Learn, Unlearn, Relearn: Essential for Teacher Professional Development
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Learn, Unlearn, Relearn: Essential for Teacher Professional Development

What is Learn, Unlearn, Relearn? Learn, Unlearn, Relearn is a critical process for teacher professional development that allows teachers to stay up-to-date on the latest research and best practices, and to adapt their teaching to the changing needs of their students. Why is it important for teachers to engage in Learn, Unlearn, Relearn? The education…

The Best Free Autism Courses For Teaching Assistants
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The Best Free Autism Courses For Teaching Assistants

The 5 Best Free Online Autism Courses for Teaching Assistants in 2023 A common question I am asked on our Facebook page is “What are the Best Free Autism Courses for Teaching Assistants?” I will share the professional development courses our TA’s have been accessing this year. There is a lot of evidence about effective…

CPD for Better Student Outcomes: Why We Need to Prioritise Pedagogy and Address Barriers to Professional Development
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CPD for Better Student Outcomes: Why We Need to Prioritise Pedagogy and Address Barriers to Professional Development

This CPD focussed post is based on the recent DFE publication The Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders – Wave 1. This was published in April 2023. Satisfaction and Impact of CPD in Schools 2023 It’s heartening to see that the majority of ECTs feel satisfied with their initial teacher training, but they do feel…

An Inclusive Blended Learning Strategy for SEND.
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An Inclusive Blended Learning Strategy for SEND.

This post on the design and delivery of an inclusive remote learning strategy for all our children is published in response to the latest Government lockdown. Many schools remain open to vulnerable and critical worker children. However for a significant number of children there is no on site access to education. This may be due…

Research, Relationships and Reality.
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Research, Relationships and Reality.

This post will outline the role relationships play in behaviour support, I will also outline some of the research led practices I have used. Before I start I do want to say that I have read studies I do not agree with. I also know that a huge number of studies conducted ON Autistic children/adults focus on strategies intended to normalise social behaviours which is a huge ethical issue. Fortunately I have had the opportunity to listen to and discuss elements of my practice with actually Autistic academics and practitioners. This has greatly shaped my approach and ethos towards behaviour support, I will also admit this has slanted my view of a lot of studies that remove the human element from behaviour and reduce the children to purely objects to study. To this end I fully expect some of the approaches in the post and the presentation to be a bit controversial and I am 100% sure that at least some of them will contravene your school (or center’s) behaviour policy.

Guest Blog: Developing a CPD model
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Guest Blog: Developing a CPD model

Lynn McCann writes this post about developing an effective model for delivering continuing professional development courses. She supports a range of schools and other educational organisations with students with additional needs. Lynn runs a consultancy business, she is definitely concerned about the outcomes of her support on the children. She supplies a lot of free…

6 Practical Ways To Make Your CPD More Effective
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6 Practical Ways To Make Your CPD More Effective

6 Essential Practical Elements of Effective CPD Training is big business. The reason for this is because Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is such a wide term. A school’s training budget can cover a multitude of areas, non teaching and learning areas such as: health and safety, food hygiene, seagull avoidance, first aid, fire awareness, the…

Peer Observations and Subject Leader Reviews
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Peer Observations and Subject Leader Reviews

Subject Leader Reviews – Thoughts on Peer Observation Peer observations and reviews are used to make informed decisions about the quality of education in a school or subject. Can there be any more sensitive area of a teacher’s work than that of observations? It has been the bane of teachers’ lives instilling fear and anxiety…