How to become an SEN expert

You can help children with Special Educational Needs

Are you involved with special needs children? Perhaps as a teacher, teaching assistant, or a parent?

Or maybe you'd like to work in this field? Because there's no job that's more rewarding than seeing a child with special needs blooming with your support. If that sounds like you, we have a course that will help you achieve you goals. It's the Diploma in Special Educational Needs Support. Our course will help you:

• Recognise when a child has Special Educational Needs.

• Give SEN children the support they need to thrive.

• Give your career a boost by gaining expert knowledge in SEN.

It's a field that's growing in demand. So it's a big opportunity for you.

The Government wants to improve the SEN that schools provide. And no wonder. Parents are concerned to access more help, and schools know they need to support their pupils.

• The government already spends billions of pounds each year on SEN support.

• Children with Special Educational Needs don’t just need support with learning, but also with behavioural skills, organisation and social skills.

• A Government report indicated that 18% of all UK school children had Special Educational Needs in 2005.

• Schools often bring in professional outside help for children with Special Needs.

Will I benefit from the course?

Our course is packed full of valuable information and skills to help not only those involved in education, but also parents of children with Special Educational Needs. And, by understanding more about Special Educational Needs, you can pass on those benefits to the children. Take a look at the advantages...

Accredited by NCFE at Level 3

Our course is fully accredited by the national awarding body NCFE, and on completing it you get a national award equivalent to Level 3 of the National Learning Framework.

NCFE is recognised as an awarding body by Ofqual in England, DCELLS in Wales and CCEA in Northern Ireland.

To read more about NCFE please go to www.ncfe.org.uk

Is the course right for me?

Before deciding whether to take up the course, it’s best to think about whether it’s right for you. You won’t want to waste your time and money by embarking on a course that you might later consider unsuitable, and we want to make sure that you get the best from our course. So it’s best to ask yourself a few questions.

For teaching assistants and teachers 

• Do you enjoy working with children?

• Do you have a caring nature?

• Will an in-depth knowledge of Special Needs help you in your job?

• Do you have the patience to devote yourself to the needs of others?

• Will your career get a boost from the knowledge gained on the course? Or will it help you to find another job?
  

For parents

• Will this additional knowledge help you in caring for your child?

• Do you have time to spend a few hours a week studying?

• Do you want to find out how to access professional help for your child?

If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, then this is the course for you.

If you answered ‘no’, it’s best to have a re-think. Working with SEN children can be one of the most rewarding jobs available, but you have to be committed. After all, these children depend on you for support.

How you can help children with Special Educational Needs

To help meet the needs of SEN children you have to first recognise that a child has special needs. Then you can act appropriately and offer them support. That’s where your skills will come in. The term SEN covers a wide range of conditions, each with its own associated needs in varying degrees.

Our Diploma in Special Educational Needs Support course recognises that each child has their own individual challenges, strengths and weaknesses. With the help of our specialist training, you’ll learn to recognise each child’s strengths and build on them, whilst also helping them with their weaknesses.

You’ll be taught practical skills, and be given hints on overcoming psychological and physical barriers. We’ll also show you how to monitor the progress of pupils receiving your support.

How the course will help you

This course has been developed specifically to help children with Special Educational Needs, and covers every aspect of caring for SEN children, as well as the wider issues, such as SEN provisions in the UK and how to access further support. You’ll therefore find the course invaluable whether you're:

• A parent or carer who wants to understand and help your child.

• A teaching assistant who wants to advance your career by specialising in SEN.

• A teaching assistant who wants to be more effective in your job by identifying the symptoms of SEN children, and then providing the necessary support.

What else does the course cover?

As the course has been written for the UK in particular, it will help you to understand SEN requirements for UK schools. By understanding how the system works in the UK, you’ll be able to access additional help and support for certain pupils.

The course covers useful methods to enable you to provide help that is targeted to children’s particular needs, and assists you in identifying the type of help that is needed.

You’ll learn how to recognise the key symptoms of conditions requiring SEN support, and therefore be more effective in your job involving children with special needs. As well as learning how to assess children for specific disabilities, you’ll learn how to monitor pupils’ progress so that you can evaluate their development.

We’ll also teach you what is involved in the role of a special needs assistant (SENCO) so that you’ll be equipped to help the person in that position.

Why this course in particular?

If you can’t decide why you should choose our course rather than another one, consider this:

• Our course is taught by expert tutors who have a working knowledge in the field of SEN.

• Our organisation provides more detailed information and practical advice than others.

• Our course is in an easy to follow format with set modules of study.

• We provide email support.

• Our information is specific to SEN in the UK.

ODLQC accredited

We're also accredited by the Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC). Set up by the government to assess standards in distance education, they check out our tutors, our finances, our management systems - the works. We're proud of our accreditation, which is why we're keen to maintain it. And that's why we work so hard to keep our students happy. If for any reason you were unhappy with our service, you can contact them by clicking on this link: ODLQC.

We're also registered with the Department of Education and Skills on its Register of Education and Training Providers.

What you’ll get at the end of the course

When you successfully complete the course, you’ll get a Diploma in Special Educational Needs Support. It demonstrates that you’ve got SEN skills, knowledge and talent.

Unsure?

Got any questions? Call us on 0800 781 1715 in the UK, + 27 798 977 665 (South Africa), or + 61 2 9620 4066 (Australia), we'll try to answer your queries.

Our guarantee

We also offer a guarantee: if you don't like the course (for any reason), just email us to cancel at any time within 60 days of receiving your pack, and we'll refund your course fees.

Why do we give this refund? Because we don't like to part on bad terms (life's too short). And we'd prefer you to say nice things about us.

But, you ask, does anyone actually claim a refund? Absolutely! Around five per cent of our students ask for their money back each month. And we're happy to pay them, because we know that even the best SEN course won't suit everyone.

It's time to get started

Having read this far, you've got what it takes - motivation. Now all you have to do is get started. Fill out the registration form now, because this is where the adventure and rewards begin. It's easy to start:

1. Click here to enrol. You can sign up online, and you'll receive your course within 21 days. 2. When you get the course, read the first module. It has an easy-to-follow format. Then just plunge in: do the first assignment. Send it to your tutor for assessment. Your tutor will return it to you with friendly advice and comments. 3. Do the same for the other modules, until you reach the end of the course. By then, you'll be helping children with special educational needs.

Andrea parcels up a course ready for despatch

We look forward to helping you succeed.

With best wishes