6 minute read
Pastoral Support of Students
WHOLE SCHOOL POLICIES
Pastoral Support of Students
Rationale
ACG accepts a duty for the care and oversight of both the academic needs and personal well-being of students. ACG also acknowledges a duty to support students in their transfer to a new environment, particularly where there is an increasing emphasis on personal motivation and responsibility related to the age and origin of the student.
Aims
• To provide personal oversight of each student with an emphasis on open and honest communication. • To establish and maintain close contacts between home and school.
• To ensure appropriate support is available to students when and as needed.
Guidelines
1. The Principal has overall responsibility for the pastoral care of students but may delegate day to day oversight to another staff member.
2. Deans may be appointed to coordinate programmes of pastoral care. 3. Advisors or homeroom teachers shall be assigned to every student. They shall meet individually and regularly with each student with a view to focusing on the meeting of individual needs. These meetings shall be documented. 4. Advisors or homeroom teachers shall maintain regular contact (in person or by phone) with parents/guardians throughout the year, so that they remain well informed about progress and any other welfare matters. Parents/guardians may also contact any staff member regarding progress and welfare related to their child. 5. Advisors or homeroom teachers shall meet with parents/guardians to discuss the progress of students as specified by the Principal.
At primary levels (years 1 – 6) interviews will be at least two times, per year. At secondary levels some interviews may also be held with students.
Rationale
ACG School Jakarta recognises that all students have individual needs, such as learning, social, behavioural or emotional. We believe that all students who attend our school, regardless of background, culture and ability, should be supported to meet their full potential. Support is provided to ACG School Jakarta students with special educational needs, giving them the best opportunity to develop academic performance and improve confidence in all areas of the curriculum.
Aims of the Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Policy
• To develop a shared understanding of what special educational needs means in the context of ACG School Jakarta; • To clarify the school’s scope and considerations regarding students with special educational needs; • To support students in helping them to achieve their targets in each learning area; • To provide Educational Adjustment Plans (EAPs), which outline the methods, strategies, and learning targets.
Children have additional learning needs if they: • Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age. • Have a significant talent or natural ability greater than the majority of children of the same age. • Have behavioural and/or emotional difficulties that hinder them from learning at a similar rate as the majority of children of the same age. • Have a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools. Note: Children receiving English Language Support (ELS) are provided for outside of Special Educational Needs. Reference should be made to the English Language Support (ELS) Policy.
Special educational provision means:
An educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of the same age.
Critical Success Factors
• The culture, practice, management and deployment of resources at ACG School Jakarta are designed to ensure all students’ needs are met.
WHOLE SCHOOL POLICIES
• Schools consider best practice when developing interventions. • The wishes of the student are considered, taking into account their age and understanding. • Special education professionals and parents work in partnership. • Special education professionals take into account the views of individual parents with regard to their child’s particular needs. • Interventions for each student are reviewed regularly to assess their impact, the student progress and the views of the student, their teachers and their parents.
Considerations for inclusive practice at ACG School Jakarta
The international curricula at ACG School Jakarta secures access to the essential areas of learning and provides for the development of the knowledge, understanding and skills that students will need in order to become active and responsible global citizens. Informed and effective curriculum differentiation is the result of the school’s cycle of observation, assessment, planning and review. A variety of pedagogical approaches should be implemented to maximise the achievement of all students. These kinds of arrangements apply to all students and are not part of special educational provision. Careful consideration of the school’s ethos and the learning environment can help prevent some special educational needs arising, and minimise others. Differentiation of learning helps ACG School Jakarta to meet the learning needs of all children. Students’ learning difficulties may manifest as a result of difficulties within the child and/or a school’s own practices. Teachers’ planning should be flexible in order to recognize the needs of all students as individuals and to ensure progression, relevance and differentiation. Providing effective learning opportunities for all students offer three key principles for inclusion: • Setting suitable learning challenges; • Responding to students’ diverse needs; • Overcoming potential learning and assessment barriers for individuals or groups of students.
The decision to accept a new student with special educational needs, or the decision to request an existing family to find an alternative educational institution for their child with special educational needs, will be made by the Principal. In circumstances where, during the school enrolment process, parents did not disclose their child’s full history, including SEN information or previous counselling/therapies, the School reserves the right to request the family to find an alternative educational institution for their child.
Provisions of Support & Monitoring Progress
At ACG School Jakarta, we take a graduated response to providing support: Classroom Initiative and School Initiative, which starts with the teacher and gathers further specialist input over time. • Classroom Initiative is when a student has been identified as having an additional need that requires intervention. Intervention may include additional or different teaching materials or a different way of teaching. Further intervention could be small group booster sessions, for example, in Mathematics or Reading.
• School Initiative is when, despite the Classroom Initiative, a student does not make expected progress. Intervention may include intensive targeted support, including one-to-one or small group support by a teaching assistant or specialist teacher. The student will continue to work on precise personal targets and timelines as outlined in the EAP. • Parents will be requested to have their child undertake an Educational Assessment. • An Educational Adjustment Plan (EAP) is used to outline the different or additional provision to be made for the student, including teaching strategies and short-term goals. The EAP identifies a Performance Measurement Standard for each goal. The EAP is reviewed termly. For both the Classroom Initiative and School Initiative provisions of support, the student is added to the SEN Register in Learning Support - SEN.
A student will remain on the SEN Register until the student has been assessed to no longer require additional support, as they have made expected levels of progress for their year group.
