teacher helping 2 students play dominoes

Learning Support

All pupils at Beachborough are taught a wide-ranging curriculum within mainstream classes. Quality teaching is a priority, which means that all classwork and prep is differentiated, so that pupils are challenged according to their own level, enabling everyone to achieve success.

Children complete English and Maths assessments prior to entry to the school to ensure that, should they be offered a place, their needs can be met. Furthermore, it is essential that prospective parents share any existing concerns and information relating to previous learning support, assessment or involvement from other agencies/professionals (e.g. Speech & Language Therapy; Educational Psychology).

All pupils from PP1 complete termly assessments and annual standardised testing, information from which is used to monitor progress and identify any discrepancies between ability and attainment. In addition to this, pupils can be referred to the Learning Support Department at any point during the school year, should staff or parents have concerns.

The Learning Success Department at Beachborough is a well-resourced and integral part of the school. The department is led by a specialist teacher, who is a member of the Senior Management Team, and includes an Early Years SENCO and a number of Learning Support Assistants (LSAs).

Children identified as having Special Educational Needs (SEN) and/or Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) will have a personalised Provision Map which is used by all staff to inform lesson planning and teaching. Parents and pupils (where age-appropriate) are invited to contribute to the drafting of the Provision Map, and subsequent reviews.

In addition to their Provision Map, pupils may be offered additional support through one or more of the following pathways:

  • LSA support within normal lessons (Forms III to VIII)
  • Withdrawal from lessons (fixed or rolling slots) for 1:1 support (Early Years, Pre-Prep and Forms III-IV)
  • Before-school intervention groups (Pre-Prep and Forms III-IV)
  • Small-group tuition, via withdrawal from the Spanish lessons; all pupils take French (Forms V-VIII)
  • Supported prep sessions (Forms V-VIII)
  • The Learning Zone Buddies peer-mentoring programme (Forms III-VIII)

There are occasions where parents may be signposted to seek external advice from other professionals/ specialists (e.g., Educational Psychologists; Speech & Language Therapists; Occupational Therapists; Paediatricians; Behavioural Optometrists). Any subsequent feedback/ reports are summarised by the Head of Learning Success; this information is shared with all staff to enable appropriate individualised provision and differentiation to be established across all relevant aspects of school-life.

On rare occasions, where it is felt that a pupil’s needs have become more complex and exceed the level of support available through the usual pathways, additional funding may be sought from the Local Authority. This may be short-term (through a High Needs Block Funding request) or longer-term (through a request for Statutory Assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan). Parent consent will always be sought in such circumstances and parent input into the application will be expected.

Book your personalised tour with our Admissions Team