NBrSS Special Educational Needs Newsletter 01 2021

SEN:NET

01/2021

Welcome to our very first Newsletter - a bite-sized sharing on supporting students with Special Educational Needs. We hope to hear your feedback on what you would like to see in the future issues.

Boomwhackers Workshop (3rd & 24th March)

A Boomwhackers Workshop was led by Gavin for some of our Secondary Two students. The workshop provided an opportunity for students to learn a new instrument and also developed social skills such as teamwork and communication.

Promoting Social Interaction Through Lego Building Workshop (25th March)

This workshop was for Secondary One students, led by Chee Tiong.

The workshop provided an opportunity for students to strengthen their social skills through a teambuilding activity. The workshop developed social skills such as teamwork and interaction.

Gavin Ler

I made a decision to take up TSN related courses a few years back due to the breadth of student engagement I faced. In particular, when I realised that I had to essentially meet every student in each batch, I realised that it would be imperative that I improve myself and acquire the techniques to better help the SEN students across the various classes.

The course was useful in particular as many of the participants were passionate and driven, and have the students' best interests at heart.

The learning is also highly relevant and applicable as many of the methods are quite modern and findings recent.

Today, I build in fixed processes into my lessons to try to help students (regardless of SEN status) to better acquire information and skills in my lessons by trying to keep things bite-sized. I emphasize small successes, as well as reinforce that consistent effort is more valuable than the final product, and that the act of attempting in itself is greater than achieving perfection.

I do hope that moving forward, we can better support every student, altogether, better as a community, and become a truly friendly learning environment for all.

Managing Challenging Behavior A Guide for Teachers At the center of effective behaviour and classroom management are strong teacher student relationships and quality instruction. A safe and conducive learning environment prevents challenging behaviours from occurring and disrupting learning.

Attention, Planning, And/Or Organisation - Evidence-Based Strategies It is important to provide direct skill teaching, prompting, feedback, and encouragement to help these students overcome these difficulties. We can support students through effective classroom strategies, and these skills can (and should) be taught.

From the LBS library

The One-Stop SEN Resource Portal Get more tips and information on how to support students with SEN from the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Resource Portal by Psychological Services Branch (PSB).

(The link : http://intranet.moe.gov.sg/Send/Pages/SEN_Resource_Portal.aspx)

Access Arrangement for Students with SEN The article covers resources on AA having the Lead Educational Psychologist, Mr Gerard Tan to share with us his experience working with schools on AA matters.

We want to hear from you!

Email us your suggestions on what you would like to see in future issues @anbalahan_Muthusamy@schools.gov.sg or @phoon_hwee_lee@schools.gov.sg PRODUCTION of STUDENT MANAGEMENT DEPT. NORTHBROOKS SECONDARY SCHOOL For internal Circulation only.