An Interview with Anne Louise Davies

Anne is currently the Assistant Headteacher and SENCO at a mainstream 11-18 secondary school in Westbury, Wiltshire. When asked if she has any special interests in SEND, Anne explained “Dyslexia has become my most recent interest as I am interested in understanding more about phonological awareness and verbal memory.”

Anne completed the National Award for SEN Coordination with us at Real Training. 

What made you choose Real Training over other options? 

A colleague of mine had previously undertaken the NASENCO qualification through Real Training and recommended it. It also appealed to me as it was online learning and the assignment completion dates were not pre-set, offering me a huge amount of flexibility.

What was your experience of learning with Real Training? 

My experience with Real Training has been extremely positive, and I have strangely really enjoyed the course and all the reading involved. It has been a long time since I have written an assignment, but I found the whole process easier than I had imagined due to the excellent structure and support from my amazing tutor, Clare. When you first start the course, it appears daunting, but the ‘tick box’ approach to completing the different elements is very satisfying, and the tracking tool that shows you how far through the course you are is also very motivational.

Consequently, I have now signed up for the Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing (CCET) course. Even though the course is all online and I have not met my tutor, I feel that the level of interaction has resulted in a relationship being established. Her feedback was not only extremely helpful but was also provided promptly, enabling me to make the necessary alterations while my research was still fresh in my memory.

How has the course helped make an impact at school?

The course has resulted in a complete reworking of our SEND provision. This started with a visit to my placement school, where I discovered how they developed their TAs and the types of intervention they offered. I was also able to improve publications on our website, including the SEND Information Report, so that they met the requirements of the Code of Practice. Reflecting on my leadership approach has allowed me to develop a style that has empowered the Teaching Assistants and given them a greater sense of responsibility. Basically, everything that is now in place is down to this course.
 

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?

The course has added substantially to the amount of educational research I have undertaken and has offered views and opinions that I would not previously have considered. The new knowledge has been applied to my setting to improve the quality of our SEND provision. It is also a reminder of the importance of keeping my SEN knowledge up to date through academic research.