PERSONALISED LEARNING TEAM: Supporting Students to make progress.
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.
The Personalised Learning Team at the College 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: ‘Students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress due to the varied and individually tailored support they receive’ Ofsted 2009. This includes support for learning, behavioural or emotional difficulties as well as medical concerns.
The information in this section of the website details 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 we encourage parents and carers 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 Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) is Mrs Vanessa Cleere
There is a team of Support Staff who work within the department. They are managed by Mrs Beverley Neilson.
Personalised Learning Centre 1
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. PLC 1 is managed by Mrs Beverley Neilson and a team of in-class LSAs who have specific training in administering physiotherapy and speech and language therapy alongside specialist development of students’ literacy and numeracy skills.
Personalised Learning Centre 2
PLC 2 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.
Personalised Learning Centre 3
PLC 3 has a range of strategies that support students on a ‘revolving door’ basis. Students may work with the staff in PLC 3 on issues that impact upon their learning and progress in a mainstream classroom such as anger management, emotional health and interpersonal relationships. PLC 3 is led and managed by the Student Support Team with input from the SENCO to ensure students receive the very best intervention and support promptly.
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:
- Connect South West
- Child and Family Therapy Service
- Somerset County Council e.g: Educational Psychologist
- Medical Professionals, including GPs
- Police
- Youth Offending Team
- Youth Service
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Social Services including Educational Social Workers
- Parent & Family Support Advisor
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about the Learning Support Department, or about your son or daughter, please do contact us on the main College number.