Welcome to the NatSIP Website
This website offers access to a wealth of SI resources, most of which are now freely available. We encourage you to register on the site for full access to everything we have to offer. Registration is free, and open to anyone. A walkthrough/howto on the registration process is here.
- Written by: Alison Weaver (Chair of NatSIP Ref Gp)
The NatSIP Reference Group's report to the DfE on work carried out in the third quarter (October - December 2017) for the contract for 2017-18 has now been published and can be downloaded pdf here .
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
There are many different training options available for roles supporting children and young people with sensory impairment. It is less clear just what training certain roles should have, how courses relate to each other and whether they follow on from each other?
NatSIP has published a revised document containing three sets of training pathways (HI, VI and MSI) to help answer just these sorts of questions and illustrate the types of training available for specific roles working in the field of sensory impairment.
The document has been updated for 2018 to include changes to providers and courses. We would like to thank all colleagues who have contributed to the content.
The document is available:
- In the NatSIP pdf Document Library
- Via the Sensory Learning Hub
Training and courses change over time and we aim to keep this document up to date. If you become aware of a course which should be included or have any other questions about the pathway please contact us or leave feedback.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Following our presentations of the event Supporting the achievement of apprentices witn sensory impairment on 17 November and 1 December 2017, we are pleased to announce that the presentations and handouts from the event are available folder here in the NatSIP document library.
- Written by: Kate Fitch (Sense)
Sense is introducing a new way to communicate and explain who we are to the world – our brand identity in other words. It’s not about changing what we do – it’s about changing how we describe what we do, so that it is easier for people to understand and relate to.
Our brand identity has a huge impact on how people perceive and engage with us. It affects whether they refer people to our services, write positive things about us, volunteer time, donate money, shop or campaign with us.
Who we support and what we offer is so varied. Summing up Sense clearly, and in a way that connects to people outside the organisation, has been a challenge for a long time - a challenge we must tackle. If we don’t, we will struggle to be noticed in a busy, noisy world and we won’t achieve our goal to reach more people who would benefit from Sense support.
We have consulted and worked closely with many people across the organisation and beyond to create a new way of expressing Sense’s identity that is clear, distinctive and authentic.
This is an important step for us as a charity. Whilst it will take time to roll out, we are excited about the opportunities this new way of expressing Sense’s identity will create for building awareness and understanding of Sense. We are determined to connect with more people so that, together, we can work towards a world where no one is isolated, left out or unable to fulfil their potential.
Do read the blog: ‘A new way of making Sense to the world’, for a more detailed explanation of what is changing and why, and for the link to our new website.
- Written by: Ian Noon
NDCS have published a new booklet this week: My Baby Has a Hearing Loss: Support for parents of children aged 0–2.
This booklet is for parents who have just found out their baby has a hearing loss. It:
- explains who NDCS are and how they can help families with a deaf child
- gives brief introductory information on common topics, such as communication and hearing technology
- signposts to further information and support.
Why did NDCS produce this booklet?
"We know that most deaf children are born to hearing parents, who have no previous experience of deafness, so for some families when they’re told their baby has a hearing loss, the news can come as a great shock. We asked parents what their top questions or concerns were when they first found out their baby had a hearing loss, and we’ve captured those in this booklet.
Please do contact the Helpline to order copies or it can also be downloaded from www.ndcs.org.uk/baby.
Please do share this with your contacts/networks/forums and let me know what you, families and professionals think of it. All feedback will be used to improve it when it’s reviewed and updated in the future."
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
As part of the 2017-18 Contract with the DfE, NatSIP and OnLineTraining Limited (OLT) are working in partnership to make funded training places on OLT blended learning courses available to frontline teaching staff, with the support of cohort tutors who are themselves SI professionals. For more on the courses available, and on OLT itself, please see here.
In the first year of partnership under the DfE funded contract (2016-17) for workforce development, there were 40 tutors trained who delivered the training to 228 participants. We are now the second year of funding and word has been spreading about the quality and effectiveness of the courses, resulting in an increase of participation across the UK. Some sensory services have just started, and others are now offering an additional course after the success and interest generated through their engagement last year.
The second year of delivery started in April 2017. Since then, 74 SI professionals (who hold the Mandatory Qualification or MQ) have become involved as cohort tutors. Each tutor has to familiarise themselves with the course content and plan how they will deliver the course, and then invites frontline teachers to participate in their cohort. 35 tutors have passed their course, received tutor training and are running or preparing to run a cohort this year. Some 297 participants have started courses and 19 participants have passed so far (November 2017).
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
To help teachers to identify their strengths and weakness, and build confidence and confidence, Whole School SEND have launched the free SEND Reflection Framework, part-funded by the Department for Education.
The Framework was developed in collaboration with children, families and professionals from early years, primary, secondary, mainstream and specialist providers, placing those who would use and benefit from SEND Reflection at the heart of the development process.
It is available for free download from www.SENDreflection.com
- Written by: Steve J
Between September and November 2017, NatSIP and NDCS offered three presentations of the event Early years language and development in deaf children - what the research shows in Exeter, London and Manchester.
During the event, the presenter, Dr Sarah Collinson, NDCS Regional Director for the South West, shared the main findings from a literature review by the National Deaf Children’s Society of research on key factors affecting deaf children’s language and communication in the early years.
We are pleased to announce that videos of the two sessions of the event, as well the presentation slides, are now available via the NatSIP website.
You must be a registered user, and be logged in to the site in order to access the videos. Registration is free, and open to anyone. A walkthrough/howto on the registration process is here.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Between September and November 2017, NatSIP offered three presentations of a regional working day event Equipping the SI sector for the future in London, York and Birmingham.
Feedback from delegates was very positive. They said:
- "I loved the step by step guide to commissioning. The whole day flowed really well and I felt that the presenters clearly put a lot of time in to co-producing this..."
- "Information presented was really informative and useful. Great to hear from other professionals in other LA’s.."
- "Lots of ideas which I will definitely take back and implement..."
The NatSIP Future of the Sector report (compiled by Brian Lamb) outlined a number of key changes to policy, funding and commissioning practice which are going to dramatically impact on how services are commissioned and operate in the coming years. Understanding what commissioners are looking for, how best to position and market SI services and what schools need are going to become ever more important.
The day provided an overall framework for thinking about how to approach commissioners, what is needed in respect of service developments and offers and how this might fit with new commissioning models
The following documents are available from the event:
- Written by: Alison Weaver (Chair of NatSIP Ref Gp)
The NatSIP Reference Group's report to the DfE on work carried out in the second quarter (July-September 2017) for the contract for 2017-18 has now been published and can be downloaded pdf here .
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Follow the link below for a new publication issued today, 24th October, by the UK Government
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-guidance-to-improve-vision-screening-for-young-children
The new guidance is intended to ensure that sight tests are carried out consistently across schools in England.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The following presentations from the NatSIP working day and HoSS event on 4 October 2017 are available:
- document André Imich's Presentation : Update from the DfE on SEND and SI provision
- document Nicky Ereaut's Presentation : Strengthening services through the voice of the child and young person
- document Brian Gale's Presentation : Funding update
- default DfE Benchmarking Tool mentioned by Brian Gale during his presentation.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Over the last year, OnLineTraining International (OLT Ltd) have partnered with the sensory support service teams in over 25 local authorities as part of the NatSIP/DfE contract to deliver professional development for the schools’ frontline sensory workforce. The funding covered the course licence fee and enabled sensory teams to deliver the OLT courses as a flexible and effective means of training school staff in sensory impairments.
We will be publishing more updates on this joint NatSIP/OLT work soon. In the meantme, have a look at OLT's blog about the project.
- Written by: Steve Rose
We are pleased to announce that NatSIP has today published a new guidance document: Getting started - Teaching pupils who have sensory impairment.
This guidance is intended to support colleagues from the frontline workforce who are new to working with a pupil with sensory impairment (or require a short refresher!)
It aims to provide a quick introductory guide to useful resources for those who may be short of time and need a starting point. The guidance contains links to over 40 NatSIP and other useful resources.
As well as being available for download in the document library, this guidance is also available as a web page in the Sensory Learning Hub.
Available document:
- Written by: Bob Denman
We are pleased to announce that the NatSIP Outcomes Benchmarking Exercise for Academic Year 2016-17 Data was launched today, with a personalised invitation mailed out to 139 previous participants.
If you are not involved in the Outcomes Benchmarking process, and would like to be, please contact NatSIP Associate This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., who co-leads the work.
The guidance document for the 2016-17 exercise, which contains a full description of the exercise together with details of how to participte, is now available in the document library.
Available document:
- document Outcomes Benchmarking Guidance Document for the Academic Year 2016-17 Data Collection Exercise
- Written by: Joyce Sewell-Rutter
Prof Wolfgang Mann at The University of Roehampton has asked for assistance to recruit deaf young people to a research project. They are carrying out a study on deaf and hearing children's use of strategies when reading online.
They are looking for deaf children, aged 13-14 years, who have good reading levels. For more specific details about the project, please see http://www.ssc.education.ed.ac.uk/research/onlinereading/
The deadline for involvement is now the end of 2017.
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