In England, children who are in fostered local authority care are described as Looked After Children (LAC). These young people are sometimes vulnerable, hard to reach and can be left behind in the educational system and wider society. In many ways – their voices are not easily heard. They are overseen at local authority level by a ‘Virtual School Head ’. This is an officer in the local authority who is accountable and responsible for making sure the children and young people have every opportunity whilst in local authority care to achieve their potential.

As a group, there is a remains a ‘gap’ in educational attainment when compared to children who are not looked after. For example, just 15% of LAC (in Nottinghamshire) achieved expected standards at the end of KS2 (junior school aged 7 – 11). This compares with the total English school population of 55% achieving expected outcomes (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government 2016). With such a significant gap, Nottinghamshire County Council embarked on an ambitious programme of support and challenge to improve the picture for those pupils in local authority care.

Working collaboratively with the children, home (the adults who foster/care for the pupils) and school, Looked After Children were offered an opportunity to ‘power-up’ their literacy through a multisensory programme of learning and confidence building.

The programme was developed by Dr Petula Bhojwani and Craig Wilkie for Nottinghamshire County Council, to motivate, engage and build confidence of the children through carefully selected literature, software and apps for their tablet and, resources such as puppets and props. The aim was to improve Literacy outcomes and boost speaking and listening skills in order to ‘close the gap’.

Key to this work was the ability to capture evidence and demonstrate progress. Bhojwani and Wilkie used Rix EasySurvey to capture and monitor progress throughout the intervention. EasySurvey is an accessible online survey tool that is easy to use and fun for children to engage with… Measuring data before and after the activities helped the shaping and evolving of the intervention and proved the benefits of the work by demonstrating positive changes in confidence, behaviour and engagement in Literacy skills of the children. Rix EasySurvey supported both summative and formative assessment.

EasySurvey screen
One of the questions used in the EasySurvey

Central to being a confident communicator is the concept of ‘audience’. Rix Wikis were used to showcase work that the children generated during the project. Rix Wikis are simple, easy to build websites that children and their families used as a digital ‘scrapbook’ to collect images, video and text of their literacy achievements. Through a simple secure sharing facility, the children and their parents shared these work showcases with the school, family and friends. Rix Wikis are the perfect tool – literacy is more than text it’s about making meaning and meaning making. It’s about making yourself heard and understood.

Rix Wiki screen
Picture of the Rix Wiki used in the project

The project outcomes contributed to the KS2 Nottinghamshire LAC outcomes rising from (pre intervention) 15% in 2016 to 30% in 2017 (post intervention). Whilst a gap still remains – the performance gains were indisputable and Rix software was the digital component that complimented the books and resources the children were given.
Rix software contributed specifically by:

  • Being accessible and easy to use.
  • Being good value, low cost, high impact.
  • Allowing children to be better understood.
  • Allowing children to be better understood.
  • Allowing children a safe space to share and show things they were proud to have achieved.
  • Being fun and motivational to use.
  • Building relationships between home and school through the online nature of Wiki websites.

The research and outcomes of the project, including details about the use of Rix EasySurvey and Rix Wikis is documented in the book; Power-Up Literacy, published by the UK Literacy Association. UKLA, 9 Newarke Street, Leicester, LE1 5SN. The book features resources, guidance and support to allow schools to replicate elements of the intervention themselves. ISBN: 978 1 910543 88 7. www.ukla.org

Power Up Literacy book bover
Power Up Literacy book cover

To experience the benefits of the Rix Wiki for yourself and your students you can buy a Rix Wiki by clicking here

Get involved! We are particularly interested in hearing from Virtual School Heads and those with specific responsibility for Looked After Children to support our continued research and software developments. Contact us at: rixadmin@uel.ac.uk

On Monday 25th June the purpleSTARS, who work with the Rix team to make Museums more inclusive using sensory and digital interpretation approaches, visited Glenside Hospital Museum in Bristol. The museum is working with Rix and the purpleSTARS team engaging local volunteers with learning disabilities from the Bristol area.

The aim is to research and interpret objects that have been collected from Stoke Park house, which used to be an institution attached to Glenside, where people who were considered to have a learning disability used to live.

Working with Glenside volunteers
PurpleStars researchers exploring the history of the Stoke Park house

The team learned that the definition of ‘learning disability’ used back when Stoke Park was open was very different from our understanding about people with learning disabilities today. The Stoke Park collection is currently on display at the Glenside museum and the group is looking to explore how working on multi-sensory interpretation of some of the objects can make the collection more accessible and meaningful for visitors with learning disabilities. The shared goal is to share stories about people with learning disabilities and how they used to be treated in the UK and to improve understanding about how conditions can be changed.

The purpleSTARS travelled from London to Bristol to share their knowledge and expertise with the new Bristol volunteers, to help them progress on their project. The purpleSTARS shared some of their Wiki building work, particularly the WIKI produced as part of the Access All Areas’ ‘Madhouse Project’. This served as an excellent example of work around the history of people with learning disabilities and the way they were housed in hospitals and other large Institutions, like the Glenside Hospital site.

The team from Bristol shared their own work to date in which they have explored the history of Glenside Hospital and reflected on the way disabled people’s lives have been shaped by such institutions. This work included the production of poetry by volunteer Dave Pearse (Poet and Curator) that was inspired by what he had learned about Stoke Park:

The Mansion on the hill
The Mansion on the hill
A romantic ideal for many
But to some this was a symbol of sadness
Of children taken from family
To grow up institutionalised
Only as time progressed and minds opened
Was pleasure and kindness brought to these young colonists
From colony institution to communal home
A home of kindness and care.

Dave Pearse reading his poem
Dave Pearse reading his poem

Another volunteer, Heather Whitcher (Curator) shared some games that doctors used to use to assess patients’ intellectual ability and there was a discussion about making a replica version so that visitors could have a go themselves. Joshua Wrixon (Curator) shared with us an old head protector that was used for people with epilepsy. John Pimm (Volunteer and Trustee since 1993) has an extensive knowledge of Stoke Park as he used to be Stoke Park hospital Transport Manager. He shared a machine used to subject people to electric shocks as part of their treatment.

John Pimm
John Pimm talking about the electric shock treatments at the hospital

This collaborative work brings together people with learning disabilities alongside staff and volunteers from museums across the country to use digital technologies to re-interpret public culture, applying multi-sensory approaches to make collections more accessible for everyone. This builds on Rix Research undertaken as part of the Sensory Objects project with Reading and Leeds Universities, the National Trust, British Museum and the Museum of English Rural Life.

For further information see: http://sensoryobjects.com and https://purplestars.org.uk/ .

Our notes from the visit
Our notes from the visit

Ajay Choksi from the Rix team was there as part of the purpleSTARS. He commented after the visit, ‘I found Glenside Hospital Museum very interesting. I saw that they kept the objects safe in glass cases with ‘DO NOT TOUCH’ signs. They included drawings of residents from back in the days. They showed people with sadness, upset and illness. I saw clay models too of people supporting each other, holding each other, holding hands and not letting go. Here was a positive picture – if we let go it is more upset. Here was a positive story of our history.’

     

On Tuesday 17th of July 2018 I attended an interactive ‘Travelling Storytellers’ session at the British Museum. The session aimed to explore stories from India and it was run by Olivia Armstrong.

The session was attended by many people with learning disabilities including our friends from the Tower Project.

Olivia started the session by welcoming everyone using Indian words and welcome sign and invited everyone to participate.

Next, Olivia gave out copies of the 1690, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India painting.

After that, she took out different objects and materials that we all used to tell the story from the painting.

I really enjoyed the session as I was able to learn what was happening on the painting and the story helped me to understand the picture better.

I feel it is important to have interactive storytelling sessions as they help everyone to engage with galleries and museums. Other people with learning disabilities who attended the session where also able to take part no matter how severe their disability was.

At the end of the session I had an opportunity to have a quick chat about the session with Olivia Armstrong. Please see the video below.

Gosia Kwiatkowska and Ajay Choksi from Rix Research & Media showcased the Rix Multimedia Advocacy Method to academics, educators and practitioners from across the world at the latest Seminar of the EU ‘Social Inclusion for Learners – SOIL’ Project over three days this week, hosted by UEL at the Good Hotel on the Royal Docks. Delegates from Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Romania, Italy, Thailand and China were introduced to the innovative ‘Multimedia Advocacy’ approach to the education of learners with intellectual disabilities.

Dr Prapassara Thanosawan fro the SWU University in Bangkok, Thailand commented that the Seminar’s information about innovative applications of Technology in Special Education shared by Rix Centre Researchers “…has been very stimulating academically. As a Linguistics scholar I have found the ideas about Easy to Read use of language and the use of accessible media tools particularly interesting.” she said.

You can find out more about the SOIL project and it’s outcomes on the project website: http://www.soil-project.eu/en/About-SOIL/

Listening to and Involving Young People

Free Webinar with live Q&A

Aired: Tuesday 6th June 2018, 13:00 – 13:30

Statutory guidance from the Department for Education states that local authorities and schools listen to and involving children and young people when considering how best to provide opportunities for them. Under section 176 of the Education Act 2002 they are required to consult with pupils in connection with the taking of decisions which affect them.

Involving children and young people is their right, in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (articles articles 2, 3, 6 and 12). It is at the heart of Rix Multimedia Advocacy to provide children and young people with a voice and opportunities to express their opinion in matters that affect their lives.

Charlton Park Academy’s residential provision ‘Rainbow House’ has just achieved an Ofsted Outstanding report (2018). This is largely because of their commitment to self-advocacy and the use of Rix Wikis and the Multimedia Advocacy approach to encourage all students to become active participants in a democratic society by involving them in school councils, meetings and decision making processes, and helping them to develop their communication skills, co-operation and encouraging them to take responsibility.

We were proud to host this webinar with Kathryn Stowell, who leads this work at Charlton Park Academy. Ms Stowell shared with us how the school is using Rix Wikis and Multimedia to centralise the student voice in everything they do. Kathryn talked about the benefits of this approach and the impact that it has on increased confidence, self-respect, competence and an improved sense of responsibility, as well as increased motivation and engagement with learning.

An inclusive keynote speech opens proceedings at Communication Works 2018

Research & Media were at the Communication Works 2018 conference at Charlton Park Academy, showcasing Rix tools and projects alongside cutting edge leaders in the field of assistive technology. The event, which took place on 25th May, was a large gathering of organisations and individuals disseminating and celebrating technology that continually improves, assists, and includes.

 Representatives from Rix talked to conference attendees about our exciting work on the as part of which we are working with students at Charlton Park Academy testing the Mathisis software. The innovative software has a unique algorithm that has been developed to work with a camera to capture the ‘affect state’ of the learner and then adjust their learning tasks appropriately, with the aim that learning becomes individualized and more effective. Rix intern Ramsey Hufford generated a lot of interest for the project by demonstrating how the Mathisis application can be used to build and achieve learning goals.

Rix Wiki Master Ajay Choksi also walked people through his Rix Wiki, illustrating first-hand how it has helped himself, and others to become self-advocates. People really enjoyed exploring Ajay’s Wiki and being able to look at all the pictures,watch the videos, and hear the audio he uses on the Wiki to tell his story.

Ajay Choksi, and Jack Ansley talk to event attendees

Other exhibitors on the day demonstrated their assistive technology and ran breakout sessions showing how their technology works and can be adapted to individuals. Conference organisers CENMAC had set up a small museum exhibit showing the history of assistive technology since their organisation began in 1968. The museum was shocking, opening the eyes of attendees to the terrible conditions that people with any disability lived through. The museum showed how radically this technology has improved in the last 50 years, and it made us all hopeful for the changes to come. For example, Jim Bowen from C-Pens was presenting on how the C-Pen functions to assist people with dyslexia, or partial sightedness to read. The technology within that small device was astounding, and it is immediately clear how the device could assist everyone in a classroom and build their confidence with reading.

A Crick Software representative demos their AAC software to a classroom filled with educators

Multiple people presented on different types of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), ranging from applications to devices dedicated to the pre-installed AAC softwares. Companies like Crick Software Ltd, Smartbox, and Tobii Dynavox demonstrated how their assistive technology is able to empower people to communicate and instantly impact their quality of life.

In short, Communication Works 2018 brought together many organisations and individuals, creating a wonderful environment for learning about inclusive methods and tools and exchanging of ideas. A lot of exhibitors and attendees were excited to hear about the work of Rix Research & Media and we in turn were excited to learn about other projects that are using technology to empower and enable self-advocacy.

Article by Ramsey Hufford

 

Last Friday 20 April 2018, Rix Research & Media held a conference for the Social Inclusion of Learners (SOIL) project. The aim of the conference was to inspire and inform educators about new and innovative methods of inclusion in schools. The information was facilitated by a range of guest speakers from around the world who shared with delegates their methods and expertise. The conference was attended by educators from the UK and Europe.

Throughout the day, information on different methods of inclusion were presented. John Galloway from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets presented on the history and advancement of technology, showing some advances that assist people with disabilities. John informed the group of amazing technology that is able to aid people with sight and hearing. He also crucially highlighted that there are barriers to people accessing the assistive technology they need. Luckily, assistive technology such as devices with environment control such as Amazon’s Alexa are being integrated in mainstream technologies making it much more affordable.

Presenters from the Austrian organisation atempo demonstrated mainstream applications that show great possibility to move towards inclusion in schools. One application that was particularly exciting was Plickers. It was immediately clear that Plickers engaged and motivated the delegates and could be used in a number of ways to tailor the classroom to the needs of the student.

Margret Rasfeld from Germany based ‘School on the Move’ gave an eye-opening presentation about her organisation and their ground-breaking educational methods. The presentation explained how the school is upending the traditional concept of a classroom environment and the roles of educator and student, and empowers students to learn in an effective way for themselves. The methods presented by Rasfeld, allow students to take control of and direct their own education through the use of ‘learning boxes’. Her presentation encouraged her fellow educators to consider the benefits of using these ‘new-age methods’.

Another group of presenters (Rufaro, Paul, Lee) from the Access All Areas theatre group presented their Madhouse Rix Wikiexplaining how the Wiki had facilitated and documented their research into life in a mental institution in the UK, and how it had also augmented their acting in a satirical play showing what life would have been like if they were stuck in a ‘MadHouse’ of the past.

Their Wiki presentation illustrated exactly the approach that Rix Inclusive Research champions – multimedia technology that supports people to organise their thoughts and ideas and enables people to speak for themselves and advocate for themselves. Prof. Andy Minnion, and Ajay Choksi explained Multimedia Advocacy and its importance to the group. In the Rix presentation, delegates learned about how selfies have become such a large part of today’s world and how those pictures can help you understand and define yourself, an idea Andy describes as ‘selfie advocacy’.

The conference was successful in bringing in people from across the world and teaching them about different methods and approaches to having inclusion in schools.

Story By Ramsey Hufford

Sixteen educators from Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Norway last week attended a five-day

‘Personalised Education with Tablets’ course in which they have learned how to apply Multimedia Advocacy and the Universal Design principles and use tablets in their classrooms to support all learners.

The Multimedia Advocacy approach, developed by Rix Inclusive Research, over many years of research, combines the principles of student-centred practice, universal design for learning and the self-advocacy framework. The course, which was delivered at the University of East London, was developed by Rix together with Austrian organisation ‘atempo‘ over the two-year long Erasmus+ funded research project ‘Inclusive Education with Tablets‘ (IncluEdu). The project saw the Multimedia Advocacy approach combined with and applied to latest developments in mobile technologies to further remove barriers to education for all learners.

On the first day of the course, the educators identified their personal learning goals for the week that they then worked towards over the five days. Most had already used tablets in their teaching and were interested in learning strategies for using them more effectively. For others, using tablets in their classrooms was completely new and they wanted to learn about a few apps and how to apply them in their teaching.

Teachers working on their learning goals for the week

The aim of the course was to introduce everyone to the Multimedia Advocacy Approach to personalised teaching and explore a range of apps to facilitate students’ learning. The programme included visits to a mainstream and a special school, learning in the park, reflections, self-directed study, app demonstrations, presentations, and workshops.

 The rapidly changing job market will require graduates to have skills to adapt to the unknown demands of new roles. Educating students is no longer preparing them for the known but for the unknown. The skills that young people must learn are those of creativity, adaptability, critical thinking and learning to learn. The course was delivered with, and therefore modelled for the teachers, the Universal Design for Learning approach, which cultivates and encourages exactly these skills of adaptability and self-directed learning.

The feedback from the teachers attending the course was really positive, with 100% of participants being satisfied with the course. The participants enjoyed all aspects of the course and returned to their respective countries with new ideas and inclusive strategies to apply to their teaching.

Forthcoming ‘Personalised Learning with Tablets’ courses will be delivered in Austria, Finland, Ireland, Germany and Cyprus as well as the UK. If you are an educator from the UK or Europe and would like to attend one of the courses, you can apply for an Erasmus+ mobility grant to cover the cost. Visit the IncluEdu website for information about the courses and how to apply: https://www.incluedu.com/courses-201617/

Course participants exploring new technologies

 

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:
  1. Evaluate inclusive, individualised teaching methods in the classroom.
  2. Foster the inclusion of disadvantaged learners (including children of newly arrived migrants and people with disabilities) whilst preventing and combatting discriminatory practices.
  3. Empower teachers to be able to address the needs of all learners and understand the diversity of learners.
  4. Build a network of experts, educators and policy and decision makers to disseminate information and progress.
  5. 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/