Sands School A GSG School

Special Education Needs

Special educational needs are addressed by all the staff in the school. As we have small classes and a very student-centred approach to each student, there is no clear distinction between students with special needs who get extra support and everyone else; there is a gradual transition. Likewise, in different subjects and on different days students will need varying amounts of extra support and, as far as possible, the staff try to provide that support both in and out of class. In general the provision from within the regular school budget is a balance between the level of need and the resources available. Where possible special needs provision will be met through: i) Extra attention in class from the class teachers. This is made possible by our small classes. ii) Extra support outside class. This is not formal extra lessons, but most teachers make time for certain students when they are having difficulty. iii) Having a classroom assistant in class. iv) Having extra lessons in very small groups or one-to-one sessions v) Having a flexible timetable, tailored to work around difficulties in accessing the subject Students with emotional problems, which can present as barriers to learning, also have access to the school’s counsellor. Obviously our level of support is restricted by our resources and staff time. In cases where the local authority will provide extra funding we are able to resource a student better. Likewise, in the case of parents who can afford pay for the resources we can hire further help.