Reply To: Strategic plan for back to school in September

[Dawn]

Hi – We’re a PRU so our interventions pattern will not change significantly, but we are adding guided reading to lessons and additional strategies to support a reading push. Our biggest area of change this year and into next is staff training, esp on mental health needs and support as we think this will be a major issue post-Covid. I also suspect few staff will want to be packed into a crowded room for twilights and CPD days, so having a mix including online options will be important.

There are a lot of useful post-Covid ideas out there, including a post-Covid safeguarding presentation on The Key (if your school has an account with them) https://safeguarding.thekeysupport.com/factsheets-and-briefings/safeguarding-and-child-protection-reintegrating-pupils-following-closure/?utm_campaign=Safeguarding%20Training%20Centre%20%20-%20Summer%201%202020&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=88632863&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–W_djXPapkZc_ZSlBo4oOZ3oF2Akamvb3hk6yLTTGZcduc_uzpmSvtXBfqo2ETP-UgfEsdM0A1mz33SDULq2vIY8sObtk6wCGQPPYUQustgd0aw3g&utm_content=88632863&utm_source=hs_email
We have also used Mind Ed as a part of our at-home CPD during lockdown. They have a broad range of courses available for free on a range of needs, and if staff create a free account, many of these short courses provide a certificate. Each course is about 20mins long. We found well over 50 which were relevant to SEND needs, mental health and working with families, so all of our staff team were able to choose untis relevant to their roles. You can creat an account on this page: https://www.minded.org.uk/ and access the courses to assess usefulness w/o signing in by clicking the ‘V’ dropdown button next to the search box and searching all courses, or typing a key word into the search, eg: self harm / autism, etc. I’d advise scrolling the files, though – there is a lot of useful stuff on the site, including things you might not have thought to search for.
KCA are another online training provider we use for staff CPD. They offer a range of Level 3 courses which take about 10 hours to complete, plus a few L2/L4 courses. They can be completed in as many sittings as you need and provide a certificate. You would need an in-school person to be the administrator and assign courses staff select. Some course titles are available to view here: https://kca.training/?service=e-learning but it’s best to give them a call and get a free trial.