Learning Support: An Introduction for Newly Appointed Learning Support Teachers

WALT                        WILF  

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What Are we Learning Today?

What am I Looking For?

WALT      

•  Context  for  Learning  Support:  Current  Provision  

•  Inclusion  •  Planning:  Iden9fica9on  of  Caseload  •  Staged  Approach  Circular  02/05  •  Language  Support  •  Sharing  of  Resources  •  Documenta9on    and  Record  Keeping    

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Defini-ons  of  Special  Educa-onal  Need  (SEN)  

Educa-on  Act  1998,  2(e)  “the  educa9onal  needs  of  students  who  have  a  disability  and  the  educa9onal  needs  of  excep9onally  able  students”  

Educa-on  for  Persons  with  Special  Educa-onal  Needs  (EPSEN  2004)  'A  restric9on  in  the  capacity  of  the  person  to  par9cipate  in  and  benefit  from  educa9on  on  account  of  an  enduring  physical,  sensory,  mental  health  or  learning  disability,  or  any  other  condi9on  which  results  in  a  person  learning  differently  from  a  person  without  that  condi9on'.  

SeGng  the  scene:  current  support  provision  

•  Children  who  receive  Learning  Support  

•  Children  who  receive  Low  Incidence  Teaching  Hours  (LITH)/Resource  Hours  

•  Language  Support  •  Other  

•  Similar  •  Dissimilar  •  What  dis9nguishes  one  group  from  another?  

•  Labelling,  how  useful  is  it?    

Language  of  SEN  

•  ShiU  in  emphasis  on  the  language  used  for  labelling  children  

•   ‘Normal’  v  ‘Special’  •  Resources  and  extra  provision  are  s9ll  largely  9ed  to  labels  and  categories  of  need  (NCSE  2010)  

Model  for  Alloca-ng  Support    (NCSE  2013)  

•  Students  with  special  educa9onal  needs  do  not  have  equitable  access  to  formal  assessments  which  means  in  turn  that  they  do  not  have  equitable  access  to  teaching,  care  and  other  supports.    

•  The  alloca9on  of  addi9onal  State  educa9onal  resources  should  not  depend  on  a  parent’s  ability  to  pay  for  professional  assessments  or  the  proximity  to  HSE  supports.    

•  The  level  of  addi9onal  supports  provided  should  be  in  line  with  the  needs  of  the  child  rather  than  being  linked  to  a  diagnosis  of  a  par9cular  category  of  disability.    

•  At  a  9me  of  scarce  resources,  all  teaching  posts  should  be  allocated  in  line  with  profiled  educa9onal  need  within  a  school  rather  than  the  number  of  class  teachers  or  students  within  a  school.    

               

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Inclusive  Educa-on  Framework    (NCSE  2011)  

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What  is  it?  

•  The  Inclusive  Educa.on  Framework    can  be  used    to  assist  schools  plan,  measure  and  improve  how  pupils  with  special  educa9onal  needs  are  supported.    

•  It  provides  an  opportunity  for  every  school  to  discuss  and  assess  the  way  pupils  with  special  educa9onal  needs  are  included  in  their  schools  

         (NCSE  2011  p.5)    

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The  Framework  invites  school  to…  

•  Show  what  they  are  doing  well  •  Iden9fy  areas  where  they  need  to  improve  •  Rate  their  levels  of  inclusion    •  Put  plans  in  place  to  address  the  areas  for  improvement  

       NCSE  2011  p.5  

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Planning  in  individual  schools    •  Iden9fy  all  pupils  in  need  of  addi9onal  support  

                                   WALT                                        TIB  

•  Circular  02/05    

Staged  Approach  to  SEN  

•  Stage  One:  Class  Teacher  •  Stage  Two:  referral  to  support  teacher  –  IPLP  •  Stage  Three:  referral  to  outside  agencies  –  psychologist  …  

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Stage  1  

•  Class  Teacher  in  conjunc9on  with  the  parent(s)  

•  Screening  measures  •  Draw  up  simple  plan  •  Review  •  No  further  ac9on  required/monitoring/refer  to  Learning  Support  Teacher  (Stage  11)  

                                   Stage  1  Documenta9on    

Learning  Support:  2nd  Term  Junior  Infants  2013:    L  &  N  Strategy  2011:  81    

Stage  Two:  Referral  to  Support  Teacher  –  IPLP    

•  Referral  to  LS  teacher  with  parental  permission  •  Further  diagnos9c  tes9ng  •  Supplementary  teaching  if  indicated  •  Parental  involvement    and  class  teacher  involvement  in  

drawing  up  plan  •  Regular  review  •  Persistent  or  on-­‐going  concerns  aUer  adapta9ons  to  learning  

programme  •  Stage  111  

Stage  Three:  Referral  to  Outside  Agencies  

•  School  requests  consulta9on  and  possibly  an  assessment  from  a  specialist  outside  the  school  

•  Draw  up  learning  programme    •  Parental  consulta9on  throughout  the  process  •  Regular  review  •  Some  children  with  very  significant  special  educa9onal  needs  will  require  interven9on  at  Stage  111  on  school  entry  

Na9onal  Educa9onal  Psychological  Service  (NEPS)  

Model  of  Support  

Planning  in  individual  schools    

•  Iden9fy  all  pupils  in  need  of  addi9onal  support  

•  Circular  02/05    

Planning  in  individual  schools    

Having  iden9fied  all  pupils  in  need  of  addi9onal  support,  we  next:    

•  Iden9fy  level  of  interven9on  required  •  Iden9fy  all  members  of  teaching  staff  •  Allocate  staff  to  the  pupils  •  Cross-­‐reference  the  programme  needs  of  pupils  with  learning  needs  

•  Tracking  and  monitoring  system  (Circular  02/05:  43)  

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Supplementary  Teaching:  Selec-on  

� Stage      11  � Stage  111    Low  incidence  � Stage  111  High  incidence          � 10th  /  12th  percen9le  in  English  � Early  interven9on  in  English  (LSG,  2000:  22)  � 10th  /  12th  percen9le  in  Maths  � Early  interven9on  in  Maths  (LSG,  2000:  56–60)    Preven'on:  (LSG,  2000:  47)  EAL  (L  &  N  Strategy,  2011)              Circular  07/2012    

Circular  07/2012    •  3.  Combining  General  Alloca-on  Model  (GAM)  and  EAL  (Language  Support)    •  The  General  Alloca9on  Model  of  support  to  schools  is  being  adjusted  to  combine  general  alloca9on  

and  language  support  into  a  single  and  simplified  alloca9on  for  all  primary  schools.  Addi9onal  support  will  be  provided  for  schools  with  high  concentra9ons  of  pupils  that  require  language  support.    

•  These  arrangements  supersede  the  alloca9on  process  set  out  in  (Part  2)  Sec9on  6  and  Appendix  2  of  Circular  SP  ED  02/05  for  the  General  Alloca9on  Model  and  in  Circular  0015/2009  for  language  support,  respec9vely.    

•  Schools  will  have  autonomy  on  how  to  deploy  the  resource  between  language  support  and  learning  support  depending  on  their  specific  needs.  Schools  should  con9nue  to  use  the  language  assessment  kits  for  the  accurate  ini9al  and  on-­‐going  assessment  of  language  proficiency  of  pupils  that  require  language  support  (see  for  reference  Circular  0015/2009  

•  Schools  should  also  con9nue  to  refer  to  the  guidance  contained  in  Circular  02/05  (Sec9ons  3-­‐5)  with  regard  to  pupils  covered  for  learning  support  by  the  general  alloca9on  model,  deployment  of  teaching  resources  for  special  educa9onal  needs,  and  planning  in  individual  schools.    

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EAL  

           Current  Provision  Within  Your  School    

             Learning  Difficulty  v  Language  Support    

Value  for  Money  Review  spending  would  be  more  effec-ve  if  a  greater  propor-on  of  it  was  

targeted  at  improving  all  teachers’  ability  to  respond  to  the  learning  needs  of  EAL  students  and  a  smaller  propor-on  spent  on  addi-onal  EAL  teachers.  The  study  noted  that  this  was  the  prac-ce  in  Northern  Ireland  where  there  had  been  considerable  

success  in  geGng  teachers  and  schools  to  understand  the  importance  of  all  teachers  playing  their  role  in  suppor-ng  language  development,    

EAL  Resources  hmp://www.integra9on.ie/website/omi/omiwebv6.nsf/page/usefullinks-­‐irish-­‐DepartmentEduca9onportaleducators-­‐en      hmp://www.ncca.ie/en/Curriculum_and_Assessment/Inclusion/English_as_an_Addi9onal_Language/IILT_Materials/Primary/        Up  and  Away  My  First  English  Book             24

Rainbow  Ac-vity  Sharing  of  Ideas  

•  Assessments  •  Literacy  Resources  •  Numeracy  Resources  •  Websites  •  Early  Interven9on  Ideas  

Principles  of  Learning  Support  

• Effec9ve  whole-­‐school  policies  and  parental  involvement  

• Preven9on  of  failure  •   Provision  of  intensive  early  interven9on  • Direc9on  of  resources  towards  pupils  in  greatest  need  

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Early  Interven-on  

It  is  most  important,  therefore,  that  all  schools  implement  effec9ve  early  interven9on  programmes  to  ensure  that  children  with  learning  difficul9es  do  not  slip  through  the  net  at  the  early  stages  of  their  primary  educa9on.  (Introduc9on  to  LS  Guidelines  p.8)      

Early  Interven9on  in  Your  School          

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Tackling  low  achievement  

Schools  successful  in  tackling  low  achievement    ü place  a  high  priority  on  the  enhancement  of  classroom-­‐based  learning  and  on  the  preven9on  of  learning  difficul9es  at  all  levels  within  the  school;  

ü support  pupils  experiencing  low  achievement  and/or  learning  difficul9es  through  a  team  approach  which  involves  the  pupils  themselves,  their  teachers,  parents  and  relevant  support  personnel  

Chief  Inspector’s  Report  (DES  2013)  

       In  a  number  of  instances,  inspectors  advised    schools  to  explore  models  of  in-­‐class  support  instead  of  relying  exclusively  on  a  model  of  support  that  involved  withdrawing  pupils  from  the  mainstream  classroom.  (DES  2013  p.52)  

NCSE  (2010)  

Within  the  classroom,  certain  teaching  strategies  have  been  iden9fied  as  helpful  to  the  inclusion  of  students  with  special  educa9onal  needs.  Examples  include  co-­‐opera9ve  teaching,  co-­‐opera9ve  learning,  individualised  planning,  collabora9ve  problem-­‐solving,  heterogeneous  grouping  and  differen9a9on.    NCSE  2010  

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Circular  02/05   “It   is   intended   that   the   general   alloca9on   will  enable   schools   to   allow   for   in-­‐class   as   well   as  out-­‐of-­‐class   teaching   support   by   the   learning-­‐support/resource  teacher”.  

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Learning  Support  Guidelines  (LSG)  

•  The  learning  support  guidelines  advocate  placing  a  high  priority  on  enhancing  classroom-­‐based  learning  through  alterna.ve  groupings  and  providing  shared  teaching  approaches  in  the  pupil’s  classroom.    

 •  The  main  role  of  the  learning  support  /  resource  teacher  

is  to  provide  supplementary  teaching  either  in  the  pupils’  own  classrooms  or  in  a  learning  support  room.  

                 

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Individual  Pupil  Learning  Profile  (IPLP)  

         What  informa9on  would  you  need  to  know  before  you  can  work  with  the  child?  

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Addi9onal  Informa9on  

•  Accommoda9ons   •  Implica9ons  for  Teaching  &  Learning  

     Guidelines  for  Teachers  of  Students  with  Mild  General  Learning  Disabili9es  

Weekly/Fortnightly  Notes  

   

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Daily  Planning  Sheet  p.74  LSG  

Records  

•  Data  protec9on  refer  to  NCCA  2007  •  Storage    

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Further  Support  

•  www.pdst.ie  •  www.sess.ie  •  hmp://www.sess.ie/dyslexia-­‐webcast  •  hmp://www.educa9on.ie/en/Schools-­‐Colleges/Services/Educa9onal-­‐Psychologist-­‐NEPS-­‐/