Primary Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Adaptive Teaching Leaders

 COST: £500 + VAT per school for 3 people (once you have booked 1 colleague from your school, please email cpdadmin@hackney.gov.uk with the emails and names of your other 2 colleagues)

Free for schools who have bought into the package.

In order for a school to attend, this course requires a senior leader, middle leader and classroom teacher to be in attendance. 

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 In Hackney’s current context of rising SEND demands, supporting school staff with Adaptive Teaching strategies is crucial. Amid school closures in London, we are increasingly seeing children with complex needs transition to unfamiliar settings, underscoring the need for adaptive expertise across all levels of your school community. Creating a supportive and responsive learning environment helps students build confidence, resilience, and a positive self-concept, while also fostering a more equitable learning experience for all.

Building on from the work from our previous adaptive teaching cohort and adapted to Hackney schools, this new programme will target both leadership and pedagogy to ensure a more sustainable long term impact on learners, namely through curriculum development. 

Much of the material will continue to prioritise evidence-based learning, alongside exploring models and techniques for their efficient implementation, whether through school-wide initiatives or classroom-centred methods. A deeper exploration of adaptive expertise will permeate all stages of the programme. This would encompass aspects like adaptive mindset, cognitive and metacognitive habits, adaptive problem-solving, as well as teacher-to-teacher collaborative learning and coaching. 

The programme will run from November 2024 through to the end of the summer term 2025 and is punctuated by training followed by school action, coaching and school implementation and development. The Adaptive Teaching Leader roadmap is laid out chronologically step 1-8 below.

Engagement: 

3 members from each school who need to attend this training will become Adaptive Teaching Leaders:

1. School leaders who have oversight of school improvement (headteacher / assistant headteacher / SENCo) 

2. Middle leader

3. Classroom Teacher

Programme Outline

Reviewing Current Practice

Step 1	Monday, 18th Nov 9.30am to 12.30pm The Tomlinson Centre		Face to Face half day training of Adaptive Teaching Leaders Introduction to the programme:  Towards adaptive expertise: Adaptive mindset; Cognitive and metacognitive habits; Adaptive problem-solving; Teacher-to-teacher collaborative learning and coaching.	Adaptive Teaching Leaders
Step 2	Autumn 2 - Spring 1		Quality of teaching and learning for inclusion Reviews: Evidence collected by Adaptive Teaching Leaders and involving as many stakeholders as possible and added to your T&L for Inclusion Review tool. Set a date for an Audit visit with a member of Hackney's SEND team involved in the programme to visit and work with Adaptive Teaching Leaders to triangulate the evidence collected. This involves a day visit. Expert reviewers will act as a critical friend and support the process of evidence collection and identifying priorities for change. An example timetable for the day will be found on the padlet.	Adaptive Teaching Leaders

Adaptive Teaching Action Planning

Step 3	Monday, 27th Jan 4.00pm to 5.00pm Online	Twilight Workshop to reflect on the evidence collected in the review and session will support SEND Champions to identify strengths & 3 priority actions for improvement.	Adaptive Teaching Leaders
Step 4	Monday 3rd - 14th Feb Online via Invitation per school	Coaching session.  Individual 30 min session for each school	Adaptive Teaching Leaders – bring additional relevant staff you want to involve in the process e.g. Teaching & Learning lead / Headteacher

Implementation of Adaptive Teaching Action Plan

Step 5	Wednesday 5th Mar 8.30am to 10.30am The Tomlinson Centre	Second face to face half day training for senior leaders.  Evidence informed approaches to implementing action plans.	Senior Leaders
Step 6	Tuesday, 18th Mar 4.00pm to 5.00pm Online	Capacity building twilight and mobilising middle leadership/Adaptive teaching	Middle leaders
Step 7	Tuesday, 25th Mar 4.00pm to 5.00pm Online individual sessions  28th Apr - 5th May	Online twilight to prepare for coaching session   Coaching for sustainability – embedding into every day practices	Adaptive Teaching Leaders

Review of Progress & Professional Learning Community Development

Step 8

Monday, 9th Jun 9.30am to 12.30pm The Tomlinson Centre

Final face to face half day training for Adaptive Teaching Leaders.  Systemic change to support adaptive practice

Agents of ongoing change

• Target audience:
• Primary
• Post 16
• Early Years
• Secondary

• Included in package:
• Primary

Emotional Literacy Support Assistants: ELSA Supervision

Course overview

An essential part of the ELSA initiative is ongoing supervision to build the competence and confidence of the ELSAs. On completion of training all ELSAs are offered half-termly group professional supervision facilitated by an educational psychologist (EP). This is needed to maintain accreditation to work as an ELSA.

Course benefits: 

• Provide casework support and guidance

• Support ELSAs in setting and reviewing appropriate targets through case studies and group discussion

• Enable additional training and discussion in areas of interest identified by ELSAs/recap on previous training and new developments in key areas

• Give access to peer support

• Facilitate shared problem-solving.

• ELSAs will be able to share ideas and resources

Who should attend?

ELSAs who have attended the training course

 

• Target audience:
• Primary
• Secondary

• Included in package:
• Not Included

How do we ensure an inclusive approach for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)?

In the evolving landscape of education, with government plans for system-wide improvements and fairer funding, strong governance is paramount. This interactive session focuses on introducing governors to SEND legislation and guidance. It provides a platform for reflection and discussion on complex inclusion issues, emphasising the role of governors in supporting schools for optimal outcomes for pupils with SEND.

This course will focus on how to:

• Promote all forms of equality and foster greater understanding of and respect for people, with a particular focus on SEND.
• Provide high quality education and successful outcomes for pupils with SEND.
• Effectively engage with parents, carers, other stakeholders and agencies to support all SEND pupils.

This training is suitable for:

• Chairs of Governors & Governors
• Senior Leaders
• SENCos

Facilitator: Joe Wilson

 

Free for Hackney schools. Non Hackney schools £108.00 incl. VAT

• Target audience:
• Primary
• Secondary

• Included in package:
• Governance
• Primary

Makaton Level 2

Course overview

This nationally accredited Level 2 Makaton course builds on the previous workshop to develop knowledge and understanding of both signs and symbols up to Core Vocabulary stage 4, and explores how to use them to support communication every day.  The course will increase participants’ knowledge of AAC and multi-modal communication and there are opportunities to revise and practise signing in a fun and active way. Levels 1 and 2 together are equivalent to the two-day Makaton Foundation Workshop previously offered. 

Course objectives

• To learn signs and symbols of the Makaton language programme (stages 3–4).
• To enable staff to facilitate pupils with communication difficulties to access learning and social interaction at school using Makaton.

Who should attend?
SENCOs, teachers, learning support assistants and teaching assistants in primary, secondary mainstream and special schools responsible for using and teaching who have previously completed the Makaton Level 1 course.

• Target audience:
• Early Years
• Primary
• Secondary
• Post 16

• Included in package:
• Not Included

SEND Conference

 

Hackney’s annual SEND Conference on June 19th, 2024 is going to be a comprehensive and informative event focusing on inclusive education. Here's a breakdown of the key components:

Date and Time:

• Date: Wednesday, 19th June 2024

• Time: 8:30 am - 3:45 pm

• Venue: The Tomlinson Centre

TARGET AUDIENCE: All school leaders

 

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Morning

8.30 - 10.30: School visits

• Stormont House – Supporting children with moderate learning difficulties
• Ickburgh – Positive parent/carer partnerships
• Bridge Academy – Nurture group / classroom practice / distributed leadership
• Harrington Hill – Adaptive teaching / formative assessment
• Thomas Fairchild – Including children with complex needs / updating SEND register 
• Halley House – ELSA provision
• Clapton – Autism in girls

focus on positive parent/carer partnerships, autism in girls, distributed leadership, adaptive teaching, and support for children with moderate learning difficulties and complex needs.

10.30 - 11.00: travel to venue via minibuses

Afternoon

 

Overall, the conference will offer a well-rounded programme covering a range of topics crucial for fostering inclusive education and supporting the diverse needs of students.

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 Biographies

Dr Barbara Sandland

 

Barbara is a Post-Doctoral Researcher, Assistant Professor and Specialist Student Mentor. Her work focuses on Autism and Neurodivergence in education and the workplace. As a neurodivergent individual and mother to neurodiverse children she brings personal insight, alongside critical research, to her work. Barbara's background is as a qualified secondary school teacher, with many years’ experience as a Special Educational Needs Coordinator.

 

 

Ann Marie Christian

Qualifying in 1996 and worked in children and families child protection teams then promoted to management in 2003. Ann Marie was a school based social worker from 1999 to 2003 and worked alongside education welfare, behaviour teachers and mentors in a government pilot project.

 

In 2003 she started a unique role as the team manager of the Vulnerable Children Team  and managed teachers working with LAC, advised schools in child protection and delivered child protection training to schools and heads. This role evolved and Ann Marie worked as a LADO in Education, Safeguarding advisor,  DSL Local Authority coordinator, LSCB Trainer and School Improvement Advisor and managed a team of social workers allocated to set schools within the local authority.

 

Unfortunately, when austerity started in social care she was taken away from the proactive work and called back to manage child protection teams in 2010. Ann Marie found this reactive, punitive and not helpful to families. She resigned and returned as an independent safeguarding consultant and registered Child 1st Consultancy Limited.

 

The welfare of the child is paramount and this name was chosen to champion their rights.

 

Ann Marie has managed various social work teams:

 

• Managed a child protection team 0-5 (Early years) 2011-2015

• Managed a child protection team in Youth Justice 2010-2014

• Managed school based social workers and pastoral staff 2010 -2015

 

• Target audience:
• Primary
• Secondary
• Early Years