If our staff are our greatest asset, what should we be doing to look after their wellbeing?  Staff from Beacon Award-winning Weston College share their whole organisational approach to wellbeing, along with a range of straightforward low-cost solutions to promoting good mental and physical health for staff.

This workshop will help you to consider how you can

• get the right governors in place with sufficient understanding of your provision to know what good quality looks like
• provide governors with the right information  /data to help them make judgements
• empower and, where necessary, upskill governors so they are able to ask challenging questions.

Using the learner journey as a route map, senior staff from a number of successful specialist colleges explore what ‘quality’ means at each of its different stages.

Not all young people with SEND will end up with a full-time paid job.  What other options for employment are there - and how do we help learners with more complex needs achieve these?  The answer lies in taking an individualised approach and thinking creatively about what it means to be involved in the world of work.  Come along and find out more about how that works in practice.

Delegates will have the chance to discuss the findings of a research study into best practice for local authority commissioning for SEND in FE, including

• taking account of different travel patterns and catchment areas for further education
• what support should be universally available, and what constitutes specialist services
• how to achieve accurate cost and outcome comparisons of different types of provision across the post-16 sector.

An opportunity to hear about a range of practical positive behaviour support strategies and how these can be used to improve access to and engagement in learning.

Keeping learners safe is one of our core responsibilities as learning providers.  This workshop covers the key areas to consider when it comes to safeguarding students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.  It is aimed at professionals relatively new to the topic or at those who are more experienced but would welcome the opportunity to go ‘back to basics’.

Delegates wishing to engage in more informal discussion rather than attend a workshop can stay in the main conference room. Here they will have a chance to debate a range of hot topics with colleagues. Discussion will focus on some of the issues most commonly raised on Natspec’s networking forums.

If our staff are our greatest asset, what should we be doing to look after their wellbeing?  Staff from Beacon Award-winning Weston College share their whole organisational approach to wellbeing, along with a range of straightforward low-cost solutions to promoting good mental and physical health for staff.

This workshop will help you to consider how you can

• get the right governors in place with sufficient understanding of your provision to know what good quality looks like
• provide governors with the right information  /data to help them make judgements
• empower and, where necessary, upskill governors so they are able to ask challenging questions.

Using the learner journey as a route map, senior staff from a number of successful specialist colleges explore what ‘quality’ means at each of its different stages.

Not all young people with SEND will end up with a full-time paid job.  What other options for employment are there - and how do we help learners with more complex needs achieve these?  The answer lies in taking an individualised approach and thinking creatively about what it means to be involved in the world of work.  Come along and find out more about how that works in practice.

Delegates will have the chance to discuss the findings of a research study into best practice for local authority commissioning for SEND in FE, including

• taking account of different travel patterns and catchment areas for further education
• what support should be universally available, and what constitutes specialist services
• how to achieve accurate cost and outcome comparisons of different types of provision across the post-16 sector.

An opportunity to hear about a range of practical positive behaviour support strategies and how these can be used to improve access to and engagement in learning.

Keeping learners safe is one of our core responsibilities as learning providers.  This workshop covers the key areas to consider when it comes to safeguarding students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.  It is aimed at professionals relatively new to the topic or at those who are more experienced but would welcome the opportunity to go ‘back to basics’.

Delegates wishing to engage in more informal discussion rather than attend a workshop can stay in the main conference room. Here they will have a chance to debate a range of hot topics with colleagues. Discussion will focus on some of the issues most commonly raised on Natspec’s networking forums.

An opportunity to hear from Estyn on how their new inspection arrangements

• will support quality improvement in further education and training for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities
• will impact on self-assessment for specialist FE colleges
• links to ALN Transformation.

Helping young people with PMLD to communicate more effectively opens the door to a more fulfilled adulthood, greater agency over their own lives and more chance of developing meaningful relationships with others.  Learn how intensive interaction can benefit students with PMLD and hear the remarkable story from a parent’s perspective of how it helped her daughter in particular.  Come ready to participate!

Colleges are enrolling increasing numbers of students who present with behaviours of concern, at the same time as ‘behaviour and attitudes’ becomes one of the four key judgements in the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework.  This workshop will help college staff and leaders reflect on and consider how to improve their whole organisational approach to behaviour.

This workshop will give delegates the opportunity to consider key aspects of SEND legislation and what these mean for students, families and colleges.  They will hear about latest case law and have the opportunity share good practice, discuss issues and raise questions with an expert in SEND legislation. 

Positive relationships with local authority colleagues make for smoother transitions for students, better financial planning and fewer headaches all round.  So how can we work effectively together?  This workshop explores practical tips and suggestions for partnership-working to make the business of assessment and admissions a less painful process for all involved.

TechAbility Standards are there to demystify assistive technology: everything from tools to training. The standards help you see what you are doing well and what needs to be improved.  This session will link the standards to resources and set leaders and practitioners on a path of technological enlightenment!

We have a proven track record of delivering measurable and significant improvements in assistive technology outcomes – expect to be challenged to do the same.

This workshop will help delegates understand what good quality CIAG for young people with high needs looks like. Colleges might choose to develop their own CIAG or to buy it in from an external provider.  Either way they need to have a clear idea of what constitutes a high-quality offer, including how to make CIAG meaningful for their particular students.  Delegates will also consider how to use the Gatsby Benchmarks to review and improve on their current approach.

Delegates will consider

• the value and role of therapies and their contribution to education for students with SEND
• ways in which therapists can work together with teaching and support staff to plan provision
• how to achieve an interdisciplinary approach which enables learners to achieve their outcomes.

Helping young people with PMLD to communicate more effectively opens the door to a more fulfilled adulthood, greater agency over their own lives and more chance of developing meaningful relationships with others.  Learn how intensive interaction can benefit students with PMLD and hear the remarkable story from a parent’s perspective of how it helped her daughter in particular.  Come ready to participate!

Colleges are enrolling increasing numbers of students who present with behaviours of concern, at the same time as ‘behaviour and attitudes’ becomes one of the four key judgements in the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework.  This workshop will help college staff and leaders reflect on and consider how to improve their whole organisational approach to behaviour.

This workshop will give delegates the opportunity to consider key aspects of SEND legislation and what these mean for students, families and colleges.  They will hear about latest case law and have the opportunity share good practice, discuss issues and raise questions with an expert in SEND legislation. 

Positive relationships with local authority colleagues make for smoother transitions for students, better financial planning and fewer headaches all round.  So how can we work effectively together?  This workshop explores practical tips and suggestions for partnership-working to make the business of assessment and admissions a less painful process for all involved.

TechAbility Standards are there to demystify assistive technology: everything from tools to training. The standards help you see what you are doing well and what needs to be improved.  This session will link the standards to resources and set leaders and practitioners on a path of technological enlightenment!

We have a proven track record of delivering measurable and significant improvements in assistive technology outcomes – expect to be challenged to do the same.

This workshop will help delegates understand what good quality CIAG for young people with high needs looks like. Colleges might choose to develop their own CIAG or to buy it in from an external provider.  Either way they need to have a clear idea of what constitutes a high-quality offer, including how to make CIAG meaningful for their particular students.  Delegates will also consider how to use the Gatsby Benchmarks to review and improve on their current approach.

Delegates will consider

• the value and role of therapies and their contribution to education for students with SEND
• ways in which therapists can work together with teaching and support staff to plan provision
• how to achieve an interdisciplinary approach which enables learners to achieve their outcomes.

Delegates wishing to engage in more informal discussion rather than attend a workshop can stay in the main conference room. Here they will have a chance to debate a range of hot topics with colleagues. Discussion will focus on some of the issues most commonly raised on Natspec’s networking forums.