ALM singled out for early years Impact Award

All of us here at the Academy of Leadership & Management are immensely proud to have recently received the Supporter Impact Award from Dingley’s Promise, a charity whose mission is to deliver life changing support to under-fives with additional needs & disabilities and their families.

We have been working closely with Dingley’s Promise to establish its national training offer which entailed creating a course that is already having significant impact on inclusion in early years educational settings. It’s been the culmination of a lot of great partnership working.

Catherine McLeod MBE, chief executive of the children’s charity, first came to ALM a few years ago to further develop her skills as a senior manager of people.

We were immediately impressed by her passion and commitment to inclusion for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) in the early years, and were excited when the opportunity to work on a new and exciting project presented itself. This happened with the joint development of a new course, the Level 3 Certificate in Early Years Inclusive Practice, and the relationship has continued to flourish ever since.

Key skills in meaningful inclusion

The aim of the course is to help under-fives with early years SEND access mainstream educational settings, where appropriate, by training early years practitioners in key skills in meaningful inclusion. It is hoped that this will give every child the best educational start, regardless of needs and abilities.

We’re proud to say that the course for inclusive practice in early years not only gained accreditation from NCFE, but more than 50 childcare practitioners have enrolled on it to date with many more due to start in 2019.

ALM won Dingley's Promise Supporter Award

Dingley’s Promise recently held a hugely successful fundraising ball in Berkshire. This included awards being presented to those who have stood out in their support for the charity, and we were thrilled to win their Impact Award for our joint working.

Help more people 

Unable to attend on the night, ALM Director John Parker recorded an acceptance speech video. He highlighted the inspiring and enduring relationship with Dingley’s Promise that has been fostered, and said: “It’s lovely to be able to help more people to do the work that you’re doing and to apply our expertise in a new sector.”

According to Catherine McLeod MBE, the Dingley’s Promise Supporter Impact Award went to ALM “because of the amazing work they have done with us to establish our national training offer. Throughout the process they have been supportive and constructive, and we have complemented each other to create a course that can have a real impact on inclusion in the early years!”

“I can’t recommend working with the team enough, and know that without them we would never have been able to get the training off the ground.”

ALM believes that it’s just the start of this incredible partnership, and we look forward to achieving much more.