At Ysgol Acrefair, we are proud of our inclusive ethos where every child matters. We strive to ensure that every child in our school has the best possible start to their school lives, including those children who may require additional support with their learning and development.
The school’s Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCO) is Mrs Helen Norman. Mrs Norman’s role is to work with children, parents, school staff and other agencies involved in the provision of additional support for our children, so that together we can achieve the best outcomes for all children at Ysgol Acrefair. In school, Mrs Norman works with children to give them additional support with their learning to ensure that they reach their full potential. Mrs Norman also works closely with teachers and support staff to coordinate the support that children receive within the classroom. Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Norman via the school contact details to discuss any aspect of additional needs provision.
At Ysgol Acrefair, we have a wide range of additional support for our pupils. Children may receive support through Targeted Universal Provision (TUP) or through a school-based Individual Development Plan (IDP). Provision includes individual and small group support with literacy, numeracy, social and emotional skills and motor skills. Intervention programmes that are used include:
Social Groups
In our ‘Clubs’, children look at a wide range of communication skills and explore how thoughts and actions can affect relationships with other people. The children share ideas and work as a team and are encouraged to support each other and to give or ask for advice. Children follow the Alex Kelly Communication Programmes which are full of lots of fun activities, or play-based resources that support social communication development or peer relationship skills, such as Lego Club.
ELSA
Our ELSA provision is an individually designed programme when children work with one of the school’s ELSAs (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) to develop a range of social and emotional skills through fun, practical activities.
FRIENDS
‘FRIENDS’ is an intervention programme designed to support children who may experience anxieties and emotional issues. It helps children to develop resilience and self-confidence through fun, nurturing activities in a supportive group situation.
SAFMEDS
SAFMEDS (Say-All-Fast-Minute-Every-Day-Shuffled) is programme that uses precision teaching for numeracy basic skills to increase skill accuracy and speed through the use of flash cards.
Word Wasp and Toe-By-Toe
Word Wasp and Toe-By-Toe are literacy intervention programmes. They use a highly structured multi-sensory approach to support spelling and reading development.
Catch Up Literacy and Numeracy
The Catch Up Programme is a 1:1 intervention programme which is designed to help boost Literacy and Numeracy skills. The programme is designed to identify any ‘gaps’ in a pupil’s Literacy or Numeracy knowledge and give intensive, ‘small-steps’ intervention to remediate. Pupils may receive Catch Up for up to three consecutive terms, and may receive Catch Up intervention periodically. Catch Up is designed for use from Year 2 up to Year 6.
For further information about Additional Needs provision, please refer to the following link: