Role of the Service:
The Learner Support Service aims to build the capacity of mainstream schools to include learners with additional learning needs successfully.
The Learner Support Service central team provides timely and effective support to schools to develop practice across the school or in relation to identifying and responding to individual pupil needs. This is provided through a responsive service delivery model and a comprehensive programme of professional learning.
There are 4 peripatetic teams of Specialist Teachers, each lead by a specialist co-ordinator.
- Cognition and Learning,
- Speech, Language and Communication needs including Autism,
- Behaviour Support Service
- Sensory, Medical and Physical Needs
All teams are able to work in both Welsh and English medium.
Specialist support staff, Deaf Communicators and Braille Support Assistants work alongside pupils with sensory needs in mainstream schools to ensure they experience a positive inclusive educational experience.
Within the Behaviour Support Service is a dedicated role to address pupil exclusions.
Whilst English as an additional language is not an additional learning need as referred to in the ALN Code. The service supports pupils new to English through a small team of peripatetic Teaching Assistants and is placed within the Cognition and Learning Team.
The service has responsibility for Learning support classes (LSCs) based in mainstream schools. LSCs provide effective small group teaching for pupils with significant additional needs, where the provision required cannot be reasonably made in a mainstream classroom. Placement in an LSC is determined by a local authority panel.
LSCs are overseen by the Specialist Coordinators for each area of need in partnership with school leadership to ensure the provision is good quality and pupils make progress in relation to their starting point and prior rates of progress.