Want to learn about ASL in the early years?  

A free 12-hour online course can help you in identifying and responding to additional support needs.  

When: 2022: September & November and 2023: January & March 

Sign up at:  

Identifying and responding to additional support needs in early learning and childcare (ELC)
Search for ‘OpenLearnCreate identifying and responding to additional support needs’  

The course takes around 12 hours to complete, running over six weeks. It includes a 1-hour webinar with a speech and language therapist.  

Whatever your level of experience and knowledge and whether you work in an early years setting, early primary or foster care, you will find content in the module that will help you to reflect and develop your understanding of what you can do to get it right for every child in Scotland. 

Study at your own pace and gain a digital badge to record in your Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) Post Registration Training and Learning. 

Hear from practitioners and parents from early years settings as well as from play work and community projects. Contributors include Elizabeth Henderson, author of Autoethnography in Early Childhood Education and Care: Narrating the Heart of Practice, andplay radical playworker Max Alexander:   

 So far, more than 3,000 learners have enrolled. Read more about it in Nursery World

Feedback from learners:  

This course was eye opening and helped me understand better the ways I can identify and provide support to children with additional support needs. It provides information about the importance on working in partnership with families in building strong communities of support and to enable inclusive environments for all children and all abilities. I had the opportunity to access information about using the wellbeing indicators and focusing on the strengths of every child and what they can bring into their and others’ learning experience. 

I totally recommend this course as is well-structured with opportunities to practice your knowledge through quizzes. It contains testimonials from parents, people with additional support needs and professionals, case studies and a very informative and well written context that makes it easy to follow.” 

Kyratsoula Argyropoulou, early years assistant:  

Enrol now: https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/index.php?categoryid=380 

Any questions please contact course co-author: Sarah Burton sarah.1.burton@open.ac.uk