Special Educational Needs at St Andrews

STARS & Embracing Differences

The STARS and Embracing Differences (ED) SEN programmes at St Andrews International School Bangkok includes supporting and educating students with special needs and learning challenges. We offer a dynamic range of services and activities with qualified, trained specialists to help our students.

Our mission is to encourage all students to succeed, regardless of their additional needs. The STARS and ED SEN programmes were conceived with special needs children in mind, designing learning around individual students and their needs within a supportive school environment in the centre of Bangkok. The STARS and ED high-needs specialists work to promote the individual strengths and talents of our learners.

Primary School - STARs  

High School - Embracing Differences

Our special needs programmes are available to Primary students as the STARS programme and High School students as the ED programme. Our Primary STARS students transition through to the ED as they progress through to High School. We also welcome new students to join us at any stage and learn in our dynamic and nurturing environments. 

St Andrews Support Programme

The curriculum is delivered at each child's 'learning edge' and runs alongside comprehensive functional and social skills programmes. Our students develop knowledge and learn skills needed to overcome the challenges that they may face in life. Our students in our SEN programmes get the highest level of support. We rotate students between therapy sessions, offsite activities and classroom-based learning so that the student-to-staff ratio is kept well balanced.

Lessons & Learning 

Our highly qualified, caring and committed teachers in our SEN programmes cover elements of the mainstream academic curriculum and individualise accordingly to how the student engages and learns best. Lessons are created to be engaging and stimulating to accommodate students' emotional regulation throughout the day.

The learning doesn’t stop in the classroom. We often bridge learning, to ensure the generalisation of skills, to various outside environments, whether in the swimming pool, on journeys around our school campuses, gardening, rock climbing, cooking, and other therapeutic activities. The programmes aim to build confidence, relationships, resilience and progressive thinking. We are proud of all our students and the essential life skills they gain within our diverse community.

How do we support our students?

One team, one community who work together

• Personalised and stimulating curriculum

• Supportive Therapists & Specialists

• Attentive Learning Support Assistants 

• Strong communication with our families

• Opportunities in the community

Therapists and our SEN specialists

Our Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Art Therapists, Play Therapists and Physiotherapists collaborate with the educational team to highlight how they can develop pupils' skills across various school learning opportunities. In addition, we offer the Orton-Gillingham (OG) Dyslexia Program. 

Tailored Therapies

• Direct One on One therapy

• Group therapy, e.g. Social Skills, vocational opportunities such as cooking classes

• 'Push in' type therapies (e.g. supporting children at lunch/snack time, mainstream class, pool etc.) 

• Therapists advise strategies and resources for at home and school.

We focus on practical and dynamic learning experiences that foster social communication skills and are crucial to curricular tasks. 

Our facilities 

We have created purpose-built and accessible spaces in the heart of our campuses that provide a safe space to learn and opportunities to access the mainstream environment. Our movement and sensory rooms allow our students with sensory or vestibular, greater control of their learning across the school day. We have included therapy spaces and custom-made classrooms to increase learning potential and enable our students to be the best that they can be. 

Our partners

We have built strong relationships in our community with partners such as STEPS, LEAP (Learning and Educational Advocacy Programme) and The Rainbow Room Special Needs Awareness Centre.

The best way to experience our school is to visit us...

For more information or to arrange a tour of our STARS and Embracing Differences facilities, please contact Ms Verity Harvey, our Head of Special Educational Needs and Inclusion verity.ha@standrews.ac.th.