Special Education Needs Hollygirt School

Special Education Needs and Disabilities

Special Education Needs and Disabilities

Hollygirt is a flexible school which focuses clearly on the individual.

Within our small inclusive classes, we have been very successful in managing a variety of special educational needs, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, some children on the autistic spectrum, as well as pupils with a certain level of physical disability and those with anxiety issues.

Pupils who enter the school with a prior diagnosis:

We look at each individual to see if Hollygirt is the school in which they can thrive. We will need to ensure the diagnosed needs can be met with reasonable adjustments. Parents, staff and the pupil would be involved in transition arrangements and on entry to the school any requirements would be written into an individual plan, shared with all the teachers and subject to regular review.

Pupils already in the school:

If concerns are raised by teachers, or by parents the Special Educational Needs Coordinator/Class teacher will agree a tailored plan to target specific learning, social, organizational or behavioral needs. These plans are regularly updated. Sometimes parents are advised to seek an Educational Psychologist’s report to identify the level of need or to get a clear diagnosis . All pupils are routinely screened in Year 9 to ensure appropriate access arrangements in public examinations are offered to all who need them and would benefit from extra time or other concession.

The department is staffed by the Head of Pupil Support, teaching assistants and a 1:1 specialist who offers targeted support to individuals’ needs (at an additional charge).

Currently pupils in Senior School who have particular difficulties in Mathematics and English will be offered small group tuition rather than study a Modern Foreign Language in Years 7,8 and 9 and a reduced curriculum and further support is available in Years 10 and 11.

The school has a number of classroom assistants who in Junior School work alongside pupils and the class teacher to offer help: support and stretch. There is limited assistant support in the Senior School. Classroom assistants are not designated to support named individuals.

We currently have no additional professional services for example Speech and Language therapists, occupational therapists or Physiotherapy, though a number of practitioners work with individuals in the school by private arrangement with the parents.

We have difficulties accommodating pupils who cannot manage the physical environment unaided or who require a level of one to one assistance within the classroom beyond the provision stated above. Parents are advised to let us know before the registration process commences if they are concerned about their child’s level of need.

EHC plans

We have a number of pupils who are in receipt of an EHC plan and on occasions the local authority will fund a pupil’s place if it deems Hollygirt can better and more economically meet the pupil’s identified needs.

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