At North Hertfordshire College our staff are our most important asset. That’s why we’re committed to training and developing our staff and providing opportunities for them to grow – including helping our staff support their colleagues to succeed.
James Sutton (Learning Technologist) and Julie Tribe (Supported Studies Course Team Leader) created a six-week Support Practitioner programme, designed with Laura Roberts and Donna Batten from our Additional Learning Support Team (ALS), for internal staff to complete. The course focused on enabling learning support staff from across our ALS, Supported Studies, and Springboard teams to collaborate, share good practice, and streamline approaches to supporting learners with SEND.
As a result of the programme, staff have now furthered their knowledge and built their confidence in supporting a range of SEND needs, both in our specialist provisions and across the mainstream areas of college.
Those who completed the course can now deliver a higher standard of care to learners with SEND needs, creating more consistent support across the College. Julie has also since carried out developmental observations on support practitioners in our Supported Studies department who completed the course, to ensure what they learnt during the training programme is being implemented into practice – and we’re pleased to say that it is!
The Support Practitioner programme was designed as a response to a gap left by the end of an official qualification. It’s not only developed staff’s SEND skills but also gave Julie and James a chance to share their own experience and best practice. Plus, feedback from the first cohort was extremely positive and those who have already completed the course have been encouraging their colleagues to follow in their footsteps and enrol on the next instalment.
Comments from staff learners included: “Learning about the different policies and resources the College provides has helped me feel more comfortable in my role. It has also motivated me to continue growing and progressing in this sector. It has really challenged my critical thinking and has allowed me to consider all possibilities and methods of learning when supporting a varied skill level of students”.
Another learner said: “I found being able to listen to other people (some more experienced than myself) and their approaches to specific situations to be very insightful. I was able to take on techniques that I could then apply to certain students within my place of work. I have learnt a lot from the course.”
Following the success of the pilot, the course is set to run again in the 2025/26 academic year to give more colleagues the chance to develop their skills.
Congratulations to Julie and James on the success of this programme!
Are you interested in supporting learners to achieve their full potential? Check out North Hertfordshire College’s vacancies for available roles and join our team!