Learning Support
At NDPS we pride ourselves on developing and implementing learning programs for all individual students. Determining the supports appropriate to each individual is a process that involves assessments, analysis, staff moderations and discussions. Regular assessment for, of and as learning is part of teacher daily practice. Moderation of assessment data at staff meetings ensures we are teaching to all student needs.
The range of learning supports offered include different levels of intervention and approaches.
- Universal/ Core Instruction- We provide quality classroom teaching and learning experiences to all. Eg. Structured Literacy/ Explict teaching in Numeracy.
- Targeted/ Strategic Intervention- Small group instruction at point of need. Eg. SoundsWrite Groups/ Spelling Mastery/ Breakaway groups in Numeracy.
- Intensive/ Individual Intervention- Individual targeted sessions. Eg. Speech Therapy, Great Leaps/ Explicit teaching 1:1.
PSD/ Disability Inclusion
If a student is deemed to have additional needs, we are able to complete an assessment process to develop a Student Profile and potentially obtain additional funding support. This process is in the middle of a change and from February 2025 will be called Disability Inclusion.
If a student meets the needs for DI support, parents are involved in the processes, with Student Support Group meetings, a Student Profile, individual needs assessments, learning support, medical and/or behaviour plans, classroom adjustments and other documentation supporting the application. The Student Support Group is vital to this process and a great example of how home and school work together for the benefit of students.
SoundsWrite
SoundsWrite offers the classroom and special needs teacher an instructional method that works because, as the Rose Review recommended, it is a highly structured, cumulative, sequential, explicit and code-oriented instructional programme for teaching all children to read and spell.
SoundsWrite provides the classroom practitioner with rigorous training in how to teach reading and spelling from the moment children begin their schooling in the Foundation Stage, throughout Key Stage 1 and into Key Stage 2. In addition, the program also provides a highly successful intervention for special needs teachers working at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.
The SoundsWrite instructional method works effectively because it:
- Can be easily implemented in the classroom with the minimum of expense, planning and preparation
- Provides clearly structured, easy-to-follow lesson plans
- Is developmentally appropriate for beginning readers in YR, Y1 and Y2
- Offers fast and highly effective intervention for children at all levels who have fallen behind in their reading and spelling
- Is a real phonic programme that teaches in simple steps how the sounds of the language are represented by the writing system
- Places emphasis on giving practice that is grounded in physical, concrete experience of the ideas and conceptual understanding the pupils need to assimilate
- Teaches the three essential skills of segmenting, blending and phoneme manipulation necessary for reading and spelling throughout the programme on a daily basis until all pupils achieve the automaticity that underlies the fluency of every successful reader.
SoundsWrite is taught by trained professionals. Our students are instructed at their point of need in a tiered approach that offers extra flexibility with multiple exposures for students who need additional support. Students who develop and master the code skills, move onto a morphology and etymology study course that challenges and extends their knowledge. (https://www.sounds-write.co.uk/)