…and the first Investors in Inclusiveness CharterMark goes to…

If you were one of the 100+ professionals who joined us at the state-of-the-art facilities of Coatbridge College Conference Centre for the first Investors in Inclusiveness conference on the 31^st of May, you’ll already know which college has the chunky, laser-engraved crystal award on its mantelpiece. You’ll also know what a lively programme everyone participated in. It was inspiring to see so many delegates from such diverse backgrounds come together for the day to focus on inclusiveness in practice.

In addition to the presentation of the first Investors in Inclusiveness CharterMark to Forth Valley College, delegates enjoyed a variety of themed workshops, an engaging keynote from Karen Corbett HMIE, and an update on the review of Disabled Students Allowance from Neil MacLennan of the Scottish Government.

Looking to learn more about what it means to be the first recipient of the Investors in Inclusiveness award? Watch the video and read FVC’s response. To speak to BRITE directly about participating in Investors in Inclusiveness, or to request a mini brochure, email enquiries@brite.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)1383 749605.

® Investors in Inclusiveness is a registered trade mark of The BRITE Initiative

Investors in Inclusiveness conference – Friday 31st May 2013

This free event brings together practitioners and policy shapers throughout Scotland (and beyond) to:

• Hear from leading educators and innovators in the field of Inclusion
• Learn more about the new CharterMark Investors in Inclusiveness® (IiI)
• Participate in two themed workshops (from a choice of 8) which explore the IiI quality standards
• Receive up-to-the-minute news on the Scottish Government’s current review of Student Support funding (including DSA)

Delegates will be able to engage with policy makers, practitioners and fellow professionals in a series of keynotes, presentations, question and answer sessions, case studies and workshops.

Refreshments and lunch will be served during breaks throughout the day, giving opportunities to network with peers, speakers and workshop facilitators – and to enjoy the state-of-the-art facilities at the Coatbridge College Conference Centre, where this event is being held.

Click here to register

® Investors in Inclusiveness is a registered trade mark of The BRITE Initiative

Host a BRITE seminar and receive free training for your employees

We’d love to hear from you if you’re interested in hosting a seminar during the next academic session.

In exchange for providing facilities and refreshments, you’ll receive a minimum of 6 free places on the seminar for your employees. We provide the seminar content, teaching staff, marketing, and admin.

If your institution would be interested in hosting one of the following seminars, please get in touch with our training manager, Niall, at nhardie@brite.ac.uk.

Free assistive technology events in June

ICT and Inclusion 2011 will feature approximately 20 exhibitors who provide technology for learners with additional support needs.

There will be a program of seminars presented by exhibitors and education practitioners. Plus you get a free lunch!

This year BRITE has partnered with CALL Scotland to ensure the event is relevant to Further Education as well as schools. There are two dates at different venues:

• Edinburgh – 15 June
• Glasgow – 16 June

The event is free to attend, but you will need to register via the ICT and Inclusion website, where further details can also be found.

Congratulations to BRITE Graduates

Click to see larger image

Congratulations to the latest group of BRITE graduates who recently received their awards.   Graduates, dignitaries and BRITE staff battled through darkness and stormy weather to the impressive surroundings of the Windows On The Wallace room at Stirling Management Centre.

In total there were 29 graduates from 16 colleges.  19 of the graduates had achieved the SQA Professional Development Award entitled “Inclusiveness: Facilitating Strategies to Support Learners with Additional Needs”.  The remaining 10 achieved the SQA Higher National unit entitled “Facilitate Inclusive Learning Strategies”

Alison Cox announced to some gasps that her introduction would contain four “f-words”.  However her microphone did not have to be turned off as three of these were revealed to be the groups of people she wanted to thank: Funders, Facilitators and Families.  The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council were applauded for establishing and maintaining BRITE to help fulfil the policy of inclusion within Scottish colleges.  Also thanked were the BRITE staff team for their training and mentoring of the graduates.  Particular mention was given to the families, friends and colleagues of the graduates for their support and assistance during the period of study.

New BRITE Seminar programme

 

The BRITE seminars for 2010/11 are now available for booking.

The next two upcoming seminars are:

 

Living Life to the Full on November 12th. This seminar is designed to help you develop strategies for supporting students with real life issues such as low self-esteem; anxiety; peer pressure; lifestyle choices; fear of exams etc.

Visual Impairment: Orientation, independent mobility and navigation techniques on November 22nd which explores a range of high-tech and low-tech strategies for assisting people with sight loss to get around your campus with confidence.

For full details see the Seminar page on the BRITE website
You can book online or or ring 0131 535 4756

If you are employed in a Scottish FE College, the seminars are available to you free of charge.

Other seminars for 2010/11 are:
Needs Assessors’ Assistive Technology Update Seminar
Computer Access for Students with Profound and Complex Needs
Teaching and Learning in a Creative Classroom
Technology to Assist Deaf and Hearing Impaired Students
Specific Literacy Difficulties – Effective Screening and Evidence

A BRITE summer

As you might expect, there’s been a lot happening at BRITE in the run-up to summer! We delivered a new seminar in partnership with Equality Forward on the topic of Visual Impairment: Orientation, independent mobility and navigation techniques. With a variety of contributors speaking about different aspects of mobility, including BRITE’s own Monty Lilburn describing his work on an innovative GPS project, it was a packed and informative afternoon.

On the subject of seminars, we’d like to remind colleagues in Scottish further education colleges that we really do welcome ideas and suggestions for seminar topics. So far this year, we’ve responded to requests for seminars on scotopic sensitivity and on Personal Learning and Support Plans. Additonally, in June, we piloted a virtual version of the PLSP seminar for people who couldn’t make it to the face-to-face event.

Our Autumn/Winter 2009 programme will be announced at the start of September. To make sure you receive notification when the new seminar programme is announced, keep an eye on the News page of our main website for the addition of an e-news sign-up box.

Coming soon to the BRITE website

This summer the BRITE team will be busy creating new and updated online resources. New developments will be highlighted in the news box on our home page and via the new BRITE e-Newsletter (see previous post for more about having BRITE News sent direct to your Inbox!).

We will also be launching a brand new Virtual Staffroom, created using Moodle, in time for the new academic session. Guidance on using the new version will be available in the Virtual Staffroom area of the BRITE website. Members will be sent log-in reminders when the new VS is officially launched.

The Virtual Staffroom is an online community and resource for FE staff who have completed, or who are currently undertaking, the BRITE PDA in Inclusiveness: Facilitating Strategies to Support Learners with Additional Needs. You can find out who your college BRITE Link participant is by visiting the BRITE People Page.

BRITE Needs Assessors’ Forum October 2008

On the 27th October, BRITE hosted the first BRITE Needs Assessors’ Forum. This Forum was for any BRITE graduate or participant at the module 4 stage. This inaugural meeting started with an opportunity for people to get to know each other, and to outline their local context. Each participant had also been asked to come with 3 questions/experiences/challenges to discuss through the course of the afternoon. This was carried out through paired activities, then small groups, before coming back together to summarise.

There was a range of subjects discussed/identified including:

• The provision of non-medical personal help
• Developing resources as a needs assessing centre
• Evidence gathering process for dyslexia
• Identifying and using equipment suppliers
• Concerns of having enough time for own professional development
• Providing demos and training in assistive equipment
• Needs assessing students with complex needs

This was a great opportunity for sounding out ideas with colleagues facing similar challenges and issues, and a source of information and encouragement for all. The success of this sort of Forum rests mainly with the input of the participants, and the input from all was greatly appreciated.

It was not anticipated that this would be a one-off event that would ‘provide all the answers’ and people left expressing that it had been a useful event, but can we do it again, and have more time! There was also an expression of interest in having regional meetings facilitated by BRITE. If there is sufficient interest in this then BRITE will take it forward – let us know what you think, and we can build this in to our planning for the rest of this academic session.

Publication on Provision for Learners with Profound and Complex Needs

The Report on Provision in Scotland’s Colleges for Learners with Profound and Complex Needs, following research undertaken by the BRITE Initiative (commissioned by the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council), has now been published on the Scottish Government’s website. Here is the link to the full report:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Funding-Support-Grants/FFL/ComplexNeeds