A SPECIAL education needs conference was held recently at Duchy College, Stoke Climsland for the first time — attended by a number of Launceston education groups.

Duchy College students on the FdA children and young people’s workforce programme organised the conference for delegates from local nursery settings, primary and secondary schools and universities.

The event included sessions by four SEN experts, and Veronica Walters, from Smiley Happy People in Launceston, said it was ‘such an interesting conference and I loved the passion of the speakers’.

First to speak was Jane Maddison, special educational needs coordinator from Stoke Dameral Primary School, who talked the delegates through the process of supporting a child with additional needs in the classroom.

She was followed by Emma Berryman, co-owner and manager of Tiny Tots Day Nursery in Launceston, who spoke about her role as special educational needs coordinator in setting the strategies that the team undertake to meet a child’s individual needs.

Susan Quayle, owner of the children’s reflexology programmes, spoke about the benefits of reflexology to children with and without additional needs and the need for early intervention in order to make a difference to a child’s long-term outcomes.

Finally, Dawn Leighfield, a student on the FdA programme and a ‘thrive practitioner’ guided the group through the ways the programme aims to tune into children in a way that makes them feel valued. The approach aims to use activities to help children learn more about themselves and how they can manage emotions when they occur.

Team leader for early years at Duchy College, Laetitia Mayne, said: “It was a fantastic event where a lot of organising and team work culminate in over sixty delegates attending and giving positive feedback on the relevance of the speakers.”

She added: “The students demonstrated fantastic organisational skills and time management skills. Throughout the process of organising the conference they gained valuable transferable skills which can be used in future employment.”

Director of health and wellbeing, Lisa Clark, said: “It was really positive to see such a great turnout and engagement by the audience.

“The speakers were brilliant, all really interesting and knowledgeable. We look forward to holding another conference in the future.”

For more information on the range of Childcare courses available across The Cornwall College Group visit www.cornwall.ac.uk or contact the college on 0330 1232523.