10113228SENshine: An AI-powered Advisory Service for Schools to boost Learner Engagement in Special Education by 65-77%ClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKSenshine is a UK-based edtech SME established to help schools better manage special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEN/SEND). Underlying conditions include ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and learning or physical disabilities. There is a widely-reported 'crisis' in special education (Observer,SkyNews,2023). In UK schools, 17.3% of learners (1.85M) have SEN/SEND (DfE,2023), but account for \>50% of school exclusions. Meanwhile, urgent mental health NHS referrals for under-18s have tripled since 2019 (Guardian,15.8.23/NHS-data,2019-2023) Through extensive market outreach, Senshine has identified two systemic problems. Firstly, schools lack the knowledge to manage SEN alone. For many SEN learners, developing individual goals and supports/provisions requires specialist teaching/healthcare expertise (e.g. Speech?uageTherapy, EducationalPsychology, OccupationalTherapy, BehaviouralAnalysis). However, this help is costly and scarce: schools must typically wait 6-12+ months for LocalAuthority-funded consultants, or go private. Secondly, school SENCOs (SEN Coordinators) get so bogged down with bureaucracy that they have little time to spend with learners. In a national survey, 70% of SENCOs said they have insufficient time to complete the role's demands (Nasen/BathSpaUni,2018). Senshine's online services ('SENshine') will address these problems by bringing multi-disciplinary expertise into special education, at low cost and on-demand. SENshine will do this with three key innovations: 1. **A rules-based advisory engine**. This will imbibe learner data via a dynamic questionnaire for teachers/SENCOs, co-developed with 6 multi-disciplinary experts. 2. **Machine learning layers to enhance the advisory engine**. These layers will use SEN learner data, aggregated by SENshine. Data will include pupil progress (academic/attendance/engagement-in-learning), effectiveness of plans/supports, and feedback from teachers/parents/learners. 3. **Generative AI for document drafting**. SENshine will convert advisory outputs into on-demand document drafts (e.g. provision-maps/classroom-support-plans/learner-plans/reviews/EHCP-assessment-requests), saving SENCOs' time. In these ways, SENshine will 'change the game' for special education. It will reduce the need for costly/scarce consultants, release \>41days/year/school of SENCOs' time, and improve SEN pupil outcomes, including mental health, by increasing learning engagement by 65-77%.