Jen Hicken

@greatnorthmum

World-class procrastinator. SEND parent and advocate. PhD researcher: lived experiences of neurodivergent university students. Knowledge Mobiliser. NHS by day. GMBPsS.

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Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· 22d

Are you thinking of Wipeout?

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jul 14

Here we go. Your regular reminder that being neurodivergent is not in itself a reason, or indeed an excuse, to commit murder. A neurodivergent person is no more a danger to the public than anyone else - it is uncomfortable to see it flagged like this as a possible line of enquiry.

Sources stress the investigation is at an early stage, and warn that initial assumptions can change as inquiries progress.

The inquiry is also looking into the suspect’s history of mental health and neurodivergence.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jul 7

Obsessed by the woman sitting behind Erdogan having to translate Trump's ramblings directly into Erdogan's ear

Screenshot from Sky News showing Trump at NATO summit press conference in Turkey sitting opposite Erdogan. Young female translator sits directly behind Erdogan.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jun 29

Rightmove just wanting me to double check if I can in fact afford a £20,000,000 house on a Monday morning

Screen shot of Rightmove listing for this property:
Guide Price £20,000,000
Can you afford it?

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jun 22

Andy Burnham in the 1990s AKA Lord Farquaad from Shrek

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 20

The comments on this on Instagram are brutal. To be fair, the offer of more non-academic routes will be welcomed by many but it is the overall "isn't school great hun" tone of this and the timing bang in the middle of the SEND reform mess that is riling everybody up

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 20

OK so it turns out the focus of this "campaign" isn't even SEND, it's promoting vocational courses. But you still have to CONCENTRATE HUNNIES!

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 19

It's fine though, Gemma Collins is going to do what committed charities, campaigners and successive governments have not been able to and will CHANGE EVERYTHING AND HELP EVERYONE. I'll stop worrying now The GC is on the case.

Screenshot of Gemma Collins comment on the video: "I see all your comments I'm going to change everything and help Everyone please do not worry"

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 19

Meanwhile over on Instagram, this tone deaf video by the DfE with "The GC" Gemma Collins to promote SEND reform is going down about as well as you would expect with already pissed off SEND parents.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 18

Post a meme made by you Evergreen meme: substitute "All the winter illnesses" with "All illnesses and health conditions ever"

Jason Momoa "all the winter illnesses" sneaking up on Henry Cavill "the NHS" at a film premiere meme

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 15

Mind this was the calibre of letter she was getting so there was something of a theme. This is an actual copy of the paper that I kept from my time there - couldn't believe my eyes a couple of years ago when dug it out and realised it was her. From feisty acorns mighty Lisa Nandy grows

Student letter ranting about availability of free condoms in the uni medical centre

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 15

Late to this thread but Lisa Nandy used to be the Letters Editor in the Newcastle Uni student newspaper so maybe she could give a "fiery response" to any resignation letters with some helpful advice.

Lisa Nandy photographed in the Newcastle University students newspaper 'The Courier' circa 1999/00

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 14

Am I having a fever dream?

Sky News reporting "Gary Neville 'discussed inside Labour' as candidate to replace Burnham

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· May 7

#GreyhoundsAtPollingStations

Photo of a greyhound standing in front of a polling station sign

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Feb 23

This is significant for North East colleagues - proposed launch of focused 'Mission North East' in the SEND white paper:

We will launch and fund two place-focused missions – Mission North East and Mission Coastal. Our ambition is that these programmes will transform outcomes for young people locally and provide a blueprint for change nationally.

Mission North East will focus explicitly on radically improving outcomes for white working-class children and young people, in communities where attainment gaps are too often accepted as inevitable. It will bring together clusters of schools facing similar challenges, diagnose shared barriers to progress and develop a clear strategy for sustained improvement, backed by strong leadership and practical support.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Feb 23

I see DfE have adopted a similar "three shifts" approach to #SENDreforms that DHSC used for the NHS 10 Year Plan

Screenshot from Schools White Paper -
Chapter 2: Narrow to broad
Chapter 3: Sidelined to included
Chapter 4: Withdrawn to engaging

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Dec 9

Things have got that bad in NHS organisational change land that an ICB colleague is taking 900 years of leave just to get away from it.

Screenshot of email auto-reply saying "Thank you for your email, please note that I am currently on leave returning on 17 December 2925. For any urgent queries please email [redacted] to ensure it is picked up and responded to in a timely manner."

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Dec 3

My 50 most-used words on Bluesky this year suggest I have been on my soapbox a lot

Word cloud visualization for 2025 showing your 50 most-used words, sized by frequency. Top 10: "health" (15×), "those" (12×), "mean" (11×), "children" (10×), "poverty" (10×), "support" (9×), "care" (9×), "autism" (8×), "staff" (8×), "absolute" (8×) (from Anisota's Annual Bluesky Harvest)

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Nov 20

Absolutely wild the proposed standards that migrants will have to meet when a sizeable proportion of those protesting against them would not meet the same standards but are all good because they have a flag

Mahmood was strongly criticised by the Commons speaker over the amount of pre-briefing there was ahead of Monday’s announcement, and this morning the Home Office has been more tight-lipped. But the Times reports that Mahmood is expected to announce “that migrants would usually be allowed to apply for indefinite leave to remain only after ten years — double the five years at present — and must meet certain conditions such as speaking English to A-level standard, having a clean criminal record and not claiming benefits”.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Nov 17

I mean, giving a child a pair of ear defenders is about the most basic "bit of extra support" that schools can provide. Doesn't require a "label" or a diagnosis. Should be right up Tice's street. Would like to hear from all the teachers and heads who want kids to stop wearing ear defenders btw

Asked what Reform can do to tackle this, he said: “The best thing to do, actually, is to push almost all of it back to the schools. The schools know best, the teachers know best.

“And stop labelling people. Just say, ‘You need a bit of extra support; you might need a bit of extra time.’

“You’ve got to the mad situation now where children who don’t have any form of label are starting to feel left out.

“I’ll just raise one more point: the sight of children in classes wearing ear defenders - I’m sorry, this is just insane. It’s got to stop. The teachers want it to stop. Heads want it to stop. It’s not the right way forward.”

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Nov 17

I mean I know immigration is the issue du jour but this line from Tice on EHCPs is downright unhinged if he thinks this is what is actually happening @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social @peterwalker99.bsky.social

These are from my colleague Peter Walker, who has been at the Reform UK press conference, where Richard Tice, the deputy leader, has been speaking.

I’m at a Reform UK press conference where Richard Tice is setting out how the party plans to save money in local government. On Send support he singles out what he calls “a crisis of over-diagnosis” among children.

Tice: “One of the key issues here is these EHCPs [education, health and care plans], middle class parents playing the game in order to save the VAT on independent school fees.”

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Nov 11

Big news in NHS organisational change land this evening courtesy of a 5pm all-staff email from our ICB chief exec. Things are suddenly happening pre-Budget, rather unexpectedly. Info here via email from my union.

NHS England announced today that it has reached agreement with Government on funding redundancy costs in ICBs and NHS England. ICBs will have financial support, through regional allocations, to complete their plans to reduce running costs and implement the ICB blueprint from 2026/27.

This means redundancies - voluntary and compulsory - must take place in ICBs before the end of the financial year 2025/26. NHS England has asked ICBs to consult local trade union representatives urgently and then start collective consultations as soon as possible.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Oct 10

I am also tremendously confused by the idea that if a PE kit doesn't have a school logo on it, it somehow ceases to exist.

Ms Trott also spoke strongly about the government’s aim to limit the number of branded items of school uniform and PE kit to three for primary schools, which is in the upcoming schools bill.

“What they’re doing as a result of the schools bill is actually basically banning PE kit in primary schools,” she said. “It’s outrageous, because there is a sense of belonging and identity that is so important in school uniform.”

Although she agreed that uniform should not be too expensive, she said there were “many different ways” to solve this problem.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Oct 10

Principal Skinner meme:

Is the rigid mainstream school environment actually causing more disruptive behaviour?

Of course not, it is the children who are the problem.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Oct 4

Officially started my PhD at @northumbriauni.bsky.social this week! I'll be exploring wellbeing and academic support for university students with additional needs and disabilities so let me know who I need to follow in the inclusive higher education space!

Photo of a stack of 8 textbooks on research design and inclusive education I borrowed from the library in my initial excitement, along with my student smartcard.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jul 17

I mean the whole thing looks like absolute madness but the Northumbria bit isn't too far removed from the current North East and North Cumbria ICB footprint - it actually works in terms of a health geography due to patient flows from North Cumbria to secondary/tertiary services in the North East.

Map of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board geographical area

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jul 9

Welcome to the Tyne and Wear Metro, currently hotter than the earth's core, have a pleasant journey.

Photo from the interior of a very hot Metro carriage

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jul 3

I mean at least they are acknowledging that this is a problem to be addressed I suppose.

We will also continue our current partnership with libraries and other community organisations to help set people up on the NHS App. We will continue recruiting App Ambassadors across the country to support uptake. The NHS will continue to contribute fully to the cross-government Digital Inclusion Action Plan, led by the Department for
Science, Innovation and Technology, to improve access to and skills with technology among socially excluded groups.

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jul 3

The level of digital and health literacy required to enable the general public to do everything they are proposing the NHS app be used for will be a serious limiting factor on how successful this element of the plan will be. Only those most able will benefit from it, creating greater inequality.

through the NHS App, allow patients to book appointments, communicate with professionals, receive advice, draft or view their care plan, and self-refer to local tests and services

Jen Hicken@greatnorthmum· Jun 2

I get the need for defence, I really do, but telling people whose lives are already difficult that they are probably going to get harder because of a hypothetical future conflict we might need submarines for is going to be a harder sell than Starmer thinks it is. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...