DSA QAG Accredited Centre
Tel: 01227 211070 / 811813 Website: www.iona-kase.co.uk
DSA Forum SE Educational Conference
Convened by: Iona Assessment Centre
Hosted by: Canterbury Christ Church University at Augustine House
Wednesday 11th September 2013 09:00 – 18:00
‘Transition, Retention & Progression’
Workshop Summaries
14:30
Workshop choices:
1. “Moving Forward with Confidence – Supporting Students with SpLDs”
Workshop Outline:
Identifying the challenges which may be faced in a new learning environment is a
key aspect of successful transition. Understanding individual profiles and potential
difficulties, for students, staff and parents, is key to effectively supporting and
empowering learners on their transitional journey. Katherine and Claire present a
workshop on recognising these potential challenges, interpreting diagnostic reports
and finding effective strategies and techniques.
Katherine was the diagnostic assessor and Claire was the strategy trainer for the
BBC documentary on Dyslexia, ‘Don’t Call me Stupid’, focussing on the personal
journey of the actress Kara Tointon.
Workshop Leaders:
Katherine Kindersley is the founder Director of Dyslexia Assessment and
Consultancy, a leading provider of assessment services for the workplace and
secondary, further and higher education. She is a member of the Board of Directors
of PATOSS and is an experienced leader of a wide range of CPD events. Katherine
was a contributing author to Dyslexia in the Workplace: An introductory guide (2010)
and the co-author of Dyslexia: Assessing & Reporting, the PATOSS Guide 2nd
Edition (September 2013). She is experienced in legal work and is a qualified expert
witness.
Claire Salter has worked in the field of education for over 23 years, specialising in
disability support for 16 of those. She currently runs Dyslexia Unlocked, providing
training for a range of organisations and support for individuals. Claire also works for
Access to Work as a strategy trainer, and for the universities of Brighton and Sussex
as a support tutor across a range of subjects and levels. She is a passionate neurodiversity practitioner, advocating equality of access and opportunity for all.
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2. “Good Practice in Further and Higher Education Services for Students with
Mental Health Needs”
Workshop Outline:
Participants will be informed about support mechanisms within the various
institutions, reasonable adjustments and other entitlements. The workshop will be
delivered via case studies, input from the practitioners and a question and answer
session.
Workshop Leader/Wellbeing Advisor Panel:
Margaret Scott has been a Disability Adviser at Canterbury Christ Church University
since March 2000 and currently manages the Disability Advice Service. Her
background prior to working at the University was in the voluntary sector, where for
nine years she managed an information and advice service for disabled people,
carers and professionals.
Kate Pitchforth is a Wellbeing Adviser at the University of Kent. She has spent
twenty five years working within various organisations and varying client groups –
specific focus has been working with people experiencing mental health difficulties.
Previously, Kate was at Leeds Metropolitan University, for eight and a half years, as
the Senior Student Adviser in Mental Health. She has been at the University of Kent
for the last 15 months in her current position.
Richard Dwyer, Diversity Adviser, Canterbury College worked in a unit with deaf
adults with a range of attendant sensory and mental health disabilities for six years.
During this period he undertook his doctorate which looked at memorials and the
way that contemporary artists and architects close the gap between the
contemporary viewer and the commemorated victim of political violence through
arousing a physical sense of one’s humanity and vulnerability. In so doing he
researched how art has previously been used to either entrench or undermine racist
and disabilist notions of otherness from the 19th century on. Richard has lectured at
third level and taught at an adult education college. For the past year he has worked
as the Diversity Adviser for Canterbury College where he supports students with a
range of needs on a variety of fronts from advocacy to funding applications.
University of the Creative Arts: Wellbeing Advisor to be confirmed
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3. “Supporting Students in Crisis – Looking at Best Practice”
Workshop Outline:
What is it/why is it so prevalent/how do we respond?
Case studies; how we use the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing policy at UCA;
strategies developed to support students affected by mental ill health within the
university framework; working in partnership with students and the course /
academics; discussion of practice at other universities.
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Workshop Leader:
Clare Matysova is the Disability Support Services Manager at UCA Rochester. She
has worked at UCA for 6 years and was previously in Human Resources in the
Public Sector. She is a Graduate CIPD, qualified with an MA in International Conflict
Analysis and a BA in History and Social Anthropology.
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4. “Mindfulness Matters - How Secular Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
can Support Students with SpLDs and MH difficulties”
Workshop Outline:
The workshop will provide an experience of a Mindfulness exercise; a look at current
applications and research; and an exploration of how mindfulness might be used to
support students with both Specific Learning Difficulties and Mental Health issues.
Delegates will have a taste of Mindfulness practice and possible implications for use
within the student body.
Workshop Leader:
Kate Gooch is a qualified and experienced Mindfulness teacher, with a
Postgraduate Diploma and a Certificate of Competence to Teach Mindfulness-Based
Approaches (Merit) from the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice (CMRP)
at Bangor University.
She has taught Mindfulness to the general public through the format of 8-week
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress
Reduction (MBSR) courses since 2007. She has also taught Mindfulness to adults
who stammer; to speech and language therapists (both at City Lit, London); adults
with acquired brain injury (R.N.R.U, Homerton Hospital, London); 15-year-old school
children taking GCSEs (Dorothy Stringer School, Brighton) and Carers (London
Borough of Brent).
Kate learnt to meditate in 1994 and was ordained into the Tri Ratna Buddhist Order
in 2010 and given the name “Kavyashri” (she who has the radiance of a poet or a
sage.) Kate is based in Hove, East Sussex.
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5. Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) Quality Assurance Group (QAG): an
Overview of the Who, Why, What of DSA-QAG and Your Questions Answered.
Workshop Outline:
An overview of DSA-QAG, which was set up as a Working Group by the Government
in 2005 (then the DFES, now known as BIS) to look at introducing a suite of
standardised business processes and procedures that would be followed by all
Needs Assessment Centres and Suppliers of equipment under the Disabled Student
Allowance.
The organisation exists to ensure that students receive a high quality of service in
the DSA process, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS)
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recommend that Student Finance England, other funding bodies, Open University
work with those assessment centres and Assistive Technology Service (ATS)
providers who have registered with DSA-QAG.
Workshop Leader:
Stephen Elliot took up the post of Operations Manager at DSA-QAG in November
2012.
Having studied Quality Management at University, Stephen successfully
implemented and maintained a Quality Management System for a multi-national
transportation company. In addition to this, he has over 8 years experience as a
Business Development Director, driving organisational growth and change.
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16.30
Workshop choices:
6. “Socialeyes” – Individual and Small Group Support for Students on the
Autistic Spectrum
Workshop outline:
Discussion of why people with Asperger’s Syndrome and High-functioning Autistic
Conditions (ASCs) experience social interaction difficulties. Consider how this may
impact on their lives at university. Understand how teaching social skills/rules can
help. Discover how the Socialeyes intervention programme can enable people with
ASCs to access and understand social constructs and learn from their experience.
Workshop Leader:
Elaine Hatfield is the Disability Support Manager at UCA, Canterbury. She has held
this post for the past eight years and is in her third year in BSc Autism Studies at the
University of Kent Tizard Centre. Previously, Elaine was a Lecturer in Arts and
Crafts, Communication Skills and Drama within Further Education for seven years
and worked for Social Services within the Learning Disability Day Services for twelve
years.
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7. “Inclusive Learning Plans: A Review of a National Project”
Workshop Outline:
“What can be learnt from the use of Inclusive Learning Plans to help improve
academic support for disabled students within the Higher Education Sector?”
The research focussed on the main communication systems used by Student
Services in HEIs to coordinate disability support, encourage dissemination of good
practice and provide expert advice on disability across the organisations. The
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research considers the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods of
communication used, from the point of view of the members of staff who use
Inclusive Learning Plans. It also provides suggestions for improvement. It aims to
provide greater understanding of the logic, limitations and possibilities of these
different types of communication, and can be used as an aid to organisations’
decision-making on improvements to their services.
Workshop Leader:
Graham Gorvett, Head of Student Support and Wellbeing, University of Kent;
Chair of DSA Forum SE
Andy Velarde, International and European Union Student Adviser, University of
Kent
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8. “A Personal Perspective”: Students with from the University of Kent share their
experience of transition to, and support in, higher education
Workshop Outline:
A panel of students and staff will respond to questions from the audience. This
workshop will be suitable for students, support staff and parents who have questions
about the process of applying for university, and how support works within a
university. You are invited to prepare questions in advance and send those in to the
panel, or bring the questions on the day. We will also discuss the options for support
after graduation, and how to maintain links for ongoing support networks.
Workshop Leader:
Tom Sharp is the Disability Adviser at the University of Kent. He has worked in
disability support since 1998, initially as a Learning Support Assistant at Canterbury
College, working in the Physical and Sensory support team, then, via teacher
training, at South Kent College providing tutorial support for students in further
education. Since 2002 Tom has worked at the University of Kent as Dyslexia
Adviser, Mental Health Adviser, and currently as Adviser for students on the Autistic
Spectrum and for students with Physical, Sensory and Medical conditions. He is
also Team Leader for Educational Support Assistants and Mentoring Supervisor for
students with Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism.
Jolene Svoboda is the Disability Adviser at Canterbury Christ Church University.
Jolene has been employed in Disability Support since 2005. Since her 2007 start
with Christ Church University, her primary focus has been on students with SpLDs,
ADHD and ASD conditions. Her background, prior to working in disability support,
was in the Higher Education sector, where she gained a wealth of knowledge
through a variety of student-facing roles.
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9. “Stilling the Mind- Using Mindfulness to be Effective”
Workshop Outline:
Kathryn will explore how the use of Mindfulness in daily life can enhance the quality
of attention we are able to give to our relationships, work, study and many other
things. We often get overwhelmed by information, a whole range of emotions,
confusions of ideas, images and conflicting imperatives. This can affect our ability to
live, work, learn and relate effectively. This workshop considers how the use of
Mindfulness as a core life-skill both enhances existing capacities and is able to help
quieten an overly “busy” mind, enabling increased ability to focus on goals and
concentrate on what is needful to achieve them.
Workshop Leader:
Dr Katherine May is currently Joint Lead for Psychological Practice in Acute
Services, with KMPT. She works with a small team of therapeutic practitioners on the
acute psychiatric wards at the St Martin’s Hospital site in Canterbury. She uses
Mindfulness extensively in this work, adapting it to individual need and state of mind.
She has previously worked in Rehabilitation Services in East Kent, for the NICE
Implementation Team in this area and has worked in Psychosexual Therapy for 25
years, both in the North West and East Kent. She has also provided psychological
and care co-ordination services to those living with HIV/AIDS, has been a Senior
Lecturer in Psychosexual Therapy/Sexual Medicine at the University of Central
Lancashire and has worked in clinical development of global research studies into
sexual difficulties and their treatment. She has published papers and book chapters
on a range of psychological and psychotherapeutic issues.
Since 2007, Kathryn has incorporated Mindfulness into her psychotherapeutic and
other work in individual, couple and group settings. She specialises in adapting it to
individual needs and circumstances.
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10. Student Finance England
“The Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) – The Application Process and
your questions answered”
Workshop Leader:
Graham Tranter joined the Student Loans Company in February 2008 as Regional
Student Finance Consultant for the South Midlands, visiting and advising schools,
colleges, universities, Connexions and Aimhigher partners about the core student
finance products.
In September 2011 Graham transferred over to the DSA Team. Graham now visits
all the different types of DSA Stakeholders; assistive technology suppliers, needs
assessment centres, providers of non medical helper supporters, colleges and
universities. His role is to be a point of contact for DSA partners on general DSA
related matters, to provide guidance and clarity to partners on DSA operational
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matters and attend meetings, workshops, training sessions, etc. held by DSA
partners when requested.
Immediately prior to joining SLC at the beginning of 2008, Graham worked in the
Student Funding Office at Coventry University, offering information, advice and
guidance about funding HE studies to current and prospective students. This
included giving information about student loans, government grants, university
scholarships, bursaries, the Access to Learning Fund and other national and HEIbased sources of student financial support.
Prior to that, Graham worked for over 25 years in a variety of senior management
roles in project management, process improvement, business development and
training in the UK, USA and Europe for major multi-national companies.
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