St. Andrews R C High School

Support for Learning

Page last updated at 11:47 AM, 30/05/2011

Support Available

Pupils have a variety of needs and support staff use a range of approaches to meet these needs.

Some common types of support are:

• In-class support
• Group work
• Direct tuition
• Use of Information Technology

Learning Support staff work with pupils, parents and teaching staff to help pupils with additional support needs to reach their full potential.

Meetings

Meetings can easily be arranged between parents and Support for Learning Staff. A note or telephone call to the school will start the process of setting up a meeting at a convenient time.

A pupil can speak to their Support for Learning teacher to arrange an appointment.

Pupil Support Department at St Andrew's RC High School

Pupil Support Department at St Andrew's RC High School is a whole school resource, part of the team which includes the Learning Support Department and the Behaviour Support Department. Together with Guidance, our aim is to provide appropriate education for pupils. In particular, it helps pupils who are experiencing learning difficulties.

The Pupil Support Department has a cross-curricular role, which provides a useful overview of school and pupils.

We co-operate with subject departments, the Guidance Department, the Psychological Services and Primary Schools. We also establish and foster good working relationships with parents.

We aim to act as a 'champion' for the cause of pupils who may experience learning difficulties, whilst working with subject staff and maintaining the school policy that the range of learning needs within a class are seen as the responsibility of all staff.

In order to achieve these aims, Pupils Support endeavours to create a particular ethos providing a climate conductive to personal growth and development in all areas of learning and personal development. This ethos is based on mutual respect.

We act as a source of information on:
1. pupils who are experiencing difficulties.
2. strategies to be used with individual pupils.
3. specific difficulties whether that be learning, behavioural or both.
4. teaching and learning styles and methodologies.

Our department has been running successfully the following classes and projects:

*ASDAN
*First Chances
*Rural Skills
*Reading Boost
*Paired Reading
*View Programme
*Pushkin

From the session 2011/2012 we are planning to launch the Duke of Edinburgh Award in our school. 

 

Further information:

ASDAN

ASDAN is a pioneering curriculum development organisation and internationally recognised awarding body, offering programmes and qualifications that explicitly grow skills for learning, skills for employment and skills for life.

READING BOOST

This is a 4 month intensive reading programme designed specifically for pupils in S1 who cannot access the curriculum due to poor reading skills. These pupils come out of class on a rolling timetable for 3 periods per week and concentrate on reading but presented to them in a fun way. In the past pupils reading ages have increased by as much as 3.5 years.

RURAL SKILLS

The Rural Skills Course allows candidates to begin to develop some of the basic practical skills necessary to work in most of the land-based disciplines - areas such as agricultural livestock, equine industries, horticulture, landscaping, agricultural crops and animal care. The Course also provides the opportunity to explore the very diverse employment prospects that exist in land-based industries. There is then a choice of a plant or an animal route where candidates can develop some of the basic skills for the chosen route.

VIEW

Pupils in S3 attend the VIEW (Vocationally Informed and Educated Workforce) Programme at Adam Smith College. This involves them in attending college one afternoon a week to experience ‘tasters’ of courses the college offers, such as Sport and Leisure, Cooking Skills, Merchandising and Engineering. The pupils attend various campuses of the college depending on the course. An aspect of the learning experience is that within Kirkcaldy the pupils travel independently to college by bus using bus tickets provided by the school. They are accompanied by a member of school staff while at college. It is to their credit that this arrangement works smoothly and almost all the lecturers comment on their good behaviour, willingness to participate and standard of uniform. The pupils receive a certificate at an awards ceremony to celebrate their completion of the course. 

 

 Link to Pupil Support Glow Group at St Andrew's RC High School