Special Educational Needs in St. Andrew’s College Secondary Department

Mission Statement:
The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Department seeks to provide academic and pastoral support to students with special educational needs, through early identification, specialist tuition and comprehensive liaison with parents, year teams and subject teachers.

Students with Special Educational Needs:
Students whose educational needs are provided for by the SEN Department:

• Students who have been assessed by a psychologist and identified as having a Specific Learning Difficulty (SLD)
  
  
• Students who have non-specific learning difficulties and who are identified by subject teachers as being unable to cope adequately with the demands of the curriculum.

Students whose educational needs are the primary responsibility of other departments:

• Students whose learning difficulties are diagnosed as being caused by behavioural or motivational difficulties (Year Team)
  
  
• Students who are not native English speakers (EFL Department)
  
  
• Students with physical difficulties (Year Team)

SEN Procedures:

Internal Liaison:

• The SEN co-ordinator will acquaint the staff annually with the policies and procedures of the SEN department.
  
  
• The SEN department will maintain a list of students who have SEN. This list will be issued to all staff at the beginning of each school year, and updated at the Wednesday staff meetings as necessary.
  
  
• Subject teachers should familiarise themselves with the details of any SEN student they teach by liaising with the SEN department and/or the year team.
  
  
• Form teachers should liaise with the SEN coordinator to familiarise themselves with details of the individual education programme (IEP) being followed by each SEN student.
  
  
• The SEN coordinator will liaise with year heads and the coordinators of the English and Mathematics Departments. Year heads will then liaise with form teachers regarding SEN students.
  
  
• The SEN co-ordinator will meet with year heads at the start of the school year to discuss the needs of SEN students for whom they have responsibility.
  
  
• Subject teachers should inform the SEN co-ordinator and the relevant form teacher, by way of a student information sheet, if they have concerns regarding the academic progress of a student.

Liaison with Parents 

• The SEN co-ordinator is available, by appointment, to meet parents who wish to discuss the progress of their son or daughter.
  
  
• Parents of SEN students receiving tuition from the SEN department will receive  written reports at the end of the Autumn and Summer terms.
  
  
• Parents should provide copies of all available information relating to any academic difficulties their shild may have experienced prior to entering the College.

Assessment

• All incoming First Year students will be assessed on the First Year Assessment Day in May. These assessments help to identify students with learning difficulties. The results are also used by the Year Head of First Year to assist with the process of creating balanced, mixed-ability intake classes.
  
  
• Two further assessment days will be held - one before the first half-term holiday, and one following the Christmas holiday. This is to ensure that all students in First and Second Year can be assessed. Parents will be notified of these dates by letter. Where a student has been unable to attend for assessment it will be the responsibility of the parents to organise an initial assessment privately outside the school.
  
  
• All test results are confidential. Parents wishing to receive assessment scores should make an appointment with the SEN coordinator who will explain the significance and limitations of particular test results.
  
  
• Where assessment results or observations of subject teachers indicate a possible cause for concern, parents will be invited by the form teacher to attend a meeting with the SEN coordinator. This is to facilitate any external assessments which may be thought necessary and to allow an appropriate programme to be put in place for the student.

Tuition
Where a student has been formally diagnosed as having learning difficulties one or more of a number of options may be pursued.

1. The student receives an individual education programme (IEP) from the SEN department who will liaise with parents to help the student at home. The SEN department can provide parents with appropriate resource materials for the student to work on at home under parental supervision.
   
   
2. A student who qualifies for exemption from Irish on the grounds of a learning difficulty will be given tuition in a small group or individually in the SEN department. He/she will also be supervised while working independently on the IEP.
   
   
3. Where a student wishes to continue the study of Irish he/she may choose to give up one optional subject from the Junior Certificate programme. The student will then be given tuition in a small group or individually in the SEN department. He/she will also be supervised while working independently on the IEP.
   
   
4. In cases where a period of short-term intervention is needed to address a particular difficulty a student can be withdrawn from class to work in a one-to-one situation in the SEN department. This will happen only with the agreement of the teachers involved, and for a maximum of six classes.Parents may make private arrangements for tuition outside school hours.
   
   
5. Parents may make private arrangements for tuition outside school hours.

Special Arrangements in State Examinations

• Each year, when the Department of Education informs the school of the special arrangements available for the Junior and Leaving Certificate examinations, parents of all students presenting for state examinations will ben notified of these by letter. In cases where parents wish to avail of the special arrangements an application will be submitted on their behalf by the SEN coordinator.
  
  

Special Educational Needs Department as a resource:

• The SEN department maintains a range of resource materials on topics related to SEN which all staff are welcome to use.
  
  
• The SEN department will endeavour to provide any specific information or resource relating to SEN which individual staff members may wish to use.

Staff Development:

• St. Andrew’s College is committed to providing ongoing in-service training for staff in the area of SEN.