Learning Development Policies1. Introduction Discovery College provides for students with individual needs in line with the requirements of The English Schools Foundation (ESF) Special Educational Needs (SEN) Policy (2007) and supports ESF SEN Guidance for implementing the SEN Policy (2008). It reflects international best practice in codes of practice for students with special educational needs. At Discovery College we recognise that all children are individuals in terms of their intellectual and physical abilities and their social and emotional needs. We are sensitive to our students' needs and provide additional support for those learners whose needs are not being fully met for reasons of language, physical disability, or academic ability. These students may have exceptional academic abilities or difficulties in cognitive and learning, communication and interaction, social, emotional and behavioural, sensory, physical or medical. We are committed to taking full account of our students' individual differences and to cater for their needs within mainstream classes through an inclusive teaching and learning approach. This approach includes the use of strategies such as guided small group work, co-teaching, parallel teaching, frontloading and re-teaching. In some cases, short-term 1:1 support may be provided. The IBO has clear expectations that PYP and MYP teachers should build an awareness of their students' needs and differentiate the delivery of teaching programmes within an inclusive learning environment. In exceptional cases, when students would benefit from more intensive learning support, individuals may be withdrawn from class to participate in short-term personalized, targeted learning support programmes. The Learning Development teachers and LD EAs work in collaboration with the classroom teachers and specialist teachers to develop our students' learning in all areas. 2. Aims and Objectives The aims and objectives of the Learning Development Team (LDT) are:
3. Identifying and Registering Students 3.1 Admissions All children applying to enter Discovery College will, at the time of admissions, be screened for the possibility of any individual educational needs. The Learning Development Team will be consulted when concerns are noted. To be accepted for enrolment at Discovery College all children must meet admissions requirements. At Discovery College the majority of students have their needs met in the mainstream classes through an inclusive model of support. As the College does not receive any subvention for SEN students, it may be unable to provide the necessary support that may be required by students who have more severe learning disabilities. 3.2 Code of Practice – Learning Development Team Students are referred to the Learning Development Team via the school's referral process. There is an established collaborative process between learning development teachers, primary classroom teachers and secondary subject teachers for determining the appropriate level of adjustment and interventions required for a particular student. This process has been established in accordance with the ESF SEN Guidelines. The referral process, follow up procedures and overall model of learning development have been presented to the College Leadership Team and teaching staff. A copy of the referral process is available to staff on the school server, along with referral documents and other information. Level of adjustment will determine the amount of intervention a student will receive. The roles and responsibilities of primary classroom teachers, secondary learning advisors and learning development teachers will vary according to the students' levels of adjustment. At Discovery College we cater for the learning needs of students in the levels of adjustment from level 0-2. Levels of Adjustment (LOA) Please refer to Appendix 1 and 2 for a diagram of Discovery College's referral process and a quick reference on LOA's. LOA 0 Learning development teachers advise teachers on differentiated teaching and learning strategies that meet the needs of students at LOA 0. Teaching and learning strategies, accommodations and resources to be used are documented during the collaborative planning process. At this level, primary classroom teachers and secondary learning advisors are responsible for informing parents about the students' particular learning or behavioural needs. LOA 1 At this level of adjustment, the initial identification and registration of a pupil's educational needs are entered on the IN register. Working in collaboration with the primary classroom teacher or the secondary subject teacher, the learning development teacher will observe the referred student to determine their strengths and weaknesses and gather further evidence of the students' learning or behavioural needs through assessments and conferencing. The learning development teacher and classroom teacher will collaborate to set learning targets for the student. This process is involves a cycle of monitoring and review. In some cases the child may move immediately onto LOA 2. For secondary students with behavioural, social, and emotional difficulties, the learning advisor will coordinate the interventions in close collaboration with the LDT. At LOA 1, the primary classroom teacher and secondary subject teacher will work closely with the learning development teacher to design a LOA 1 plan which outlines interventions, accommodations, teaching and learning strategies, and resources which can be used to support these students' learning needs. These accommodations may include any of the following: setting, giving instructions, materials, organization, response, evaluation and behavioural. These targets are reviewed each term. LOA1 students are supported within the classroom and may work with EAs or may be involved in small group work and parallel teaching with the learning development teacher. The classroom teacher or learning advisor is responsible for informing parents about this support provision and sharing any targets or accommodations. LOA 2 At this stage the primary class teacher or secondary subject teacher and LD teacher has monitored and evaluated the differentiated teaching and learning strategies put into place at LOA 1. Where there is continued concern, the referral is reviewed and a recommendation is made to either monitor, maintain at LOA 1 or place the student at LOA 2 on the IN register. For students at LOA 2, the learning development teacher takes lead responsibility for the following:
For students who have been placed at LOA 2, advice and support will be sought from external agencies recommended by ESF, such as an educational psychologist. Funding for external agencies must be provided by the parents and we request that a copy of any reports is provided to the Learning Development Team and Head of Primary/Secondary. The sharing of this information will allow the LDT to provide more effective intervention. LOA 2 students may be supported through working in small groups within the classroom or through parallel teaching or partnership teaching. Some short-term 1:1 support may be provided with either an EA or the learning development teacher, depending on the student's learning needs. The learning development teacher will be responsible for meeting with parents and having regular contact with them. The learning development teacher will maintain a file with information about the student that will include a copy of their SSPs, assessments, copies of reports from educational psychologists and any other supporting evidence. Students with SSPs will have a file on the Gateway system that will allow teachers involved to access the information that can assist them in carrying out recommended interventions. The student's progress will be monitored and reviewed regularly. If targets are being met, the learning development teacher and classroom teacher can either revise targets, or change the student's status to LOA1. However, if the targets are not being met, the teachers can revise targets and may contact the ESF SEN Advisor for further guidance. Parents of students who are identified at a later stage as having individual needs at LOA3 or above will be counseled about options for appropriate educational provision for their child. Under circumstances where a student is not progressing as expected Discovery College reserves the right to require parents to obtain an expert report to provide advice to support the learning process. 3.3 Student Support Plans (SSP) Students on the IN register at LOA 2 in Years 3 and above will have a SSP prepared for them by a learning development teacher. The SSP will include the student's reflections and should recognise the students' strengths as well as targeting the child's difficulties. It will state the student's targets (as identified by the learning development teacher and classroom teacher) and identify the strategies that can be used to achieve these. The SSP should be written in language that is meaningful to the student. Once a SSP has been developed, a regular cycle of monitoring and feedback then begins. Parents are also given the opportunity to set a target for their child and to participate in monitoring and encouraging their child to meet their learning targets. The parent/school partnership is valued at Discovery College and the college recognises the crucial role that parents have in supporting their child's individual learning needs. The SSPs will be revised at least annually and in some cases may be reviewed each term. In order to facilitate communication between all staff involved with the student, the SSP will be available through Gateway. 3.4 IN Register A comprehensive register of all referred IN students will be kept. This register is updated throughout the year. 3.5 English as an Additional Language (EAL) students A number of students at Discovery College have English as an additional language (EAL). Learning development teachers provide support to these students to develop their academic English. Primary class teachers and secondary subject teachers use a variety of appropriate teaching and learning strategies. Teachers are guided in understanding the difference between EAL students and students with learning difficulties. However, we do recognize that in some cases they can co-occur. A referral form is used to raise concerns about EAL students in need of English language development. The primary classroom teachers and secondary learning advisors are responsible for passing this information on to the learning development team. Teachers who refer a student will provide evidence of the student's listening, speaking, reading and writing development. This evidence will be used to monitor progress and inform future teaching and learning. In collaboration with the classroom or subject teachers, the learning development teachers provide additional support to EAL students within the classroom through interventions such as small group work and parallel or partnership teaching. 3.6 Gifted and Talented Students High achieving students at Discovery College are challenged through differentiated teaching and learning strategies within the classroom such as selection of resources and the provision of opportunities for them to pursue individual inquiries, which cater to their interests and abilities. When appropriate, the learning development teachers may work with small groups of high achieving students to provide guidance on their respective research projects. These students may be asked to participate in peer tutoring and are encouraged to share their specific knowledge with their peers. See also Gifted & Talented Procedures section below. 4. Roles and Expectations The roles and expectations for teachers and other staff involved with LDT students will differ according to the students' different levels of adjustment. Please refer to appendix 3 for an overview of these roles and responsibilities. 4.1 Learning Development Teachers The learning development teachers will:
4.2 Classroom Teachers (Primary) Subject Teachers and Learning Advisors (Secondary) Individual education needs are a whole school concern, with every teacher being responsible for every student in his or her class. The expectations of class teachers, subject teachers and learning advisors are:
4.3 Educational Assistants With support and training the Educational Assistants should be able to:
4.4 Deputy Head of College The CLT member responsible for the line management of the learning development team shall:
4.5 Head of Primary/Head of Secondary The Head of Primary and Head of Secondary play an important role in overseeing the successful implementation of the learning development policy and inclusive practices. They are expected to:
4.6 PYP/MYP Coordinators
4.7 Parents Parental partnership in the learning development process is central to its success at each of the levels of adjustment and in the successful implementation of the student support plans. Information on the school's learning development policy should be made available for parents and, at times, to the children concerned. Procedures should be open ones with copies of all documents being available to parents. It is also necessary to keep parents informed of their responsibilities in relation to the educational needs of their child. 5. Review Working policies are always changing. Discovery College's Learning Development Policy will be reviewed annually. Appendix 1: Individual NeedsAppendix 2: Roles and ResponsibilitiesOther people involved are: PYP coordinator, MYP coordinator, Head of Primary, Head of Secondary, classroom EA's, LDT, EA's. For their specific roles, please refer to the complete SEN Policy Appendix 3: Level of Adjustment 3 (LOA3)This level of differentiation is intended for students who are not expected to attain age appropriate norms without a high degree of individual and/or small group support and/or significant program modification. LOA3 students are placed on an SEN register. LOA3 Students may require:
Students are placed at LOA3 using the following indicators:
Gifted and Talented proceduresThese procedures sit under the Learning Development Policy Definition & explanation Giftedness refers to a student's outstanding potential and ability in one or more domains, (e.g. intellectual, creative, socio-affective and sensori-motor). Talent refers to outstanding performance in one or more fields of human activity. Talent emerges from ability as a consequence of the student's learning experience (Francoys Gagné, 1991). This definition was chosen because of its simplicity, clarity and alignment to our vision. Transforming gifts into talents 
Adapted from Francoys Gagne Collaborative identification At Discovery College the identification of gifted and talented students requires a three-way collaboration - agreement between parents, teachers and the learning development team. Initial indicators may come from any one of the three parties. The Learning Development Team will then seek evidence and correlation from the other two parties and in some instances this may involve asking parents to obtain an outside assessment. It is expected that for the vast majority of students classroom differentiation will meet their needs. 
If all three parties provide suitable evidence and are in agreement a plan will be put in place to provide a programme that supplements the differentiation possible within normal classroom activities. This plan will take into account available resources within the College and what the parents may be able to supplement. Nature of programmes As a general principle programmes will be designed to be inclusive in line with the philosophy of the College. This will mean they will occur in the classroom and be based on variations on parts of programmes that other students in the class are working on. These variations may involve greater breadth or depth depending on the needs identified. Identified students will actively be involved in choices around how programmes are changed. The Learning Development Team will collaborate with the classroom teachers to allow differentiation strategies to be incorporated across other units where the Learning Development Team member can not be present. These programmes, if necessary, may be supplemented with mentoring/additional activities inside and outside of school where there is no additional resource requirements. If parents are able support additional resources and it is seen to benefit the student by all parties involved these may also be considered. Review Regular review meetings will occur at a frequency of at least six monthly intervals from identification. Where progress is meeting the needs of the student the programme will may continue to operate in an inclusive manner. If review determines that the student’s needs are not being met the following actions may be taken in rare circumstances:
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