March 2018 – Rix Inclusive Research

The Social Inclusion of Learners project (SoIL) are hosting networking conferences and seminars across Europe to share our research findings and build a network of professionals. Rix Inclusive Research are hosting the SoIL conference in London and we would like to welcome educators and teachers to join us from the 14th June – 16 June 2018.

Conference details:
Date: 14/06/18 – 16/06/18
Location: Good Hotel London

Picture from the SoIL conference in Bratislava, October 2017

The Social Inclusion of Learners project (SoIL) is a collaborative project funded through the European Commission’s Erasmus + programme. SoIL is a cooperation of six partners bringing together their respective inclusive, individualised learning methods and expertise. The objectives of the project are to:

Evaluate inclusive, individualised teaching methods in the classroom.
Foster the inclusion of disadvantaged learners (including children of newly arrived migrants and people with disabilities) whilst preventing and combatting discriminatory practices.
Empower teachers to be able to address the needs of all learners and understand the diversity of learners.
Build a network of experts, educators and policy and decision makers to disseminate information and progress.
Create open access resources to empower educators.

The seminars will present innovative inclusive practices that are tried and tested and proven to be helpful in promoting inclusion. During the three days seminars you will have an opportunity to learn:

How to empower learners by using the ‘learning office’ – which promotes peer learning approach
How to motivate and engage all learners using the Multimedia Advocacy and the Universal Design for learning approach
How to make learning fun for all learners using a range of digital, easily accessible tools and apps
How to communicate in the diverse classroom using the Easy to Read – Capito approach

Teachers, teaching assistants, teacher trainers and others involved in children or adult education who are interested in receiving training in the above mentioned methods and are keen to try or implement them in their practice are welcome to register. Please note that these seminars are free but places are limited The seminar takes place over three days:

Thursday 14th June 10am – 4pm

Friday 15th June 10am – 4pm

Saturday 16th June 10am – 1pm

If you would like to attend but are unable to do so for the whole event, please register then let us know which days you are unable to attend by e-mail: rixadmin@uel.ac.uk

Image from the SoIL conference in Bratislava, October 2017

6 weeks after the seminar you will be asked to complete an evaluation questionnaire with your feedback on implementing the tools within your practice.

We would like to welcome teachers from all over the UK to attend our seminar. If the travel costs will be barrier for you attending we have a limited budget to assist teachers’ travel costs. Please contact us on rixadmin@uel.ac.uk for more information.

Keep up to date on the SoIL project by following our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SOILkeyaction3project/

Charlton Park students Charlie & Harry work together on Harry’s Wiki

We would like to wish huge congratulations to our friends and co-developers at Charlton Park Academy for achieving a rating of ‘Outstanding’ in the recent Ofsted inspection of their residential school provision.

Rix Research & Media have worked closely with Charlton Park Academy, a residential special school in South–East London, for many years. Our UEL Social Work students are placed at Charlton Park as part of their ‘Readiness for Practice’ module. They work with young people at the school with the aim of developing their self-advocacy skills.

To enable this communication the young people develop Rix Wikis, on which they capture important information they want to share and can use to rehearse their message in preparation for reviews. This helps the young person to then advocate with confidence and take a more active part in their own review meeting.

Charlton Park Academy are trailblazers in their innovative use of technology to assist communication and person-centred planning. They run an annual conference for assistive and inclusive technology called ‘Communication Works’.

The school have been working with Rix Wikis since 2012. As early adopters of the Wiki system they have played a critical role in its development and refinement. Charlton Park have pioneered the integration of Wikis into the curriculum and became the first school in which every student has their own Rix Wiki. This practice was commended and the benefits highlighted in the ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted report:

‘Students have access to the latest technology to assist their communication. This has led some to make remarkable achievements in how they can communicate with others and express their preferences. All students continue to make very good use of their personal ‘wiki’ diary on tablet computers. This provides students with a safe platform to communicate their wants and needs and to share their experiences. Parents and staff can also contribute to this. This ensures that students have a voice and that adults listen to them.’

Charlton Park Academy Social Care Inspection Report

You can find out more about how students at Charlton Park use their Wikis by watching Charlie’s case study video.

The Ofsted report also highlighted the student-centred focus at Charlton Park, the outstanding leadership and overall experience of children and young people, as well as the effective actions taken by the school that ‘contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences’ for them.

We hope that we can continue building on our work with Charlton Park Academy and learning from our valuable co-productive relationship with this innovative and person-centred school.

Students at an Oxfordshire College have kicked off a year-long research project in which they will use their Wiki skills to mentor and support learners from local schools as they make the transition to College. The ‘Mainstreaming’ project, based at Abingdon & Witney College, combines use of the Rix Wikis with added secure social media and personal organiser tools to help provide peer support and mentoring for the school leavers and make their transition to further education easier.

The students at the College have been working with Wikis for two years as part of Oxfordshire County Council’s Wiki Start Up programme. They have already produced a Wiki called ‘Transitions’ that provides guidance and encouragement for their younger peers by sharing their own memories of leaving the comfort of the familiar school setting and engaging with the wider community at College. The college students call this ‘mainstreaming’ – and they recall finding the transition a challenge; “I was a bit nervous” explains Kieran in a video clip on the Wiki, “But now I am really brave about coming to college” he says, “…and it’s good!”

Rix Research & Media is working in collaboration with multimedia advocacy software company, Multi Me on the project, alongside staff and students from the College and 5 local schools.

Our shared research goal is to trial the potential of adding more accessible online tools to the Rix Wiki and to explore the new system’s potential to facilitate peer support for young people with learning disabilities. The ‘WikiMe’ software created as a prototype for the project features secure multimedia social networking, with additional goal setting, calendar and diary tools. College students will link up with the school leavers, share stories and message each other in the run up to the new academic year in September. The students are learning to mentor and advocate for their younger peers and friendships are being built online that will help make the transition easier for the school leavers. School and College students are acquiring valuable digital skills on a secure online space where all can learn how to use social media safely and in a positive way that can help others face the challenges of adulthood.

Early feedback from the college staff and students has been enthusiastic. Veena, a Teaching & Learning Assistant at the College, posted a comment on the WikiMe network after the first session, “I can see that this is a nice safe place to have a conversation or just show an opinion in a very simple way. Ideal for our students.” Student Connor gave ‘thumbs up’ too and singled out the Goal tool, which he found helpful as it set out the day’s work into step-by-step tasks so that he could get on with his work at his own pace – which is very swift!

Conference details:
Date: 20/04/18
Location: Good Hotel London
Time: 9am – 5pm

Evaluate inclusive, individualised teaching methods in the classroom.
Foster the inclusion of disadvantaged learners (including children of newly arrived migrants and people with disabilities) whilst preventing and combatting discriminatory practices.
Empower teachers to be able to address the needs of all learners and understand the diversity of learners.
Build a network of experts, educators and policy and decision makers to disseminate information and progress.
Create open access resources to empower educators.

Rix Inclusive Research are hosting the SoIL conference in London and we would like to welcome educators and teachers to join us on the 20th April 2018.

By attending, you will find out about:

Apps and tools that you can use in your teaching practice
The principles of Multimedia Advocacy
Tips on making information more inclusive and ‘Easy to Read’
See the impact of the ‘School on the Move’ and meet students who are part of it
Meet other professionals and share ideas

GUEST SPEAKER:

Margaret Rasfeld, Founder of the ‘School on the Move’, Germany

Margret Rasfeld is the founder of the Schule im Aufbruch (School on the Move) and she will be joining us in April to deliver a one hour lecture on the approach and its impact on education. Margaret will also facilitate a workshop with students from one of her schools. This presentation will be of particular interest to the UK teachers.

SPEAKERS:

Prof Andrew T. Minnion MBE, University of East London, UK

Athina Tempriou, University of East London, UK

Debbie Kilbride, University of East London, UK

John Galloway, Tower Hamlets, London Local Authority, UK

Tina Gazovicova, CVEK, Slovakia

Stana Schenck, Schenck Consultants, Germany

Gosia Kwiatkowska, University of East London, UK

Keep up to date on the SoIL project by following our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SOILkeyaction3project/

Project Partners: Rix Inclusive Research from London, Schule im Aufbruch from Germany (School on the Move), aTempo from Austria, CVEK form Slovakia, Gemeente Maastricht from Netherlands, Casa Corpului CCD – Didactic Centre by the Ministry of Education in Romania and Schenck Consultancy from Germany.