We believe in offering all our students the best possible opportunities to learn, to develop and to take place in society as confident young adults. While most of our students will accomplish this through their own endeavours and with the normal help of parents and of our dedicated staff, there are those who may need regular or just occasional amounts of extra support. In the Learning Support Department here at the College we have developed a wide range of strategies and approaches to meet the needs of these students and we have a deserved reputation for the quality of support we offer. This includes support for learning, behavioural or emotional difficulties as well as medical concerns. The information in this section of the website should explain clearly the support we offer and the framework provided by the Code of Practice. The staff with particular responsibilities for Special Educational Needs are named below and I hope that you will feel able to contact us whenever the need arises. We believe that wherever possible students should be educated in their local mainstream school and we are committed to working with our colleagues in the Somerset Local Education Authority and with other local services to ensure this is possible.
The Special Educational Needs Staff
All staff at the College have responsibility to provide for students with Special Educational Needs and we have a specialist team for whom this is their primary role. The department includes:
Mrs Margaret Snape – Learning SENCO
Mrs Gail Webster – Behaviour SENCO
There is a team of Support Staff who work within the department. They are managed by Mrs Beverley Neilson.
The Flexible Learning Centre
The Flexible Learning Centre has developed in order to provide a flexible curriculum and timetable for a range of students. Staff working in the centre are able to provide packages for individual students which could include behaviour modification, link work with other Colleges, Work Experience and individual tuition. The Flexible Learning Centre is led by Mr Alex McGuinness.
The Nurture Group
This provision has been developed to meet the needs of students who may require significant levels of support throughout the College day. Individual needs are met through provision for Basic Skills, Language Development, Life and Social Skills. The Nurture Group is managed by Mrs Beverley Neilson.
The Additional Learning Centre
The Additional Learning Centre has developed in order to provide all West Somerset schools with support similar to the College’s Flexible Learning Centre. It ensures that students in the area who might otherwise be excluded from education are able to have access to suitable courses, individual support and a range of services. The Additional Learning Centre team is led by Mr David Singleton.
SEN Staff
The SEN staff are highly skilled and have experience in particular areas including:
Child Protection
Somerset Total Communication
Dyslexia and Dyspraxia
Counselling
Behaviour Management
First Aid and Manual Handling Skills
Literacy and Numeracy
Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome
Outside Agencies
In addition to the staff working within the team, we have access to a wide range of agencies and professionals so that we can offer the right support to students in order to meet their needs.
The following list includes the main agencies with whom we work:
- Connexions
- Child and Family Therapy Service
- County Support Services (Physically impaired / Educational Psychologist / Behaviour Support / Learning Support)
- Medical Professionals, including GPs
- Police
- Youth Offending Team
- Youth Service
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Social Services including Educational Social Workers
- Locality Teams
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about the Learning Support Department, or about your son or daughter, please do contact us.