LEARNING SUPPORT & PUPIL PREMIUM

Learning Support

 

We have a highly skilled, caring and experienced Learning Support Team here at The Lakes School that will help your child flourish. Our Learning Support Team work hard alongside teaching staff to provide the support to meet the specific individual needs of children at The Lakes School. Our department is led by Ms Rainey, Head Teacher and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator alongside our Student Development Team Co-ordinator Miss Weir.

Our staff encourage and support students to build confidence, independence and relevant Life Skills to support their development both academically and as an individual ready for when they move onto their next stage of Education.​

‘There’s good communication from the team and I’m kept up to date about my child.’

‘There’s an holistic approach to each child.’

‘The Lakes School supports students who are struggling or are having issues.’

‘Staff always respond to queries quickly and have the students’ best interests at heart.’

As well as supporting students in class we also incorporate a range of targeted interventions. If you would like to learn more about how we support students with their specific learning needs then please feel free to contact Ms Rainey or Student Development Team Co-ordinator Miss Weir. Click on the tabs below to find out more:

The award is accessible to students in Year 7 to Year 9. It aims to build students confidence, independence and social skills as well as an understanding of and enjoyment for the outdoors. The award incorporates both individual and group work on various activities across The Lake District. More information regarding The John Muir award can be found at: https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/john-muir-award.

Learning Support staff work closely with and are guided by our English Department in offering Lexia interventions for targeted students. Students work independently at their own pace through individualised learning to develop core reading skills using a structured and sequential manner. The Lexia computer programme will notify staff when a student requires support/intervention in a specific area. This can then be facilitated through English lessons or 1:1 work with students.

The programme is called Turnabout and is based on a set of structured non-linguistic games that constantly challenge the learners’ ‘personal-best’. It focuses on the development of many aspects of memory, including visual and auditory capability, accurate recall from long-term memory, information processing speed and sequencing skills. When they have acquired these skills then rapid learning can take place.  It is a one-to-one intervention for three 20-minute sessions each week, for a total of 12 weeks.

We encourage students to use IDL four times a week, completing two lessons each time. IDL is accessed from home. This programme is specifically aimed at improving literacy and math’s skills of targeted students through a range of multisensory tasks which are linked to their individual levels. This has proved to work successfully in the past with many students and improved their confidence across all areas of the curriculum. The IDL programme is free and is monitored through school. More information can be found at: https://idlsgroup.com/.

AQA Awards are a great way to develop students’ strengths and interests whilst gaining a record of achievement rather than a qualification. These are currently incorporated alongside of lessons and the curriculum. We have previously run AQA Awards in Sports, Gardening, up-cycling and PHSE. More information can be found at: https://www.aqa.org.uk/programmes/unit-award-scheme.

Frequently Asked Questions
How do you know if my child has an additional need?

The staff at The Lakes School work closely with local primary schools and they usually let us know about any pupil who needs extra help; this may be physical, sensory, learning or social communication. We also use standardised tests in reading and spelling early in Year 7 to help us assess the needs of children. Parents are welcome to contact school directly to discuss their child anytime from Year 5 and once in school, subject teachers will express their concerns if a child is not making progress.

How do you support my child?

The staff at The Lakes School are committed to looking at each child’s needs and seeing each child as an individual. Most children work well in the mainstream class; some may need help from a teaching assistant to do so, some may need individual help with reading or spelling and some a modified timetable.

How do I know what is going on?

Form tutors are the first point of contact for most queries. All pupils have three reports each year and there is an annual Parents’ Evening (two for Year 7). If your child is receiving SEN support you will be invited to meet each term with Miss Weir to monitor progress. Occasionally a weekly or fortnightly meeting can be set up to monitor a child’s progress more closely

How well trained are the SEN staff?

The learning support department is led by our SENCO and Deputy Headteacher, Ms Rainey and our Student Development Team Co-ordinator Miss Weir have completed a course in Mindfulness. The team of teaching assistants is experienced and well qualified, including graduates and a qualified teacher and hold between them a variety of specialist qualifications relating to Dyslexia, Hearing Impairment and Visual Impairment, Autism, and Speech and Language Acquisition. There is a commitment to a continued development of skills. Specialist Teachers and the Educational Psychologist from the Local Authority can offer advice and the school has good working links with Inspira for pupils from Year 9 onwards.

What support is there overall in school for my child?

The learning support department works closely with the pastoral staff in school. A room (room 15) is used at break and lunchtime as a social area and homework area open to all.

Pupil Premium

 

The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools so that they can support their disadvantaged pupils and close the attainment gap between them and their peers.  The government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for Pupil Premium funding and their peers by ensuring that this funding reaches the pupils who need it most.

Comprehensive information about Pupil Premium funding can be found here ‘click

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2023

Please click on the link below to access our Pupil Premium Report for 2023-2024.

Pupil Premium Strategy Report 2023

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2022

Please click on the link below to access our Pupil Premium Report for 2022-2023.

Pupil Premium Strategy Report 2022

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2021

Please click on the link below to access our Pupil Premium Report for 2020-2021.

Pupil Premium Strategy Report 2021

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2019

Please click on the link below to access our Pupil Premium Report for 2018-2019.

Pupil Premium Report 2018-2019 and Strategy 2019-2020

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2018

Please click on the link below to access our Pupil Premium Report for 2017-2018.

Pupil Premium Policy and Strategy 2017-2018

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2017

Please click on the link below to access our Pupil Premium Report for 2016-2017.

Pupil Premium Policy and Strategy 2016-2017

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2016

Please click on the link below to access our Pupil Premium Report for 2015-2016.

Pupil Premium Policy and Strategy 2015-2016

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2015

Please click on the link below to access our Pupil Premium Report for 2014-2015.

Pupil Premium Report 2015

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2014

Our Pupil Premium Impact Report for 2013-2014 will appear here shortly.

Please check back again soon.

Pupil Premium Impact Report 2013

Here is our Pupil Premium report for 2013 which charts the improvements we have made at The Lakes School. Click the link to view our report

Pupil Premium Report 2013

The Lakes School in the heart of the lakes