Course Overview

All young people have an entitlement to educational provision of the highest quality and one that maximises their potential. All staff at St Thomas of Aquin’s are committed to achieving this through an inspiring and inclusive curriculum, delivered through a range of differentiated teaching and learning opportunities. We believe in equality of opportunity for all by creating supportive and challenging environments that value diversity and recognise the achievements of all our young people. The Support for Learning department has a key role to play in enabling the principles of an inclusive education and whole school practice by:

• Creating an ethos of achievement for all pupils within a climate of high expectations
• Valuing a broad range of talents, abilities and achievements
• Promoting success and self-esteem by taking action to remove barriers to learning

Who do we support?

Children and young people who, for whatever reason, require additional support, long or short term, to help them make the most of education. The reasons can include:

• Autistic Spectrum Disorder
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Literacy difficulties and Dyslexia
• Sensory impairment
• Communication difficulties
• Being Particularly able
• English as an Additional Language
• A learning disability
• Physical disability
• Behavioural difficulties
• Moving home frequently
• Bullying
• Being a young carer
• Social or emotional needs
• Being a young parent

These are some of the reasons for Additional Support however there are many others. It is important to recognise that Additional Support Needs will always depend on each individual child as any number of different circumstances can affect a child’s ability to learn.

Broad General Education & Senior Phase Curricular Map

The Support for Learning faculty is committed to meeting the needs of all our young people by working collaboratively with pupils, parents/carers subject teachers and partner agencies.

Pupils are engaged in a range of learning opportunities through a flexible and relevant curriculum, facilitated by a team of 4 SfL teachers and 8 Pupil Support Assistants. A range of partners such as our EAL teacher, Speech and Language Therapist and Teacher of the Deaf compliment our team and work closely with our staff and relevant pupils to ensure our learners can access the curriculum and positively engage in school.

Inclusion Resource
St Thomas’ Inclusion Resource is one of four resourced schools in Edinburgh, focusing in supporting up to five students in every year from S1 to leaving age who have significant additional support needs, arising from learning difficulties and/ or language communication difficulties. These children are part of their mainstream class and additional curriculum activities specific to the child’s needs are offered by a team of trained support staff and qualified teachers. We provide individualised planning for each learner, a speech and language therapist who supports staff in meeting learning needs, partnership working with a host of agencies and individually planned transition arrangements post school. Places are allocated through the City of Edinburgh’s Case Management Review Group (CMRG). More information can be obtained from St Thomas of Aquin’s Support for Learning Department.

Speech and Language Therapy:
The Secondary Schools Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Team is based at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh. There are 4 therapists and one speech and language therapy assistant in this team and we provide support to all four resource schools in Edinburgh. We work collaboratively with teaching staff, particularly the Support for Learning teams, to identify communicative strengths and to support the communication needs of the pupils who have resource places. We support many different areas of communication, including young people who have difficulties with:
• Interacting with peers, establishing and maintaining friendships
• Understanding or using language (including vocabulary and grammar)
• Using intelligible speech
• Acquiring literacy skills
• Speaking fluently (stammering)
Much of the work we do involves working indirectly with the young people (i.e. training staff to use supportive communication strategies and techniques, setting Individual Education Plan targets, attending CPMs, providing useful resources) but we also work alongside teaching staff to deliver targeted groups (i.e. groups that support social skills, vocabulary development, emotional literacy). Some of these groups may include young people who are not part of the resource and some groups might take part outside of usual school hours and will also include parents. Very occasionally, it may be necessary to undertake some assessment and therapy with a young person on an individual basis and in such cases, a request for assistance to Speech and Language Therapy is required. The Secondary Schools SLT Team welcome contact from parents/carers. For more information, please contact St Thomas of Aquins’ Support for Learning Department.

Who Do We Work With?

Partnership and External Services Include:

·         Additional Support for Learning Service

·         ADHD team

·         Active Schools Inclusion

·         Associated Primary Schools

·         Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

·         Colleges

·         English Additional Language Teacher

·         Education Welfare Officer

·         Occupational Therapists

·         Parents/ Carers

·         Physiotherapists

·         Police

·         Physiological Services

·         School Nurse

·         Skills Development Scotland (Careers)

·         Social Services

·         Speech and Language Therapists

·         Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)

·         Visiting Teacher of the Deaf

Useful Links/Recommended Websites

Autism Scotland:      www.autism.org.uk

Dyslexia Scotland:    www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk

EAL                           www.ealedinburgh.org.uk

www.naldic.org.uk/eal-teaching-and-learning/eal-resources/bilingual

Stress:                      www.stressandanxietyinteenagers.co.uk

In on the Act:            www.edinburgh.gov.uk/inontheact

ICT ASL Service:     http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/ictasl

Parentline Scotland www.parentlinescotland.org.uk

CALL Scotland (assistive technology)     http://www.callscotland.org.uk/home/

Wheel of Apps (for ipad and android, apps to support literacy)    http://www.callscotland.org.uk/downloads/posters-and-leaflets/

My Study Bar (apps to support literacy and learning)   http://eduapps.org/

Load 2 Learn (learning resources in downloadable format)     https://load2learn.org.uk/

Down’s syndrome – http://www.dsscotland.org.uk/professional/education

Dyslexia Scotland – http://www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/

Dyspraxia – http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/

Enable – http://www.enable.org.uk/Pages/Enable_Home.aspx

Epilepsy – http://www.epilepsyscotland.org.uk/

Famous Dyslexics – http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/about-dyslexia/famous-dyslexics.html

Getting It Right for Every Child – http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/girfec

Meares Irlen Syndrome – https://www,nhsaaa,net/media/258210/mearesi.pdf

Scottish Advice Centre for Additional Support for Learning – http://enquire.org.uk/

• ADHD Information Services
•  Aphasia and Speech Difficulties ??? is this on the enquire website?
• Autism: National Autistic Society – Scotland | Autism Education Trust | Hesley Group | Autism Independent UK
•  Blindness: Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) |
•  Celebral Palsy: Scope
•  Cystic Fibrosis Trust
• Children: Resolve | National Children’s Bureau
•  Deafness: National Deaf Children’s Society Scotland | Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)
• Down’s Syndrome Association
• Drug Abuse: FRANK
•  British Dyslexia Association
•   Dyspraxia Foundation
• Edmodo
• Speech & Language Difficulties: Afasic
• Tourette’s Action           

• My Study Plan – SQA
• Inspiration Maps – InspirationSoftware
• Class Dojo – ClassTwist
• OpenWeb – AbbieGonzalez
• ModMath – DivisionofLabour
• SpeakIt! – FutureApps
• Dragon Dictation – NuanceCommunications
• Sound Literacy – ABCLiteracy
• WordSort – Grammaropolis
• Blio – SilverDolphin