On-line ‘Training materials for teachers of learners with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties’ funded by the Teaching Agency http://www.education.gov.uk/complexneeds
FASD on Channel 4
The debate around children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders has been further fuelled by this channel 4 programme. The need to get this information out to schools , to enable teachers to take appropriate action in their teaching remains critical.
http://www.channel4.com/news/doctors-call-for-alcohol-tests-during-pregnancy
Trends in Complex Needs
People often ask ” what were the main trends you saw in children with Complex Needs through your research?’ This Executive Summary may offer some useful signposts.
Review of “Educating Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders”
For a recent international review of the book, “Educating Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders ” please go to page 9 of the Newsletter below from the New Zealand Educational Administration and Leadership Society .
How many children born prematurely are in your class?
Teachers are not aware that there are as many as 4 children born prematurely in every classroom. These children are often ‘ wired differently’. Their profiles of learning can be quite different. They can attain and achieve , but the routes for getting there may be different from those traditionally used by teachers .
Two new articles have highlighted this issue and the challenges for the teaching profession.
On 31st January 2013 at the Institute of Education in London, there will be a national conference to focus on this issue.
Please think of coming along.
NOFAS – UK Article
NOFAS-UK is pleased to announce the release of the eighth issue of the FETAL ALCOHOL FORUM with the latest FASD research and articles from a range of experts in the field of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. It includes an educational article by Barry Carpenter, with specific reference to the work of Carolyn Blackburn ( currently a researcher at Birmingham City University,) some of which can be found on the NOFAS-UK website. Early Years practitioners would really find Carolyn’s study, “Building Bridges to Understanding” enormously valuable.
To download Issue 8, click on the link:- http://www.nofas-uk.org/PDF/FetalAlcoholForumIssue8December2012.pdf
FASD Article in SecEd
An interview with Professor Barry Carpenter about FASD has recently been published in the Secondary Education Journal Sec Ed. The article can be viewed online here
Book Review
Leading Lights, the newsletter of the New Zealand Educational Administration & Leadership Society, has recently published a book review of “Educating Children and Young People With Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Constructing personalised pathways to learning”
New advice on classroom design for students with FASD
This is a new initiative from the Department of Children’s Services in South Australia. Some helpful ideas, in a little discussed area.
Advice for Primary Teachers on Children with Complex Needs
Many teachers in Primary Schools are reporting a changing population of children in their classrooms. They are seeing more children with what they describe as having ‘ Complex Needs”.
This article describe a case study from the DfE funded research project on children with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities, which specifically focuses on the application of some of the ‘new generation pedagogy ‘ in the Primary classroom.
