Primary Education Programme
Access to the training, information and ongoing support so you can confidently meet the needs of a child with Down syndrome and help them flourish in your classroom. From September, we're making our education programmes free!
We invest over £100,000 every year in developing and delivering expert support for schools and nurseries. If you’d like to help us sustain that – and reach more children – we’d love your support.
Down Syndrome UK’s Primary Education Programme is an accessible, online programme created by Dr Becky Baxter in collaboration with other specialist professionals. Designed for teachers, SENCOs, teaching assistants and school leaders, the programme provides practical knowledge, strategies and information to help staff confidently support children with Down syndrome in the classroom.
Participants receive access to the programme, including practical guidance and ongoing support, making it easy for your team to fit learning around busy schedules.
Access to learning and support from sign-up
Why choose us?
The Primary Education Programme is an expert-led, online programme designed to help primary school staff successfully support pupils with Down syndrome. With flexible access to suit your schedule, the programme includes video training and practical tools – all developed by specialists with extensive experience working with pupils with Down syndrome.
We’ve created a comprehensive overview document to help headteachers and decision makers understand the value of our PEP programme.
Expert-led
Practical and flexible
CPD Accredited
Ongoing support
Wealth of information
Supporting transitions
Transitions can be one of the most important moments in a pupil’s primary school journey – and getting them right takes planning. We’ve brought together everything schools and families need to support pupils with Down syndrome through starting school, moving up a class, and the day-to-day moments in between.
Many of these transitions resources have been made free to access from our Primary Education Programme (PEP).
What schools think of DSUK's Primary Education Programme...
Dr Rebecca Baxter
This programme is designed and led by Dr. Becky Baxter, Director of Education and Speech and Language Therapy at Down Syndrome UK. With over 15 years of experience working with schools and families, Becky has successfully supported hundreds of children with Down syndrome of all ages across a range of education settings. Becky has worked collaboratively with specialist professionals across education and health to develop the programme, ensuring that school staff have access to relevant and up-to-date information from experts within the Down syndrome community.
Our programme is built on a strong foundation of evidence-based insight into the learning needs of children with Down syndrome, while our services focus on providing practical advice and support to improve outcomes in the classroom.
Starting school primary pack
We believe that at primary school age, children see each other just as children, and that educational settings already teach discreetly around differences. However, we want to provide resources to educate and enlighten the practitioners who work with our children and have put together packs specifically for this purpose.
These include some of our own publications, leaflets, posters and books.
FAQs
Our school finds it difficult to release staff for training during the school day. How can we access the training?
The online training recordings, which cover a range of topics, can be accessed at times which best suit the staff working with the pupil who has Down syndrome. We would recommend that everyone watches the accredited training videos first, entitled ‘Teaching pupils with Down syndrome’, which include information about the learning profile of pupils with Down syndrome and how to best support their needs.
How long does the training take to complete?
The core training consists of three 40–minute recordings. In addition, the programme includes a library of recordings, information and resources covering literacy, numeracy, health, physical development and classroom strategies. These can all be used flexibly throughout the year of your subscription.
Do the online support sessions run during the school day or in after school hours? Are they at specific times?
The support sessions take place monthly in term time on the first Wednesday of the month at 3.45pm. Links to join are in the education portal and in the ongoing support sections of EYDP and PEP.
Our monthly newsletters for professionals signed up to the PEP share details of the up-coming sessions.
Does the Primary Education Programme include information on speech, language and communication?
Can parents use the same resources from the PEP at home?
Yes! School can share whichever PEP resources they wish with parents. Some of the resources, such as toilet training, are already available to parents via DSUK’s website. All PEP resources are downloadable from the portal, so staff can easily share specific resources they are using with parents. It is important that school and parents communicate about what they are using to ensure consistency for the child.
We’re in Wales — is the Primary Education Programme relevant?
Yes! While the curriculum and SEN support systems may differ, families in Wales have found the PEP resources highly relevant and helpful.
One school has told us their staff have been using them this year with great success:
“Being part of the Primary Education Programme over the last year has given us access to a wide variety of resources that we have used to support our young learner. It has also given us access to a number of professional learning opportunities which have supported an increasing number of staff to develop a deeper understanding of how we can support young learners who have Down Syndrome. It is reassuring to know that we have a point of contact that we can go to for advice and support if we need it.”
We're having some challenges managing behaviour. Does DSUK offer support and advice for this?
Dr Becky Baxter leads an Individualised Behaviour Support Service which primary schools can access to receive training videos, resources and online support from Dr Becky Baxter. Schools already signed up to the Primary Education Programme can also access this at a discounted rate.
Should our school sign up to the PEP before a pupil joins our school?
Schools can sign up at any point in the year. Staff can access the online resources at any time to familiarise themselves with the programme and understand about the learning profile of pupils with Down syndrome before the child joins their class. The programme also includes resources and guidance about successful transitions which will be invaluable as staff welcome a new pupil to their class.