Working with SI Services to deliver the Mainstream Training Pack Bev Mars NatSIP Associate 3rd October 2018

Session overview Background to the development of the pack What did we learn from the SENCO training? Purpose and content of the pack 2018 - 19 project brief How can SI services support NatSIP in delivering the pack – and vice versa? Next steps The pack is not intended to be a substitute for training from SI services or specialist teachers and professionals. First point of reference for a SENCO, teacher or TA who knows a SI child is joining the school or the child has joined the school and they want to prepare for the visit from the SI team First document has a section on the introductory page where schools should add the details of their SI team Not a finished product, we know from our work with SENCOs that they would like further information on accessibility plans, QFT and exemplar lesson plans which show best practice in differentiating teaching for children with SI

Background to the development to the pack Contract 2017 – 18 Develop a mainstream training pack: To be used by sensory impaired services in training sessions in local schools Draw on current sensory support services best practice Support greater use of sensory support services Develop expertise in the mainstream workforce Link to online resources through the Sensory Learning Hub As with all of the NatSIP work the main focus of the project is improved outcomes for SI children and young people Underpinning the project was an emphasis on building upon the reach that SI services currently have – SENCO training told us that not all SENCOs were aware of their local SI team, they were not clear as to how to refer children if necessary and in some cases they had SI children in their schools but they were not fully aware of the impact that the SI had upon that child’s ability to access learning. In order to improve access to information all of the documents were to be available on the NatSIP web-site – the full pack was launched in February this year

Background to the development to the pack Contract 2017 – 18 Development of face to face training and support materials for SENCOs: SENCO training – regional SENCO forums Approach national SENCO qualification providers for slots on SENCO courses There was a clear link with the work we were doing nationally in working with the national SENCO training providers We were able to deliver training through a number of providers; Roehampton Worcester ++ Manchester Derby Reading UCL +++ Session in Reading included a presentation by Jane Peters Berkshire Consortium The sessions gave us an insight into the level of awareness of the needs of SI C and YP which varied depending on experience of supporting children but there was also a variation in the access schools had to SI services

What did we learn from the SENCO training? Realising that I need to add VI to one of my children’s profiles! He has vision support but this is not down as his primary need Find out more about the types of HI & VI that our children have Access NatSIP web-site – a lot of the issues are not affecting me at the moment but may do in the future Re-think how to share information with staff, seeing it from student’s viewpoint maybe more powerful How can a teacher take a suspected SI further? What if it is not seemed to be an issue? I will assess children in Early Years for hearing impairment before I diagnose other issues 20 sessions SENCO training providers 4 SENCO forums 525 SENCOs received SI awareness training from Sept 2017 to March 2018 Before our training attendees felt 54% confidence in knowing when to seek additional support for a child or young person with a sensory disability…rising to 80% after our training. This indicates a 27% improvement in confidence across all courses delivered. Themes for future training events include; accessibility plans, Quality First Teaching, sensory integration and a practical course on the use of technology

Purpose of the mainstream SI pack To provide a useful quick reference checklist aimed at teachers, SENCOs and TAs in mainstream or special schools and settings who may be new to working with pupils with sensory impairment Improve the confidence and basic skills of mainstream or special school staff who are working with children and young people with a sensory impairment The pack does not replace the advice and support of local sensory support teams but aims to provide a clear place to start Provides a further source of information after the visit of the SI teacher and in between visits My experience as a SENCO – very well supported by Berkshire consortium but it is still helpful to be able to direct staff to the pack Hopefully in using the pack staff will be better informed and this will make the visits of the SI team even more effective as the ‘basics’ will have been covered and revisited by schools

Content of the pack: suite of 6 documents A place to start – working with a child or young person with SI A place to start – top 10 tips Advice and checklist for technology A hearing impaired case study A vision impaired case study A multi-sensory impaired case study Has anyone used them? Within the documents staff are signposted to other key publications on the NatSIP web-site, SENCOS were particularly interested in the EHCP exemplars and the access arrangements document + now on-lie training

Content of the pack A place to start – working with a child or young person with si Space on first page to record SI team contact details General guidance on environment, equipment & curriculum delivery A place to start – Top 10 Tips An introductory guide to useful resources First tip – signposting to SI team through Local Offer (RNIB website link) Starter guides Assess-plan-do-review Explaining support roles Technology Transition Place to start 1 It is likely that as a service you have a training session which covers the material found in this pack – the document offers one place to go to if you happen to have in your school HI, VI and MSI children – I have 2 out of 3 in one of my nurseries! Place to start 2 In using this document in a training session SENCOs and school staff can be directed to a range of resources which they could draw on; Early support material – would help in baseline assessments and target setting Links to NDCS, Sense and RNIB NDCS supporting achievement link – useful information for learning walks for SENCOs Guidance on support roles – role of the specialist TA / Intervenor is not always understood which make implementing the advice and support from SI services difficult Lots of links for technology Direct links to transition documents NDCS / RNIB / Sense

Content of the pack Advice and checklist for technology Case studies List of suggested resources which schools may use with support from their SI team Links to articles Evaluation for SI specialists considering the evaluation or trial of a new technology Case studies Case study for VI, HI and MSI Strategies, evaluation and impact and advice – how schools and SI teams can make use of NatSIP materials Guidance on easy access technology Stresses the need to work with the SI specialists but also provides information which schools can access easily, for example a list of apps to use with MSI or VI children Some explanation of equipment Evaluation tool for services to use when considering the use of new technology in a school – purpose / getting the right technology / training needs / manging risks (insurance and damage) / measuring benefit – as a SENCO I would find this a useful exercise to undertake with my SI specialist – it would help schools realise their responsibility and the need to focus on specific outcomes for the child which could feed in to target setting in ISP / IEP Case studies Documents which demonstrate how SI services and schools can work together and which documents available on the web-site can be used MSI – CHARGE syndrome pack and Victoria School curriculum VI – on-line Exam Access course HI – Getting Started to support personal planning

2018 - 19 project brief Aim: NatSIP to further develop its Getting Started pack and trial a costed version of training and support around this as direct support for teachers in schools to be delivered by sensory support services Outcome: more confident teachers and support staff in respect of dealing with children with SI in the classroom and greater knowledge of when they need to engage specialist SI support and how to commission that support effectively

How can SI services support NatSIP in delivering the pack? Run a training session (minimum 1 hour) using the mainstream pack and exploring the Sensory Learning Hub Sessions should be attended by at least 10 SENCOs or 10 members of school staff Sessions will be evaluated using the NatSIP confidence rating form Services will provide NatSIP with details of the course attendees (place of work and email address) and copies of the evaluation forms or a collated evaluation NatSIP will pay the SI service £400 for delivering and evaluating the training Any thoughts on how SI services could run a session using the pack? Any interest in delivering the pack?

Documents identified for further development Following feedback received from the SENCOs trained in 2017 / 18, NatSIP, in conjunction with SI services, will develop additional documents for the Mainstream Training Pack to include; Accessibility plans Quality First Teaching for SI children and young people

Next steps SI services interested in delivering a local training session on the Mainstream Pack should contact; Lindsey Rousseau – NatSIP Facilitator lindsey.rousseau@natsip.org.uk Bev Mars – NatSIP Associate bev.mars@natsip.org.uk