Learning is an adventure but also a challenge! All students have their own unique way of learning and all have individual strengths. We know that all children benefit and learn from each other and an inclusive school can support children to learn to live in a diverse environment.
Some students have specific needs that must be identified, so that the student can receive specific support and develop their learning. This is done through our special needs program.
This includes identifying our children´s special needs early on and responding quickly to warning signs in the child’s development by using psycho-pedagogical testing that initiates the investigation process and offers specific educational responses to the different needs presented.
To meet the special educational needs of our children, we use a variety of strategies such as curricular adaptations, special educational interventions or the recommendation of external professionals to support the child. If a possible specific learning or developmental disability is suspected, a referral report can be made by the school to help in the process of confirming a diagnosis at an outside facility.
The British education system also offers differentiated learning in class (content tailored to different ability levels), allowing all children to be working at a more individualized and challenging pace in class.
Interventions or small support groups are also used in class and outside of class during the school day to reinforce or stimulate class content in smaller groups. This support is given in the subjects of English, Spanish and mathematics with the learning support assistants. In primary school this is done during class time and in secondary, support is given through support clubs with teachers at lunchtime.
Students with specific learning difficulties, in addition to methodological and curricular adaptations, sometimes also benefit from more individualized challenges. When this is necessary, we create an“Educational Health Care Plan” where we meet at the beginning of the school year with the parents, the child, teacher and SENCO to jointly create individual targets for the student (these targets can be academic, social, or emotional). These targets are then reviewed at the end of the year together.
In special cases, support groups are offered for social and emotional skills, and stimulation of executive functions, such as attention and organization. In secondary this is taught mainly through workshops or during tutor time. In Primary, this is taught in small groups or as individual intervention in special cases.
All our students with a recognized diagnosis of Special Educational Needs are entitled to obtain Special Accommodations for their final and official internal exams, in the form of for example additional time, text reading software, etc.
Socio-emotional or mental health difficulties of our students are also supported through specialized meetings with our families and referrals to different external therapeutic support entities, in school monitoring and support within the school.
Our experience has shown us that all students have the potential to succeed and that even those who find learning difficult have strengths on which they can build and work towards a promising future.
