Curriculum Support
Independent Learners
At The Oratory, the goal of Curriculum Support is to help our students who have additional needs become independent learners and, using various strategies, overcome their difficulties, while building their self-esteem and confidence.
At The Oratory, we cater for all students with a learning difficulty. This includes those with:
- communication and interaction needs; this includes speech language and communication difficulties and autism conditions;
- social, emotional and mental health needs, such as ADD;
- sensory and/or physical difficulties, such as vision impairment or hearing impairment;
- cognition and learning needs; this includes those with specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
Focus On The Individual
The Curriculum Support Department at The Oratory is committed to supporting all students with a range of Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities to reach their potential, by identifying and seeking to remove any barriers to learning.
How we support SEND
We have two specialist teachers and two peripatetic teachers who offer support in English, Maths, and Science.
When students with a specific learning difficulty apply to the school, we ask that parents/carers submit an Educational Psychologist report or a medical report confirming their diagnosis. This provides us with information about the child’s difficulty, enabling us to provide the best provision once at school.
Students with SEND are identified as early as possible as this ensures the best possible outcomes. We manage this through several strategies, which include reports from previous schools, online Lucid testing when students first arrive at the school, and concerns from teachers and parents or other agencies. Special education provision is provided through high-quality, carefully differentiated, and inclusive teaching.
All teachers at The Oratory are teachers of SEND and provide quality first teaching. Guidance is also given on how to adapt the curriculum and learning environment to best support these students. A SEND register is shared with all staff to ensure that all are aware of and sensitive to, the needs of all students, to teach in ways that are best suited to their needs.
Progress is regularly tracked to ensure students meet their goals and there is regular communication between teaching staff and the department. Effective interventions are put in place, which are tailored to each individual’s needs, including 1:1 lessons, for which there is an additional charge.
Examination access arrangements
The Exam Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments Policy is available online here.
Study skills sessions
These are also offered in Curriculum Support to all students. In these sessions students will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and confidence in:
- revision techniques;
- effective note-taking and avoiding plagiarism;
- planning revision and organisation;
- enhancing memory techniques.
Communication
Parents are consulted and kept informed regularly of the recommendations, support, and progress of their child. Advice is also sought from outside agencies to ensure all students achieve to the best of their ability, despite any difficulty or disability they may have. Please feel free to email the Head of Curriculum Support if you have any concerns about your child.
