An Interview with Anne Louise Davies

Anne Louise Davies – NASENCO

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 recently completed the NASENCO qualification with us at Real Training, read on to see how she found her time. 

What made you choose Real Training over other options? 

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

What was your experience of learning with Real Training? 

My experience of Real Training has been extremely positive and I have strangely really enjoyed the course and all the reading that was 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 complete 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 re-working of our SEND provision. This started with the visit to my placement school where I discovered how they developed their TAs and also the types of intervention they had to offer. I was also able to improve publications that we had on our website, including the SEND Information Report so that they met the requirements of the Code of Practice. My leadership approach has also been reflected upon and has resulted in a style that has now 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.