Students
at
Henley
Upgrade Study Support: Staff
These pages contain information, guidance and support for staff.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK YOUR STUDENT NEEDS AN ASSESSMENT
Email their details to Charlie Eckton (ceck@henleycol.ac.uk) so they can be put on the waiting list. Please discuss this with the student before doing it to avoid them not turning up to the assessment.
Exam screening assessment take approximately two hours and takes precedence over classes the student may have. Due to the tight screening schedule, early exam board deadlines, and our assessors being part time, unfortunately we can not schedule students in around their lesson times.
Please be aware that due to the assessment being focussed on exam access arrangements, it is not appropriate for vocational students to have a ‘screening’ unless they are doing a separate exam subject e.g. GCSE resit. Other vocation students may only require ‘rec diffs’. All students can request one-to-one support regardless of screening.
Due to exam board deadlines and the volume of students needing to be assessed, in some cases where students require more complex exam access arrangements, their arrangements may not be in place in time for the next set of exams. For this reason, if you are concerned that one of your students may have a difficulty it is important you flag them up to us as soon as possible.
Students who attend one-to-one support have a lesson for an hour once a week with a specialist tutor. The lesson is a fixed part of their timetable and has a register like all other classes. The aim of the lesson is to help the student with their difficulty and to give them the skills they need to do better in their studies. Some students improve their work by several grades by attending learning support.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK YOUR STUDENT NEED ONE-TO-ONE SUPPORT?
If you have a student who could benefit from one-to-one please send or take them to the Upgrade Study Support office in D506 so they can fill out a request form. N.B. Filling out a referral form will not make the process quicker as the student will still need to fill out a request form themselves.
Please feel free to contact SfL tutors to discuss the needs of your students they are supporting. SfL tutors are involved with student reports, UCAS forms and parental consultation evenings so good communication between support and subject/personal tutors is essential.
Study Skills Workshops
For students who do not require a formal hour a week support lesson but need a little help there is also a drop-in study skills workshop they can attend at lunch time:
Monday 11.55-12.55 (Rotherfield SLC)
Tuesday 11.55-12.55 (Rotherfield SLC)
Thursday 11.55-12.55 (Deanfield SLC –D574)
Friday 11.55-12.55 (Deanfield SLC –D574)
Tutor: Jan Nicholls.
WHAT ARE REC DIFFS AND HOW DO I USE THEM?
‘Rec diffs’ or ‘Recommendations for Differentiation’ are completed on a one-to-one with students who have a learning difficulty of some kind. They are specific to the individual student and are aimed at you so you know how best to help them with their difficulty.
Although very time consuming for us to compile and get on the system (rec diffs can be found on Unit-e webview under ‘Identified Support’), for some students it is the first opportunity they have to express their frustrations/needs.
Rec diffs are meant to be guidelines for tutors –our assessors understand that not all of the recommendations can be adhered to all of the time, especially if you have several students in one group with very different requirements. Often it may just mean a little extra planning so that, for example, handouts are enlarged or on coloured paper.
In other cases there may be a key piece of information the tutor should know about, often highlighted by a quote from the student, eg.
● Please do not ask the student to speak in front of the group. “I’d just die if he asked me to do that.”
If you have any queries about any rec diffs you receive please contact the Upgrade Study Support Department for advice and guidance.
Information about those with Dyslexia +/ Dyspraxia
A significant number of young people with normal intelligence, who are highly motivated and who may have achieved good results in their exams so far, can still find that they have great difficulty mastering the basic skills of reading, writing and/or spelling. These difficulties may have already been recognised by parents or teachers in school as characteristic of one of the many types of dyslexia. For others they are not diagnosed and so a student may gradually fall behind with his/her studies. Working harder may no longer be enough for the higher-level courses at College and extra help may be needed.
Dyslexia
Individuals with dyslexia process things differently to those without it. For many tasks this can be very useful. However, those with dyslexia often have difficulties with reading, writing and spelling. The key4learning website gives a good definition and a checklist of dyslexia.
http://www.key4learning.com/dyslexia.htm
HELPING STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA
- Print handouts in 14 point (Comic Sans, Arial or Tahoma font if possible).
- Use ‘normal’ upper and lower case. Never print anything using only upper case.
- Highlight key words in bold print.
- Ask your student(s) if they prefer handouts on coloured paper. Each will probably express a preference.
- Give students photocopies of OHPs and notes at the start of the lesson for annotation. Many dyslexics find it impossible to copy accurately or quickly.
- Avoid putting too much information on one page.
- Reading materials can be recorded on cassette.
- Please be prepared to allow students to use mini tape recorders in lectures if requested. (SfL tutors can help students record contents in a manageable form on paper afterwards.)
- Copies of news/magazine articles should be enlarged.
- Some students are unable to read anything too complex. Find out if they would like you to read things to them from time to time. They might prefer to ask a friend.
- Spelling is often a nightmare. Get into the habit of putting key words for the session on cards and display them in a prominent place. Refer to them frequently during the session. This will help many students, not only the dyslexics. Key words should be word-processed VERY LARGE, unless you can hand write to the graphic standard of an infant teacher!
- Essays and other substantial pieces of writing: please be prepared to draw up a writing framework with heading on one side of A4. Dyslexics frequently have difficulty sifting information and organising their thoughts efficiently. This will significantly help them to focus.
(For more specific advice on students’ learning difficulties or differences, please consult Charlie Eckton or individual members of the SfL team.)
The library has some books on dyslexia that staff may find useful.
Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia can result in difficulties with organisation and fine motor control.
http://www.key4learning.com/dyspraxia.htm
ATTENTION DISORDERS SUCH AS ADHD
The number of children and teenagers diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is increasing. Such people are extra inattentive, impulsive or hyperactive.
Those with attention disorders often struggle to concentrate and stay on-task. They may require help with organisation and time management. Having ADD will have made the job of focusing on and organising your work much more difficult than for other students. You may benefit from learning new strategies to cope with the demands of the higher-level courses here in College.
http://www.key4learning.com/attentiondisorder.htm
It is unusual for people who have Aspergers to be unaware of this, as they tend to be referred for diagnostic tests at a young age by teachers or other carers. However those with the mildest of forms may not have been noticed in this way and you may be the first person to notice one of your tutees behaving in way consistent with Asperger’s.
Those with Asperger’s Syndrome may struggle with communication or in social situations. Some individuals may find they have few difficulties whereas other require a lot of support. Please see the following link for possible behaviours.
http://www.key4learning.com/aspergerssyndrome.htm
Charlie Eckton, The Upgrade Study Support Co-ordinator, may be contacted on 01491 634017 or in D506 for initial help and advice if you feel that one of your student’s mental health has become a concern to them or yourself. This may be a temporary matter of not coping with coursework or with college life generally or it may be a more serious issue they feel unable to deal with. Upgrade Study Support will give you or your student confidential help and refer them to others if specialist support is needed.
Assistance from the Counsellors
The Student Counsellors are available at certain times of the week to help with various problems and can advise on outside agencies.
Appointments for counselling can be made through Sue Spinks ext 4010 in room D104.
ASSISTANCE FOR YOUR STUDENTS FROM THE LIBRARY
Students can ask at the Library desk if they want to borrow colour filters to change the background colour of printed material. Some dyslexics find print on coloured background easier to read. They can buy their own filters from Reprographics (D508) for a few pence.
The Library also has A4 magnifying sheets that can be held 10cm from a printed page to enlarge the print.
The Library has a scanner attached to a computer with Cicero software which allows you to scan a printed page and magnify it. The software will also read the page to you.
The Library has a computer accessing Dragon Naturally Speaking software, a speech recognition package. Charlie Eckton will arrange training for students where this facility is appropriate.
The Library has books about Dyslexia which students may find useful.
The Student Learning Centres and Library have large flat screen monitors that magnify text and special lower case and high contrast keyboards that can then help dyslexics.
The library has a portable induction loop to assist communication with users with impaired hearing.
IT SUPPORT YOUR STUDENTS CAN ACCESS
Network Settings
Tremors and bouncing characterise some physical disorders. Duplication of key repeats can be controlled with the accessibility options within Windows – slow keys, bounce keys, and repeat keys. You can make changes with these and save your settings for next time. Learn how to do it from the AbilityNet website’s ‘My Computer, My Way’ page. http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/myway/
The Student Learning Centre Managers can also help you with this.
Inspiration Software
Networked computers in classrooms, the Library and Student Learning Centres have access to Inspiration software that any student or staff member can use, but which many dyslexic students find particularly helpful. It is a mapping programme allowing the user to create concept maps, idea maps and other graphic organisers to plan projects or essays. You can then prioritise and rearrange your ideas. The Leeds University website gives a good explanation of what Inspiration lets you do. A tutorial providing a quickstart for using Inspiration is available.
There is also an interactive tutorial and guide to Inspiration including its uses for various subjects available on the College Network. For further information or help please contact Student Learning Centre Managers .
Spellzone
Spellzone is an Internet spelling program written especially for older students and adults. With Spellzone you can:
- Learn all the spelling rules
- Do interactive practice exercises, marked instantly online
- Find out how to learn and remember difficult words
- Work at different ability levels
- Tackle even those words a computer spell check will miss
You can access Spellzone on any of the College’s Internet connected computers. For the College username and password please ask the Library or Student Learning Centre staff, or login to the VLE and access The Henley College Online Subsription Databases.
On the next screen, choose the link ‘Click to continue’. This takes you to the list of contents. You can then go to any part of the course. There are 36 different units in the course. Unit 1 is a guide to the program, so check through this one first, then look at the contents list and decide where you need to go next.
Under the terms of our licence, all Henley College students can also use the same passwords to log in to Spellzone from their home computers.
Texthelp Read and Write
Another useful software package, available on one machine in each Student Learning Centre and in Upgrade Study Support is TextHelp Read and Write. It is text to speech software with word prediction. It has word order choices, spell checking based on phonic errors, a thesaurus and homophone checking with meanings. It reads your work to you and works with most windows programmes using a floating menu bar. The voices, speed of speech and tones can all be altered.
Please ask the Student Learning Centre Manager if you wish to use this package or set it up for one of your students.
Dolphin Supanova
Supanova Reader Magnifier combines magnification, speech and Braille output.
Dragon Naturally Speaking
Speech recognition software to help impaired students who find typing a struggle.
Helping your students customising their desktop
You and your students can customise your desktops so that your computer is easier to use. Once you have done it, your settings will be saved for next time. Changing text and background colours; font size; spacing; text style can all make text easier to read in your Word documents or on websites. Learn how to do it from the AbilityNet website’s ‘My Computer, My Way’ page. The Student Learning Centre Managers can also help you with this.
Intellikeys
The library and Student Learning Centres have keyboards with key guards to help users with fine dexterity problems. These prevent the user from accidentally hitting keys adjacent to the one they intend to hit.
Membrane keyboards
-have larger keys and can also help users with fine dexterity problems.
Compact keyboards
-for those with reduced hand/arm movements and reduced strength
Flexi keyboards
Lap trays
-for wheelchair users or those who want to use the keyboard lower down (for reduced movement of arm/hand)
Gel wrist Pads
-for soft support.
Easycat
-a type of mouse that helps those with gripping and fine dexterity problems with the use of a tracker ball. Moving the cursor is separated from button clicking.
Touch pad
-a pointing device demanding little movement and no gripping. A joystick helps users with only gross movement.
Other hardware includes:
- Traxys Joystick
- Trackball
- Kidtrack Trackball
- Orbitball
- Expert Mouse