PEF ££ + CALL Scotland = Attainment

Posted by Shirley Lawson on the 17th August, 2017

Should schools consider investing Pupil Equity Fund money in Assistive Technology and training? 

Yes and here is why...

• Learners with Additional Support Needs have lower achievement than learners who do not have ASN.
• Use of Assistive Technology can raise "raise achievement in the community of students with special educational needs" [1].
• Access to and use of assistive technology is variable across Scotland.
• Schools should use Pupil Equity Funding to invest in Assistive Technology, within a whole school digital inclusion strategy to enhance, extend and engage learning among all students including those with ASN .

 [1] Hargreaves, A. & Braun, H. (2012). Leading for all page 53.

Here at CALL we specialise in Assistive Technology and have extensive knowledge and experience of working with children and young people with Additional Support Needs. We know what technology works best to support literacy and numeracy difficulties (as well as physical, sensory and communication issues) and most importantly we can provide the training required to make teachers and learning assistants comfortable and confident to use the technology to best effect.

With half day seminars, hands-on workshops, webinars and in-school training opportunities on offer, we can help you on your way to raise attainment for your pupils. Have a look at our 2017-18 Professional Learning calendar.

There is no question that the use of Assistive Technology can make a considerable difference to those who are struggling in school and in life. We want to share our expertise so please get in touch to have a chat, tell us about your pupils, their areas of difficulties and we will go from there.

• Shirley.lawson@ed.ac.uk