Your SNA Guide to a Positive School Year is a practical, 2-hour CPD training designed to equip SNAs with confidence, clarity, and ready-to-use tools for a strong start. Across three focused parts, you’ll gain strategies to:
- Build positive routines and relationships from day one.
- Strengthen collaboration with teachers through effective communication.
- Reflect on your practice, set goals, and grow professionally.
Each section blends short, engaging content (30 minutes) with a hands-on activity (10 minutes), ensuring learning is both interactive and actionable. Plus, you’ll receive a comprehensive booklet packed with checklists, templates, and planning tools — everything you need to turn ideas into daily practice.
Part 1 – Laying the Foundations – Routines, Relationships, and Readiness.
Time: 30 minutes + 10 minutes for activity
Discover strategies to build rapport with students and teachers, ease transitions, and create calm, structured classroom routines. Learn how to support students experiencing separation anxiety or transition stress while fostering a sense of safety and belonging from the very beginning.
This section also introduces the importance of understanding each student’s sensory profile. You’ll learn how sensory preferences and sensitivities impact learning and behaviour, and you’ll receive a ready-to-use Sensory Profile Template to help gather and organise this information effectively.
For SNAs working in post-primary settings but not only, I’ll provide a practical table of tips on managing support across multiple classrooms and students – including how to juggle communication with different teachers, stay organised, and ensure continuity of care for each learner.
Part 2 – The Power of Partnership – Strengthening the SNA-Teacher Dynamic
Time: 30 minutes + 10 minutes for activity
Explore the art of effective collaboration from day one. Learn how to establish clear communication, define your role respectfully, and contribute observations and ideas with confidence and professionalism.
Part 3 – The Reflective SNA – Journaling, Audits & Growth
Time: 30 minutes + 10 minutes for activity
Empower your professional growth with guided reflection and personal goal setting. This section introduces CPD journaling, mini self-assessment checklists, and templates to help SNAs identify what’s working, what needs support, and how to advocate for their role.
📘 The booklet includes:
✅ Predictable Environment Checklist
✅ Classroom Layout & Organisation Tool
✅ Visual Start & End of Day Routines
✅ Sensory Profile Template
✅ Teacher Check-in Table
✅ Role Clarity Checklist
✅ Shared Responsibilities List
✅ Communication Agreement Template
✅ Partnership Toolkit
✅ Conversation Starters for Goal Alignment
✅ Observation Log Guidance & Examples
✅ Behaviour Observation Tips
✅ Self-Audit Checklists
✅ Goal-Setting Worksheets
✅ Shared Goals Planning Tool
… and more!
