It is vitally important that all adults working with a child with Down syndrome understands their learning needs and how to meet these needs. All teaching staff are welcome to join our Introduction to Down syndrome course for FREE. It will run at the beginning of each term. To enhance your practice further we suggest staff working closely with the child are also trained in signing, using visuals to support language development and teaching basic number skills. Each term these additional three courses will follow on from the Introduction to Down syndrome course over several weeks.
Reading, Language Intervention for children with Down syndrome The RLI programme detailed in a teacher’s handbook and DVD developed and produced by Down Syndrome Education International, provides a systematic structured approach via daily activities that can be finely adapted to each child. The training days will cover the theory behind the programme, how to assess a child to find a starting point, how to monitor and record progress and how to deliver the daily intervention with examples from, and reference to, the teacher’s handbook and DVD (now a digital resource).
This course is delivered over two 2 hour sessions. The first session covers why we use signing with children with Down syndrome and the signs for manners, animals, food, family and other people, and the alphabet. The second session covers signs for the home, school day, colours, descriptions, time/days, questions and connective/link words. Followed by a discussion on how behaviour can be addressed through introducing signing.
The course introduces Down syndrome to people who have little experience of working with children with Down syndrome and covers society’s view of Down syndrome, health implications, strengths and weaknesses in the classroom and outlines ways to address the specific learning needs and manage behaviours.
Teaching basic number skills to children with Down syndrome and other learning difficulties using the Numicon approach. Basic number skills are vital to enable everyday social inclusion and independence. The training will commence with an overview of the learning profile of a child with Down syndrome; exploring working memory and how this impacts on learning numbers. It will detail how children learn basic number skills – recognising numbers, saying number names, counting to find ‘how many?’ and early hands on addition. It will explore the challenges faced by children who have Down syndrome and other learning disabilities and demonstrate how the use of Numicon as a visual representation of number can help to overcome these difficulties and lead to increased understanding and confidence.
Let’s make it visual — using visual resources to develop the language, communication and literacy skills of children with Down syndromeThis 3 hour course will cover why the written word is used as a visual tool to develop language skills. Methods to develop clarity of speech, grammar, vocabulary, and lengthen sentence utterance will be discussed and illustrated. It will also detail visual timetables, conversation diaries and ideas to develop reading, writing and spelling skills.
The inclusion of children with Down syndrome - expectations of behaviour By considering the learning profile of a child with Down syndrome and looking at areas of need this one day course will aim to address areas where difficult behaviours may develop. It will look at expectations, appropriate behaviour, including self help skills and go on to outline positive strategies by focusing on wanted behaviour.
This course is over one full day. In the morning we will look in detail at tackling number skills beyond 10: ¨ Rote counting in 10s, 5s, 2s, teens and counting through decades up to 100 ¨ Recognising 2 and 3 digit numbers, place value and order ¨ Counting to find how many – beyond 10 ¨ Adding up and taking away – methods to succeed ¨ Fractions, multiplication, division and using calculators
Closed groups of 6 to 18 learners per session. Learn how to engage in meaningful conversations about workplace wellbeing with the supports designed to enhance your skills as an effective leader. Empowering leaders and managers to support mental wellbeing in the workplace. This comprehensive course is designed to equip learners with the necessary knowledge and skills to support themselves and their team’s wellbeing.