Learner Support

Students with additional needs are just as capable of succeeding and learning as any other child, if they are given the proper attention and guidance, and are treated with the respect their needs deserve.

Our admissions process is designed to establish a match between the cognitive and learning profile of a child and the provision within the academy. Each child is assessed prior to entry for their learning style, Speech and Language Therapy skills, Occupational Therapy needs and educational strengths. This assessment informs an individual plan of appropriate targets which is agreed with both the child and their parents and is then supported by the Shine team.

An Annual Review meeting is held for every individual during which the child, parents, and appropriate staff members meet to celebrate successes and discuss the progress made towards targets, to determine any alterations to provision, and to set new targets for the coming year.

A learner’s targets are supported in small groups or 1-to-1 sessions provided by the fully qualified and registered therapists and teachers. This type of support is specific to your child, based on their identified needs, and progress is monitored and reported in the same way that academic progress is reported.

Educational Psychology

Educational Psychology is the application of psychological theory, research and techniques to support children, young people, their families and schools promote the emotional and social wellbeing of young people. Educational Psychologists (EPs) also support those with learning difficulties to achieve their full potential through the use of assessment, monitoring and evaluation.

Educational Psychologists are particularly skilled at using problem-solving models to understand the goal of a child’s behaviour and what they are trying to communicate to others. They use strength-based and child-centered approaches to create intervention plans, in collaboration with the team around the child.

The Educational Psychologists at Shine Academy are experienced and highly qualified (to doctorate level), and follow the requirements of the British Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Interventions include:

  • Consultations with parents/ carers and other professionals to discuss a child’s needs and how best to support them.
  • One-to-one and small group interventions to promote a child’s learning and emotional wellbeing (i.e. evidence-based therapeutic work for anger management/ sleep hygiene/ social communication difficulties).
  • Detailed psychological assessments to gather information about a child’s needs (i.e. behavioural, learning or social-emotional) using methods such as observation, pupil interviews and cognitive/ learning assessments. Assessments result in a formal written report and a collaboratively agreed intervention plan.
  • Leading and/or participating in a range of multi-agency and multi-disciplinary panels and child-centred planning meetings.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists are key contributors within the education team. They support a student’s ability to participate in desired daily school activities or “occupations.” They help children to fulfil their role as students by supporting their academic achievement and promoting positive behaviors necessary for learning.

Because of their expertise in activity and environmental analysis, Occupational Therapists are particularly skilled in facilitating student access to curricular and extracurricular activities. They focus on the students’ strengths, and can design and implement programming to improve inclusion and accessibility. They offer services along a continuum of prevention, promotion, and interventions and serve individual students, groups of students, whole classrooms, and whole school initiatives.

Occupational therapists at Shine International Academy have specific knowledge and expertise to increase participation in school routines throughout the day.

Interventions include:

  • Conducting activity and environmental analysis leading to recommendations which improve a students access, progress, and participation
  • Reducing barriers that limit student participation within the school environment
  • Providing compensatory and assistive equipment to support student success
  • Creating specific sensory strategies to support regulation, sustained attention and activity engagement threshold
  • Collaborating with the team to identify a student’s learning goals and determine the services, supports, modifications, and accommodations that are required for the student to thrive
  • Supporting skills and strategies practised within one to one therapy sessions to generalise into the school and learning environments.

Speech and Language Therapy

Speech and Language Therapy addresses the needs of those who have difficulty communicating with others, caused by a wide range of difficulties.

At Shine International Academy Speech and Language Therapy is on site, because communication needs are often closely related to difficulties experienced in learning access.

These include reading and reading comprehension, written work, spelling, generation and sequencing of ideas, key vocabulary, social communication and interaction, working memory, thinking skills and emotional wellbeing.

The Speech and Language Therapists at Shine International Academy are all experienced, fully qualified therapists, who are up to date with the latest training and registered with their relevant professional bodies, including the British Health and Care Professionals Council.

Interventions include:

  • Adapting classrooms to support visual communication tools; such as pictures and signs
  • Working on particular speech and language interventions such as speech sounds, stuttering, selective mutism, etc.
  • Providing phonological awareness training as a literacy tool
  • Creating specific Augmented and Alternative Communication strategies for total communication when needed
  • Collaborating with the team to identify a student’s goals and determine the individual speech, language and communication needs required for the student to succeed
  • Collaborating to generalize specific one to one therapy goals into the school and home environments for functional communication.

English as an Additional Language (EAL) Support

EAL students are those that are learning English, but already speak one or more other languages. Our EAL additional services ensure such students feel supported and guided on how best to understand and use the language of our curriculum. Our goal is for all EAL students to be properly included in lessons leading to higher self-esteem and confidence.

Consulting Specialists

Students may need an extended team to support their development to ensure all aspects of their learning journey are being cared for.

At Shine International Academy we can help with referrals to a wider range of professionals along the coast.

These include but are not limited to:

  • Psychologists
  • Behaviour Specialists
  • Sleep Specialists
  • Nutritionists
  • Audiologists
  • ENT Specialists
  • Behavioural Optometrist
  • Physiotherapists

Please contact us to find out more