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A half-day online course to reboot the teaching of reading comprehension
The 3-part reading lesson facilitates the development of reading comprehension as outlined in WM2 whilst teaching pupils to respond to and appreciate text. It promotes high quality discussion of ideas and concepts.
This course provides teachers with a clear framework to teach fiction and non-fiction to the whole class.
It will:
- Show teachers how to organise a 3-part reading lesson.
- Provide teachers with a bank of resources to investigate fiction and non-fiction texts.
- Explain how to build a community of readers who support each other to explore ideas and concepts.
Working as a class or in groups and pairs supports pupils’ growing ability to read independently. The 3-part lesson is also effective and enjoyable.
Delegates will also receive a course booklet to support implementation of this approach.
‘Over the next two years, £8.8m will be provided to increase school engagement and attendance including £1.5m to provide greater capacity for Family Engagement Officers (FEOs) to support learners with attendance’
https://www.gov.wales/extra-funding-family-engagement-officers-drive-boost-school-attendance
The role of the family Engagement Officer has emerged over the last few years and is now being encouraged by Welsh Assembly Government.
Are you an F.E.O? Or do you want an F.E.O in your School?
Join us for a information packed session of step-by-step ideas and suggestions. Whether you are new to the role or want to review existing policies and practises, this course is for you.
The course will cover:-
- Where to start?
- The role of the F.E.O
- Attendance
- Supporting pupil’s with barriers to learning
- Making school a more positive experience for learners and families
- Relationship building
- Holistic approach
- Establishing initiatives and running projects
- Signposting
- Crisis aversion
According to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists…
‘There are fewer Speech and Language Therapists per head of population in Wales than any other part of the UK, as reflected in our membership data’.
This has had a huge impact on waiting times and access to support for pupils presenting with various speech and language difficulties across Wales. What can we do to support these pupils while they are waiting to be seen?
Whether you have some knowledge of speech and language difficulties or absolutely none this course is for you.
The course will cover:
- Child Language Acquisition
- Specific speech and language difficulties
- Screening and assessment tools
- IDPs/one page profile targets
- Activities and ideas
- Review of interventions
- Working with Parents
- Working with Speech and Language Therapists
This course looks at the progression of Science & Technology skills, which highlight the rich opportunities for literacy, numeracy and digital skills.
delegates. Resources available in Welsh.
A half-day online course to map extended writing opportunities
Estyn stresses the need for teachers to plan opportunities for authentic, independent extended writing across the curriculum.
Estyn notes: Overall, pupils do not have regular opportunities to write independently, particularly when writing in other areas of the curriculum.
This course helps you to plan for effective extended writing.
It will:
- Look at a model for planning extended writing in PS2 and PS3
- Explore how to map writing across the AoLEs and consider effective task setting
- Investigate ways to help pupils to retrieve and use information in their own writing.
The course will enable you to give your pupils meaningful opportunities to apply skills learnt in
literacy in authentic ways.
‘Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is a term originally developed by the British psychologist Elisabeth Newson in the 1980s and first used in a published research paper by Newson in 2003. It was used to describe a group of children who did not fit into the stereotypical presentation of autism recognised at that time but who shared certain characteristics with each other, the key one being a persistent and marked resistance to demands’.
https://www.autism.org.uk/
‘Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a condition that is commonly seen in up to 50% of children and young people with ADHD’.
‘Sometimes it’s difficult to recognise the difference between a strong-willed or emotional child and one with ODD’.
Essex Partnership University NHS
Have you been faced with a pupil who seems to react negatively to your requests? Have you felt out of your depth? Would you like to develop your knowledge and understanding of ‘demand avoidance’ in order to recognise the difference between a strong-willed child and a child with ‘Demand avoidance’ patterns of behaviour?
How skilled and confident are your staff in teaching effective STEM?
D&T is an exciting and natural area to develop and support the four purposes and 12 pedagogical principles of the new curriculum. Learn how, through experiencing the challenges for yourself, before teaching them in the classroom.This is a hands-on session, where delegates will develop their understanding of the different areas in Design and Technology through practical team challenges.
This course will also look at progression from PS1 to PS 3.
There will be a focus on mechanical systems – linkages and gears using construction kits. All delegates will go home with a Robotics kit to use with the children back in class.
- AM Session – Woodwork and safe use of tools. Are you looking to develop pupil independence, improve engagement and cross-curricular learning? Join us in this practical session and become confident in using the tools yourself. Come away with strategies to boost learners’ self-esteem, perseverance, resilience and independence through hands-on learning.
- PM Structures Progression – Focus on the progression of skills in structures from PS 1 through to PS 3 – Hands-on training that will give delegates the knowledge and confidence to apply in the classroom. Simple, practical strategies and ideas that are impactful and that children will embrace. The training will explore how the integral skills are crucial for developing ambitious, capable learners and how to deliver this effectively. The course will focus on applying and using numeracy skills in authentic contexts.
At the time of writing there are over 500,000 teacher support staff in the UK education system with approximately 31,000 of these being registered with the Education Workforce Council (EWC) in Wales and approximately 18,000 of these working in primary schools in Wales where they are now a larger section of the workforce than teaching staff (Department for Education, 2018; Education Workforce Council, 2017).
Research into the deployment of primary school support staff in Wales 11/07/19
As you can see above, it is vital that use these members of staff are used effectively.
This course will look at good practice in the mainstream classroom. You will learn about various strategies and ways to effectively use your staff to support children with ALN.
This course looks at the progression of Science & Technology skills, which highlight the rich opportunities for literacy, numeracy and digital skills.
A half-day online course to reboot the teaching of reading comprehension
Rich and satisfying learning takes place when we support pupils to become confident speakers who are able to articulate their ideas and offer opinions clearly. Talk embeds ideas and strengthens understanding of topics. It is therefore important to have a detailed, well planned whole school strategy to foster high quality discussion and purposeful collaboration.
We will:
- Consider how to use warm up exercises to provide speaking and listening practice.
- Explore strategies that can be used across the school and across the curriculum to allow pupils to explore an idea.
- Think about how we can use oracy to develop pupils’ thinking.
- Look at how to kickstart an oracy project.
Make talk work in your school to raise standards and increase engagement.
A half-day online course to make shared reading a key part of a school’s scheme of work.
Shared reading is an essential strategy in each teacher’s literacy toolkit. During shared reading pupils practise increasingly complex skills in a supportive and engaging environment.
This course shows how shared reading changes as pupils grow and mature.
It will:
- Explore how shared reading flexes and changes as pupils mature and look at models for teaching in PS1, PS2 and PS3.
- Examine the skills we need to teach pupils in each Progression Step and study a sample scheme of work.
- Look at ways to involve pupils in shared reading.
- Consider what goes into a shared reading toolkit.
Delegates will receive a sample scheme of work and resources to build a shared reading toolkit.
The ALN reform act (Wales) has placed statutory obligations on schools to decide if a pupil has ALN or not. How confident are you in meeting the needs of all learners in your class?
This course will look at good practice in the mainstream classroom. You will learn about various strategies and ways to attune to your pupil’s needs. You will have the opportunity to access observations made by specialist teaching. These will be presented as examples for
you to take back to school and support pupils who may be struggling or identified as having ALN.
‘Drama’ Strategies are great teaching tools that could be part of every teacher’s toolbox. They help make teaching and learning more active, interactive, inclusive, engaging, enjoyable and memorable. In this session you will learn how to set up at least ten ‘drama’ strategies and will be given some cross-curricular examples of their use. The various configurations and protocols for each strategy will be explained, as well as ways of adapting and sequencing them, to extend and deepen learning.
This online session is based on the presenter’s most recent book, ‘40+ ‘Drama’ Strategies to Deepen Whole Class Learning,’ (Routledge, April 2024).
- STEM equips children with essential life skills in a rapidly changing world, developing learners’ creative, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Learning through failures is a key aspect for any D&T and STEM-based activities and this course will allow delegates to experience this first hand with tasks and ideas that can be implemented with the children back in class. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein.
- STEM challenges allow children to apply their Literacy and Numeracy skills in real-life, meaningful contexts.
- This practical course is ideal for increasing the motivation and engagement of all learners.
- Practical challenges that teach learners to take risks and become more resourceful, independent and innovative.
- Problem-solving tasks allow children to develop fine and gross motor skills through relevant and authentic challenges.
- How all learners can develop resilience, perseverance, and collaboration through practical challenges that develop analytical and creative thinking
The Additional Learning Needs transformation programme came into practice on the 1st of September 2021. The idea was to create a unified approach for young people from the age of 0-25.
An important part of this system is accurate and relevant assessment of Additional Learning Needs of pupils already identified as needing extra support. It is also important to develop screening systems within the mainstream setting in order to recognise needs in pupils that
might not be presenting their additional learning needs in an obvious way in class.
We will explore different Assessments and ensure that practitioners have a plethora of tools to assist in ascertaining the needs of all pupils.