Our Learning Support services include both internal and external providers that nurture our children’s holistic development. We use a variety of SEN teaching and learning strategies to address the specific needs of each student, adhering to principles of Inclusion and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). These principles are reflected in our admissions policies and in the integration of children with special educational needs in our mainstream classrooms. We address our children’s needs through high-quality, research-based classroom instruction, push-in and pull-out academic interventions, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and socio-emotional counseling, delivered in accordance with the Response to Intervention model (RTI).
Response to Intervention Model
RTI is a multi-tiered approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs.
“The RTI process begins with high-quality instruction and universal screening of all children in the general education classroom. Struggling learners are provided with interventions at increasing levels of intensity to accelerate their rate of learning.
"These services may be provided by a variety of personnel, including general education teachers, special educators, and specialists. Progress is closely monitored to assess both the learning rate and level of performance of individual students.
"Educational decisions about the intensity and duration of interventions are based on individual student response to instruction. RTI is designed for use when making decisions in both general education and special education, creating a well-integrated system of instruction and intervention guided by child outcome data.”
Gorski, D. (2019). What is Response to Intervention (RTI)? | RTI Action Network. [online] Rtinetwork.org. Available at: http://www.rtinetwork.org/learn/what/whatisrti [Accessed 12 Mar. 2019].
How are students identified and placed in Learning Support?
Students difficulties are documented through:
Teachers complete a student referral form which triggers the start of RTI.
External providers
Our staff provides most of the support that our students need. However, there are times when our students need specialized support in an area that we cannot provide.
We currently work with an external Speech and Language Clinic and an external Occupational Therapist to provide some of these specialized services, and are constantly exploring other options that might allow us to expand our offerings.
There are also times when our students’ difficulties require further investigation by specialized professionals, such as Educational Psychologists. When this need arises, we refer students to local and regional experts, according to their needs.