Special Needs

A member of the teaching staff, Mrs. Williamson, is presently our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator and has specific responsibility for arranging additional help for children who the school considers require such assistance. This may be through specific activities arranged with the class teacher or by withdrawing children in small groups for help in a specific subject area.

During the 2000/2001 academic year we have a number of staff helping with this work.

Mrs. Gill, the Vice Principal, and Mrs Stevens, normally work with small groups of children who are withdrawn from their class for concentrated short term support.

Mrs Williamson and Mrs. Hampton work with year two pupils using the Reading Recovery Programme.

If, despite additional help, a child is unable to progress as the school would wish then advice will be sought from the Southern Education and Library Board. This may involve the S.E.L.B. issuing a Statement of Special Educational Needs. The S.E.L.B. will then attempt to meet these needs through extra assistance in Millington or by a placement in a special needs unit or school, as is deemed most appropriate.

The process of determining that a child has special educational needs in accordance with the law is a lengthy one and involves close co-operation between the school, parents, educational psychologists and the school medical authorities. There is an S.E.L.B. Education Officer with responsibility for children with special educational needs, who deals with most of the arrangements for these matters, and his department would be able to provide information and guidance for parents about the procedure to be followed after they have discussed the child’s needs with the school staff.