This meeting is for Business Studies Leads who are members of the SWAN Alliance.

Samantha Austin (TOVE School Improvement Director Teaching and Learning) facilitates this training

Aimed at all  secondary school class teachers. The training will explore a range of powerful teaching approaches and strategies to foster independence, critical thinking, and motivation. To develop teachers’ pedagogical knowledge in order to encourage autonomy by creating an environment that encourages self-directed learning, challenge, decision-making, and responsibility for pupils progress. Practitioners will gain a deeper knowledge of why it is important to develop learners’ autonomy and have some practical strategies to build on their practice and take back to their departments.

Areas of Focus:

 James Rawbone facilitates this training

Key objectives:

To provide an introduction to coaching by exploring the differences between mentoring and coaching and identifying what are the key principles of effective coaching.

The training session will involve facilitated discussion on understanding what coaching is and is not, supported by opportunities for group discussion to unpick key elements of coaching.

There will be a focus on identifying the differences between mentoring and coaching, and the two key fundamentals to effective coaching of listening and responding.

The use of the GROW model to structure a coaching conversation will be explored, along with introducing some tools that can be used to self-evaluate the effectiveness of coaching.

Session Outcomes:

An understanding of what makes coaching different to mentoring. Introduction to skills that can be used to ensure that a coaching conversation is effective.

Note: This is a repeat of the training held on 3/12/2025

This training is facilitated by Ann Pugh (Director of the Grand Union Training Partnership & ECTE Facilitator)

Overview:

A day focusing on key elements that leads to successful classroom practice.

Providing a toolkit of knowledge, approaches and techniques to support delivery in the classroom for Cover Supervisors & HTLAs.

Focus:

1. Communication skills - understanding communication pie.
2. Classroom routines and managing behaviour.
3. Understanding the principles of cognitive architecture; how pupils learn.
4. Effective questioning techniques in the classroom.
5. Engaging students in the classroom.

Lunch included, this is a repeat of last year’s course.

This training is facilitated by Kim Lynch

Join this practical online session designed for Teaching Assistants, Teachers, and SENCOs who want to make a real difference for pupils with dyscalculia. Suitable for secondary school-based colleagues.

The session will explore:

•  What is dyscalculia, and what do we know about the causes and indicators
• What difficulties are associated with dyscalculia
• How to assess dyscalculia
• Advice for assessing need and designing support for young people with dyscalculia.

This training is facilitated by Lesley Pollard

This course meets the statutory requirements of the two-year Refresher Training for Designated Safeguarding Leads in Northamptonshire schools.

As part of the Education Act 2002 and the latest Keeping Children Safe in Education, all schools must have a member of the leadership team as their Designated Safeguarding Lead. This person must take lead responsibility for dealing with child protection issues, referring concerns of significant harm, providing advice and guidance to support all staff to carry out their safeguarding duties, overseeing the school provision of early help and liaising with other agencies as required. This training must be updated every 2 years. This course is delivered by Lesley Pollard who is an experienced teacher, trainer and adviser. She currently works as an Independent Learning Adviser carrying out Safeguarding training and audits for a variety of providers as well as for individual schools.

Objectives:

• To consider the implications of national and local changes with regard to Safeguarding and Child Protection in Northamptonshire schools;
• To recap the role and responsibilities of the Designated Safeguarding Lead in school;
• To revisit the categories and possible indicators of the 4 categories of abuse, FGM, Forced Marriage, Grooming, CSE, So Called Honour-Based Violence, Radicalisation and Extremism, Gang Culture, County Lines, Child Criminal Exploitation;
• To understand the impact of issues such as Child-On-Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Parental Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Homelessness, Appearing in Court and Mental Health problems on children/young people;
• To consider the role of the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partnership and reiterate the importance of interagency working from early help to referral (including the Signs of Safety approach);
• To consider the learning for schools from local and national Serious Case Reviews;
• To understand the requirements relating to keeping, transferring and archiving Child Protection and Early Help records;
• To consider how best to communicate with children and parents/carers regarding Child Protection issues.

This training is facilitated by Hayley Best (Speech & Language Therapist) from Let’s Talk Autism

Join us for an engaging, thought-provoking session focused on supporting speech and language development.

This session is aimed at Secondary SENCos, TAs, HLTAs, and SEND leaders and Year 6 primary.

The session will explore: 

• What does Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) look like and why is it important for educational practitioners?
• How SLCN and communication are categorised and what can go wrong
• How to spot difficulties in the classroom and the impact on learning and social development
• Top tips for supporting SLCN in the classroom

Gary Aubin facilitates this training.

Gary Aubin brings a wealth of expertise and practical insight to this session. As the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) Content Specialist for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Gary plays a key role in shaping national guidance and supporting schools to improve outcomes for all learners. He is the creator of the widely respected SENDMatters.co.uk blog and author of The Lone SENDCO, a highly regarded handbook offering clear, grounded support for SENDCOs navigating the complexities of the role.

Audience

The training session is suitable for SENCOs, Deputy SENCOs, and Senior Leaders.

Join us for a dynamic, practical session that goes beyond simply collecting information. We will dive into the real “so what?” of data—showing you how to transform what you gather into meaningful actions that shape and strengthen your provision.

Discover how to balance targeted interventions with high-quality teaching and learn the core principles that make interventions truly effective. Whether you are looking to refine your current approach or build confidence in decision-making, this session will equip you with the tools, clarity, and strategies to make every piece of data count.

Empower your practice. Elevate your outcomes. Book your place today!

This training is facilitated by James Rawbone

Key objectives:

To provide an introduction to coaching by exploring the differences between mentoring and coaching and identifying what are the key principles of effective coaching.

The training session will involve facilitated discussion on understanding what coaching is and is not, supported by opportunities for group discussion to unpick key elements of coaching.

There will be a focus on identifying the differences between mentoring and coaching, and the two key fundamentals to effective coaching of listening and responding.

The use of the GROW model to structure a coaching conversation will be explored, along with introducing some tools that can be used to self-evaluate the effectiveness of coaching.

Session Outcomes:

An understanding of what makes coaching different to mentoring. Introduction to skills that can be used to ensure that a coaching conversation is effective.

Note: This is a repeat of the February training.