Support and signposting resources -
Leaflet for services to share with parents and other services explaining What is Portage, the Portage team, How Portage works & the Portage model.
A Guide for Portage Services on Managing Volunteers (2012) by Claire Findlay and Davinder Phull.
Commissioned by the NPA and funded via a grant from the Department for Education.
This document contains advice and guidance for registered Portage services who are considering whether to work with volunteers in Portage service delivery.
NPA Paths to Portage - A guide to Portage Service Delivery (2013) by Bonny Robinson
Commissioned by The National Portage Association and funded by The Department for Education.
The document NPA Paths to Portage aims to
1) Give information about Portage and how the Portage model works
2) Identify possible starting points in setting up a Portage service
3) Offer support in sharing with others the key elements of Portage that make it different from other early years’ services
4) Provide points of reference where more in depth information about particular aspects of Portage and the delivery of a service can be found.
NPA Audit of Portage Provision in England (2011) by Dr Fran Russell
Commissioned by National Portage Association and funded by The Department for Education.
A detailed audit of Registered Portage services across England in 2011, identifying key geographical areas with limited access to Portage home visiting.
Early Support and Key Working in Portage Services – an audit of Portage practice (2009) by Sue Goodhead.
Full report including detailed evidence of research commissioned by the NPA in 2008 to audit key working by Portage Home Visitors and broader Portage service involvement in Early Support.
Leaflet for services to share with parents and other services explaining What is Portage, the Portage team, How Portage works & the Portage model.
Guidelines provided by the Luton SEN Service to support early years practitioners in their observations of children who have or may have special educational needs.
Introductory information regarding the NPA Core Competencies material - ‘Making Sure You Have Got What it Takes’ (2007).
Designed to be used as a programme of development for Portage Home Visitors, providing Portage services with a single framework of professional competencies. The materials can be used as a tool for supervision, performance management and staff induction.
A complete NPA Core Competencies file is available to NPA registered services from the NPA Office at cost of £5 plus VAT & postage.
This document enables Portage practitioners to see at a glance the skills and knowledge base needed to complete the 33 core competencies and become a fully competent Portage Home Visitor.
This document shows the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for Family Partnership - one of the five key areas of the NPA Core Competencies.
This paper from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Down Syndrome addresses educational settings supporting pupils with Down syndrome, covering the period from school entry (early years phase) to further education.
The information in this document can guide provision in individual special schools and mainstream schools, across local authorities, and inform national initiatives that promote effective use of resources to raise achievement for this group of pupils.
DVD produced by the NPA providing a detailed introductory explanation of Portage home visiting followed by examples of typical home visits showing families and Portage Home Visitors working together.
John Parry and Jonty Rix (The Open University)
John Parry was a Portage Coordinator in West Sussex for many years and Jonty Rix is a parent who received Portage for his son and was an advisor on the recent Pathfinder project for the DfE.
‘In the Picture’ is an innovative approach supporting communication between adults and children. This approach was recently developed by researchers at the Open University in their studies of very young children with learning difficulties.
It involves taking photographs of the child’s focus during play alongside the making of first-person narrative observations of their activities.
The photographs are shared with the children after the observation sessions and also discussed with the family and other practitioners.
‘In the Picture’ has been used in studies of home based early intervention programmes with young children labelled with SEND; children’s friendships in early years settings; and the Bookstart corner programme. In interviews practitioners who used the approach highlighted how it improved their communication with children, sharpened their focus and made them more aware of the children’s relationships.
In this session, John and Jonty give a flavour of the approach and discuss how it might be used as part of Portage practice, particularly to support transition into settings.
This seminar stimulated a lot of discussion and debate, however Q&A’s are not included in the recording. References to further research are given at the end of the Powerpoint.