Linwood Training, Support and Advice (LTSA)

Training and Events

Initial Teacher Training

LTSA plays a fundamental role in developing a self-sustaining system where new teachers learn from the best teachers, supported through a culture of coaching and mentoring.

Our School Direct partnership is with the Poole SCITT. We offer a PGCE in General Primary with SEND. We also work with a range of other local universities and SCITT providers to augment their programmes with school-based SEND experiences.

The programme content is delivered through four taught modules and a series of non-assessed and assessed school-based placements. These placements are in both mainstream primary and special school settings.

Trainees are guided through their learning by experienced SCITT and school-based mentors, to enable them to gain the skills and confidence to become effective, successful teachers of primary-aged children, especially those with SEND. The programme is designed for trainee teachers wishing to enter the profession in either mainstream or special school settings.

Trainees are based at Linwood School and in our partner schools which include primary mainstream and other local special schools.

For more information, visit www.getintoteaching.education.gov.uk

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Continued & Professional Development

AET Transitions Workshop

Date: Tuesday 2 December 2025
Duration: 09:30 – 12:00 (2 hrs 30 mins)
Price: £95
Venue: Coastal Training Suite, BH11 8HB
Event Leader: Soraya Monzon Diaz and Kate Webster

Details

The Autism Education Trust ‘Transitions in Schools’ module aims to equip delegates with an understanding of:

What we mean by transitions and the range of transitions encountered across the Primary and Secondary phases of education, both micro & macro.
The impact of transitions on the education and wellbeing of autistic children and young people and the reasons they may require specific enhanced transition support.
How to support autistic children and young people effectively with transitions in schools

For more information on Autism Education Trust training visit: www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk

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Attention Autism - 2 Day Course

Date: Tuesday 21 & Wednesday 22 April 2026
Duration: 09:30 – 13:00 (6 hrs 0 mins)
Price: £275 (Boost funding available for BCP Schools)
Venue: The Hamworthy Club, Magna Road, Bournemouth, BH21 3AP
Event Leader: Lyndsay Barlow

Details

The training focuses on the practical aspects of intervention, working in a team and offering an irresistible invitation to learn. The Attention Autism programme targets the teaching of attention, communication and social interaction skills. Training is run applying the principles of the Attention Autism programme throughout each day. There are demonstrations of the techniques in action, films of the work with children, practical hands-on experience for participants and ideas for activities. The intention is to share the practical skills needed for participants to feel confident in setting up and running the intervention immediately.

Outcomes & Key Benefits

An understanding of how to engage children with autism
How to teach children with autism to focus, sustain and shift their attention
An understanding of how to teach, encourage and support communication
An understanding of how to foster group learning skills
An understanding of how to embed early social interaction skills into group work
How to set up and run the intervention with groups of children
How to nurture the supporting team working with you
How to modify and adapt levels of stimulation/distraction in a group setting
How to use shared good times with the group and staff team working together in highly engaging activities
to build relationships and trust
A framework that encourages breadth and depth in learning for those who find linear progression challenging
To provide activities with a high density of learning opportunities

This course is suitable for teachers and TAs.

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Autism & Anxiety

Date: Thursday 12 February 2026
Duration: 09:00 – 12:00 (3 hrs 0 mins)
Price: £95 (Boost Funding available for BCP Schools)
Venue: The Hamworthy Club, Magna Road, Canford Magna, Wimborne. BH21 3AP
Event Leaders: Kate Tuck & Andy Maher

Details

This module will provide delegates with an understanding of what is meant by anxiety, how it appears in autistic pupils, what the key triggers are and what staff can do to support autistic pupils and prevent/reduce anxiety.

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Autism Women & Girls

Date: Wednesday 4 February 2026
Duration: 09:30 – 12:30 (3 hrs 0 mins)
Price: £85
Venue: Online via Zoom
Event Leaders: Ruth Moyse

Details

This workshop will be facilitated by Dr Ruth Moyse, drawing on her research with autistic girls in mainstream primary and secondary settings. It will cover:

Breaking down stereotypes and unpicking assumptions
The impact of language and unwritten messages
Masking, camouflaging, why they can make sense, and how they can harm
Autistic girls as absent voices and creative methods of communication
Understanding different perspectives; walking in their shoes
Working through scenarios and strategies
Key recommendations for action from autistic girls

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Making Sense of Autism

Spring 2026 Date: Monday 16 March 2026

Summer 2026 Date: Monday 6 July 2026

Duration: 15:45 – 17:15 (1 hr 30 mins)
Price: £30 (Boost funding available for BCP Schools)
Venue: Online via Zoom
Event Leader: Kate Tuck

Details

Basic autism awareness training for all staff within education settings: Mainstream and special schools. It will support participants to:

Identify the three key areas of difference that need to be taken into account.

Know the importance of understanding the individual pupil and their profile of strengths and areas for development.

Identify the key areas to help pupils on the autism spectrum build positive relationships with staff, peers, families and people in their community.

Develop an awareness of the sensory and communication differences that pupils may experience.

Spring 2026 – Book Now >>

Summer 2026 – Book Now >>

Maths Difficulties

Date: Wednesday 6 May 2026
Duration: 13:00 – 15:30 (2 hr 30 mins)
Price: £95
Venue: Coastal Training Suite, BH11 8HB
Event Leader: Jane Cottee

Details

This course explores why different specific learning difficulties make it harder for some children to learn about numbers and reviews the current research and understanding of Dyscalculia. The course offers practical advice for staff working with children who are experiencing difficulty with maths. It includes strategies for whole class teaching as well as for individual or group intervention.

Delegates will develop their understanding of dyscalculia and learn the impact of specific learning difficulties on the development of numeracy skills. Practical strategies that are used to support children with numeracy difficulties will be shared.

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Memory Lite Classroom

Summer Date: Tuesday 10 February 2026
Duration: 09:00 – 12:00 (3 hrs 0 mins)
Price: £85
Venue: Online via Zoom
Event Leader: Neil Mackay (Action Dyselxia)

Details

This lively and interactive half day course provides practical strategies and solutions which are underpinned by the science around cognitive load and working memory.

By applying the principles of the memory lite classroom, colleagues can be confident that, when learners struggle, it is because they genuinely cannot do “it”, rather than because they have forgotten what to do next or what went before.

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Selective/ Situational Mutism

Date: Friday 27 February 2026
Duration: 09:00 – 12:00 (3 hr 0 mins)
Price: £85
Venue: online via Zoom
Event Leader: Yvette Jones

Details

This half-day course will give you the knowledge and skills to identify Selective Mutism (SM), understand how it develops and the effect it has on children. It will provide you with effective informal techniques for use in pre-school and school settings, and give you strategies to support families of children with SM.

Suitable for SENCOs, Teachers ,TAs and any other staff working with children who display selective mutism.

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SEN Leadership Networks

Spring 2026 Date: Thursday 12 February 2026
Venue: The Hamworthy Club, Magna Road, Bournemouth, BH21 3AP

Summer 2026 Date: Thursday 21 May 2026
Venue: The Hamworthy Club, Magna Road, Bournemouth, BH21 3AP

Duration: 13:30 – 15:00 (1 hr 30 mins)
Price: £0 – no charge
Event Leader: Kate Tuck

Details

This termly network provides an opportunity for SENCOs and other senior leaders from mainstream and special schools and colleges with responsibilities for vulnerable learners to meet, share ideas and hear the latest local, regional and national information and statutory requirements. There will be a focus on provision and outcomes for learners with special educational needs, disabilities and other vulnerabilities. (These networks are funded through Linwood Training Support & Advice. Pre-booking is required.)

School, academy and college leaders including SENCOs are supported to improve the attainment, progress and wider outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities

effective practices in respect of SEND provision are shared and enhanced
support, guidance and updates from experts in the field of SEND in both mainstream and specialist provision is built upon through system leadership
latest resources, training opportunities and policy development in respect of SEND are shared

Content will vary with each session.

Spring 2026 Session – Book Now >>

Summer 2026 Session – Book Now >>

Signalong

Date: Wednesday 10 December 2025
Price: £160 (BOOST Funding available for BCP educational settings)
Duration: 09:30 – 15:30 (6 hrs 0 mins)
Venue: Cobham Sports and Social Club, Merley Park Road, Ashington, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 3DA
Event Leader: Gulten Aydin Hussain

Details

Signalong is a sign supporting system developed to help children and adults acquire language skills and to aid with communication difficulties.

You will learn signing skills to enable you to access any sign from the manual.

Signalong follows general language development and encourages spoken language – the spoken word should accompany every sign. The training is arranged around developmental stages, progressing from labelling solid objects to identifying pictures and photographs. It focuses on and supports the understanding of key words and concepts.

The course content includes opportunities to explore concepts such and generalisation and symbolic representation as well as thinking about our individual communication skills.

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Think Bricks

Date: Monday 27 April 2026
Price: £265
Duration: 09:30 – 14:30 (5 hrs 0 mins)
Venue: Cobham Sports and Social Club, Merley Park Road, Ashington, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 3DA
Event Leader: Claire Osbourne

Details

LEGO® based Therapeutic Coaching Approaches Course.

Intervention to support Children’s Mental Health

Building Resilience – Brick by Brick!

Evidence based SEMH Intervention that works!

‘Think Bricks’ empowers and inspires young people to creatively build symbolic models to help to communicate their thoughts and feelings. The box of specially selected metaphors allows young people to convey their own personal feelings, thoughts, hopes and wishes in a powerful and constructive manner. On a one to one or in small groups children can explore and find solutions to personal issues by symbolic model making using metaphor. Children will really reflect and find it easier to talk once they have built their models. This inspirational workshop will teach you to coach children and young people in a therapeutic way using hands on learning. Get children talking!!

Course Leader: Claire Osbourne M’ED (Special Education – Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties) Therapeutic Coach.

Lego Education Academy Certified Trainer. 30yrs + experience in education with young people presenting with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Challenges. Team Leader of a Council Behaviour Support Advisory Team.

All training includes a ‘Lego® ‘Think Bricks’ suitcase of resources kit worth £95 to take away on the day, plus electronic resources to enable delivery of the intervention. Limited additional kits can be ordered.

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Zones of Regulation - A Linwood Case Study

Date: Wednesday 6 May 2026
Duration: 09:00 – 12:00 (3 hrs 0 mins)
Price: £95 (Max 2 Boost funded spaces for BCP Schools)
Venue: Coastal Training Suite, BH11 8HB
Event Leader: Desré Spencer

Details

A team of Linwood School Teachers have embedded the theory and practice of The Zones Of Regulation™, created by Leah Kuypers MA Ed, to support our students in developing self regulation skills. We will share our journey from the training of our team, to the development of personalised resources that meet the diverse needs of our student cohort.

The case study will include examples of how the approach has been adapted so that students with different abilities and communication skills have been able to meaningfully access The Zones of Regulation™ and share some of our successes and challenges.

Strategies that we share are budget- friendly and designed to be incorporated into daily classroom practice. We believe that some of the most important skills we can equip our young people with for their adult lives is the ability to recognise and interpret their changing emotional states, and know how to employ a range of strategies to self-regulate.

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An Introduction to Autism and Neurodiversity for Parents

This half-day session provides parents with a basic overview of how Autism and Neurodiversity may present in children and young people. It includes:

Information about Autism and Neurodiversity, including the 3 areas of difference.
Young person input: ‘My Experiences’.

The session is FREE and open to families who live in the BCP area. Your child does not need to have a diagnosis for you to attend.

Please contact us (details below) to book your space and indicate whether you would like 1 or 2 spaces. Please also confirm if your child attends the school that is hosting the session to help us with allocation of spaces.

Day	Time	Venue
Tue 7 Oct 2025	9:30 - 11:45	Glenmore Academy, Beswick Avenue, Bournemouth BH10 4EX
Thu 20 Nov 2025	9:30 - 11:45	Highcliffe School, Parkside, Highcliffe, Christchurch BH23 4QD
Tue 27 Jan 2026	9:30 - 11:45	Talbot Primary School, Talbot Drive, Poole BH12 5ED
Wed 11 Mar 2026	9:30 - 11:45	The Epiphany School, Shillingstone Drive, Muscliff BH9 3PE
Thu 30 Apr 2026	9:30 - 11:45	Twynham Primary School, Marsh Lane, Christchurch BH23 2NH Please do not confuse this with Twynham School in Sopers Lane. What3Words: ///amounting.against.sharpen
Tue 19 May 2026	9:30 - 11:30	Highcliffe St Mark Primary School, Greenways, Highcliffe, Christchurch BH23 5AZ
Tue 30 Jun 2026	9:30 - 11:45	Corfe Hills School Higher Blandford Road, Broadstone BH18 9BG
Tue 7 Jul 2026	9:30 - 11:45	Online via Zoom

Feedback from parents on the session:

“Lovely mix of information and experiences, thank you!”

“It was brilliant and enlightening, thank you.”

“I really liked it, thank you. Pitched at the right level and was a safe environment to be in. The ‘teachers’ couldn’t have been nicer or more engaging. Thank you.”

“Thank you, what an amazing team of trainers. You kept this very interesting and were all so open about your own experiences.”

“Thank you, a great session to help me understand my daughter.”

“Very thorough, very interesting & helpful. Feel I am moving in the right direction. Lots of great tips.”

“Thank you so much. It’s been really helpful as we start this journey as parents.”