At SWAST, we recognise that not everyone is the same and that we have a diverse and unique workforce. We recognise that everyone has their own way of learning, and we’re keen to support this in every way that we can.
To that end, learning and development team are running a project, looking at how we can support our colleagues with additional learning needs to meet their full potential in the classroom environment.
New and existing colleagues will be asked to declare any learning difficulties, either when they join the trust, or whenever they feel comfortable to do so. This will then trigger a response from the education support team to get in contact with our colleague and develop an ‘Individual education plan’ – see our ‘How can we help’ section for what this means.
This is a new project for the department, and so it is still very much growing and developing but we need your help to make it a success.
If you have any feedback at all, please get in touch!
The first step in the process is for us to write an ‘individual education plan’. This is a document that we write, in conjunction with you, to formally detail your needs. It is essentially designed to make sure everyone is on the same page.
You will be sent a copy of this document in draft form for approval before it is finalised. The IEP will be retained in the learning and development department only, and is not accessible to any other directorate unless you specifically request us to send it elsewhere.
This is also how our education leads/practitioners will identify those who have additional needs. The team will know that if you have an IEP, they need to read it to ensure they are up to date about the support you require.
Each education centre will have a dedicated bank of specialist equipment for loan should you require this while you are with the team. This can include simple items such as rulers and calculators, all the way up to specialist equipment and software.
As we’ve said, the service is a new development for us and so it may take some time to get the right pieces of equipment in place, which is why your input is essential to help us grow.
The service advisors will act as a single point of contact for you, should you need any additional support. They will have the most up to date information on schemes and initiatives to best support you and will be able to signpost you appropriately.
They will also act as a single point of contact to other departments and teams to ensure our information is consistent.
If you need to contact the team, please see the contact us section.
The team will create a series of ‘top tips’ / ‘study skills’ documents that you can use to make your life easier. This will be on an as required basis and will be accessible to all staff.
These documents can be from the simple, such as the best fonts to use in word, all the way up to how to use specialised software or devices. If you think we’re missing something, just let us know!
Dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, colour blindness, hearing loss, ADHD/ADD, Autism, OCD and Sensory processing disorder are all examples of ALN’s, but this list isn’t exhaustive.
If you have an additional need in the classroom then we want to know!
In short, no.
There is no requirement for you to declare your needs, but we can only help you if we know about your needs.
Only if you request for us to inform them. This service is offered by the learning & development department and your information is only accessible to nominated members within the department.
We will only ever share your IEP with your line manager (or other team within SWAST) at your explicit request, or where we deem there to be a safety issue – but we will always inform you of this beforehand.
If you need help getting a diagnosis, your best bet is to email the team directly. Different conditions will have a different diagnostic route and so our team will be best placed to advise you on a case by case basis.
We are aiming to have a dedicated contact for education support, per county – however this may take some time to achieve given the infancy of the project. Keep checking this page to find out about your local contact.
CPD Survey 2024 We’d love to hear your thoughts At the start of each financial year, the team plan future Continious Professional Development (CPD) and we want to do so in a way which works best for you, including teaching delivery preference and areas of interest. To help us do that, we’d love to hear…
Measuring the impact of improvements to placements within SWAST Have you had involvement with placements, either as a student or an educator? You are invited to complete this short survey, which will help us measure the impact and promotion of recently implemented changes. By telling us know your thoughts, you’ll help us to tailor our…
Following the success of our previous events, our ‘Be a Better Paramedic’ Student Paramedic Conference returns for another day of engaging, challenging and interesting CPD.
Join us on Saturday 2nd March 2024 for this fantastic event.
Making Sense of Health Research Annual Conference on Wednesday 21 September 22 (9.30 – 16.30) at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre.
