Clifton College Website
Learning Support
The aims and guiding principles of the Coach House
The Coach House aims to ensure that every child is provided with the individual education which they require. This may involve specialist teachers and teaching programmes for children who are disadvantaged in any of a wide variety of ways.
Support
In order to support children who are disadvantaged, either through a dysfunction such as Dyslexia or Dyspraxia or through the
necessity simply to catch up with the mainstream, due to illness or a deficiency in their previous education, one of three approaches
may be employed.
- The pupil may be withdrawn from classes to be given
individual help by a specialist teacher, in the Coach House.
- The pupil may be supported within the mainstream
classroom either by a teacher specifically trained in dyslexia or a suitably
qualified member of staff, depending on the nature of the support required.
- A combination of both the above.
Identification
Identification of children who are “at risk” is achieved through screening
administered by our Specialist Teachers or by an Educational Psychologist. On
the basis of the assessment obtained the children may be given individual
specialist support as detailed above.
Reporting
All Coach House children have an Individual Education Programme (IEP) prepared for them by their teacher.
This IEP will report on assessment tests completed by the children and targets
set out for the term. All parents, whose children are new to the Coach House,
are invited, during the first term, to spend time with us during a lesson so
as to observe, discuss and be made aware of the style of teaching that will
take place and how best they may help. An updated IEP is sent out termly and
staff are always available to meet parents. A parental response sheet is
attached to all IEP’s to help encourage feedback. Where possible, reports are
emailed to facilitate a quick response.
Inclusion
The school believes that only if the Special Needs
department is integrated within the mainstream can it be fully effective. Thus,
the Learning Support Coordinator is encouraged, at the school’s weekly staff
meetings, to discuss progress and concerns for individual children. The LSCO is
expected to inform staff, via INSET, of Special Needs problems such as Dyslexia,
Dyspraxia, Asperger’s Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and
how best to support the individual in the classroom.
Facilities
Special Needs
has its own building on campus and is extremely well resourced with the latest
in computer software and hardware. The school takes the teaching of Special
Needs extremely seriously and, as a consequence, the LSCO is part of the Senior
Management of the school and is given a generous budget to allow the department
to keep itself at the forefront of new initiatives.
Charges
When support involves withdrawal from the classroom and the provision of individual
specialist teaching in the Coach House, a charge is made. Children’s needs vary
enormously, but as a guideline most children require two specialist lessons of
35 minutes per week. For those who require support both in Literacy and
Numeracy, this may rise to four lessons.
Inspection
The school is regularly inspected by the Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic
Pupils (CRESTED). In May 2006 CRESTED contact parents at random and the Inspector noted comments such as "...‘brilliant’, ‘fantastic’ and ‘excellent’.
One parent spoke of the growth in confidence of her son and the amount of positive feedback he received during his school day, especially from Coach
House staff. Another felt that her son had changed beyond all recognition. All praised the work of the Coach House tutors." The inspector summed up by saying,
"I have no hesitation in recommending that the school’s re-registration be approved."
Further Information
For further information on learning support, please visit
our list of useful sites for Dyslexia, Literacy and Numeracy.
© 2006 Clifton College
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