As a school dedicated to providing a nurturing environment for a richly diverse student body, The Winstedt School places great emphasis on the professional development of its educators.
Recently, the school held an INSET Day (staff training day) which included therapy workshops that provided valuable insights and tools for the staff to enhance their teaching skills and stay true to the school’s mission.
Our academic leadership team recently completed a Harvard course on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The team discussed how principles of UDL could be adopted in teaching to make learning experiences more inclusive and accessible for students.
In the therapy workshops, our Senior Occupational Therapist, Ms Tanya, and Senior Speech Therapist, Ms Chrystabel, led a session on Social Skills and Social Filters. This training focused on the Social Thinking vocabulary used throughout the Early Years and Junior School, as well as problem-solving, compromise, organization, and higher-order language. The use of social filters during daily interactions is essential for building meaningful relationships, and the workshop touched on the concept of “Think it vs Say it”.
Another therapy workshop was led by our Senior Speech and Language Therapist, Ms Bronwyn, on “Zones of Regulation – Implementation in the Classroom.” This workshop provided staff with the tools to apply the skills they learnt in previous workshops through case studies and extension lessons. The Zones of Regulation is designed to help students recognize and regulate their emotions, thereby improving their self-regulation and social skills.
Our Senior Speech and Language Therapist, Ms Jennifer, and Senior Occupational Therapist, Dr Mini, also led a Senior School therapy workshop on “Teenagerhood & Inclusivity – From a Therapy Lens.”
This workshop opened doors to insightful discussions
based on case studies and the individual experiences
of educators at Winstedt School.
We’re proud of our dedicated staff for their commitment to professional development, and we’re excited to implement these strategies in our classrooms to increase access to meaningful learning experiences for our students!