Admission to Special Support Centres

The special support centre will support children and young people:

• whose associated learning needs will be most appropriately met with access to a broadly mainstream curriculum
• who may be working at levels significantly below their expected age-related curriculum outcomes, due to the impact of their additional learning needs

The profile for each child and young person with additional learning needs is different. They may have difficulty with:

• processing information
• retrieval of information
• the acquisition of literacy or numeracy skills
• organisational skills

Curriculum

A specific curriculum offer for children and young people with cognition and learning challenges that will focus on the delivery of key targets across a broad range of educational activities.

A broad, balanced and individualised curriculum leading to appropriate learning and social outcomes for all children and young people will be delivered.

Support will be based on the child or young person’s EHCP and may focus on:

• developing processing skills
• providing alternative methods for recording ideas
• teaching retrieval methods
• developing sequencing skills
• supporting the development of wellbeing and emotional regulation

There may be a significant difference in a student’s academic attainment to those of their peers, or they may have a specific learning profile that requires more specialist support.

Educational settings will have followed the graduated approach and provided appropriate adaptation for pupils in the mainstream setting over a period of time, before it is decided that the child or young person needs a more specific level of support.

The special support centre will support children and young people who:

• are deaf or hearing impaired, or have a vision impairment whose needs will be most appropriately met with access to a broadly mainstream curriculum within an accessible environment
• may be working at levels below their expected age-related curriculum outcomes due to the impact of their deafness or hearing impairment or vision impairment

Pupils who are deaf or hearing impaired or have a vision impairment may have difficulty with:

• progress within the curriculum which has been affected by deafness or vision impairment, such as significant speech and language delay or significant difficulties in accessing the curriculum
• learning due to access (deafness or vision impairment)
• tiredness and concentration levels and a difficulty to attend due to their deafness or vision impairment
• sensory difficulties associated with their deafness or vision impairment

Curriculum

Specialist teaching will be provided for children and young people on an individual basis and in small groups as appropriate to each student’s needs.

There will be a specific curriculum offer for children and young people focused on the delivery of key targets across a broad range of educational activities.

The curriculum is accessible for all children and young people and is adapted to meet the needs of children and young people who are deaf or have a vision impairment.

Support is provided to ensure that linguistic access for deaf children and young people reflects their preferred language and communication method.

Broad, balanced and individualised curriculum leading to appropriate learning, physical and social outcomes for all students.

Individualised programmes of work will be based on the CYP’s EHCP and may focus on:

• modification of resources to aid development of literacy and mathematical skills
• pre- and post-teaching of key skills, vocabulary and concepts
• supporting the development of focus, organisation and independence
• supporting the development of wellbeing and emotional regulation
• developing their independence in accessing and using specialist technology
• self-advocacy

The special support centre will support children and young people:

• with a physical disability whose needs will be most appropriately met with access to a broadly mainstream curriculum within an accessible environment
• who may be working at levels below their expected age-related curriculum outcomes due to the impact of their physical disability
• with a physical disability which may include a diagnosed medical condition (however, a physical disability or medical condition does not necessarily imply a special educational need)

They may have difficulty with:

• progress within the curriculum which has been affected by their condition or medication and absences from school
• learning due to associated cognitive difficulties
• tiredness and concentration levels
• mobility including gross and fine motor skills
• sensory processing difficulties associated with their condition

Curriculum

Specialist teaching will be provided for pupils on an individual basis and in small groups as appropriate to each pupil’s needs.

There will be a specific curriculum offer for pupils focused on the delivery of key targets across a broad range of educational activities.

Broad, balanced and individualised curriculum leading to appropriate learning, physical and social outcomes for all pupils.

Individualised programmes of work will be based on the pupil’s EHCP and may focus on:

• developing mobility, gross and fine motor skills
• supporting literacy and mathematical skills
• supporting the development of attention, organisation, memory and independence
• supporting the development of wellbeing and emotional regulation
• sensory processing needs

The special support centre will support children and young people:

• with significant social communication differences whose associated learning needs will be most appropriately met with access to a broadly mainstream curriculum
• who may be working at levels below their expected age-related curriculum outcomes or have a spiky attainment profile, due to the impact of their significant social communication differences
• to build understanding of self and any diagnosis in a positive and affirming way
• who may have differences in their ability to:
  • understand and use non-verbal and verbal communication
  • understand social communication which in turn may impact their interactions with peers and adults
  • use their executive functioning skills to access the learning environment
  • process and modulate sensory information including sounds, sights, smell, touch, and taste, vestibular, proprioceptive and interoceptive stimuli
  • develop literacy, numeracy and other independent learning skills
  • develop gross and fine motor skills
  • monitor and evaluate the intensity of their emotional responses and, in addition, find it difficult to recognise their emotions and therefore need support in developing strategies to aid independence
  • present as their authentic self without the need to mask

Curriculum

The children and young people in the special support centre are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum, ensuring that they access their full entitlement to education so that gaps in learning do not appear.

It is anticipated that specialist teaching and other support, such as regulation or sensory breaks will be provided. These will be facilitated for all children and young people on an individual basis and in small groups as appropriate to each pupil’s needs.

There will be a specific curriculum offer for children and young people with significant communication and interaction differences focused on the delivery of key targets across a broad range of educational activities.

Individualised programmes of work will be based on the child or young person’s EHCP and may focus on supporting the development of:

• the pupil’s understanding and use of non-verbal and verbal communication
• their social awareness
• executive function skills
• and understanding of emotional and sensory regulation skills

The special support centre will support children and young people:

• with significant speech, language and communication needs whose associated learning needs will be most appropriately met with access to a broadly mainstream curriculum
• who may be working at levels below their expected age-related curriculum outcomes due to the impact of their significant speech, language and communication needs

The profile for every child or young person with speech, language and communication needs are different. They may have difficulty with:

• using clear speech (speech production)
• finding words and structuring sentences to express themselves (expressive language)
• understanding what others say (receptive language and comprehension skills)
• fluency difficulties, such as stammering

Their speech, language and communication needs may also mean that they have difficulties with understanding or using social rules of communication and reading social interaction cues.

Curriculum

Specialist teaching will be provided for pupils on an individual basis and in small groups as appropriate to each pupil’s needs.

There will be a specific curriculum offer for pupils with significant speech, language and communication challenges focused on the delivery of key targets across a broad range of educational activities.

Broad, balanced and individualised curriculum leading to appropriate learning and social outcomes for all pupils.

Individualised programmes of work will be based on the pupil’s EHCP and may focus on:

• developing speech production skills
• developing word finding and sentence structuring skills
• supporting comprehension and receptive language skills
• developing understanding or using social rules of communication and reading social interaction cues