Supporting Students with Special Needs
About this course
Teaching assistants and support staff are often the people who spend most time alongside students with special educational needs: helping them follow lessons, move around the school, communicate, make friends and feel calm and safe. This teaching assistant training gives you practical, everyday strategies to support students with special needs both inside the classroom and in other moments of school life, such as breaks, lunchtime, transitions and outings. It is designed for teaching assistants, learning support assistants and other support staff working in primary and secondary schools.
Over five days, you will gain a clear understanding of your role and how to work as a team with teachers, specialists and families. You will learn about the most common special educational needs and how they can affect learning, communication and behaviour. You will practise strategies to support learning in the classroom without doing the work for the student, helping them become as independent as possible. You will also learn how to use visual supports and simple communication tools, support students during breaks and transitions, encourage friendships and participation, and respond calmly to emotional and behavioural difficulties. Throughout the week, you will reflect on how to support students with respect and dignity, and how to look after your own wellbeing.
By the end of the week, you will have created a practical support toolkit for a student or profile you work with and a plan to apply what you have learned in your daily work.
COURSE OVERVIEW
- Integrate inclusive support strategies into their daily work inside and outside the classroom.
- Evaluate students' needs and progress, and adapt the level of support to encourage independence.
- Work as part of a team with teachers, specialists and families to support each student.
- Contribute to a respectful school environment where students with special needs feel included and valued.
- Use prompting, step-by-step support and simple adaptations to help students take part in lessons.
- Apply visual supports and simple communication tools to help students understand and express themselves.
- Support students during breaks, lunchtime and transitions, helping them join in with others.
- Respond calmly to emotional and behavioural difficulties using de-escalation and positive strategies.
- Create practical support tools, such as visual schedules, checklists and first-then boards.
- Understand the role of support staff and how it fits with the work of teachers, specialists and families.
- Identify the most common special educational needs and how they can affect learning, communication and behaviour.
- Recognise the difference between helping a student and doing things for them, and why independence matters.
- Explain the importance of respect, dignity and confidentiality when supporting students
NEXT COURSES
Our Pricing
100% funded by the Erasmus+
Services included
- Pre-arrival information.
- Tuition & training materials.
- Admin & organizational costs.
- Documentation support.
- Coffee break.
*Please check our Terms & Conditions for details of the items included in the Coffee Corner.
services
- Accommodation (hotels & self-catering apartments).
- Half-day and one-day trips.
- Cultural activities.
- Airport transfer.
- Local transport.
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