The three Centres for Excellence (CfE) in SEND are each hosting Communities of Practice (CoPs) covering topics within their individual themes (People – Weston College, Community – City College Norwich and Specialist Support – Natspec). These CoP are open to anyone working in Education and Skills with an interest in improving experiences for learners with an inclusion need (SEN). The focus of the CoPs is to share and identify effective practice and to work collaboratively as a community of professionals to address challenges.
In addition to our CfE and Employer Spoke events, you might want to check out joint school and FE ‘Specialist Spotlight’ CPD events delivered by nasen which are part of the Universal SEND Services programme. The events are booked via the Whole School SEND website events page. Those events highlighted as Post 16 are listed below with a direct link to book.
17th, Supporting Employment pathways for learners with SEND. This community of practice, facilitated by NTDi, will explore what opportunities are available for learners with additional needs who do not have an EHC plan. Supported by colleagues from East Sussex local authority who will share their learning from the Internships Work pilot programme that has been looking at the structure and principles of supported internships to test out for those without plans. 16:00 – 17:30
21st, Hampshire SEND Employability and Independence Hub Visits. On-site visit hosted by Brockenhurst College. They will provide an overview of the Hubs, including the history of how and why they were developed and how the partnership has grown, and share learning from the initial implementation periods of both provisions. They will discuss the funding mechanisms used and core principles of delivery models. This will be followed by information from the Hub leads and senior teams to provide a perspective from the education providers, including how they tackled barriers and concerns prior to engagement and the benefits of the provision. 10:00 – 12:30
24th, Job Coaching: Beyond the Classroom. This event, hosted by the Luminate Education Group, will show how to develop current or potential Job Coaches with essential skills to excel in supporting students’ workplace transitions. Attendees will gain valuable insights into effective job coaching strategies, building strong employer relationships, and overcoming common challenges. 15:30 – 16:30
26th, Inclusive Employment in the Quick Service Restaurant Industry. London South East Colleges, in partnership with the Education and Training Foundation, are bringing together Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) employers, local authorities and SEND specialist schools, colleges and organisations to raise awareness, break down barriers and encourage employment opportunities for young people with learning disabilities including autism. Join us to hear case studies and share best practice for inclusive education, recruitment and employment. This is a call to action to raise awareness and encourage employment for SEND learners in the QSR industry.14:00 – 15:30
27th, Learner voice – how can you make them heard? This session, facilitated by Natspec, focuses on the learner voice and how we ensure that it is authentic and reflective of a learner’s aspirations, needs and outcomes. 16:00 – 17:15
1st, Learner voice – engaging Learners. As part of their learner voice theme, this Natspec-run community of practice session will focus on how to engage learners and how their voices are heard and acted upon within a college setting. 15:45 – 16:45
7th, Learner voice – measuring responsiveness. As part of their learner voice theme this Natspec-run community of practice session will focus on the responsiveness of your setting to the learners, the changes that have and can be made to support learning and outcomes.15:45 – 16:45
As part of our Community of Practice offer, we have produced a number of resources and delivered a number of free training sessions. The resources and recordings of webinars can be found on the Resources from the centres page under the headings used across the SEND Exhibition website.