Learning Support
Tel No: 0161 804 4022
Email: MHSsendco@consilium-at.com
The Learning Support Team
Will endeavour to:
- Identify barriers to learning, be it social, emotional, educational, or cultural.
- Develop students’ confidence and independence.
- Motivate students to produce their best work and aspire to achieve.
- Ensure a happy, caring environment, essential for effective learning.
- Enable students to leave school with qualifications, life skills, and social development that reflect the progress they have made during their time at Moorside High School.
- Work together in partnership with parents and external agencies.
Accommodation & Resources
- Good quality teaching accommodation for students with Special Educational Needs. The accommodation is available during lesson time and during unstructured times such as lunch and break time to offer students additional academic, social, and emotional development support.
- A separate enhanced resource which is part of the Local Authority’s provision for SEND is for students with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) who present with a primary need of Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH)
- Learning Support Staff who support individuals as well as in small group intervention. Support can be offered both in and out of the classroom.
- Learning Support Staff who specialise in implementing strategies for Specific Learning Difficulties.
- Learning Support Staff who have expertise supporting students with a primary need of Social, Emotional and Mental Health including the Autistic Spectrum and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
- Learning Support Staff who specialise in working with students with English as an Additional Language (EAL)
- A wide range of assessment materials.
- A varied selection of literacy and numeracy resources.
- A wide variety of teaching equipment e.g. computers, laptops, Interactive whiteboard, spelling aids, language programmes.
- A good selection of reading books written for secondary age students, with appropriate reading ages.
Organisation
- Learning Support staff visit primary schools to aid the transition of pupils with SEND and can offer, where this is agreed with parents and the primary school, and enhanced transition package. These visits ensure that information is shared and understood by Moorside before the pupil starts.
- Literacy skills of all Year 7 students are assessed at the start of the year. Assessment takes place via Reading and Spelling tests and the Accelerated Reader scheme.
- Years 8-10 are re-tested for reading and spelling at the start of each academic year.
- Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) have Inclusion Profiles which set out strategies to support teachers in their teaching of individual pupils.
- All Year 7 students are assessed using national standardised tests. (Cognitive Ability Tests - CATs).
- Assessment for Access Arrangements for Key Stage 4 formal examinations is carried out by the SENDCo who is Level 7 qualified. This follows the guidelines as set out by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).
- Subject teachers scaffold work according to the specific needs of each student.
- SEND liaison with subject staff ensures teaching materials suit students’ needs.
- Students follow the full range of the academic curriculum and a variety of GCSE subjects, additional intervention is arranged as required.
- Students with Education Health Care Plans or have SEND support provision are integrated into main stream classes for most subjects, in-class support from experienced Learning Support Assistants is in place with a focus on the core subjects of English, maths and science.
- Students with Education Health Care Plans will have an annual review to assess their progress. More frequent reviews also take place when required.
- The SEND faculty has an ‘open door’ policy and key workers contact parents regularly to update them on pupil progress and successes.
- Students with Special Educational Needs have identified Keyworkers, have regular 1-1s and participate in intervention.
- Referrals to specialist providers such as Educational Psychologists, Learning Support Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHs), Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) and the Integrated Youth Service (IYSS) are made when required to support student needs.
- Links with outside agencies ensure specialist advice is available when necessary.
- The school works with Salford Inclusion Advisory Support Services (SIASS) to aid in supporting parents of pupils with Additional Needs.
EAL
Where a pupil is new to the UK, or where proficiency in English is a challenge, we aim to support them to develop the skills necessary to access learning in school.
Initially, we assess the skills and needs of students with EAL on admission and provide appropriate provision according to their needs. We use a range of different strategies to support children as they develop fluency for the English language, thus enhancing both their social and academic experiences within the school environment.
Specialist help is available from our EAL Coordinator Mrs A. Adshead who is available to support students and their families.
At Moorside High School, we welcome and value the cultural, linguistic, and educational experiences that students with EAL bring to our school. We aim to give status to EAL student’s skills in their own language(s) and acknowledge the time it takes to become fluent in an additional language. We encourage students to use their first language to explore concepts supported through assistive technology and implement a range of strategies to ensure that EAL students are supported when accessing the curriculum.
https://directory.salford.gov.uk/kb5/salford/directory/localoffer.page?localofferchannel=0
https://www.specialneedsjungle.com