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

2. Session overview Background to the development of the pack
What did we learn from the SENCO training?
Purpose and content of the pack
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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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 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?

12. 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

13. Next steps
SI services interested in delivering a local training session on the Mainstream Pack should contact; Lindsey Rousseau – NatSIP Facilitator Bev Mars – NatSIP Associate