|
Centre for Learning
The Saltus philosophy states that “every student is an individual”; the Centre for Learning has been established to sustain this philosophy with structured programmes to support and extend students with learning differences.
Responding to Students and Teachers
The new department includes Student Services, Counselling, Teacher Services and Educational Technology (in support of the other functions). Programmes include identification of student needs followed by placement in support and extension programmes. There is also an ongoing programme of teacher professional development workshops.
If you would like to be involved in this work, contact Neil Cooper.
Frequently Asked Questions...
The Centre For Learning
Who are the members of staff involved in the work of The Centre for Learning?
Neil Cooper : Director of the Centre for Learning
Diana Decker : Student Counsellor
Kalpana Gangwani : Specialist Teacher
Bruce A. Sinclair : Maths Extension and Learning Support
Allison Hillen : Learning specialist - Upper Primary
Julie Murdoch : Learning specialist - Upper Primary
Sheena Storie : Learning specialist - Lower Primary
Helen Wright : Learning specialist - Lower Primary
RESPONSIVE EDUCATION: What does this mean?
Our school’s philosophy states that “Saltus responds to every student as an individual…” and this philosophy has been captured in the vision of “Responsive Education”. Saltus seeks to respond to every student so that each may enjoy learning and understand how they best learn; that each may experience personal growth and develop self-confidence and realize their academic, emotional, physical and social potential.
We have created what we are calling the “Centre for Learning” at Saltus. It draws together functions of the school that must be coordinated across departments in order to provide seamless integrated services to respond to student need.
In our movement towards Responsive Education, the Centre, under the management of Neil Cooper, has begun to identify key areas in which there are curriculum gaps and overlaps and whole school mathematics and English coordination is already underway. Learning services staff, now integrated into a single department, have been conducting student assessments and planning for the provision of support and extension is already well advanced; teacher professional development workshops on differentiation and information technology skill development are underway; ‘town hall’ meetings on Responsive Education have been conducted with staff in both the Junior and Preparatory departments; senior management goals have been established and are being monitored and information about the initiative has been presented through “Meet the Teacher” nights at parent meetings and through individual conference.
How will it affect the students?
Knowing our students better will allow us to focus on teaching methodologies that better support learning styles and this will allow us to develop differentiated classroom experiences, establish better support and extension provision and focus staff training and development in the use of differentiated practice.
- A quality environment in which to learn
- A school structure that is reflective of and appropriate to the developmental stages of our students
- A clearly understood curricular structure
- An assessment and profiling and reporting procedure that allows informed decision to be taken by teachers as to how best to manage individual learning
- Classroom methodologies that address individual needs
- Staff training and development opportunities to facilitate the delivery of differentiated classroom activities to address identified individual needs and learning styles
- They will enjoy a school that is aware of its need to be responsive
Support and Enrichment
Current statistics indicate that some 14% of our students benefit from some form of Support or Enrichment. Our school population is academically diverse and we believe that we must respond to the needs of students across the learning continuum.
How does Saltus define Enrichment? Support?
Enrichment provides students of exceptional academic ability with the opportunity to pursue advanced study in a variety of subjects. Enrichment activities may be provided within the classroom environment or through specially designed programmes. The school has not in the past systematically identified students who would benefit from extension. It is part of the Centre for Learning goals to put in place a program to identify these students.
Learning support provides students with occasional or mild learning difficulties additional support to develop the learning skills required to succeed in the classroom and to master required course material. Learning support is delivered in a number of different ways -- it may be occasional in class support, or occasional withdrawal, in some cases it may encompass individually designed programmes developed by school learning support specialists.
What is currently offered in these areas?
Enrichment: partial and often individual provision for students at all levels of the school. Review and assessment of this provision lies at the heart of the new Learning Centre. A pilot program is underway to withdraw some students in J6 and J7 for part of the maths curriculum for maths extension.
Support: The school currently employees 5 full-time learning support teachers, 2 each for the Cavendish and Junior Departments and one for the Senior Department. At Cavendish, support is primarily provided in phonics, reading, and language development. At the Junior Department, support is offered through in class differentiation, individualized programmes in particular subjects, and/or a very specialized programme with individual assessment for students with quite marked difficulties. In the senior years, support is offered by subject area; examination entry can also be at alternate levels. The school also offers a supervised study hall to encourage students to complete their homework in a timely fashion and to provide assistance as necessary.
How will students be selected to participate in support and/or enrichment?
Students will be screened by the school’s Support Staff on recommendations from teachers or on occasion request from parents.
Will these programs be included within the classroom timetables or offered as extra-curricular programs?
Neil Cooper , Director of the Centre for Learning, is currently running a virtual Centre for the 2009-2010 academic year, offering pilot enrichment programs. Mr. Cooper is developing the framework, options, plan, and timeframe for the delivery of a comprehensive learning enrichment and support program. It is anticipated that support and enrichment will be offered during the regular timetable, although there may be some opportunities for extra-curricular programs as well. The Centre for Learning is located in the Gosling Centre.
Why do Learning Services use parents as support in the classroom? Might this not be an intrusion in the classroom or an invasion of privacy on the part of students who require support? Don’t we have enough support staff?
Although we have a Learning Support staff of 5 this is still a limited resource and it is not possible to support all students who might benefit all the time. Therefore at times parent (and senior student) volunteers assist students in the classroom, helping them to stay on track, organize their materials and if necessary follow the instructions. When parents are used in this way it is always with the permission of the parents of the student receiving support and under the instruction of the teacher in the classroom. Parent volunteers are never used in a year group in which they have children in the school, and issues of confidentiality are discussed in advance with the parent volunteer.
| 