Learning Support
King's Bruton has a long history of supporting students with Specific Learning Difficulties. In the 1ate 1950s Mary Tyndale, wife of the then Housemaster of Lyon, gave support to those pupils having difficulty with their learning in the Lyon House sitting room. Mary then went on to be among the first batch of students to attend the Dyslexia Institute's course in Bath in the 1970s and, on completion, she established Learning Support at King's.
Today the department is located at the heart of the school in a brand new integrated resource centre encompassing the Norton Library, a computer training suite and the LS classrooms.
The department is run by Anne Sherrard, assisted by Alison Jeffries and Alice Allen. All Learning Support teachers hold qualifications in Specific Learning Difficulties. A Mathematics Learning Support tutor is also available. Our aim is to help our pupils fulfill their full academic potential and to feel confident in the school community.
The school has CReSTeD status. Learning Support is a whole school issue; teachers understand that pupils learn in different ways. Class sizes are small.
The department is both pupil and parent friendly!
Even the brightest of students may need support with their learning. For some pupils a short burst of Learning Support may be enough; for others LS lessons will continue throughout their time at King's. Pupils are taught on an individual basis.
Students who visit the unit are fully integrated in the school. Their LS lessons are carefully timetabled to cause minimum disturbance to the rest of their curriculum. At sixth form level LSU continues to support pupils through individual tutorials.
Method:
* Early intervention to address difficulties
* Structured, multi-sensory, cumulative programmes
* Identification of small steps for success
* Revision, overlearning and reinforcement
* Promotion of self esteem
* Improved access to the curriculum
Help and support are given with: reading and spelling, sequencing, memory and listening skills; essay writing and study skills such as organisational strategies, motivation and notetaking; revision skills and exam technique. Touch typing sessions are also available.
The LS staff liaise closely with subject teachers in other departments. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. Most of all, the LS staff enjoy watching their pupils progress and flourish during their time at King's.
Special Needs links:
The British Dyslexia Association
Home licence for touch typing programme
Technology for specific learning difficulties
Books on learning difficulties
- Learning Support Staff
- CReSTeD Report
- On Understanding Dyslexia
- Work for Delayed Pupils
- Why has nobody ever told me this before?
- ISC Conference
- Supporting Links
- Working Memory and Learning
- ISC Conference
