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Learning Support in Gaelscoil Chill Dara
The principle of Learning Support
We have noticed in Gaelscoil Chill Dara that there is a danger that children will finish their formal education without having enjoyed their experiences in school and without basic literacy and numeracy skills. We want to ensure that every child has acquired these basic skills by the time they leave the school. As well as this we recognise that there may be some students who experience difficulty dealing with the curriculum through the Irish language, particularly those pupils who may not have come into contact with the Irish language before they began their schooling. We include those children therefore in this programme and we try our utmost to improve their proficiency in the language so that they can learn the other subjects efficiently through that language.
We look on the Learning Support programme as a programme which is based on intervention for certain pupils when the school accepts that such intervention is needed.
The programmes of support are based on efficient school policies all with the involvement of parents which will endeavour to:
Avoid failure
Provide early intensive intervention, and
Direct resources towards the children with the greatest need.
The aim of the Policy
The aim of the learning support policy in Gaelscoil Chill Dara is to use the learning process as efficiently as possible, to help pupils who have learning difficulties to achieve satisfactory levels in literacy, in numeracy and in the Irish language before they leave the school.
How children are chosen
We want as many pupils as possible to benefit from the Learning Support programme.
Notwithstanding this desire, as it has been stated that the programme will de directed towards those with the greatest need, we must design a system whereby the programme is used by those children
Teacher observation.
If any teacher identifies a pupil who she believes will benefit from learning support, then that teacher may nominate the child to the school’s caring team. That team will decide what form of support is most appropriate for the child.
Formal Assessment.
The school has an assessment policy and any child whose score is below the tenth percentile must be registered in the Learning Support programme. Children who score higher than the tenth percentile may be registered.
Parents
A parent may request inclusion in the Learning Support programme if they think it is needed
Other Professionals
If other professionals like psychologists or speech therapists recommend learning support for children it will be provided.
Selection
The school Principal, in consultation with the class teacher, the learning support teacher, the parents and the school’s caring team decides which children will participate in the Learning Support programme
The list of children participating will be continually reviewed.
The Class Teacher
The class teacher is responsible for all the pupils in her class. Responsibility for pupils with learning difficulties falls on the class teacher also. When a pupil is chosen for Learning Support, the class teacher must play a full part in the design and implementation of any profiling or Individual Education Plan. There should be regular cooperation between the class teacher, the learning support teacher and the parents. The class teacher will differentiate between children with learning difficulties and other children with regard to class work, homework and booklists.
Learning Support Teachers
At present there are three full-time learning support / resource teachers and one part-time resource teacher in the school. Margo works with children from Senior Infants to Second class. Valerie works with children in third and fourth class. Esther works with children in fifth and sixth class. Anne works with children diagnosed with low-incidence disorders.
The role of parents
“Because of their unique knowledge of their children, parents may play a major role in their child’s learning programme”, Guidelines for Learning Support, 2000.
Cooperation and pooling of knowledge with parents will be a central part of the school’s work with children with special needs. The learning support teachers will organise meetings regularly with parents of children who are taking part in the scheme and advice will be provided about activities which will help the children.
Children will not be withdrawn from classrooms without the parents being informed beforehand.
How the scheme will work in practice
Three methods will be used to put the scheme to practical use:
Working in conjunction with the class teacher in the classroom
Working with the pupils in groups outside the classroom
Individual work with children inside and outside the classroom. The methods are described below:
Working in the classroom: When the children have been identified the learning support teacher (l.s.p.) will consult with the class teacher as she designs an individual education programme. From time to time the learning support teacher will enter the classroom to help the child with the programme, or to give any other assistance.
The learning support teacher may work with other children also.
Groups outside the classroom: It will happen for various reasons that the learning support teacher will work with the children in small groups outside the classroom. Two rooms have been set aside upstairs for this work. Also the learning support teacher will organise educational trips for the children with special needs from time to time. We hope this may help to raise pupils’ self-esteem.
Individual Work: The learning support teacher will work with some children on a one to one basis. This work will take place in the classrooms as preference, but if necessary will take place in the learning support rooms also. Parents will be kept informed about this work and no pupil will be on their own with any teacher in closed rooms.
Resources
As many resources as possible will be made available to the learning support programme. The grant which was paid by the Department of Education and Science has been stopped and so the Board must support children with special needs using the Capitation and general school funding to provide the most up to date resources. There will be a computer in each learning support room, connected to the Internet.
Acceptance and Review.
The Board of Management accepted this policy in 2006. (Reviewed 2010).
It will be reviewed every two years at least.