Gig -economy, livestream, overshare, sofa surfer. What do all these words have in common? They were all added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2021. We may not realise it, but we are constantly acquiring new knowledge. The average person learns the equivalent of one new word a day. In the same way, we need to keep learning and developing professionally. There is no more important area to concentrate on than developing our skills, aptitude and ability in supporting children and young people with additional needs.
We try hard to continuously develop and nurture good practise and understanding of a range of conditions. All our staff have had training on Mental Health and Well-being. Some of us have developed this further with Mental Health First Aid Training. Other CPD training has included Adverse Childhood Experiences, FASD and most recently ASC. Callum Foster, specialist teacher from the Communication and Interaction Team delivered some informative and useful training on Autistic Spectrum Condition, including many pointers on best practise.
Staff have taken it upon themselves to do courses in their own time – on topics such as Specific Learning Difficulties, Lego Therapy, ASC and Behaviour Management. It amazes and delights me that staff are willing to use their own time to further their expertise in the area of additional needs. After all, we are all teachers of SEN – using Quality First Teaching.
Our latest training was hosted by Gavin Hayman, Inclusion Locality Manager as part of the North Yorkshire Education Service programme of training. We spent time refreshing our knowledge on ADHD and consolidating techniques to support our children and young people. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurological condition that can affect concentration, impulse control and time awareness in children and young people. More importantly, it gave us an opportunity to review our current practice and learn to develop some new strategies and ideas. Acquiring new knowledge is always a positive!
Helen English, Senco