children who learn differently

Success in School: Helping children who learn differently

by Kirsten McDonald, Success in School Course Facilitator and Auckland Down Syndrome Association Committee Member

In March 2022, Auckland Down Syndrome Association (ADSA) conducted our twoday Success in School Course online and what a success it was! Key themes throughout the course were always having high expectations, using strategies as widely as possible, and keeping in mind that many are essential for some, but beneficial for all, and the importance of whānau/carer and school communication. Our zoom format not only allowed participants as far north as Kerikeri and as far south as Balclutha to attend, but also those isolating and/or those with COVID-19, and reduced Auckland traffic woes. We had between 52 and 56 participants each day including parents and whānau, teachers, learning support assistants, and SENCOs to name a few, as well as representatives from NZDSA, and UpsideDowns Education Trust (who also helped as zoom support – thanks Sarah and Bea). As an added benefit of going online, we were also able to record most of the presentations and give access to participants to watch for a limited time after the course. Our course has a host of expert speakers and at centre stage were members from ADSA. Edward Borkin, who is also part of STRIVE, a group of self-advocates with Down syndrome, opened our course, and we were also honoured to have Amelia Eades and Emma Ferens present at different stages. All three presenters articulately shared their experiences of school and life, and how we can help support them. With these presentations we were able to keep the reason of why we were there forefront in our minds. Thank you Edward, Amelia and Emma. On day one, our other presentations covered inclusion, learning profiles, behaviour, and friendships. Dr Jude McArthur presented on ‘Inclusion and Universal Design for Learning’. Jude currently works in Critical Studies in Education at the University of Auckland and her wealth of knowledge and expertise inspired us all to keep striving for fully inclusive communities. I presented next on ‘The Learning Profile of Students with Down Syndrome’, basing this presentation on research from Down Syndrome Education International, Down Syndrome International and their recently published International Guidelines for the Education of Learners with Down syndrome, and

of course, my own lived experience with our eight-year-old son Joshua. Our next presentation on ‘Understanding and Supporting Behaviour’ was given by Arul Hamill from Paediatric Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, who took us through some of the potential reasons behind different types of behaviour and ideas for how to support our children. This was followed by Fehm Hussain on friendships. Fehm is currently a Year 2 teacher with a wealth of SENCO and inclusive practice experience, and shared an insightful presentation on the importance of friendships and practical ways of how we can support all our children in this essential need. On day two, we heard about adapting the curriculum for maths and numeracy, literacy, the importance of visual aids, and we finished off with Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Our first presenter on ‘Numeracy’ was by Dr Rhonda Faragher, the director of the Down Syndrome Research Programme at the University of Queensland and editor of the recently published International Guidelines. Her presentation gave an overview of the learning challenges in numeracy and how to support ongoing learning without being stuck at Year 1 maths. Following this was Margi Leech and Catherine Huxford of Numicon New Zealand who demonstrated the value of Numicon and how to use this key tool to support numeracy. Next up was Dr Sally Clendon who works at Massey University in their Institute of Education with ‘Literacy and How to Use the Curriculum’. Sally highlighted the importance of a comprehensive approach to literacy, supported by evidence-based research, examples, and great advice for all. Fiona Kenworthy of Small Talk Therapy then presented her session on ‘Using Visual Supports to Assist in Accessing the Curriculum’. This highlighted the importance of visuals for our learners, real classroom examples, and the value of visuals for all. Our final presentation of the workshop was by Andrea Smart on ‘Collaboration for Success – Individual Education Plans’. Andrea is the Practice & Implementation Advisor for Learning Support at the Ministry of Education and took us through the IEP process and just how flexible the approach is, as well as doing some pretty good myth-busting about this area.

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A special thanks to Paula Beguley ADSA’s Community Liaison Officer for her presentation on the ADSA and her professional, dedicated expertise and hard work in organising this course. It was a fabulous two days with participants inspired and geared with knowledge and practical advice. Success in Schools runs in March and August, with our next course scheduled for 8th and 9th of August 2022. We are excited to be looking at a hybrid format of face-to-face in Auckland AND streamed online. For further details of upcoming dates and presenters go to https://adsa.org.nz/how-we-help/courses Just fantastic. Thank you so much. This has been the most engaging, enjoyable, comprehensive 2-day workshop I've attended in a long time. Very excited to apply my learning in practice.

Fantastic course! So well put together and relevant to the learning of children with various needs.

Oh my gosh I can't believe how smoothly these 2 days ran and all online it was still so captivating, I learnt so very, very much for children with Down syndrome but for helping all of the children in my Year 1 class. I loved how many of the presenters had a 'real' felt meaning of working and living with gorgeous individuals with Down syndrome. Thank you so very much!