An Interview with Kirsty Ann Gibson

Kirsty Ann Gibson – Speech, Language and Communication Needs

Kirsty Ann Gibson is currently working in an International School (IB) in Hong Kong. She is a primary classroom teacher for Year 3 pupils. Kirsty has a special interest in Speech, Language and Autism.

She studied Speech, Language and Communication Needs with us at Real Training, one of our MEd in SEND programme modules. You can read a little more on Kirsty’s time with us below.
 

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

I like the manner in which the course is run. As a teacher, my schedule is very busy and unpredictable. With Real Training, you can work at your own pace. I also like the diverse range of modules that they offer. Most online Masters courses I looked at only offered training in Autism and Dyslexia.

What was your experience of learning with Real Training? 

I found the tutor support to be exceptional. Janet always provided timely, constructive feedback. I have only been working with Sue for a few months, but she has been great too. The only stressful part of the course was trying to do the observations during COVID-19. I think that perhaps we could have been given videos to watch and analyse instead of trying to do everything over Zoom.

How has the course helped make an impact at school?

After I completed the module in Speech, Language and Communication Needs, I met with a few colleagues to discuss my findings. Due to Covid-19, the groups were small, however, I did receive some positive feedback. From the teachers who attended, we were able to discuss and define the difference between EAL and SLCN. Often, many of our students are misdiagnosed. We also spoke about Wave 1 interventions, identifying what we were doing well and how we could improve. We also spoke about how we can train new teachers and what kind of support they might need in order to best support students with SLCN. During the presentation, teachers and learning enhancement staff discussed ways in which we can make our joint working environment better.

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

I feel more confident to identify and support students with SLCN and share my knowledge with other teachers. I hope to move into a learning enhancement teacher role when my master’s is complete.