Needs Assessors & Advisers

This allows us to have a good understanding of the type of service that students want and need.

We believe that two factors make us distinct from other external providers. First is our ability to deliver service provision by Welsh speaking support staff; second is our expertise in ADHD. We have a strong interest in ADHD given the number of our students who demonstrate its characteristics - even if they haven’t a diagnosis. We have developed a support programme for our students that specifically addresses the key limitations of ADHD characteristics, such as difficulties with concentration, impulsive behaviour and motivation. Evidence shows a higher level of engagement with support by students who follow this programme. If you would like to receive a visit from us to know more about our ADHD support programme, please contact us directly.

The high quality of our support is also due to Beacon’s robust in-house CPD programme. We encourage our staff to continually update their skills and knowledge and we hold whole team training events to facilitate this along with the dissemination of best practice. Our mentors and tutors are encouraged to engage in peer support and also have open access to a senior mentor.

We are keen advocates of the use of assistive technology in our support sessions and provide regular AT training to all staff. One of our mentors was delighted to be introduced to mind mapping technology in a recent session and stated that she would put it to immediate use in revision sessions. We believe that training our support staff in AT is effective in encouraging its take-up among students. Please read the blog post by our AT Manager whose thesis examined the use of AT in support sessions. The majority of our team have also attended a two-day Brain in Hand training course so they can utilise this in their sessions with those students who have been recommended it as a tool.