Description

Session 2/3

This is a certificated training course delivered by National Portage Association Accredited Trainers.  You will need to attend all the sessions to meet the standards.

The Portage Workshop is an introduction to the Portage Approach to working with children with additional needs and their families. The workshop is suitable for anyone interested in finding out more about the Portage model, including early years practitioners, therapists and parents.  The NPA has set standards for minimum workshop content and length.

Target Audience: Early Years Practitioners, SENCOs, Parents/carers

Portage is a home education service for pre-school children with special educational needs.  This workshop will look at ways in which to support both a child with special educational needs and their family.  The principles and strategies discussed are easily transferable to the early years setting.  Central to the course are the ‘Portage Principles’ and the ‘Three Circle Model of Portage’.  The course will cover:

• The Portage partnership model of working with parents and other professionals
• Portage principles and how they can be applied in the home and in settings with young children who have additional needs
• Strategies, materials and resources used by Portage that can be used in the home and early years settings
• The importance of using clear language
• How to use a small steps approach in teaching children new skills through play
• Strategies to overcome the barriers to play
• Approaches to help children generalise skills
• Basic appropriate responses and approaches to address behaviour
• Strategies for planning suitable activities, assessing progress and recording children’s successes

As an optional development, the Portage Workshop can lead to:

• An Open Award Level 3 in Portage Skills
• Early Years Settings becoming Portage Approved Settings via the NPA Stamp of Approval Scheme.  An award given to early year’s settings who have demonstrated they deliver inclusive early years education based upon Portage Principles.

Attending a Portage Workshop gives participants the opportunity to:

• Gain practical strategies, ideas and resources that can be used straight away within the home and in settings, to differentiate and provide for children with additional needs
• Work with and learn from parents and other professionals
• Develop links and gain access to support from Portage professionals working in the field of early years/SEND
• Improve their everyday practice to the benefit of all children, not just those with additional needs
• Develop an understanding of how to achieve real, meaningful inclusion in settings
• Increase their confidence in working with children with SEND

COST: 

£30 for parents/carers

£50 for Torbay based Early Years and School participants

£70 for Early Years and School participants based outside Torbay