Special Educational Needs at Springfield School

It is now October and Springfield School has welcomed its new Year 7 pupils.  When our pupils arrive at Springfield they are given the support they need to help them settle in their new environment.  They are also given tests to help assess their educational abilities and identify any Special Educational Needs.  These tests are a CAT (Cognitive Ability Test) to measure IQ and a reading test to assess reading age.

A pupil needs a reading age of ten to fully access the National Curriculum so it essential that reading skills are improved as much as possible as soon as possible.  Springfield School has shown its commitment to this principle with withdrawal groups, booster classes, breakfast clubs, lunchtime clubs and generally encouraging pupils to read widely but parents are also encouraged to help improve their child’s reading.  Reading is not only essential for learning in school subjects but also for day to day life, both now and in the future.  Springfield staff also work hard to develop pupils’ social skills to enable them to perform to the best of their abilities both in and outside the classroom.

Many pupils at some time or another need a little extra help with their learning and Springfield is lucky enough to have a great Curriculum Support Team to help with this. Miriam Rooks, the SENCO (Special Education Needs Co-ordinator), leads a small team of well qualified LSAs (Learning Support Assistants) and a Teaching Assistant, who provide substantial direct support to some pupils with a high level of need and varying levels of support to others.  Special Educational Needs (SEN) as a term covers a wide range of learning difficulties.  Sometimes pupils need constant support in the classroom; sometimes a few sessions of being withdrawn from lessons for individual teaching or work in small groups is all that may be required to give the necessary confidence to overcome a temporary ‘glitch’.  All subject staff in the school share the responsibility for ensuring that the needs of children with SEN are met as far as possible, often working in partnership with Curriculum Support.

The progress of children identified with Special Educational Needs is carefully monitored through their time at Springfield.  They participate fully in all extra curricular activities such as work experience and school trips and often achieve above expectation in their GCSE results.

Oonagh Palmer—SEN Governor