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Living with Aspergers – an interview with SEN professional Beverley Williams

Beverley Williams

Beverley Williams is one of our delegates here at Real Training. She has had an expansive career, influencing the lives of many young people with SEN. Not only has Beverley completed multiple courses with Real Training and gained a vast amount of professional knowledge through SEN and safeguarding roles, but she was also diagnosed with Aspergers at around 50 years old.

We thought it would be useful to share Beverley’s story, not only for those delegates looking to have an impact but also for anyone on the autistic spectrum who may be looking for some advice. 

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Senior Mental Health Lead: 8 Top Tips for Success

  
By Andrew Chadwick is a former Headteacher and SMHL, and is currently Safeguarding, Ambition and Inclusion Lead at Focus-Trust. In this article he gives some essential advice for anyone new to the senior mental health lead role.

Article originally published in Headteacher Update Magazine 11.03.2024 – accessible here

A senior mental health lead in school sitting at her desk

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An interview with Kara Satterley – Senior Mental Health Leadership Certificate

A headshot of KaraKara Satterley is Deputy Headteacher and Senior Mental Health Lead at Blean Primary School, an OFSTED outstanding school based in Canterbury. She has recently completed her senior mental health leadership certificate with Real Training and shared her experience of SMHL training and how it has made a difference in her school.

What made you choose the Real Training senior mental health lead course over other options?

The online approach with live sessions, the quality of tutoring, and the time to put actions into place and learn as you go along were the main things that attracted me to this course. The fact that everything could be completed online supported both my leadership commitments and my work-life balance.

What was your experience of learning with Real Training?

My experience was excellent. Communication was strong from the get-go and staff were really supportive, particularly when I needed to move cohorts. The training was thorough, relevant and detailed and my tutor was incredibly knowledgeable and supportive. I also really enjoyed the live sessions; it was so helpful to discuss things with other delegates and learn from others. The online approach provided the flexibility required for me to manage my other leadership roles in school, whilst being able to develop my skills as a new SMHL. The pacing between sessions was helpful, as this enabled time to put actions into place and then reflect and share findings with other delegates.


How has the SMHL course helped make an impact at school?

The course helped to embed the SMHL role in school, with the output being a clear action plan to support pupils. This has fed into our whole-school plan for this year. Mental health and wellbeing is at the forefront of all we do and underpins so many of our other changes at school.
We have recently achieved the WAS award (Wellbeing Award for Schools) and completing the course went a long way to help us change our practice, strengthen our whole-school approach and gather the evidence required to put together a successful submission.
  

How has the course helped develop you as an educational professional and what do you hope to achieve with your new knowledge/skills in the future?

I feel more confident leading mental health and wellbeing at school at a strategic level. Decisions have informed the school plan and are underpinned by research. We have formed a team with distinct roles and responsibilities to support mental health and wellbeing across the school to support our staff, pupils and families.
  

Lastly, what are the top three things you were looking to do within your setting, since completing senior mental health lead training? 

  • Achieve wellbeing award (WAS award)
  • Form a team to support mental health and wellbeing to support pupils, staff and families
  • Use knowledge to have dedicated sections of the school plan to ensure strategic change linked to improving mental health and wellbeing

An exciting update to our online Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing course

As part of our commitment to the continuous improvement of our courses and to ensure the most effective learning experience for our delegates, we regularly review our programmes. Our goal is to equip our delegates with the necessary skills and knowledge to make maximum impact in their settings.

We are delighted to announce that we have just released an update to our popular Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing online course. The updates include:

  • New multimedia content, in the form of videos and animations of key concepts, make the content more accessible and interactive. See an example below from the section on the scaling and standardisation of psychometric tests

  • We’ve enhanced the course activities, providing a more engaging learning experience and even more opportunities for delegates to check their understanding, practise new skills and reflect


  • Key concepts are explained graphically, and with worked examples, so that they are easier to understand. There are also new diagrams to help delegates master important concepts

Choosing to study CCET via self-paced online study has many benefits:

  • There is no requirement to be in a certain place at a certain time, so delegates can work from wherever they like
  • Material can be reviewed and re-reviewed to ensure thorough understanding
  • Study hours can be tailored, making it easy to fit learning around work and personal commitments
  • Online discussion forums and access to a dedicated personal tutor means that delegates are fully-supported by peers and experts

We also offer a 3-day CCET Intensive course for delegates who would prefer a live online classroom experience led by one of our expert trainers.

To find out more about how CCET could benefit your setting, please visit our CCET course page. To book our CCET online or Intensive course, please complete our online booking form – you’ll find CCET under the Professional Assessment tab.

DfE grant funding announcement

Senior Mental Health Lead Training – how to apply for grant funding                                                        

senior mental health lead grant

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced an additional year of grant funding for senior mental health leads, for all state-funded schools and colleges in England. They will also be offering second grants for eligible settings who have used their funding but whose Senior Mental Health Lead has left.

‘Second grants can be claimed by eligible schools and colleges if the senior mental health lead they previously trained left their setting before embedding a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing.’

Eligible settings can apply for a senior mental health lead training grant to commence training by 31 July 2024, but must complete the application by 31 March 2024.

This article provides information on how to apply for grant funding for the Real Training Senior Mental Health Leadership courses.

We are pleased to share that further funding available for senior mental health lead training, means that up to two thirds of eligible settings will have the opportunity to benefit from the training by the end of the 2023-2024 financial year! Applications are now open, and in this article, we guide you through the steps to complete the process. 

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Children’s Mental Health Week 2024: Free Resource for Strengthening Pupil Voice

  
This week is Children’s Mental Health Week run by leading charity, Place2Be. The theme this year is
My Voice Matters and in order to help, we’ve pulled together an infographic with our top tips for strengthening pupil voice in school wellbeing initiatives.

According to the latest NHS data, between the ages of 8-25, an estimated 1 in 5 young people (that’s roughly five in every class) now suffer with mental health difficulties. Listening to children’s voices is central to making school-based wellbeing initiatives more effective and impactful. 

       
Download the infographic for primary schools       Download the infographic for secondary schools
     

Interested in reading some real-world examples and mini case studies?
  
Read more in our blog: Every Voice Matters: Strengthening Pupil Voice in Wellbeing Initiatives

  

An Interview with Andrew Chadwick

Andrew Chadwick, NASENCO, SMHLAA

Andrew is currently the Safeguarding, Ambition and Inclusion Lead for Focus-Education. Prior to this, he was Head of School and SENCo in a primary school in Yorkshire.
  
Andrew is incredibly passionate about delivering high-quality education, and equality, to all children. He has taken the time to review what he gained from our Senior Mental Health Leadership Advanced Award below, as well as providing some general tips for anyone new to the role.

 

  
What made you choose the Real Training courses over other options?

I found Real Training through the NASENCO qualification. The thing which sold it for me, was that I wanted to do an online course that I could take at my own pace, in time that I wanted to use and when I wanted to do it. Real Training provided high quality support and an active peer group which was really beneficial. When schools were given the funding for Senior Mental Health Leadership, I knew that Real Training would give great support, high quality training and real school life examples. It was the Senior Mental Health Leadership Advanced Award training through Real Training, in the list of DfE providers which was a particular draw as I wanted to get the biggest impact for our children as possible.

What was your experience of learning with Real Training?

Both courses were excellent. You definitely get out what you put in. Tutor feedback is really helpful. It was also good to have them gently nudging every now and again and checking in. Contact with tutors is always swift. Campus Online makes things really clear. You know what you need to complete and where you are at any time.

How have the courses helped you to make an impact at school?

The real benefit in both cases is that the course fits in with what we need to do in school. After studying the Senior Mental Health Advanced Award, I developed a training package for staff around trauma, and was able to give this to staff to support individual pupils. I was able to think more widely around mental health and how to support parents and staff as well as children.

How have the courses helped you to develop as an educational professional?

I have a better skill in regards to reflection. I have also developed my skills in building, analysing and then evaluating projects.

What are the top three things you rolled out within your setting, since completing the courses?

  • A wider range of training for staff
  • Support for parents
  • A wider range of resources for school – children and staff.
     

Related articles:

Read our blog: Getting to Grips with The Senior Mental Health Lead Role

Watch highlights from Andrew’s sixteen month follow-up with Joanna Wood, course leader:
Improving Mental Health in a Yorkshire Primary School: A Whole-School Case Study

6 Things to Know About SEN Teaching in International Schools

Six things to know about SEN teaching in schools - a blog front cover image

Matthew Lee, Real Training tutor and former Deputy Headteacher responsible for Inclusion at ICS Amman, explores what SEN professionals should know before making the move to international schools.

First published in the January/February issue SEN magazine, accessible here.

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Improving Mental Health in a Yorkshire Primary School: A Whole-School Case Study

 

Improving mental health in a Yorkshire primary school

Andrew Chadwick was a senior mental health lead at a primary school in Yorkshire and is now Safeguarding, Ambition and Inclusion Lead at Focus-Trust.

Dr Joanna Wood, Andrew’s course tutor, caught up with him a year after finishing his course to see what impact the plan he launched had on mental health and wellbeing provision in his school. He also talked to us about how he had taken his learning forward into his new role across fifteen schools at the trust.

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