Learning Support Coordinator of a Key Stage Lord Williams's School, Thame, Oxfordshire
Job description
The Learning Support Faculty
Lord Williams’s School has a very strong commitment to providing the best possible education to all students whatever their particular aptitudes, needs and circumstances. For students with special educational needs this is achieved, so far as is possible, by inclusion within mainstream classes and by the involvement of all staff. The range of needs supported is very wide and includes Cognition and Learning; Physical and Sensory; Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) and Communication and Interaction.
The Learning Support Faculty at Lower School is in the main body of the campus and comprises a suite of rooms. It is well equipped for a variety of activities/interventions including three hubs: the Learning Hub, the Communication Interaction Hub and the SEMH Hub (1B).
At Upper School Learning Support is situated on the edge of the campus in a purpose-built building. Accommodation on both sites is of a good standard.
The Learning Support Faculty aims to enable all students to participate fully in the life of the school and has three key areas of activity.
Curriculum Support:
Being aware of the key features of the curriculum
Helping staff to develop a differentiated curriculum
Advising staff about any changes needed to ensure access to the curriculum for all students
Mainstream Support:
Developing strategies to support students with a range of specific needs, and seeking ways of ensuring the achievements of all students are recognised
Working in collaboration with curriculum teachers to help students make progress
Supporting and observing students in their mainstream lessons
Individual Support:
Identifying and assessing students’ difficulties, and tracking their progress
Working with individuals to improve their literacy skills, social skills and relationships using a variety of skills and resources
Working in close co-operation with pastoral staff, parents and outside professionals/agencies to develop strategies to support under-achievement
The Learning Support Faculty has strong links to the Communication and Interaction [Autism] Resource Bases. We have reciprocal arrangements that allow students to move easily between the Bases and mainstream classes, and we are currently developing these links.
In October 2011 the school received an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted Report, which regarded the provision for students with special educational needs as very good. The Learning Support Faculty has also received a certification from ASDAN recognising Lord Williams’s as a ‘Centre of Excellence’.
Essential educational requirements
Graduate
PGCE or other appropriate training
Essential qualifications
Qualified Teacher Status
Essential skills and experience
Teaching in a secondary school (although Primary would be considered.)
Leading initiatives and Interventions
Very good classroom teacher
Broad understanding of curriculum and learning issues
Appropriate ICT skills
Motivation to work with children and young people
Ability to form and maintain appropriate relationships and personal boundaries with children and young people
Emotional resilience in working with challenging behaviours
Team worker
Committed to high standards from all students
Awareness of equal opportunities issues
High expectations of colleagues
A supportive and guiding influence
Employee benefits
The School offers Pay and conditions of service set out in the current School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document
and Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS).
About Lord Williams's School
Lord Williams’s School is a thriving and popular comprehensive school serving the Thame community and its surrounding rural area. We are a split-site school, with Years 7 – 9 on the Lower School site at Towersey Road and Years 10 – 13 on the Upper School site at Oxford Road. We pay particular attention to each individual student by promoting their personal, social and educational development to enable all to achieve at the highest level possible. As a result of our continuing success, Lord Williams’s School is consistently oversubscribed. We promote high quality teaching and learning. We attract talented, committed and conscientious teachers who produce stimulating and challenging learning activities helped by experienced support staff. Teamwork is a key feature of our work. We are an inclusive school; we cater for all abilities and we provide access for all students. This is reflected in our work with the more able, with students with a range of learning and other difficulties and in our admissions policy for the Sixth Form. The school has excellent teaching facilities on both sites with accommodation that is suited to the demands of the curriculum.
- Address
- Oxford Road, Thame, Oxfordshire, OX9 2AQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- Type
- Academy
- Website
- Lord Williams's School website (opens in a new window)