The Eden Dora Trust is a charity set up on the 22nd of February 2014 – World Encephalitis Day. This charity aims primarily to increase the knowledge and understanding among education professionals about encephalitis and other acquired brain injuries that might affect the children they work with.

For many years, the Child Brain Injury Trust has run a one day workshop called ‘Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover’. The Workshop aims to help professionals better understand the hidden aspects of childhood acquired brain injury (ABI) and to develop strategies to support children they may work with.
The Eden Dora Trust recognised the effectiveness of our training days and that they shared some of their own aims. Therefore, last year they agreed to provide us with funding so we could run these workshops across the UK and offer free spaces to all delegates working in non-private educational settings during the academic year 2014-2015.

Last year’s attendees included Head and Deputy Head Teachers, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs), teachers and teaching assistants, Educational Psychologists and members of Outreach Teams. Almost 90% of delegates told us they would not have been able to attend if the course had not been free. And, although we now offer a variety of training sessions via free online webinars, 85% of delegates said they preferred the face to face workshop and may not have done this type of training online. Therefore, we are extremely grateful to the Eden Dora Trust for this funding, which has enabled us to reach these education professionals with a vital message.

We asked delegates what difference attending the workshops would make to children they work with:

  • It makes a tremendous difference most importantly for the child and also gives confidence to the staff member that they are giving the best support.
  • Better understanding and awareness of the possible hidden nature of ABI
  • I was able to understand why the child was ‘misbehaving’ in lessons
  • I have personally been able to support this student’s education in a more proactive way. I have also been able to relay information to other staff to make them more aware of strategies that can help meet his needs

Some of their more general thoughts on the training:

  • It has been a great help in our current specific support for one individual but also it helps staff recognise similar symptoms in undiagnosed children as well
  • [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][…] This was an extremely valuable course and one which would benefit all teachers at primary and secondary level, not just those with a direct interest in Special Educational Needs
  • Information on ABI should be delivered to as many education professionals as possible in order to make them aware of the issues some children face. The activity section of the training was an eye opener. It was really helpful to understand the problems children face in the classroom and how much effort it takes for them to concentrate. I know if I faced those challenges in class then I would be using inappropriate behaviour to mask my insecurities.
  • This training has been invaluable to me. It has really made me think about how I work with young people with ABI and has led me to develop strategies that effectively work

And their message to the Eden Dora Trust:

  • I would like to thank them for funding the training and say it is very important that professionals working in education have not only a greater understanding of ABI but that it is a real issue for the young person they may work with.
  • Please keep this training free, everyone who works with young people should have access to this training, as it could make the difference to more young people.

The Eden Dora Trust also provided funding in March 2015 which enabled us to offer 30 free places at our Annual Conference and Exhibition in Manchester to Education professionals. The feedback from these attendees was excellent and, having realised the importance of greater knowledge on this subject, many went on to book spaces in our one day workshops or in-service training days for their school or specialist teaching teams.

 

If you would like to enquire about training for your school, please contact us.

To register for our Recorded Webinars please click here.

To register for our Live Webinars please click here.

Click here to book your place on one of our Workshops.

For more information about the Eden Dora Trust please follow the link: http://edendoratrust.org/[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]