Support Unit Policy

Rationale

As a Christian School we exist to serve God in educating His children. God is our mentor and supporter in life and so we extend this support to the children in our school. We are all God’s creation and He has made us all different and special. We acknowledge that children learn differently and some struggle to develop skills that are easy for others to acquire. We also believe that God has gifted all children and that each of us has a unique contribution to make to our world.

The Support Unit exists to provide help and encouragement for those children who find the acquiring of literacy and/or numeracy skills a challenge for whatever reason. Because these skills are so necessary in life we aim to help students to acquire these life skills in order that they may grow in their relationship with God and realize and use the gifts He has given them as they live and work for Him.

Support is not just the responsibility of the Support Unit. Support means providing an atmosphere within the school which supports children with learning difficulties. This is done through the love and care of staff and the commitment to finding and providing the most appropriate educational programs available to meet their needs.

Aims

1. Provide an atmosphere and program that is suited to the child’s needs and helps them reach their potential

2. To encourage children to accept their difficulties and search out and explore their individual giftedness

3. To help children understand their learning difficulty and identify ways of helping themselves achieve learning goals

4. To help children to manage their difficulty within the classroom environment

Educational Implications

1. Specialist involvement may be necessary

2. Special resources may need to be acquired

3. Individual work programs may need to be set

4. Consultation with parents to help set goals/expectations for the child and consideration of their expectations of the school

5. In-service training for staff

Structure

In 2006 the Support Unit will function for the first session of school (8.45 – 10.35) Monday – Thursday. (See term timetable for placement of students.) Students are withdrawn from class for one-to-one teaching sessions or in small groups of students where programs allow. Usually this will be with a trained teacher. Parent and/or volunteer helpers may be used to listen to reading, drill times tables, supervise parts of programs for which training has been provided etc, when they are available.

Assessment

Students are assessed using various tools.

Reading:

Various standardized reading and comprehension tests are available and 2006 sees the introduction of the PM Benchmark Reading Assessment for placement of students in the PM Core Reading Programme. Performance on Basic Skills tests and consultation with classroom teachers as to student’s particular difficulties are also considered valuable indicators of below average achievement.

Spelling:

Schonell S1 and South Australian Spelling Test are used in the classroom. Weekly spelling tests and spelling used in written work are used as indicators of below average achievement. Spelling of grade core list words are also assessed. SRA Spelling Mastery Placement Tests are used to place children needing help into the Spelling Mastery program.

Maths:

Targeting Maths assessments are used to indicate areas of weakness along with National Assessment Program for Literacy And Numeracy. Consultation with teachers and classroom performance in the Targeting Maths program are also considered diagnostic in nature with there being various indicators of below average achievement and gaps in learning.