Down Syndrome Development Trust and School of Applied Social Science

This project seeks to develop a new training course intervention for teaching staff working with children who have Down syndrome. The intention is for the course to be rolled out across the UK and for participants to receive an accredited award signifying to parents and schools that an individual has had specific training and is equipped with the knowledge they need to educate children who have Down syndrome. In the longer term, it is anticipated that the course could be modified for use in a wide range of settings and among different types of teaching staff, including those in teacher training institutions such as the University of Brighton. There is also scope for it to be adapted for parents and professionals, such as physiotherapists and speech therapists.

The project will involve people from a variety of communities local to campuses across the University. The seed fund will support this community / University partnership by enabling it to establish an advisory group (important for future funding), spend time researching and producing information resources for future funding applications, and help to shape the training programme by drawing on specialist knowledge. These types of partnership activities, not usually funded elsewhere, will greatly enhance the rationale made for the project in larger scale bids – from initial piloting to national roll out.

For more information on the project contact Sen or Vanessa