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June 10, 2020
Eugene McFadden completed his intensive CPT3A course in 2017, and two and a half years later, joined Real Training again to begin his National Award for SEN Coordination qualification in January 2020, just as the enormity of the global pandemic was beginning to make itself clear.
Here is his story so far.
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How did you find out about Real Training and the CPT3A course?
I became an assistant SENCO 3 or 4 years ago maybe, and I needed to do the access arrangements course because no-one else in the school was trained. I was speaking to one of the other SENCOs who said, āYouāve got to do the Real Training one – itās a lot quicker when you do the intensive course.ā
Because work is very busy and I have kids, I thought Iād rather have one, intensive hit. It was a really, really good course. It just worked really well. It was really professionally done, really well tailored to what was realistic and what we needed to do.
Youāre now studying NASENCO with us. Tell us about why you chose Real Training for this qualification.
I was looking around at other NASENCO courses, which looked mind-numbing, and then I saw Real Trainingās course. For one, it was cheaper than local councilās one, and the fact that itās all online and flexible. Some [school] weeks are 60 hours, so fitting things in is a bit of a nightmare, but with a course like this, I can think āoh, I have an hour to myself, Iām just going to hit it hard and do something.” The access to the big database is really helpful as well. I really like the bar at the top*. Itās actually really, really positive when youāre really busy.
How has your experience with the online NASENCO course been versus your expectations, and versus your intensive experience with CPT3A?
The intensive works really well with CCET as youāre learning to do one specific skill in testing, so you really want that intensity. This (NASENCO) is a bigger-picture thing. You need to step back and digest more. I have a two-year old who doesnāt sleep through the night yet, so Iād find myself rocking her to sleep at 2am reading things Iād downloaded. It gives you a chance to just think, make the notes and everything. A lot of the bigger articles I ended up printing out, to put in a folder where I can take it home and read it at my leisure.
What parts of the NASENCO course have you found particularly interesting so far?
Thereās the wider reading; youāve got the Lamb report, you can see how one thing informs another, which is actually really important. Itās interesting to have a timeline of when things happened and why. Weāre kids of the 80s and things were very different back then. Itās good to have that time to just think and take it apart.
Have you been able to put anything in particular into practice already?
Well, ironically, Iāve been interviewing people for HLTA jobs through Google Meets. Itās been interesting to be having discussions with them, and having interviewed successfully, Iāve got someone to train up. I thought about how my training on the NASENCO course has informed meĀ and have been giving them reading to do from that course, which is quite helpful. So yeah, itās definitely been having an impact. Itās interesting because Iāve been reading about outreach work into primary schools, because weāre quite a big MAT, and weāre going to have some primary schools placed in our secondary school for a few weeks for summer term 2. I want to incorporate that as my primary placement.
How has the current lockdown situation influenced your studies?
Itās actually given me more time to do it! Itās difficult, because the first few weeks were just trying to set things up, and Iāve been into school a fair bit as well running things on certain days, especially for some of our higher-needs kids. But the days when Iām home⦠the first few weeks were difficult, trying to get my head-space around being at home and working while at home with kids running around.
Once I got the hang of it, I thought Iād set aside a day here and there, turn the emails off, and crack on with the NASENCO course. Thereās always someone knocking on the door with a problem [when youāre in school]. My quality of life has actually improved – Iām not working 60 hours a week and have time to spend with the kids.
What are your hopes and expectations for the rest of the course?
Definitely to get it done – thatās the first thing! Definitely start to use what Iām learning to move forward. Iāve already kind of moved forward. Iāve been on a journey with my TAs (Iāve got TAs and HLTAs), and Iāve been on a journey with everyoneās practice board [a reflective practice of how staff are working with SEN pupils], tweaking that practice, fine-tuning it more and more. Itās good, because a lot of the things Iāve come across I already believed or knew or learned about already, so itās nice to have those things reinforced.
My focus has been on wave 1 teaching, and Iāve brought the SEN team so far, and now itās all about raising all teaching and learning – the best input for an SEN kid is going to be in the classroom, the teacher teaching them right – itās now given me that confidence to start addressing the bigger picture. Itās like āthatās gone all right, now we need to start doing thisā¦ā A rising tide raises all ships!
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* Campus Online holds a comprehensive online library containing all of the reading necessary for completing the courses. Additionally, access to EBSCO online journal databases allows for further reading to expand knowledge and understanding of the course material.
What do you think?