Portal Connect Education October 2023

NEW Project Management Qualification

Assisting Teaching and Enabling Learning

Customer Feedback

Show Racism the Red Card

FREE Course of the Quarter

Project Management Level 4 Diploma

Whether you’re coordinating a new curriculum rollout or organising a school-wide event, good project management skills can make all the difference.

Portal’s Level 4 Diploma will develop your initiation, planning, communication and execution of projects. Our qualification delivery is flexible, working around you and your existing classroom commitments.

Principles of Project Management

Project Stakeholder Management

Project Communication

Managing Project Resources

Managing Project Risk

Managing Project Scope

Managing Project Finances

With a degree of embarrassment, I must admit to not having previously made myself familiar with the professional standards for those assisting teaching.

Facilitating the work of those that assist teaching.

It wasn’t a planned journey. It wasn’t even a journey I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I found myself journeying into the world of those that assist teaching.

Having seen at first hand the impact of my school leadership development tool, a headteacher enquired if I had a similar tool to support the teaching assistants within her school. At the time I didn’t have such a tool but, over that summer, I created one using the Welsh Government’s ‘Professional Standards for Those Assisting Teaching’ and ‘Enabling Learning’ (Formerly known as ‘Enabling Pathways’), along with the technology devised for my school leadership tool.

From the very start of the journey, I was hit by the lack of clarity. A variety of titles exist for these staff including teaching assistant, learning support assistant, teachers’ aid, higher level teaching assistant and pupil support assistant. To add to the confusion there are a number of grades and a variety of job descriptions for these roles.

I know from my own experience that schools could not achieve all that they do without this group of workers, whatever you choose to call them. Pick your own metaphor; the glue that holds everything together or the oil that keeps the school machine functioning, perhaps? It’s these staff and their dedication, care and flexibility that ensure individual pupils’ needs are met and that schools operate smoothly.

With a degree of embarrassment, I must admit to not having previously made myself familiar with the professional standards for those assisting teaching. I knew they existed but had never had cause to look at them in any detail. As I worked my way through the standards, exemplifying as I went and matching them to the relevant parts of Enabling Learning, it became apparent that collaboration was key to the role these staff performed. Yet collaboration needs more than one party and I couldn’t help but wonder how many of those with whom these staff were meant to collaborate were as unfamiliar of the standards as I had been.

As part of my work, I explored with those assisting teaching what facilitated their work (enabling) and what hampered their work (blocking), the results of which can be found here. I urge all that are fortunate enough to work alongside those that assist teaching to become familiar with the relevant professional standards. If unable to do so, I hope that the results of my exploration (enabling/blocking) will assist in ensuring the learners benefit fully from all that the additional adult can provide.

Mike Glavin Catalyst Limited.

For further information on Mike’s Self-Evaluation Tool for Those Assisting Teaching or to purchase the self-evaluation resource, visit www.glavincatalyst.co.uk

I just wanted to start by saying when I was first told about Portal’s Delivering Physical Activity and Sport qualification, I was a bit apprehensive about how long the qualification would take and how I’d feel about doing work constantly. I was wrong.

The course has been set at a very manageable pace, I’ve never felt overwhelmed and I think that’s down to my assessor, Liam. The rapport that we have built over the time of this course getting to know each other has been brilliant. I can go to Liam for help with the coursework at any point and he’s also helped me when I’ve had complications surrounding my arm. He has been very good to me and he’s been very clear when explaining the tasks to me, sending me additional help. I think he’s made this course a lot easier than it could have been, so thank you.

The course itself has been useful and every day I feel I have bettered my understanding of not just teaching sports but also working in an educated setting as a whole. I can’t believe we have around 10 months left, the course has gone so quickly and part of me will be sad to see it end.

Dewi Williams Ysgol Friars

Level 3 Diploma in Delivering Physical Activity and Sport within the School Environment

Delivering Physical Activity and Sport within a School Environment

Level 3 Diploma

Portal’s Sports qualifications are accredited by 1st4Sport and offer development opportunities for individuals leading and contributing to physical activities in private and school-based settings.

Our Delivering Physical Activity and Sport withing a School Environment qualification covers everything from inclusive learning environments to child development models, ensuring learners are equipped to create safe and engaging physical education sessions and activities.

The course itself has been useful and every day I feel I have bettered my understanding of not just teaching sports but also working in an educated setting as a whole.

Meet Lowri...

To find out more about our Level 3 qualification, get in touch!

Lowri has recently joined Portal as our Bilingual Business Development Officer.

She is no stranger to the education sector having previously been a PE teacher alongside pastoral roles within education. Lowri is excited to develop new and existing relationships with Portal’s Welsh language schools.

Contact Lowri: 07784 972064

lowri.white@portaltraining.co.uk

SHOW RACISM THE RED CARD

Show Racism the Red Card is the UK’s leading anti-racism education charity. Set up in 1995, they began by using sports stars and other role models to engage children and young people in the fight against racism.

This direct work with children and young people is ongoing, with sessions delivered to over 20,000 young people a year both online and in person and serves to inform their practical and targeted anti-racism training for educators or any other staff working in the education sector.

Show Racism the Red Card truly believes that to become inclusive practitioners and to create an educational space that is safe and welcoming for all, staff must have somewhere to talk, share, learn and build confidence.

Training to meet the needs of staff in all educational settings

Show Racism the Red Card not only offer in person and online tailored sessions for teachers and educators, but they also provide a range of FREE resources and step-by-step, guided lessons and activities via their online Education Hub: https:// www.theredcardhub.org

Resources on the Education Hub include learning outcomes, facilitator session notes slides and downloadable resources, useful videos, detailed curriculum links (England, Wales and Scotland), additional resource suggestions and links and feedback opportunities. The resources shared in their hub have been carefully created to allow teachers and educators to raise the subject of race and racism among young people in a sensitive and thoughtful way.

We would encourage anyone working within an educational setting to take advantage of this invaluable opportunity and contribute to a more inclusive educational landscape.

Further links:

www.theredcard.org/wales

https://twitter.com/theredcardwales

www.instagram.com/showracismtheredcard

www.facebook.com/theredcard

COURSE OF THE QUARTER OFFER

Through our partnership with the educational charity ‘Show Racism the Red Card,’ we are thrilled to offer the following opportunity to our Portal school contacts:

10 FREE places on SRtRC Wales’s ‘An Introduction to Anti-Racism’ virtual session when you sign up to one our apprenticeship qualifications this Autumn.

Please quote offer code SRTRC10 when enquiring, or reply to this email to redeem this offer. Find out more: Jade Carey | 07784 972064 | jade.carey@portaltraining.co.uk