LEARNING SUPPORT
Skills and tools
At ISD, we guide and encourage our students to meet their potential, while acknowledging and addressing their learning differences. We offer targeted support and teach appropriate strategies to transfer learning from various classroom settings. We regularly confer with students, parents, subject teachers, and any other professionals involved in a student’s development to design the best possible independent educational plan with long-term goals and short-term objectives.
When collaborating with subject teachers, we jointly determine a student’s gaps and learning skills. We also address assignments and questions about the student’s present levels of performance.
To gain a realistic understanding of their behaviours, we help our students use their learner profile to identify areas of strength and areas with needs for further development. This guides the students in understanding how their efforts and use of time have a direct impact on their learning. Students are then introduced and encouraged to put into practice diverse strategies from the following areas: memory, organisation and time management, work habits, study habits, health and well-being, literacy and numeracy skills.
In addition, we employ a referral process that is initiated by a student’s year head and developed in conjunction with the parents. This entails creating and sharing a full psychological educational assessment which states the learning needs of the student. The assessment also makes recommendations for specific accommodations and/or modifications.
An individualised education plan (IEP), containing learning goals broken down into learning outcomes, is developed for each student.
LIONS WITH NEURODIVERSITY
Lions with Neurodiversity is a parent and community group for those interested in exploring neurodiverse conditions. The majority of the group is made up of parents supporting their own child with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) but is open to anyone. Some other forms of neurodiversity are; Autism Spectrum Conditions, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia, Tourette Syndrome, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The group shares resources, engages with guest speakers, and members discuss successes and challenges facing their child and family.
Group meetings are an opportunity to connect with each other and share experiences, to get some input and insight into what we are doing in school to support students that experience some form of neurodiversity, to hear from specialists, and to share resources. We are very fortunate to have a strong relationship with the ADHD Foundation, The Neurodiversity Charity, and over recent years have had various specialists visit us in person and online to observe classes, advise teachers, and share their expertise with our whole community.