ADSHE SCOTLAND

contact  Kathy  Smith   Kathy.Smith@ed.ac.uk

Next Meeting  24th February 2012 in Glasgow

Second meeting of ADSHE SCOTLAND- 9th Sept 2011.  University of Dundee

Present:     Kerry Penman, Elizabeth Brown, Linda Kerr, Fiona Mason, Maggie Lill, Lynn Criggie, Karen Scott, Sheila Ballie (membership pending)

Apologies: Kathy Smith, Saima Bashir, Shona Robertson, Anne Gosling, Sharon Duncan

  • House keeping – note taker
  • Non members – information on website re joining
  • Next meeting – venue – date etc – As numbers were reduced it was believed that sending an email to members re this was a better option. Preferred date from those in attendance was late Feb 2012

Discussion 1

    • DSA  – MAC recommendation – SAAS position still unclear – course dependent, student requirements
    • NMPH – 1:1 should SAAS stipulate/request that the provider of Specialist Support should be accredited or at least be able to demonstrate experiential competence? Proof reader – minimum requirements to demonstrate capability of providing support?

Discussion 2 – 1:1 materials which were successful.

Attendees to send material for sharing to Kathy Smith for collation.

Speaker: Catherine O’Hara. M.Ed Programme Director (Retired).

Catherine discussed the preliminary findings of her doctoral research on the experiences of students with dyslexia in initial teacher education.  The study investigates the extent to which students with dyslexia are supported in order to meet the demands of their studies including school placements.  She will also draw on some of the literature around “fitness to practise issues. (C.O’H)


First ADSHE Scotland Regional Meeting took place on 15th April 2011 at University of Edinburgh.

Attendance was impressive with over 20 members from a wide area of interest including several Scottish Universities and free lance tutors.

Sandra Falshaw and Ros Lehany gave a welcome address followed by an explanation of Regional Group aims:

1)      To focus on tutors and encourage supporting one another and sharing good practice.

2)      Ensure students get appropriate support

ADSHE began 10 years ago and has seen membership increase over the years with a regional groups being established. Currently there are over 400 members with 135 free lance tutors and 88 Institutions which have 270 members within.

A number of Scottish Universities are not represented. These institutions will be approached and invited to become involved in the new Scottish Regional Group.

Ros and Sandra agreed that they need to find out more about Scottish issues and the different funding arrangements for DSA that exist through SAAS.  The idea behind ADSHE is to push forward changes to improve the student experience and systems.

Tutor Best Practice Guidelines for one to one support can be found on the ADSHE website. This also includes a mind map which highlights the complexity of the work.

Over the years ADSHE has been instrumental in encouraging changes to English Policy Documents and ensuring the language reflects the work such as changing Study Skills Tutors to One to one support.

ADSHE currently has a Working Party looking at Quality Assurance for Tutors and reviewing appropriate qualifications and experience.

Regional Group Guidelines

A guidance sheet was provided outlining objectives, powers, membership, regional organiser, meetings and funding.

An aim is to provide a forum to share news and issues and discuss joint difficulties.

Kathy Smith agreed to act as Regional Organiser. Kathy.Smith@ed.ac.uk

It was agreed to hold 2/3 meeting each year. Meetings would be hosted by different Institutions each time and run from 10 or10.30am to 3-4pm.  Thus providing a day event and ensuring a worth while experience for those who have to travel further.

Questions were circulated to establish what members wanted from the group:

What do you want from the Regional Group?

What training or workshops would you like to explore?

Do you have any particular skill or research that you are willing to share? Can you recommend anyone to run a training /workshop?

A list of responses was generated to ensure future meetings addressed member’s issues and interests.

Many thanks to Atif Choundry and Jamie Crabb for a very informative workshop on Web based resources.