments often shared was not lower expectations, but greater flexibility. Smaller class sizes. Staff trained in neurodiversity. A willingness to adapt learning environments and routines. When the conditions changed, many children who had previously been struggling became engaged learners again. Neurodiversity Is Not the Problem Perhaps the most important lesson from these family stories is this: Neurodivergent children do not struggle because they are incapable of learning. They struggle when environments expect everyone to learn, behave, and process the world in the same way. When education systems recognise and accommodate difference, something remarkable happens. Children who once felt overwhelmed begin to participate and their confidence slowly returns. - the learning becomes possible again. Moving the Conversation Forward Supporting neurodivergent learners requires more than awareness. It requires environments that are flexible enough to respond to different ways of thinking, learning, and experiencing the world. That means: earlier recognition of need better training for educators listening to families and designing systems that adapt to children - not the other way around! Because when environments change, outcomes change too. And the stories in this book make one thing clear: Thriving is not about fixing neurodivergent children - it is about creating conditions where they can flourish. Stay connected with RECAP If this topic resonated with you, you can follow RECAP  on social media where we regularly share research-informed insights, practical parenting support, and conversations that bridge the gap between academic research and everyday family life. You’ll also be the first to hear about new resources, podcast episodes, and updates on the upcoming book. 📱 Follow RECAP to stay in the loop: https://linktr.ee/LucieWheeler

This innovative project has ten team members, and uses a co-researchers model with four students as researchers. The team is composed of: 1.      Anna Judd-Yelland (PI) 2.      Dr Paula Addison-Pettit 3.      Mel Green 4.       Dr Carlos Montoro  5.      Catherine Carden 6.      Dr Poppy Gibson 7.      Eunice Acheampomaa (student co-researcher) 8.      Joanne Sandhu (student co-researcher) 9.       Ricky O'Connor (student co-researcher) 10. Catherine Newport (student co-researcher) Did You Know? ➤ The hidden curriculum in education has been shown to most impact racially minoritised students. ➤ Nguyen, Rienties and Richardson (2019) analysed the learning analytics of students and found that Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students were 19-79% less likely to complete, pass or gain an excellent grade in comparison to white students despite spending 4-12% more time studying. ➤ Uneven levels of or a total lack of assessment support and preparation, when accompanied by different modes of assessment, often left racially marginalized students unprepared. What was the research was looking at? Have you heard about the idea of a ‘hidden curriculum’ in education? ➤ The hidden curriculum refers to the unintended lessons, values, and norms that students learn through social interactions and the overall environment of the school, rather than through formal teaching from an agreed curriculum. ➤ This research project, funded by PRAXIS Scholarship, explores how the Campbell and Duke’s  Racially Inclusive Practice (RIPIAG) framework can be used to support university students who enrol in distance learning . The framework has been designed to address the hidden curriculum of assessment and uneven levels of assessment preparation in studying that has been found to most impact racially minoritised students.  ➤Gutman and Younas (2024) have highlighted the importance of adopting holistic approaches to supporting students online.  This project responds directly to this call by working with the learning design team to investigate what racially inclusive practice looks like, and explore what works in terms of student experience, engagement, progression and retention. ➤Through the application of elements of the RIPIAG framework and other methods of revealing the hidden curriculum throughout the student experience of a module at university level, the project will strengthen student-tutor partnerships and contribute to equitable outcomes.  ➤The project aims to contribute to the reduction in the Black awarding gap through improving the retention, assessment submission, assessment scores, pass rates and positive student experiences for Black students in an online distance learning context. How did you conduct your research?   This mixed-methods project combines qualitative ‘Listening Rooms’ data, quantitative Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) dashboard data, and survey data from surveys sent to university students. ➤The Listening Rooms methodology (Parkin and Heron, 2022) is a qualitative research approach, especially in higher education, where friends have recorded conversations about their lived experiences using researcher-designed prompts, capturing authentic, peer-to-peer insights on themes like belonging or success. These conversations are recorded and transcribed by the researchers, using thematic analysis to draw out themes. ➤One strength of this method is that we can see how Listening Rooms offer the opportunity to reveal true participant voices outside power dynamics such as in a 1:1 interview between researcher and participant. Listening Rooms focus on generating rich data by creating a safe, private space for deep, personal sharing, often revealing nuanced perspectives on challenges like student support or diversity. ➤Through combined analysis of the survey responses, the listening room transcriptions, and the dashboard data from the university, insight and understanding will be gained. What are your key findings? This project is still in process, until Summer 2026. Any recommendations? ➤ One key takeaway for researchers we would like to highlight is the value of students as co-researchers. Having four students on our team has offered great value when designing survey tools, for example, and checking that questions are fit for purpose and have the clarity for participants. ➤ The Listening Rooms methodology is a creative way to gather student opinions and experiences without the need for direct interviewing; consider this as a tool in your next qualitative project!     Your final word …  Working on projects like this help us advance inclusive practices and promote outcomes for our learners. We can only do this if we hear voices of the learners themselves and listen to their lived experiences. How can we continue to ensure that the nuances of the ‘hidden curriculum’ do not disadvantage students? Tell us in the comments References & Recommended reading: Addison-Pettit, P., Green, M., and Henry, F. (2025), An exploration of staff perspectives about anti-racist and inclusive assessment (ARIA) in ECYS,  PRAXIS,    Aggleton, J. (2025), Optionality in assessment on E209, PRAXIS,  Breeze & Rizvi, (2023), Exploring the study journey of level three female students from South Asian backgrounds, PRAXIS,  Bell, D. (1995). ‘Who's afraid of critical race theory?’.  University of Illinois Law Review , 1995(4), 893-910.  Bonilla-Silva, E. (2018).  Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America  (5th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.  Campbell, P., & Duke, B. (2023). An Evaluation of the Racially Inclusive Practice in Assessment Guidance Intervention on Students’ and Staffs’ Experiences of Assessment in HE: A Multi-University Case Study (Version 1). University of Leicester.  https://doi.org/10.25392/leicester.data.23579565.v1  (Accessed: 21 January 2026). Campbell, P. I. Hawkins, C. & Osman, S. (2021)  Tackling Racial Inequalities in Assessment in Higher Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Case Study .  Available at:  https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/files/80673353/Tackling_Racial_Inequalities_in_Assessment_in_HE_May_21.pdf   (Accessed: 17 June 2025).  Carbajal, G. (2024). Deconstructing Standard English Ideology: Elements of Equitable and Inclusive Language and Literacy Education for Our Times, Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 1918.  https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/1918   Cross, S. and Brasher, A. (2021) Differences in assessment experience between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students and White students: An initial review using IET’s SEFAR2 dataset.  PRAXIS . Available at:  https://hdl.handle.net/10779/ou.se.24352966.v1  (Accessed: 13 May 2025).  Cushing, I. (2020) ‘The Elephant in the Room: Standard English and the Politics of Language in the Curriculum’, Language and Education, 34(4), pp. 321–338.  Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction (3rd ed.). New York University Press.    Freire, P. (2000).  Pedagogy of the oppressed  (30th anniversary ed.). Continuum. (Original work published 1970)  Green, M. and Malcolm, C. (2023), ‘Degrees of change: the promise of anti-racist assessment’,  Frontiers in Sociology , 8, DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.972036, Available at:  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2023.972036/full   Gutman, L. M. & Younas, F. (2025). Understanding the awarding gap through the lived experiences of minority ethnic students: An intersectional approach.  British Educational Research Journal , 51, 990–1008.  https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4108     Gillborn, D. (2008 ) Racism and Education: Coincidence or Conspiracy?  London: Routledge.  hooks, b. (1994).  Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom . Routledge.  Inoue, A. (2015). Antiracist writing assessment ecologies: Teaching and assessing writing for a socially just future. Fort Collins, CO: WAC Clearinghouse/Parlour Press, Available at:  https://wac.colostate.edu/books/inoue/ecologies.pdf   Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education.  Teachers College Record , 97(1), 47-68.  Parkin, H. and Heron, E. (2022) Innovative methods for positive institutional change: The Listening Rooms Project and student and staff ‘voice’. Educational Developments, 23 (3), 13-17. Nguyen, Q., Rienties, B. & Richardson, J.T. (2020) Learning analytics to uncover inequality in behavioural engagement and academic attainment in a distance learning setting. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(4), pp. 594-606.  Thomas, L. and Quinlan, C. (2021) ‘Why we need to reimagine the curricula in higher education to make it more culturally sensitive’,  Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning , 23(3), pp. 37–47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5456/WPLL.23.3.37 .    Xuereb, S (2022), Final Report - The Experience of BAME Students on DE300.PRAXIS. Report. Available at:  https://hdl.handle.net/10779/ou.se.24353695.v1  (Accessed: 13 May 2025).  Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth.  Race Ethnicity and Education , 8(1), 69-91.

Discover how to get involved with RECAP's work for parents in Chelmsford, UK. Learn how you can participate and support education initiatives. Get Involved as a Parent At RECAP, parents are at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to make research and evidence accessible, practical, and relevant to family life — and that starts with listening to you. By getting involved, you’ll help shape how research is shared, make sure it reflects real family experiences, and connect with a community that values trusted information and shared understanding. 💬 Join the RECAP Parent Panel Our Parent Panel brings together parents and caregivers from a wide range of backgrounds to share insights, experiences, and honest feedback. As a panel member, you can: Take part in short surveys or online discussions about family life and parenting topics Review upcoming RECAP content to ensure it feels relevant and accessible Help shape future projects, resources, and events Be part of a community influencing how research reaches families You don’t need to be an expert — just a parent or caregiver with lived experience and a willingness to share your thoughts. 🎙 Share Your Story We know that behind every piece of research are real people and real stories. If you have personal experiences or reflections connected to topics we cover — from education and wellbeing to relationships and health — we’d love to help you share them. You can contribute by: Taking part in a podcast episode or video feature Writing or co-authoring a short parent perspective piece Joining a panel discussion with researchers or practitioners Your story could help others feel seen, supported, and informed. 🧠 Attend a Webinar or Event We regularly host free and low-cost webinars on topics that matter most to families — from mental health and learning to digital wellbeing and parenting confidence. By taking part, you’ll: Hear directly from researchers and practitioners Gain practical, evidence-based tips for family life Be part of a community of curious, reflective parents 💡 Ready to Get Involved? Whether you’d like to join the Parent Panel, share your story, or simply find out more about how RECAP works with families — we’d love to hear from you. ✨ Let’s chat about how you can take part! Book a free 30-minute call with our team to explore how your experiences can help shape RECAP’s work. 👉 Book your free chat here Or simply complete the form below Together, we can build stronger connections between research and real family life and make sure parents’ voices are at the centre of it all. Contact Like what you see? Get in touch to learn more. First Name Last Name Email Message Send Thanks for submitting!

Discover Carla Beard's advisory board role at Recap. Learn about her contributions to the Education Research Center in Chelmsford, UK. Carla Beard Director, Koala Digital Development & Growth Panel Carla is the Director (or as she likes to say, the Head Zookeeper) at Koala Digital, a digital marketing agency based in Colchester. She leads a close-knit team of ten creatives who specialise in website design, SEO and promotional marketing. With over 15 years of experience, Carla works with a diverse mix of clients, from sole traders and local businesses to larger brands like the Daily Express and Deliveroo. Carla is passionate about building strong relationships, creating people-first digital strategies and helping businesses stand out online with practical, results-focused marketing. As a parent to two children aged 3 and 7, Carla understands the overwhelm that can come with trying to find trustworthy parenting advice online. After many late-night Google searches and experiencing the confusion of conflicting information, she was inspired by a conversation with Lucie and her passion for RECAP’s mission. Carla is excited to be part of the advisory board and support a resource that makes parenting advice more accessible and reassuring. In her spare time, she enjoys family adventures, being outdoors, paddleboarding, and photography.

Discover Sarah Sudea's expertise as an advisory board member at our Education Research Center in Chelmsford, UK. Learn more about Sarah Sudea. Sarah Sudea Founder, Finding the Flex Research Panel Sarah Sudea is a former secondary school teacher, mum to three daughters and founder of Finding the Flex: a social enterprise aiming to widen access to flexischooling for UK school children. Finding the Flex was borne from her first hand experience of the benefits of a more flexible approach to education and her frustration that flexischooling is already an available option, life changing for some children, but routinely misunderstood and overlooked by local authorities and school leaders. Finding the Flex now helps local authorities and schools offer flexischooling, so every child can thrive in education. Sarah is keen to support RECAP's endeavours to raise awareness of educational options that are often little known about. She brings her experience as a teacher, parent and family coach, specialising in school attendance difficulties.