About the LEANS Champions programme
LEANS Champions are experienced education professionals with specialised LEANS training, who have generously volunteered to support and advise other educators in the UK and Ireland. They represent a range of roles, schools, and communities.
LEANS Champions have four roles:
- Awareness: To raise awareness of the LEANS programme and importance of neurodiversity education among other education professionals.
- Adoption: To encourage considered, ethical choices about adopting LEANS.
- Support: To provide advice and model good practice in LEANS delivery.
- Connection: To help connect educators using LEANS with each other.
Champions can offer help based on their professional experience and knowledge of the LEANS programme—but they can’t make decisions or deliver LEANS on your behalf. Speaking to a Champion may be especially helpful for schools and teachers who are adopting/delivering LEANS for the first time, or educators who do not yet have a local community of practice around this topic.
This programme is starting small, as a pilot in 2023. All Champions are volunteers. Help us to help you by reading the guidance below BEFORE contacting any Champions!
Currently, the Champions only offer support to educators and community members in the UK and Ireland. They will not be able to answer queries from other parts of the world.
Checklist: What to try before contacting a Champion
Please stop and read this guidance before going on. You may be able to answer your LEANS question right now, with our existing resources! We have extensive, free guidance on this website and in the LEANS resource pack itself.
Champions contact checklist
Please don’t contact a Champion for advice/support unless you have already done the following:
- Downloaded the free LEANS resource pack, and reviewed the Teacher Handbook. The handbook is the most important source of LEANS information. Try Part 1 for an overview or refresher of what’s involved in the LEANS programme. Download it as part of the free resource pack.
- Checked our FAQs section to see if we’ve already answered your question.
- Read the LEANS terms of use, which explain what is and isn’t allowed when using and sharing the materials.
- Checked our ‘LEANS list’ which lists and links to the many other types of LEANS and neurodiversity-related information available through the website or as free downloadable documents.