FAQs

Learning Support

1. How might my child be identified for needing extra support?

Most frequently class teachers or English/Maths teachers will notice when a pupil is struggling with some aspect of their class work. The pupil will then be referred to the Head of Learning support who will contact the parents and ask permission for them to have some informal tests done within school. These tests will explore the pupils strengths and weaknesses and will usually identify whether there is a need to support them within school. It may be that it is not clear what their difficulty is and they will be referred to an Educational Psychologist for some more formal testing.

Once a year the whole school is screened for reading and spelling and some children will be identified that way. Also parents themselves will notice that their child is having difficulty with some aspect of their school work and they can contact the Learning Support Department directly.

2. What type of tests are used for informal testing?

Dyslexia Screening Test (DST)
Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB)
British Picture Vocabulary Test (BPVS)
Ann Arbour Group Screening Test
Wide Ranging Ability Test (WRAT)
Single Word Spelling Test (SWST)

3. Once a child is identified, how may they be supported within school?

It may be necessary for a pupil to have some extra individual support lessons. Within these lessons, they may work on reading, spelling, handwriting, phonological awareness, working memory, organisational skills, numeracy and study skills, depending on the individual pupil's needs. It may be necessary for a pupil to receive extra support within the classroom and an extra person is employed to give them one to one support.

4. How are the extra individual lessons organised?

This is where we require the help and cooperation of parents and class teachers. It is not possible for children to be withdrawn from core subjects, e.g. English, Maths and Science and they are very rarely withdrawn from History, Geography or French. The pupil will usually have an idea of the lessons that they would hate to be withdrawn from and we usually try to find a lesson where the pupil and the teacher are happy for them to miss. These are usually Games, Music, Library, PSHE and sometimes a second language. When parents are unhappy for their children to miss lessons, then some may be organised at lunch time or after school. We always ask the parents permission and the relevant member of staff before a pupil is withdrawn from a lesson.

Got a question?