Delegate Feedback

What do you do?

‘I am the senior inclusion leader and SENCO in a junior school of 520 pupils in Dorset.’

Why did you decide to study the Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing (CCET) with us?

‘I came across Real Training at the Times Educational Supplement‘s annual Special Educational Needs exhibition in Islington. I was looking for a face-to-face course that dealt with the rather complex area of assessment and Real Training’s course fitted the bill.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘It was brilliantly organised. The face-to-face three days at a good hotel covered a lot of complex information in a clear and comprehensive way.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘It’s been absolutely invaluable on a number of fronts. I set up my own business as an SEN advisory teacher and one of the key parts of that was assessment. Without the course, I would not have understood what the test materials were; what the language meant; what the data showed; and how to check for a valid test.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘They will be able to make sense of assessment and be selective about the particular tests to use. They will be able to structure reports properly and construct them in a way that makes it easy for parents to read.’

Why would you advise someone to take this course?

‘I would have no hesitation in recommending this course. It’s given me a much better understanding of the whole process of assessment and also the ethical aspects of it. Now, I have a much clearer understanding of the need to check progress and use materials that you understand and that are also accessible to parents.’

What do you do?

‘I am the general manager of the ABC Diagnostic and Learning Center in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. I carry out assessment, intervention programmes and counselling for all those with learning difficulties.’

Why did you decide to study the Certificate in Psychometric Testing: Assessment and Access Arrangements (CPT3A) with us?

‘I wanted to learn about standardised assessments, place students on the right intervention programme, and provide them with access arrangements that suit their needs.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘I particularly liked the practical focus of the intensive face-to-face course. It was so good to work with different people from different cultures and backgrounds. We were learning about special education across cultures; this provided a valuable international forum for comparing practice.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘It has helped me to administer the assessment across my organisation. It has enabled me to approach students; carry out the assessment; and provide feedback to parents too. I manage the assessments and love to do them myself too.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘They will be able to provide appropriate access arrangements and identify which access arrangements are suitable for each child to enable them to better function in their classroom setting. It has given me the real confidence to apply assessments to my students and set intervention channels based on meeting their needs.’

Why would you advise someone to take this course?

‘It’s a really great course. It is quite short and efficient and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in assessment and access arrangements.’

What do you do?

‘I work as a clinical psychologist in private practice and also for a looked after children’s service.’

Why did you decide to study the Cognitive Abilities Profile (CAP) course with us?

‘I have trained in some dynamic assessment (DA) instruments and so I was keen to see how CAP could expand on my skills in this area, especially with the LAC population who may struggle to engage with long assessments.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘I enjoyed it all.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘The course has enabled me to administer a detailed cognitive assessment in a significantly shorter amount of time than I perhaps could with traditional and regular DA tests. Being able to compare the profile of parents and teachers is also very helpful, as it tells me firstly whether they are seeing the same things and secondly, if not, then it enables me to generate some hypotheses about why this may be the case.

‘The detail within each domain of CAP has sharpened my general interview technique to cover areas of attention and perception, for example, that I would not have included before the CAP training.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘In addition to the above, CAP can provide a useful baseline measure when applied within a school setting. It acts as a springboard for bespoke recommendations and provides an opportunity to see if there have been any improvements at the time of re-test.’

Why would you advise someone to take this course?

‘For all of the reasons above!’

What do you do?

‘I’m a learning support teacher in Key Stage 2 in a British school in Dubai.’

Why did you decide to study Autism Spectrum Conditions with us?

‘You were recommended to me by my previous SENCO. She said that I should go to Real Training to get the best training.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘The activities, the assignments and the development of real practical skills to carry out a comprehensive school audit. It enabled me to think about and tackle the future of autism in my school. Dubai is very different from the UK and autistic children can sometimes be stigmatised. I wanted to change that and Real Training enabled me to start that journey.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘I have developed a far greater awareness of the huge diversity of needs of young people on the spectrum, and how I can positively support them in school. Being in the Middle East, I was concerned about how great a challenge the course would prove, but I have actually been able to identify a number of good and improving interventions that are being undertaken both in my own setting and in the wider community. It has given me a clearer direction on what aspects of support I need to focus on at school, and also how I might develop these in the wider Dubai community.’

How did you find distance learning?

‘I never felt like a distance learner. The communication with your team was outstanding and I had a constant conversation with my tutor and module leader throughout the course. The site is very well set out and accessible. I would leave quick comments/messages on the right-hand side of the page and my tutor would get back to me in two seconds flat. It’s been absolutely brilliant. ‘

Why would you advise someone to do this course?

‘It’s an outstanding course that has really helped me to understand the complexities of the autism spectrum. It’s fantastic – every exercise and activity have translated perfectly into my school.’

What do you do?

‘I’m a SENCO at a primary school and also work with Key Stage 3 students as part of the British Dyslexia Association’s Children will Shine project.’

Why did you decide to study the National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCO) with us?

‘The funding came out for the training and I needed to do a course that fitted perfectly into my busy family and work commitments. This was very good, because it fitted round me, as opposed to me having to fit round other people.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘All of it. Particularly, the clear impact that it has had on my professional life.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘It’s really helped me prioritise things; it’s helped on the managerial side too: the paperwork, the organisation. It’s helped me to be proactive. I’ve carried out in-depth studies of TAs which have enabled me to go to the head and say: ‘We need to change the way in which we are working and here’s the evidence to back it up.’

How did you find distance learning?

‘It’s been perfect because it’s fitted in with my life.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘The ability to assess and understand a child’s learning in a way that is neither typical nor available in other forms of teacher training. It is a unique opportunity to develop a wealth of consultation skills.’

Why would you advise someone to do this course?

‘Because it will make you realise that there’s a lot more around the child than just the child as well. It will help you to work with the parents because the parents are just as vulnerable as the children.’

What do you do?

‘I teach some groups in curriculum support. I also do some learning mentor work, but my main role is as the school’s specialist assessor.’

Why did you decide to study the Certificate in Psychometric Testing: Assessment and Access Arrangements (CPT3A) with us?

‘I’ve always been interested in testing. My background as a mental health nurse is something that we did use as part of our screening and profiling of patients and clients. So, when I moved over to work in a school setting, it wasn’t totally alien to me and I’m quite good at it really. I establish a rapport with students, I also do the initial interview before the assessment, so I can build up a very good picture of need by doing the interview and the testing, which helps us how to decide what access arrangements we need to use for those students who require them. In each instance, I try my best to ensure that all of my documentation is very comprehensive so that there is no doubt that this student needs what they should have.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘I really enjoyed the residential part of the course. Meeting people from different educational backgrounds and the face-to-face interaction with the tutors was really good… I got a good feel for what was needed and could ask questions. Any queries that I had, I was able to put to my tutors who I came into contact with on the AAC and the CCET.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘It’s had a massive impact really. My salary’s increased, first and foremost. I’m the only person in the school who can do the testing. So, I’ve become the person who staff come to when they have general day-to-day classroom queries about students who aren’t doing very well. At first, the query has to come through the head of learning support – as I’m not the person who the referrals initially come to as I just receive the referrals. But I love my new role. It’s positive and I really enjoy it.

‘If I had to pare my job right back to just what I want to do, then the testing would be just it. Because I love how I can put the students at ease, which helps them to cope with the elements of pressure on them to obtain the result that they want. Obviously, we need them to be at ease first and foremost, but I really enjoy the testing.’

What can someone who has taken this course offer?

‘It’ll enhance your expertise. It’s quite a specialist role, so it’s really good for the school, as they won’t need to get someone in, they’ll have someone who knows the student, and it’s a truly holistic approach to testing. Obviously, we’re painting a picture and testing’s only one part of it. But it’s a really key part and I also get to know the students; which is good.’

Why would you advise someone to take the course?

‘I think that it enhances your profile within the workplace. It keeps you in touch with current methods of assessment and it’s really important CPD. We all need to be current in our practice. But, ultimately, if you’ve got this, it puts you in a very strong position in the workplace because, usually, you’re the only person in a school/setting who can carry out this work. Of course, schools can pay for an EP to come in (which we used to do before I did the training), but, ultimately, it will save schools money.’

What do you do?

‘I am a specialist teacher.’

Why did you decide to study the Cognitive Abilities Profile (CAP) course with us?

‘I decided to study CAP as part of my training as a thinking skills specialist.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘I would say that my favourite part of the CAP course was the task analysis side of things: being able to describe the relationships between the cognitive demands of tasks and the difficulties a learner may experience with that task.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘The CAP course has really helped to develop my understanding of the thinking process and the cognitive demands of tasks. CAP provides a structure through which a profile can be generated so that interventions can be targeted specifically and progress can be evidence based.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘I think that after doing this course, the individual possesses the ability to analyse the cognitive profile of a learner. By this, I mean that they can identify areas of strength and areas that need development and the relationship of those areas to curriculum tasks and/or everyday functioning.’

Why would you advise someone to take this course?

‘The CAP course is interesting and engaging and provides meaningful insight into the needs of learners. It also offers dynamic, practical and evidence-based interventions.’

What do you do?

‘I am a SENCO at a mainstream co-ed school with approximately 1,100 pupils.’

Why did you decide to study the National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCO) with us?

‘I have to have this award to work in this area. I found Real Training on the Internet, rang them up and quite liked them. I then went to plead my case with the school and they helped me to pay for it.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘Funnily enough, I particularly enjoyed the bits on legislation and the reflective learning logs.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘I’ve become a much more reflective practitioner. I was reflective before, but my thoughts were all over the place. Now, I can organise these thoughts and am proactive about changing and implementing things.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘It will really help them to develop the right skills and competence in their legislation, research, processes and good practice guidance.’

Why would you advise someone to do this course?

‘Because it’s made a real difference to my understanding and practice.’

What do you do?

‘I’m a dyslexia specialist and work in a mainstream college with 5,000 students and 400 staff.’

Why did you decide to study the Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing (CCET) with us?

‘I wanted to enhance my existing testing skills and a psychologist at my college recommended Real.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘I liked the individual attention and the quick response actually. Whenever I had a question or something wasn’t clear, I would get an immediate response to help me progress. Most of this was online with a few days’ face-to-face.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘It has clearly improved my report writing, the way of looking at different results when you’re assessing – all of that was very well explained and tweaked by the excellent teachers.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘They will really be able to write reports, assess and test.’

Why would you advise someone to take this course?

‘It’s essential if you want to get the best out of your assessments and testing.’

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

I was keen to complete an online course as I have a toddler at home who keeps me very busy. I wanted something that would fit in with working part time and looking after my daughter so this seemed like the perfect option to me. I also liked the idea of being able to complete tasks in my own time and at my own rate, meaning I could make the most effective use of my time, including nap times and evenings! When researching possible courses, I was interested in the different modules and was encouraged by the fact I would not be required to attend a university campus as I thought this may be quite tying.

What was your experience of learning with Real Training?

I have received brilliant tutoring from Joan. She always responds to emails quickly and in detail and is always happy to help and offer suggestions. I really appreciate all the support I have received! Thank you! I enjoyed taking part in a placement as that gave me strong links with other local SENCos. I also found the reviewing of provision within my setting to be extremely useful and beneficial.

I have been really happy with the quality of the programme. I have felt it all to be relevant to my role in school and I have enjoyed learning more about the various requirements of a SENCo. I have had a very positive experience with this course. I have been able to fit this around working part time and looking after my toddler. I have enjoyed developing my own understanding and feel very lucky to have been able to do so at my own pace and from the comfort of my own home.

Thank you!! It’s been a long journey and I’ve finally reached this end…I hope to take additional courses in the future as I have really enjoyed completing this one (more so than I anticipated), but for now…rest!.

How has the course(s) helped make an impact at school?

I have reviewed provision in detail as a result of the tasks in this course. I have also increased in confidence and feel more confident when speaking with staff about their roles which has resulted in more effective provision and outcomes for the children, especially those on passports (IEPs).

I increased the amount of support for children with SEMH needs following one of the assignments. I am keen to monitor and track the provision as the course has shown me that this is a key role in assessing the effectiveness of an intervention.

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

Creating links with another local school (placement task)

Increased confidence with own abilities and knowledge

Increased understanding of leadership responsibilities which has in-turn increased confidence too

I have an increased awareness of the role of SENCo and am much more confident in delegating roles and ensuring staff are completing their roles effectively.