Springfield is an inclusive school that recognises the needs of all individuals and endeavours to make pupils as independent as possible, whilst preparing them for adult life post 16.

All students are valued and encouraged to achieve to the best of their ability. Learning Support at Springfield covers a wide area. The following groups are offered support in their studies:

• Students with an Education Health Care Plan.
• Students with special needs who do not have an Education Health Care Plan but who need support in some of their lessons, especially with their literacy.
• Students with special needs who do not have an Education Health Care Plan but who need support especially with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties which hinder learning.
• Students who need extra help with their reading skills.
• Students with disabilities.
• Some students who have not coped well in the transition from Primary to Secondary school, and need help in settling in to school.

The SENCO coordinates Learning Support via close liaison with Year teams and Heads of Department. This is done on an individual basis, where each student’s current needs are assessed to decide the level of support required.

Provision to meet the variety of special needs in the school is made through:

• Differentiation by the class teacher of tasks and outcomes within the classroom.
• In-class support provided by the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Team.
• Individual and small group withdrawal of some students for an intensive literacy support.
• One-to-one tuition of some students where appropriate.
• ELSA support to give students individual attention to help them improve and overcome any barriers to their learning.
• Small group work with students who have behavioural difficulties and so find it difficult to concentrate on their lessons

In the last year we have developed our provision for students with special educational needs through:

1. Improved facilities including new classrooms.
2. A greater range of withdrawal classes.
3. An additional number of staff who are trained to provide a range of alternative support.

Prospective students and their parents/carers are welcome to contact the SENCO (Mr Peter Dennett) to arrange to visit to discuss any aspect of access arrangements.