Many students who study SNA courses are doing so to change career or because they are parents or guardians of children with additional needs.
It can be a daunting experience coming back to education after a long time (or for the first time) or if SNA is completely different to your existing skills.
However, Portobello Institute makes education accessible. Our small class numbers, tutor support and delivery methods mean we understand our learners and meet them where they need support.
SNA and Early Years Lecturer, Limin Bai, explains how she can guide your learning through our SNA Level 5 and Level 6 courses.
Where to Begin with SNA/What if I Haven’t Studied in a Long Time?
"First you do the Level 5 and you get a taste of SNA, meeting people who work as SNA’s will open a new window for you.
"After that you go for work experience and see that you might like this job and with summer holidays and hours it really suits people who have children at home.
"It depends, some people like to work in mainstream settings or school and others prefer to work in special needs settings, there are two directions, but they do not conflict.
"I tutor the SNA Level 5 and Level 6, you can come in relax and enjoy. I will show you everything from how to do assignments and how to handle the problems during the course.
"There are lots of people who want to change career and try something new, some are parents of children with special needs, so they come to learn more professional methods.
“Even for SNA 5 at the moment you don’t even need to come into the college you can stay at home and learn this online and open a new window for your life, 100% we really support and encourage people to do the SNA courses.
"Out of all my students in past years who did Level 5 and Level 6, none of them gave up because it is easy to achieve the goal and achieve distinction and I will teach them one on one with enough time for assignments, how to reference, once they join in, I can help them out to get their certification and the college and the classroom leads the way to give them options," Limin said.
Parents of Children with Special Needs
“If parents of children with special needs are at home reading articles online or watching videos they are getting a really narrow perspective, if they come to college we will learn everything from a really wide perspective.
"They will learn about legislation in Ireland, what can we do to benefit children with special needs, we learn their rights and about services in Ireland that work for children with special needs.
"When a child needs protection, integration or anything like that we tell you where to find all that help, most of them are afraid but parents in the beginning can be panicked and not want to face the problem," she said.
Do You Want an SNA Qualification?
Portobello Institute offers SNA Level 5 and Level 6 courses in a variety of delivery methods from an intensive two week course to part-time online with webinars so you can study around work.
Check out our full SNA department here.
Ask our admissions expert George Boylan about our Level 6 courses if you already have experience or training to Level 5 standard. Email george.boylan@portobelloinstitute.com, call him on 01 892 0041 or schedule a consultation here.
