Induction events and pre entry support
Here within the Disabled Student Support Team we aim to make the transition process into Higher Education as smooth and easy as possible. Every year the Disabled Student Support Team holds induction events and provides pre-entry support for all new disabled students coming to Sheffield Hallam University. These activities are available so that we can arrange support for your course and answer any questions you may have about your course, support or university life.
We do this by undertaking the following activities
Induction events
Each year, the Disabled Student Support Team run several induction programmes aimed at specific groups of disabled students.
Events for Students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD's)
Pre-entry induction events for students with SpLDs are run in July, August and September of each year. These events have a focus on ensuring that students have the correct type of assessment as evidence of their SpLD, as well as helping those students through the complex Disabled Students Allowance Process.
Induction Event for Students with Autism or Aspergers Syndrome
This event is run in July of each year and aims to support pre-entry students to familiarise themselves with the university, introduce them to members of the team to begin forming relationships and try to ensure that those students are taken through the Disabled Students Allowance process before their course starts.
The General Disabled Student and Deaf Student Induction Events
These events take place at the beginning of September and are an opportunity for students to meet the Disabled Student Support team and for us to establish where students are in the support process. It also offers another opportunity for students to become familiar with the university and the support that we offer at Hallam.
We try to include a 'student experience' section in all of our inductions to enable pre-entry students to hear first hand about the student perspective of transition and support at university.
Following on from the Aim Higher project which finished in July 2011, Sheffield Hallam University have developed a new role in order to continue the work to raise aspirations and motivation of disabled learners moving to or currently in Higher education.
This project aims to continue to raise aspirations and motivation of potential disabled learners in HE through outreach work in schools, colleges and universities to provide information, advice and guidance to inform them about access, transition and support available whilst undertaking a HE degree course. This activity builds on previous Aim Higher work which has identified barriers to learning. It will address the information gap by developing strategies and guidelines which will ultimately enable disabled learners to make more informed choices about their study and career routes.
The project also aims to provide staff developmentopportunities for staff engaged in outreach activities.
The role of the Transition Officer will have four main elements that will bridge together the work of the Sheffield Regional Assessment Centre and the core Disability Support Services Team
These elements include:
- Organising transition and pre-entry activities and events for disabled students
- Providing advice and support to pre-entry disabled students
- Raising pre-entry disabled students aspirations
- Tracking disabled students through the Disabled Students Allowance process
