Thursday Thirty online training and information sessions

About Thursday Thirty

CENMAC supports many children and young people to access the curriculum and/or to communicate using a wide range of assistive technologies.

When our team conducts an assessment, we take a person-centred approach, looking at the needs of the individual. We loan each child or young person the most appropriate technology to support them.

It is very important that the team supporting the child or young person encourages them to use the technology supplied. It is equally important that the team know how to use the equipment otherwise it might be abandoned, and the child or young person will not benefit as a result.

So, throughout term time we run free 30-minute online training sessions from 15.30 to 16.00 on Thursday afternoons and provide introductions to the technology.

Who should attend? 

Our Thursday Thirty live online training and information sessions are a great opportunity to learn about the assistive technologies we use. They are an opportunity to ask questions about the technology to become more familiar with it. The sessions are suitable for the teams that support the children and young people including SENCOs, TAs, SaLTs, OTs as well as parents & carers and assistive technology users. 

What’s coming up? 

Thursday 14th September 2023 – Scene & Heard: the basics 

Join Swapnil Gadgil from Therapy Box to find out about this great way to get started with AAC. 

Thursday 21st September 2023 – Thinking ahead around exam access 

Join CENMAC Advisory Teacher Maureen De Longhi for this useful session on access arrangements for the exam period. 

Thursday 28th September 2023 – How to rule your world with eye gaze and Hiru 

Join Hannah Erickson and Oihana Martinez from IRISBOND to discover Hiru and real-life success stories of eye gaze in empowering children and young people to communicate.

Child using Hiru eye gaze to support their communication.
Child using Hiru eye gaze to support their communication.

Thursday 5th October 2023 – Overview of Liberator AAC devices and vocabularies 

Join Mark Street from Liberator to find out how AAC can assist your students in achieving greater communication and educational outcomes. 

Thursday 12th October 2023 – An introduction to Predictable text-to-speech app 

Join Swapnil Gadgil from Therapy Box to find out about the app’s powerful features and accessibility options including eye tracking and head tracking. 

Thursday 19th October 2023 – An overview of OrCam Learn 

Join Chris Hepworth Bourne from OrCam to find out how OrCam Learn supports students and gives users complete reading independence. 

Thursday 7th November 2023 – Braille from Preschool to beyond! 

Join Martin Roberts from Humanware for this session featuring Humanware braille tools to encourage literacy, communication and confidence from preschool to beyond! 

Young person with a vision impairment using a Humanware Brailliant device to support his communication.
Young person with a vision impairment using a Humanware Brailliant device to support his communication.

Thursday 16th November 2023 – Cosmo Switches

Join Ewa Bukowska and find out how Cosmo switches help students work on their core physical, cognitive and communication skills.

Thursday 23rd November 2023 – Assistive Gaming for All

Assistive gaming is a big part of of the lives of many people living with a disability, and its importance should not be underestimated. Pretorian Technologies have a number of assistive gaming solutions for gaming platforms including Xbox and Nintendo, as well as PC gaming.

Thursday 30th November 2023 – Recognising and supporting children and young people with dyslexia

CENMAC Advisory Speech and Language Therapist Abeer Essa talks about how to recognise if a child or young person might have dyslexia, and how it can affect their learning.

> Find out more about the sessions and book your free places

Missed a session?

Sessions will be recorded, so even if you can’t make the live session please sign-up so we can send you the recording.

> View the recordings

Children using Cosmo switches
Children using Cosmo switches