FORTHCOMING EVENTS

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Our guest at our AGM, Prof Roy McConkey, professor of Learning Disabilities at the University of Ulster, described how an inclusive approach to education had been introduced in Zanzibar with a particular focus on children with developmental disabilities.  A collaboration between the ministry of Education and the Zanzibar Association for People with Developmental Disabilities, and supported by Lilian Mariga of the NFU, the project has been captured on DVD to serve as a resource to other low-income countries in Africa.  There is much emphasis on the critical role of parents, as well as active collaboration between community organisations, schools and education officials.  It certainly offers as useful starting point for discussion about how IE could be taken forward in less-resourced areas of South Africa.  We will shortly have the DVD available at the Resource Centre..

TRAINING ON OFFER

IEWC continues to offer, ON REQUEST, on-site staff development or cluster workshops for schools and ECD centres on topics such as:

  • An introduction to Inclusive Education
  • Ons Praat Inklusie
  • Identifying and addressing barriers to learning and participation.
  • Understanding multiple intelligence and learning styles.
  • Differentiating the Curriculum.
  • Building partnerships with parents.
  • Growing an Inclusive School.
  • Collaborative teaching.
  • Developing Individual Support Plans (ISP) i.e. IEP’s

Please call the Resource Centre on 021 6741422 for further information regarding costs etc.

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT PLANS (IEPs)

Inclusive Education Western Cape (IEWC) is able to offer, on demand, a series of two, two-hour practical workshops on developing Individual Support Plans (IEPs).  In these interactive workshops participants are introduced to the Word Picture and the Individual Support Plan as important strategies for the successful inclusion of children experiencing barriers to learning in schools and pre-schools.

In the first workshop the Word Picture is introduced and demonstrated to participants as an instrument to get a holistic picture of a learner they may be concerned about. During this workshop we also spend some time on a better understanding of barriers to learning and how the use of the Word Picture can help teachers to identify barriers experienced by learners.

Participants are asked to do a Word Picture of a learner in preparation for the second workshop. This workshop focusses on the further development of skills to use the Word Picture by looking at the prepared Word Pictures in smaller groups and through discussions start to identify priorities for interventions. Please note that participants are not be allowed to attend the second workshop if they have not attended the first workshop.

Both workshops is presented by our training co-ordinator Laetitia Brümmer who is committed to making this instrument as teacher-friendly as possible. Should you be interested in, please contact staff at our Resource Centre on 0216741422 or via email at included@mweb.co.za

Please note: IEWC is a non-profit organization but we are willing to negotiate our costs to make our services accessible to all communities.

CPD ACCREDITED WORKSHOPS ON INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Inclusive Education Western Cape (IEWC) will present CPD accredited workshops on inclusive education in 2009. These workshops aim to create awareness about inclusive education among professionals and provide therapists with practical tools and strategies to support children with special needs in the mainstream classroom. In this way we hope to inspire health professionals to play a positive role in creating an inclusive society.

The workshops which have been CPD accredited by Wits Health Consortium focus on the following:

  1. Introduction to Inclusive Education (IE) – why, benefits and challenges and personal stories (2 CPD points)
  2. How do the changes in education affect my work as a therapist? - Inclusive education challenges the way we have been working as professionals. There are also many misperceptions of what IE is. (6 CPD points)
  3. The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and inclusive education - a common language to ensure scholastic/educational success. (3 CPD points)
  4. Individual Education Plans- IEP's - a tool through which support can be planned and monitored for learners with special needs e.g. learning difficulties, ADHD and disabilities. (6 CPD points)
  5. Understanding multiple intelligences – How a different view on intelligence can help us see the strengths and abilities of children with special needs and assist in planning successful intervention. (4 CPD points)
  6. Using Assessment, Counseling And Reporting Tools To Facilitate Inclusion - Exploring the use of assessment, consultation, report writing and intervention strategies to include children with special needs in a mainstream classroom. (6 CPD points)
  7. Creating Partnerships With Parents And Communities. - Effective collaboration with parents and identifying community resources are ways of supporting inclusion beyond the consultation room. In this workshop we will be exploring positive means of creating good partnerships even with difficult parents. (3 CPD points)

The presenters are all experienced Inclusive Education consultants/trainers of Inclusive Education Western Cape. IEWC is a respected service provider to the Western Cape Education Department and is the lead organization for human resource development in the implementation of Education White Paper 6 in the province. Please refer to brief CV’s of presenters. If you have any further enquiries, please call 021 674 1422

TRAINING ON OFFER BY NON-IEWC PROFESSIONALS WORKING IN THE FIELD

Brain Gym workshops

Brain Gym is a system developed by learning specialist Dr Paul Dennison in which simple, enjoyable physical movements are used to enhance children’s ability to learn, process information and respond to the world around them in an easy & effective way. It proved to be so successful around the world that it was incorporated into the S African school curriculum in 1997 and teachers using it today in their classrooms report very positive results in helping their whole class settle and learn. If you would like to see for yourself, you can view a video of Brain Gym in action in a few schools in the Central Metropole. Alternatively, Eloise Day, an educational kinesiologist, offers to run 3 x 2hour workshops to introduce Brain Gym to your school or cluster. This workshop series costs R1500 (or R30 per person for a group of 50). Tel: Eloise Day 021 782 7822   email: day@kingsley.co.za

Training opportunities for Early Childhood Development Centres:

ELRU (Early Learning Resource Unit) continues to provide valuable support to the ECD sector and is offering a number of useful training opportunities during the course of the year. Contact ELRU at 021 7627500 for further details of the following:

  • Stress Management  4/11/18 June
  • ECD Registration 22/23 July
  • Anti-Bias 8 – 22 August
  • Social & Emotional Development 3/10/17 September

South African Sign language classes:

SLED (Sign Language Education & Development) is a highly professional & creative non-profit organisation which amongst other services, teaches the hearing community of S Africa to use S African Sign Language (SASL). They are offering 2 new series of beginner classes in Woodstock on Thursday evenings, starting April 17th, or Saturday mornings, starting May 10th. The courses, facilitated interactively by experienced deaf teachers run over 21 weeks and cost R1,995. To enrol or for further information phone or fax course coordinator Nodumo Same on 021 448 2520 or email: nodumo@sled.co.za This is a great opportunity to learn a whole new language!

Short Courses to support inclusive training and learning:

Willie Erasmus, a psychologist in private practice, continues to offer a range of short courses to support inclusive teaching & learning. These include: Learner facilitator training; behaviour management, and effective teaching & parenting. Details are available at the Resource Centre or contact Willie on wrhino@telkomsa.net or tel/fax: 0224612382

To contact us:
Phone: +27 21 674 1422
Fax: +27 21 683 6379
eMail: included@mweb.co.za
P O Box 36330
7702 Glosderry
SOUTH AFRICA