SpLD Assessment Standards Committee [SASC] Authorised CPD Provider

• Give you confidence in the requirements and expectations of APC-level testing and reporting;
• Confirm and reinforce your existing good practise;
• Leave you confident in submitting a report to SASC for APC;
• Reflect your commitment to the professional standards required by practitioners who are wishing to renew their APC.

The programme is designed to take 5 hours, consisting of video-calls with your mentor. This will be in two parts:

Firstly, your mentor will review one of your diagnostic assessment reports, for either dyslexia or dyscalculia. This will be done via video calls online, either in 2×2 hour sessions, or 4×1 hour sessions, using a question and answer approach, going through each part of the report, relating the areas to the SASC 15-point criteria. Any changes needed will then need to be incorporated into a future report that you can then use as your APC submission (it is important to note that you cannot use the report we review in your future APC submission);

Secondly, one section from the APC criteria is chosen, in agreement with the mentor, to be worked on, in more detail, for 1 hour – again online.

This detailed work could on any report-writing relevant topic, agreed between the mentor and mentee. Some possible example topics are given below:

• confidentiality,
• how cognitive processing contributes to the identification of the SPLD under consideration; 
• background information, 
• age-appropriate assessment materials, 
• statistics and prevalence, 
• qualitative analysis, 
• discussing impact, 
• recommendations, 
• number-sense (for dyscalculia reports), 
• accessibility. 

The mentoring course covers: 

• C1 reviewing principles of psychometrics, statistics, assessment and underlying theory, their relationship to current legislation and regulations
• C2 SpLD testing methods, interpretation, report writing, feedback and test materials, including new developments with the introduction of new tests, further research reported with regard to interpretation and making appropriate use of test results, testing methods including the whole assessment process, suitable tests and what they measure, examining different profiles

Other options

• Education Access also offer individual one hour sessions, charged at £70.00 per hour. (Please note these options will be classed as supplementary CPD.)
• Education Access also offers mentoring for Access Arrangements for either SENCOs and/ or Specialist Assessors.

What will you learn?

• A sound understanding of current SASC regulations and requirements for Diagnostic Assessment Reports. This includes level of accessibility, forms of recommendations, structure and formatting.
• Knowledge of tests that are recognised by SASC for use when assessing to ensure all core components are covered.
• Following a review of one of your Diagnostic Assessment Reports, feedback relating to strengths and issues that need addressing in preparation for APC submission.

Expectations of mentors and mentees

You can expect the following from your mentor:

• online-video-based sessions to discuss the programme and receive feedback on activities when completing the 5 hour programme.
• Access via email, with responses normally within 72 hours.

Your mentor will expect you to:

• Complete the mentoring process within 1 month.

You will need access to email, a word processor (including the ability to ‘Insert comments’), or otherwise mark up a document) and an internet connection suitable for video-calling. You will, of course, need to have access to the full range of standardised tests required for children aged 16 years and under.

Why choose Education Access for your mentoring?

Your mentor will be Rebecca Thompson. She has more than 20 years’ assessment experience, and has been passionate about bringing the best possible education to all students since volunteering in a unit for pupils with additional needs while she was at university.

She has pursued a career direction as a specialist teacher and assessor, enabling students to access education and demonstrate their potential. For over 20 years she has worked in mainstream and specialist schools and in LEA support services, before setting out on her own and forming Education Access.

For several years, she has supported other teachers who wish to develop in their roles supporting students with specific learning difficulties, as a mentor and tutor for the Level 5 Specialist Teacher qualification. She is also a senior assessor, Internal Quality Assurer (IQA) and mentor for the Postgraduate Award of Proficiency in Assessment for Access Arrangements (PAPAA).  She has held APC for 11 years and is a member of the APC Renewal Team for the BDA, so has excellent working knowledge of the APC report writing requirements.

For further details about Rebecca’s qualifications, click here

How to apply

Please email Rebecca Thompson, or call on 07999 016 437, for an application form or to discuss the details of this mentoring provision.

Fees

This 5 hour SASC approved mentoring provision costs £350 and includes:

• Reasonable access to your mentor through email;
• Provision of 5 hours (1:1) video call through Microsoft Teams;
• Review and feedback of one of your diagnostic assessment reports (note that you cannot use the report we review in your future APC submissions);
• Electronic certificate of completion.