William Brookes
School Cognition &
Learning
This policy should be read alongside the
Equal Opportunities Policy and the
Accessibility Plan.
William Brookes endeavours to identify,
monitor and put interventions into place
to foster student support in the 4 areas of
need:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Communication and Interaction;
Cognition and Learning Difficulties;
Social, emotional and mental health;
Sensory and/or physical development.
How do teachers know what needs pupils have?
It is really important that the class teacher has all the
information at their fingertips. When they open their
register, a column shows next to the child’s name stating
whether they have any SEN. It shows T for ‘teacher
support,’ K for ‘SEN Support’ and S or ECHP for the
highest levels of support.
Individual teachers are then expected to cross reference
this with the SEN list and the one-page profile, which
have more detailed descriptions of a student’s needs.
T
This shows part of a (fictional) SEN list.
In addition, staff will know what provision (e.g. spelling groups,
social groups, small-group maths) is available for that child from
Sept 2014 to June 2015, which is when our timetable changes.
How we adapt our curriculum and learning environment to
include students with support needs in the area of
cognition and learning:
• In Key Stage 3, we offer small groups (6) in literacy and
numeracy to help students with key skills;
• In Years 8 and 9, we offer language and word-finding
skills in small groups (6) instead of Modern Foreign
Languages;
• We offer a curriculum pathway at Key Stage 4 that
includes First Aid and a pre-driving course;
• Teaching should be differentiated and contain a variety
of activities;
•
Homework Amnesties may be put in place;
•
Departmental teaching assistants modify tests and
other resources.
How we adapt our curriculum and learning environment to
include students with support needs in the area of
dyslexia:
• Dyslexia Screening is a service we provide;
• We can pre-screen for visual dyslexia and refer to a
specialist for coloured overlays etc.;
• The use of iPads is encouraged to photograph notes
from the board, dictate sentences and read books to
students;
• Staff are asked to mark work for content and not
spelling (except in English);
• Homework Amnesties may be put in place;
• Scribing and reading may be used in lessons;
• Precision teaching/ Toe by Toe reading;
• Extra time can be given for assessments.
How we adapt our curriculum and learning
environment to include students with support needs
in the area of dyspraxia:
• We can provide a ‘meet and greet’ for students
who are disorganised;
• Students can use laptops or iPads to produce their
work;
• Teaching rooms and timetables are colour-coded;
• A variety of alternative stationery such as maths
books with larger squares or raised lines;
• A variety of pens and pen grips are kept in school;
• Yr 8 and 9 have small groups for word-finding skills;
• Use of teaching assistants to provide alternative
ways of recording work.
How we identify and assess support needs
In the New Code of Practice, it states:
“6.16 Schools should assess each pupil’s current skills
and levels of attainment on entry, building on
information from previous settings and key stages
where appropriate.”
Information from primary schools is seen as
paramount when organising support for new Yr 7
pupils, but students adapt to secondary schools at
different rates and it is necessary to keep flexibility in
teaching arrangements until past Christmas.
We ask our staff and parents to contact us if
they feel that something is preventing a student
reach their potential. Students can also selfrefer.
SENCO – Lesley Ravenscroft,
lravenscroft@williambrookes.com
• We can perform screening for ‘visual
dyslexia’ (when the words ‘move’), but we
then must refer to a visual specialist for more
detailed intervention.
• We can screen for dyscalculia ( ‘maths
dyslexia’).
• We can screen for dyslexia.
How we review support needs
1) Teachers are asked to make sure that students
make progress appropriate for them using 4 matrix
and tutors, especially are tasked with watching a
student’s ‘flight path.’
Students who have specific interventions, have
specific targets to meet over a clear time span. The
intervention is then reviewed for that student.
E.g. a student who has a spelling age of 8 is taught
spelling rules to help him/her move forward once
per week – ‘Magic E.’ After 10 weeks, the student
is retested and the spelling age is now 9. A decision
is made to give the student further spelling
intervention once per week to move the spelling
age further forward. Another student has made no
progress and is moved into a vocabulary group for
two hours per week.
Another example:
A student is tested in Yr 9 and they qualify for a
reader and scribe in the exams. However, in their
mock exams in Year 10, the student says that they
‘hate’ using their scribe – it stops their flow.
Therefore, they then move to using only a reader
and typing their responses using a word processor.
What training has been provided for our staff?
Specific Learning difficulties such as dyslexia,
dyspraxia and dyscalculia
Providing readers and scribes for exams fairly
Complaints.
We hope that you can discuss issues with the
SENCO and come to a mutually-satisfactory
conclusion, lravenscroft@williambrookes.com
However, in the event of a dispute that cannot be
thus satisfied, please use the link to the complaints
procedure on this site.
There are organisations that will help parents make their
way through the ‘local offer’ and School SEN Information
Reports.
Parent Partnership is a great service. Their web page is at
http://www.parentpartnership-shropshireandtelford.org.uk/
Their telephone number is 01952 457176.
Their email is info@pps-shropshireandtelford.org.uk.
“We are here to give you help so that you can feel much
more confident in being able to take an active role in
making sure your child’s educational needs are being
met.” (from their website)