02 February 2023
The Autism Education Trust’s partner ‘hub’ in Jersey, led by the Autism and Social Communication
Inclusion Team (ASCIT), has won an award in recognition of the training they deliver to staff in
educational settings to help them better support children and young people with Autism.
The ASCIT provides specialist advice to teaching and support staff in schools to help them work
more effectively with children and young people who have received an Autism diagnosis, or who
have social communication differences.
Since 2021, the Jersey AET trainers, which also includes staff from the Early Years Inclusion Team,
two Island primary schools and Highlands College, have delivered Autism Education Trust training
to professionals in early years, secondary schools and colleges.
Modules include, ‘Making Sense of Autism’ – an awareness raising module; ‘Good Autism Practice’
for those practitioners working more directly with pupils, and a module that introduces the
Progression Framework, a tool that helps practitioners identify learning priorities and set key
learning intentions.
The Jersey AET partner hub received the award in recognition of its successful delivery of AET
training. Out of the 100 AET hubs across the UK, Jersey was one of the top five, based on positive
feedback.
The £8,000 prize money will be reinvested to provide more support for training. The ASCIT team
will work with the Autism Education Trust to roll out the ‘Making Sense of Autism’ module to
parents and carers. This will help develop their understanding of Autism, and also show how the
AET professional development programme benefits practitioners.
Michele Brignall, ASCIT Team Lead and Lead AET Trainer for Jersey, said: “The award is about
measuring the impact we have through the training we deliver, so all of us are very proud that this
has been recognised by the Autism Education Trust.
“The work we do with schools and – thanks to this award money – with parents, is helping build a
community of well-informed practitioners who work with autistic children and young people. By
focusing on understanding, and identifying specific areas for progress, we can work together to
make their experience of education a really positive one.”
Minister for Children and Education, Deputy Inna Gardiner, said: “I’d like to offer a big
congratulations to Michele and her team. Since the team was set up in 2015, they have always
provided valuable expertise, advice and support to teaching and school staff.
“It’s vital that children and young people with autism have the support and understanding they
need to thrive in mainstream school. While ASCIT have always supported individual staff
development, this new training means that the team will be able to provide more support to
parents as well.”
More information about the Autism Education Trust is available online.
More information about ASCIT is available via the Government of Jersey website.
gov.je