Learning Enhancement
In addition to a broad and stimulating curriculum for all of our pupils, Learning Enhancement Department offers additional provision for children with learning differences.
Special Educational Needs and Disability
Heywood Prep’s Learning Enhancement Department helps children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) who require extra support in liaison with the Form Tutors, the Director of Studies and parents. We also liaise with other providers, outside agencies, Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists and Paediatricians.
Provision for children with SEND takes place in both the classroom and in learning support sessions with in the dedicated learning environment, The Treehouse. The Learning Enhancement Department is a busy and productive one with a team of experienced Specialist Dyslexia Teacher, Learning Support Tutors and Teaching Assistants who deliver:
- One-to-one learning support for pupils
- Individualised Learning groups for numeracy skills including times tables, writing groups supporting creative writing, the fundamentals of fine motor skills, Mindfulness,Touch Typing, Sound Discovery (phonics) programme and Working Memory skills
- And in-class support throughout the busy school timetable.
Support lessons are delivered in a fun, exciting and interactive way, ensuring different styles of learning are catered for (Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic).
Within The Treehouse is a dedicated “calm space” for pupils who need time away from the classroom. Resources and strategies are provided to aid our vulnerable pupils to develop a growth mindset and a positive attitude to their learning.
Gifted and Talented
We use a range of strategies to identify exceptionally gifted and talented children. The identification process is on-going though it is based, for the most part, on performance in formal assessments together with the professional judgement of teachers. Further information taken into account will include.
- Information from parents and carers
- Information from previous teachers or pre-school record
- Discussions with pupils.
Each term, subject teachers analyse data for their children in order to identify whether children need to be included on the AGT register. Form Tutors also analyse data and the AGT register is then updated termly. Subject teachers then add these names onto planning documents and ensure that children are challenged and extended at every opportunity.
Pupils who are identified by the School as being exceptionally able and talented are monitored throughout the academic year. The Able, Gifted and Talented Leader monitors the progress of our exceptionally able children termly in their area of ability and seeks to ensure that teachers are providing appropriate challenge within their lessons and to identify other opportunities in which the School can provide, stretch and challenge. This is achieved through liaison with the Heads of Department, lesson observations, work scrutiny and pupil discussions.
We make special provision in the following ways;
- Teachers plan work that is differentiated within tasks set and / or through outcome that will challenge our most able children by asking for greater depth of responses; a broader range of responses or that goes at a faster pace than expected.
- We offer a wide range of extracurricular clubs and activities.
- We undertake educational day visits and residential visits to enhance all of our children’s experience of the curriculum and this benefits our most able children significantly.
- We recognise the value and challenge of asking children to carry out independent study and provide opportunities where appropriate.
- We recognise the importance of children setting their own questions and investigations and provide opportunities where appropriate.
- We ensure that our most talented performers in sports are offered the opportunity to play for school teams based on a judgement of ability, and not age, and that they are supported in their sports activities outside school wherever possible
- We ensure that our talented musicians are encouraged to develop their performance skills through performance in assemblies and our Spring and Summer Term Music and Drama Evenings. We also support able musicians in their musical activities outside school wherever possible
- We recognise the importance of stimulating the use of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) rather than asking children to complete more of the same (MOTS)
- We invite children on the AGTI register to attend Individualised Learning sessions each week
Recent highlights include:
Maths
Weekly problem solving group with children from Prep (by invitation) focusing on problem solving and reasoning. Led by the Head of Maths. Dauntsey’s Dodecahedron has also been completed in recent years, as well as the Primary Maths Challenge.
English
Weekly session with children invited from across the Prep department. The children have recently enjoyed reading and analysing ‘The Highwayman’ and then creating their own version based on a modern day situation.
Computer Science
Lego Robotics Team
General Knowledge
Quiz Club winners and we got through to the semi-finals of this challenging competition.
Analytical thinking/logic
Chess Club league
Music and Drama
Mid Somerset festival
Music and drama evenings
Talented children play during assemblies and play accompaniments. They also assist at Heywood Humbugs.