Learning Support Faculty
The Sanders Draper School is a fully inclusive school which believes in supporting students of all abilities and helping them achieve their full potential.
The Learning Support Faculty has two parts to it- the Special Educational Needs department and the Hearing-Impaired Unit. The ethos of both parts is the same.
The SEN department is a well established team of specialist teachers and experienced teaching assistants. Each student with a special educational need is monitored closely and has regular reviews as part of the Code of Practice. For the majority of the time students are in the mainstream classes with support to help them access the curriculum. The needs of the students are varied ranging from literacy and numeracy difficulties to aspergers, behavioural difficulties and physical difficulties. Each student is regarded as an individual and the team work closely with staff, parents and outside agencies to ensure all students reach their potential.
Sometimes students are withdrawn for specialist support such as literacy progress units or for complimentary studies which allows them to catch up on their needs. For some older students an alternative curriculum is provided to enable them to attend college or work placements so they can gain a sense of achievement. It is not only staff that assist. Under the direction of specialist teachers other students in the school are involved in pair reading initiatives to assist younger students improve their reading skills.
The motto of Sanders Draper School is positive achievement for all and the Learning Support Faculty and Sanders Draper School fully supports this idea.
All SEN students are considered an important part of the school and are given the help and support they need to succeed.
The Hearing-Impaired Unit at Sanders Draper is the only secondary unit in the borough. It has places for 12 students. The students have a range of hearing losses from moderate to profound. Some are oral and some use British sign language as their first language. They are also fully included into the school by a team of highly experienced staff including teachers of the deaf, communicator support workers and teaching assistants. They work closely with students in order for them to access the curriculum, if necessary using sign language.
The only lessons where a HI student may not go are modern foreign languages- although this is rare and many HI students have had success in this subject. These students are taught American Sign Language and therefore are still getting access to a ‘modern foreign language’
The use of sign language is phenomenal in the school with displays in many of the classrooms etc. Additionally a great many students are able to sign to a high standard and regularly perform at school functions in a signing choir. This concept has spread to other schools in the borough and once a year all secondary schools in the borough are invited to have their students take part in a borough wide signing choir. Also many staff have shown a keen interest in signing and have passed qualifications acknowledging their efforts. Indeed the school is a registered centre for the Council for the Advancement of communication with deaf people which is based at Durham University.
The motto of Sanders Draper School is positive achievement for all and the Learning Support Faculty and Sanders Draper School fully supports this idea.