Shrewsbury House School

Aims:to identify where a pupil has a special need; to recommend to parents what action should be taken (including, where appropriate, assessment by an educational psychologist); to assist with carrying out recommendations, either made by ourselves or by an educational psychologist.

Admissions: A boy who has a learning difficulty is not refused entry because of that learning difficulty, provided it is felt he can cope with the demands of our curriculum, the pace, the additional pressure that children with learning problems will inevitably have - including from the demands of the curriculum and from the extra tuition (remedial) which they will be likely to require - and that parents understand both that the assistance we can give in school is limited and that there will be considerable onus on them to be supportive of their son but not to be over-protective.

Identifying that there may be a learning problem: Every teacher knows it is his/her responsibility to notice if a boy is showing any of the signs which might be attributable to a learning problem. This must be reported to the SEN co-ordinator.

Initial Action: An analysis will be carried out involving all appropriate teachers. Findings/concerns are relayed to parents. If staff in the School have the expertise to deal with the problem, this will be done either in class - where allowances will be made, but not to the extent that these are detrimental to other boys in the class - or in short supplementary sessions. Where it is felt that a boy may have a specific learning problem, it will be suggested to parents that an assessment is made by an educational psychologist (a list of educational psychologists is provided by the School)

Continuing Action: The teaching staff do their utmost to carry out recommendations made by an educational psychologist. For instance, laptops may be used; assistance can be given in helping a boy to organise himself; where a boy is placed in the class can be changed and so on.

The school discourages boys with specific learning difficulties missing any school activity to have extra tuition in the belief that such boys cannot afford to miss the academic work and need the non academic sessions and breaks. Parents are therefore asked to arrange extra tuition out of school time.