BSA's film shown at the National Association of Head Teachers conference, 2009.

At the 2009 National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) conference, the voices of our young people could be heard in a BSA film produced with the help of the Michael Palin Centre (MPC).

Conference members chatted and mingled at their coffee breaks against the background of films commissioned by the NAHT.

On our film, they could see and hear children and young people who stammer talking about the distress that their speech problem has caused them, and how much they have been helped by their therapists at the MPC and those teachers who have learned how to use strategies to support them in school.

Taking part in the film were Matthew (pictured below), a 19 year old BSA member, who has been involved with us since he was 6 and now attends university, and three young people from the MPC: two boys aged 10 and 16, and a teenage girl of 14. All four spoke movingly of their experiences of stammering and how their therapists and teachers had supported them.

We hope that their inspiring testimonies will have encouraged head teachers to return to their schools determined to ensure that that their staff become aware of the needs of our children, and learn the simple strategies to support them from the resources that we provide for education staff.

BSA Resources

Carrying the message into schools: film company WebsEdge shoots a scene with Matthew.

At the conference we were especially concerned to publicise our resources for education staff, in particular our new education web site at www.stammeringineducation.net. This currently houses our online training resource for secondary school staff. In future when funding allows, we intend to put our other educational resources online, together with those of the MPC. At present the MPC are preparing their 'Stammering Information Programme' of two DVDs for education staff. These will be sent to speech and language therapy departments in England in September.

700 head teachers and their guests attended the conference. The BSA stall had a good position near the catering facility. There was an ongoing interest in our presence there and leaflets and resources were collected by a number of people.

The successful outcome was achieved in a short time scale by the partnerships within the stammering community between the BSA staff, members and trustees and the MPC. Working together we produced an excellent film and hopefully our children throughout the nation's schools will now be better understood and supported.

The BSA film may also be viewed at nahttv.com for the next twelve months. We are grateful for the support of the Department for Children, Schools and Families and The Communication Trust which made possible both the film and our attendance at the Conference.

May 2009

Our Education Officer