Training for Schools

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I have 25 years' of experience delivering training to educational settings.

I can deliver whole day training in Early Years, Primary or Secondary School settings.

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I will tailor the content to suit your needs.

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I have experience in collaborative working with teachers to educate students with a range of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).  

I can help you meet the needs of all learners. The techniques that help children with SLCN

are effective at supporting all students.  Improving spoken language skills has a positive effect on literacy and learning across the curriculum.  I can help you to make your school an inclusive and language-rich environment that works for all learners.

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I offer training packages in:

Whole School Vocabulary Approach: 

There are three steps to this approach:

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1. Get excited about words: this is about building a language-rich environment and having fun with words. This step creates opportunities for engagement in word learning.

2. Teach words: teaching important words right across the curriculum. This step involves selecting the most important words and then teaching them using a quick, engaging method. This structured approach is applied to literacy, but also in maths, science etc.

3. Independent word learning: most words are learnt independently, and so by specifically teaching word learning strategies we ensure all students have the skills to learn words on their own.

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I will provide an entertaining and engaging workshop with practical activities to show teaching staff exactly how to implement this approach to improve learning across the curriculum.  I will provide lesson planning and implementation materials for teaching staff to keep.  Vocabulary underpins all written language tasks, and so targeting this area will have immediate impact on all levels of learners within the school.  It also brings the fun back into teaching a topic!

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Colourful Semantics: 

This approach provides professionals with an engaging, dynamic way to support children’s language development. By coding sentences using colour, symbols and signs, this visual approach aims to:

 

1. Teach understanding of question words

2. Develop vocabulary and increase sentence complexity

3. Increase range and complexity of verbs (children with delayed or disordered spoken language skills often overuse simple verbs such as do, go or get)

4. Improve children’s written language skills

 

I will provide a lively and interesting workshop with practical activities to show teaching staff how to incorporate Colourful Semantics (or Language through Colour) into their teaching.  I will provide a variety of templates and picture resources for teaching staff to keep.  This approach provides the necessary structure to learners who have Developmental Language Disorder, and can also help for students with ASC, dyspraxia and dyslexia.

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Makaton:

I am a regional tutor for Makaton and able to deliver all levels of workshop to teach the core vocabulary or extension topics.  Get in touch to discuss your staff's needs.  Find more information about my Makaton training here.

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I will consider the resources that your school are already using, to avoid duplication or confusion.

I will share the content of my training with the leadership team or SENCO ahead of time, so that the content can be adjusted to suit your needs.

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I charge £500 for a full day training for 20 staff. 

I can accommodate larger groups, and can provide a quote on request.