Seminar begins: 9.15 AM
Seminar concludes : 3.30 PM
Course Information
This is a 3 and half day course for post primary Special Education and subject teachers.
This course is designed, adapted and delivered by Senior Speech & Language Therapists.
Days 1 & 2 provide a substantial understanding into the teaching and learning of students with language and communication difficulties. It will focus on strategies and teacher-led supports that can be provided to students across the continuum of support. Days 1 & 2 will also develop participants’ understanding of the impact that language and communication difficulties have on students in a number of settings and the theory behind these difficulties.
Day 3 provides training for participants in the Adapted Vocabulary Enrichment Programme; an evidenced-based, practical language programme suitable for use in the Irish Post-Primary setting. The course will also provide teachers with extensive knowledge around the importance of vocabulary skills in post-primary years and its link with literacy development.
The 3 full days will be followed up by a half day cluster support meeting. The cluster meeting will be an interactive session and will be an opportunity for teachers to discuss the speech, language and communication targets that they have implemented with students. It will also be an opportunity for teachers to make links with other teachers and create a support network to problem solve any issues that may have arisen when working with students with SLCN.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will:
- To develop understanding of typical language development in adolescences
- To develop understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs and their impact on adolescents.
- To develop understanding of the link between language/behaviour and social disadvantage
- To support teachers in their identification of students with Speech, Language and Communication difficulties and profiling their areas of need using the NCSE Communication Profiling Checklist
- To support effective planning in meeting the needs of students with language and communication difficulties
- To introduce a range of effective strategies for improving the teaching and learning for students with Speech, Language and Communication difficulties
- To develop understanding of the importance of vocabulary skills in adolescents and how vocabulary development can support engagement in school and access to post-primary curricular content across all subjects.
- To explore the background, research and rationale for the Adapted Vocabulary Enrichment Programme.
- To develop an understanding of the underlying aims of the Adapted Vocabulary Enrichment Programme.
- To familiarise teachers with the content, structure and running of the Adapted Vocabulary Enrichment Programme.
Course Content
- What do we mean by Speech, Language and Communication?
- Language and Communication Development in Adolescence
- Profiles of Adolescents with Speech, Language and Communication Needs
- What are Speech, Language and Communication Needs
- Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
- Methods for profiling students with Speech, Language and Communication Needs e.g. NCSE Profiling Checklist
- General strategies for supporting Speech, Language and Communication Needs at school and classroom level
- Guidelines for supporting Speech, Language and Communication Needs at an individualised level
- Training in an evidenced based vocabulary intervention, the Adapted Vocabulary Enrichment Programme.
- Planning for effective teaching and learning for students with Language and Communication difficulties
Information for Applicants
This course is open to:
- Special Education Teachers and subject teachers
- Participants will require permission from the Board of Management to attend. Typically, substitution for this seminar will only be allowed to classroom teachers with primary responsibility for pupils with a special educational need and if it is deemed absolutely essential by the Principal
- Typically substitution will only be allocated to non-substitute teachers
- Payment is not available to teachers in a substitute capacity
Refreshments and lunch will be provided.