Our Pupil Support team offers pupils, parents and staff advice and support to allow everyone as much access to the curriculum as possible.  This ranges from help to construct differentiated materials, through staff development on strategies to cope with particular difficulties to in-class support for pupils.

The use of ICT and concessions such as reader/scribes are also used where appropriate.

Staff are kept updated through CPD from support staff, the Authority and experienced visiting speakers.  Information is also issued to each department on individuals’ needs and how these can best be addressed.

All children and young people need support to help them benefit from education. The main sources of support are school staff who, through good practice, are able to meet a diverse range of needs. With good teaching, and the provision of an appropriately differentiated curriculum, most children and young people are able to benefit from education without the provision of any additional support.

However, any child or young person could, at some time in their school career, need something additional to, or different from, the support given generally to most other children of the same age in order to help them overcome a barrier to their learning and benefit from school education. These children and young people have additional support needs and they are entitled to additional support for learning to help them learn and achieve their potential.

The school works within South Ayrshire Council’s staged intervention framework to identify and meet the needs of pupils with additional support needs.  A wide range of strategies are used to ensure that the needs of individual pupils are met appropriately.

In accordance with school and local authority policy, Pupil Support teachers and Pupil Support Assistants support pupils within the classroom, but additional support can also be offered within the Pupil Support department.

Evidence for additional assessment arrangements for pupils with additional support needs is gathered throughout each pupil’s school career and put in place for assessments within class, prelims and SQA exams.  These arrangements may include the use of Digital Question Papers (where a computer is used to “read” text to pupils and access to a spellchecker can overcome spelling difficulties), Reader/Scribe (where someone would read and write text as required), transcription, extra-time or other appropriate strategies.

Pupils who have additional support needs may also receive assistance within school from other professionals, for example Speech and Language therapy or Visual Impairment.

Close liaison between Year Heads, class teachers, Guidance staff, Pupil Support teachers, Pupil Support Assistants and parents help to ensure that the educational provision is appropriate for all pupils.