LEARNING SUPPORT ENHANCED PROVISION CURRICULUM STATEMENT

Intent

The overriding aim of the department is to equip students with special needs to fulfil their potential and access the next stage of their education. All of our students progress to further education or higher education. Where relevant, we would work to secure high quality apprenticeships. Promoting life skills is becoming an increasingly important part of our work.

Implementation

Students with significant learning needs, usually operating at the third percentile or below, have some additional tuition in Enhanced Provision. Currently, all the students in Enhanced Provision have EHCPs. Students are withdrawn from History, Geography, Religious Studies and French. Most of these lessons are taught by qualified and experienced primary teachers but some are taught by teachers from the main school. French is taught by qualified French teachers.

Key aspects of learning from the History, Geography and Religious Studies schemes have been identified. These are delivered in Enhanced Provision.

A key part of the work in Enhanced Provision is to address gaps in learning. A comprehensive assessment programme including numicon assessment, standardised reading and writing assessments has been put in place. From there, basic gaps are revisited as required. Students have additional reading outside the classroom.

It is important to recognise that there are some significant misconceptions that have not been adequately addressed in their previous education and will require intensive work to remedy.

Students in Year 9 currently have bespoke packages to address their needs. All the students have additional literacy with a strong focus on reading with the development of writing skills. Students may need focused support with decoding and or support with comprehension.

Currently at Key Stage 4, students are offered Key Skills in place of an option block. Key Skills consists of four periods per fortnight of English, three of Maths and two of Science. These lessons are led by Higher Level Teaching Assistants, science-specialist Teaching Assistants and are delivered in consultation with the subject teacher. They are designed to complement material delivered in class.

Students in Key Skills do not have study leave; instead they are offered a full timetable of revision sessions delivered by staff qualified to degree level. These are carefully planned to ensure that students with memory difficulties have structured revision as close to the exam as possible.

Impact

Students working in Learning Support are fully engaged in their learning and are accessing a curriculum designed to meet their needs.

Despite some significant personal difficulties, students with EHCPs attended the revision sessions throughout the exam period. They were fully engaged in their learning.

GCSE results value added results for EHCPs were +0.7.

One parent commented that their child 'had made more progress since being in Enhanced Provision than during all their years in primary school'.