Learning Support
The Learning Support Department in Mount Lourdes strives to provide the highest possible standard of support for students who experience learning difficulties or who have learning disabilities. Our aim is to care for each pupil’s specific requirements; these include educational, physical, behavioural, emotional and social needs.
The Learning Support Department provides the framework for the whole school to assume responsibility for inclusion matters and ensures accessibility to all areas of the Curriculum. School management endeavours to ensure complete access to the building through timetabling, the use of lifts, and provision of handrails and painting of outdoor steps. Students with SEN are assisted in accessing the curriculum through whole class provision, in-class support and some withdrawal provision for both Literacy and Numeracy and additionally through Newcomer support. We are also in regular contact with a number of external agencies. Communication with students and parents is vital to assessing, monitoring and reviewing the progress of our students with additional needs.
The Learning Support Department endeavours to support students to experience success in all aspects of school life. Appropriate Access Arrangements are put in place to meet the diverse needs of an ever - increasing number of students on the Learning Support Register. Pupils with SEN have been successful in examinations at Key Stage 3, GCSE, AS and A2 Levels.
The range of provisions made by the Learning Support Department enables all students to make appropriate progress and fulfill their potential. It emphasises the statutory entitlement of students with additional learning needs to be included as full participants in the academic, pastoral and social life of the school. SEN pupils are fully included in school activities. In Year 10 they enjoy a school trip abroad accompanied by the Classroom Assistant they are assigned to. Pupils also undertake field trips and other educational and recreational excursions. Risk assessments are devised to ensure the safety and well-being of the pupils.
The Learning Support teachers and Classroom Assistants are intrinsic to the delivery of quality care and support to SEN students. A programme of Capacity Building among staff is continuous, as all department members engage in relevant training.