Exploring innovative EdTech solutions at BETT 2025
A key event in the CENMAC Team’s annual calendar is the opportunity to visit the BETT show at the ExCel centre. This year was the fortieth anniversary edition of the show, and it was an amazing few days. Every year it gets bigger and better and there are a wealth of innovative EdTech solutions to explore. Learning how these solutions can be integrated into the classroom is important for our team as much of this technology can have a hugely positive impact on our learners. This year the addition of a SEND Village was great to see as our team continues to support and raise the aspirations of many children with special educational needs across the Greater London area.
Here are our team highlights:
Advisory Teacher David Howard
Reflecting on 36 Years at BETT: A Journey through Time

Image: Advisory Teachers Ana Salas, Maureen De Longhi and Victoria Annan having fun at BETT 2025
As the oldest member of the CENMAC team, it was quite a shock to realise that this marks my 36th year attending the BETT show! Over the years, I’ve witnessed its transformation from a relatively small gathering for design technology teachers to the massive event it is today.
This year’s highlight for me was the opportunity to talk to Meta and experience their Meta Ray-Ban glasses. The demonstration of how these glasses work was incredibly impressive. I truly believe these devices could be a game-changer for students with vision impairments and, with the upcoming adoption of Mixed Reality and AI, they could also be highly beneficial for students with dyslexia, and other reading challenges.
The glasses offer a range of versatile features, such as the ability to photograph, live stream, connect to apps on your phone, and provide audio feedback. Not only are they powerful and functional, but they also look fantastic and at £299 don’t cost the earth.
Overall, my journey with BETT has been nothing short of remarkable, and innovations like the Meta Ray-Ban glasses make me excited for the future of educational technology.
Advisory Teachers Maureen De Longhi and Wayne McCullough-Dee
Ideas and innovation at Everway

Image: Advisory Teacher David Howard checking out a pair of Meta Ray-Ban glasses at BETT 2025
Video about Meta’s new Ray Ban Smart Glasses
Texthelp and n2y have joined forces to form Everway which is now a leader in education tools that empower students to develop their literacy and language acquisition skills.
The team introduced us to the latest updates in Read&Write which is now even better at helping students read, write, and learn independently.
Game changing solutions for exams and controlled assessments
We also learned about their new tool, ExamWritePad, designed to support students specifically during exams. This tool could be a game-changer for exam performance and controlled assessments – an area the schools we support frequently discuss.
ExamWritePad provides a secure, compliant word processing environment tailored to meet the unique needs of each candidate. With over 250 customisable options, it ensures that every student can work in a familiar and supportive setting. Features like autosave, autobackup, and full support for accented characters and symbols make it a reliable tool for exams.
The integration with other Texthelp tools like Read&Write offers comprehensive support for reading and writing access arrangements.
ExamWritePad is a robust solution that ensures fairness and accessibility in assessments, making it an invaluable tool for educators and students alike.
Ideas to elevate learning experiences
Everway also hosted a talk by the editor of The Ideas Guy by Ben Whitaker. The book highlights the power of ideas and innovation. It shows how vulnerability such as disability can drive progress in a tech-driven world to foster creativity.
It was inspiring to see Everway’s commitment to not just tools, but also ideas that elevate learning experiences.

Image: Advisory Teacher Maureen De Longhi at the Everway stand at BETT 2025

Advisory Teachers Wayne McCullough-Dee and Ana Salas exploring Read&Write
Advisory Teacher Carly Atkinson
The Human Approach to AI
It was very interesting to see Sir Stephen Fry and Dr Anne Marie Imafidon discuss the human approach to AI. They emphasised the need for ethical use and awareness of AI’s capabilities and limitations.
They highlighted the difference between education and training, suggesting that AI could help engage students more deeply by questioning them on topics, and not just feeding them information.
They acknowledged the potential of AI in mental health care, providing an alternative for young people to express their concerns. Fry and Imafidon underscored the importance of removing biases from AI platforms and recognised both the dangers and promises of AI. They encouraged responsible use and continuous improvement of AI, envisioning a future where AI supports teachers and enhances student outcomes.

Image: Sir Stephen Fry and Dr Anne Marie Imafidon discussing the human approach to AI on stage at BETT 2025
Lego Education New Science Solution
I also attended an interesting workshop by the LEGO Education Science Solution where they were demonstrating their new Science Solutions kit aiming to unlock science concepts for students aged 5 to 11+. It involved teaming up with other participants and building a lemonade stand as a group. We were then asked to tackle the challenge of preventing the lemonade from spilling during an earthquake. It was a fun and engaging activity which has the potential to allow students to apply their creativity and problem-solving skills to design effective solutions.

Image: Lego Education Science Solutions kits
Specialist Teaching Assistant, Joe Herbert
Responsible AI Management in Education
There were so many interesting sessions to choose from on the BETT programme. I attended ‘Building an inclusive campus culture for SEND and neurodiverse students using AT’ in the Ahead Auditorium with representatives from EAIE, BATA and Jisc, which I found particularly useful. The session provided good talking points on responsibility toward AI management in higher education and the limitations of both legislation and government provided training for AI safeguarding and best practice.
‘Shaping the future of education: Integrating AI and inclusive practices to support children with SEND’ was also useful for the protection of AI powered accommodations for students with learning disabilities and how legislation could challenge this access. It was good to meet the presenter Aaran Smith, Director, SEND Group Ltd to discuss Dragon as an in class dictation alternative. Aaran suggested I look at TalkType from Carescribe and also mentioned the Neurodiversity Show taking place in Birmigham in May.
I also looked at lots of maths interventions though nothing accessible by voice.
Advisory Teacher, Carys McCloskey
First Time at BETT
I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of the BETT show. There was so much to look at and experience, though a highlight must be the Tech Lab and talks from Microsoft displaying the advancements in the accessibility of their products. Their Reading Coach practice tool is particularly interesting, with its use of responsible AI to create stories that are tailored to individual reader’s interests and reading level as well as the opportunity to track the reading progress of each user.
We are looking forward to implementing some of the technologies that we saw at BETT in the coming year and beyond!

Image: Specialist TA Joe Herbert checking out Cyberfit at BETT 2025
Getting ready for Communication Works
If you didn’t make BETT this year or are feeling inspired by the technologies you saw there, then save the date in your calendar for CENMAC’s annual event Communication Works South at Charlton Athletic Football Club on Thursday 22nd May. We will be celebrating assistive technology in education and have a wide range of assistive technology companies exhibiting, as well as inspirational guest speakers and a full day of seminars. Don’t forget to reserve your free ticket.

Image: Communication Works 2025 – Celebrating Assistive Technology in Education