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Bridging the knowledge gap - New Training Resources for SENCOS
A new, huge, free-of-charge information resource to support teachers dealing with special educational needs will be launched at the Special Needs Fringe exhibition in January.
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The resources are training materials developed by the Inclusive Consultancy and Training Syndicate (ICTS) as part of their delivery of New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training. |
 ICTS NOF Units Free-to-air after Fringe |
 Ralph Tabberer Chief Executive of the TTA |
Ralph Tabberer, Chief Executive of the Teacher Training Agency, will press the switch that will make these resources go live and free-to-air at 11.30am on Friday 10th January at the Fringe. Mr Tabberer said that "We must remember that all teachers - not just those who have been specially trained - come into contact with pupils with special education needs and require easy access to resources to help them." "These materials from ICTS have been used in training thousands of teachers already and are of proven quality and value. ICTS are the first of the major training providers to make their materials freely available on the internet. It is a generous step and I hope others will follow their lead." |
NOF training has had a considerable impact in the special needs sector. The programme delivered by the ICTS reached almost all of those working with pupils with severe and complex special needs in special schools in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
However, Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) in mainstream schools, and in special schools dealing with moderate learning difficulties or behavioural problems, do not always have detailed information about using technology to support pupils with low-incidence disabilities.
Each year, and often unpredictably, they may need to know what approaches and resources are available for a particular learner.
"Because of the involvement of the centres of expertise in each
field, and across all four countries, the ICTS training units online are
probably the best resource yet created to show how new technology can help
pupils with severe and complex special educational needs overcome the extra
challenges they face," said Martin Littler, chairman of the ICTS
Consortium.
"We are delighted to be able to donate these resources to help SENCOs, student teachers, NQTs, LSAs and anyone who would like to use them in support of their learners."
Stephen
Dunmore, Chief Executive of the New Opportunities Fund, welcomed the move to
open resources to other teachers, saying: "The scheme, funded by the National
Lottery, to train the nation's teachers in the use of ICT has an added bonus
when resources developed for specialist training are now freely available to
all. We hope as many teachers as possible will benefit, and in the long term
that will benefit children with special needs."
This is an exciting proposal from Martin Littler - these would be useful resources for schools which have a minority of pupils with special needs who did not take training from ICTS," said John Anderson, Education Technology Strategy Coordinator of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland.
The resources represent the combined knowledge and experience of the ACE Centre; ACE North; the Advisory Unit; the CALL Centre, Edinburgh University; CENMAC; the Down's Syndrome Association; Inclusive Technology; Janet Larcher Associates; the Manchester Metropolitan University and the Royal National Institute for the Blind.
After their launch at the Special Needs Fringe, SENCOs will be able to access the training materials online at www.inclusive.net. They can also become actively involved in shaping the resources further, by joining in a consultation about how they would like the materials to be developed to meet their needs.
The Special Needs Fringe 2003 includes a
full assistive technology and special needs exhibition, giving special
educators more ideas, information and opportunities to develop their resources
than ever.
It includes twenty-one of the big names in British special needs software such as Crick Software, Widgit Software and Inclusive Technology, as well as international assistive technology companies like Dynavox, Liberator, Toby Churchill, Possum, Prentke Romich and QED. It also features a complimentary seminar programme.
The Fringe will be at the Kensington Olympia Hilton from Wednesday 8th to Friday 10th January 2003.