Curriculum

The Foyle View Curriculum and Assessment arrangements are developed in accordance with the Northern Ireland Curriculum Review initiated in 2002, taking into account the particular needs and learning styles of children in the Foyle View community. The implementation and review of the Curriculum arrangements is ongoing, allowing staff to reflect on the effectiveness of arrangements and, through staff consultation, modify accordingly.

Subject areas are currently arranged as follows:

Language And Literacy

Mathematics And Numeracy

Creativity (Art/Music/Pe/Drama)

The World Around Us (Hist/Geog/Science/Tech)

Personal Development And R.E.

Through the above five learning areas pupils are provided with opportunities to develop the following skills and capabilities:

ICT

Communication

Application Of Number

Personal And Interpersonal Skills

Self-Management/Working With Others

In order to maximise the opportunities for each pupil to access an appropriate curriculum a variety of teaching methods and programmes are used, including the following:

Structured teaching programmes with visual schedules particularly for children with ASD’s

Picture Exchange Communication Systems, to enable non-verbal pupils to make choices and communicate their thoughts and feelings

The use of sign language using the makaton system for pupils who benefit from this form of communication

Sensory Integration Programmes for children with complex physical and sensory needs, involving O.T input if appropriate

Speech and Language Therapy programmes involving input from the SALT;

Inter-departmental groups which bring together children from different classes with similar needs and abilities for specialist programmes

An awareness of, and appropriate response to, children’s differing learning styles and multiple intelligences

Use of the wider community and environment outside the school grounds through outdoor education work and inclusion work in other schools

Provision for Children with Autism in Foyle View School

All those diagnosed as having an Autistic Spectrum Disorder may have difficulties in language and communication, social interaction and imagination. Their difficulties lie in communication, showing interest, curiosity, imagination, organisational skills, expressing and understanding feelings, motivation, concentration, understanding and coping with abstract concepts and transferring and generalising skills learnt. Also, they often have sensory problems.

Despite a common diagnosis there can be an enormously wide range in the degree of severity of each core difficulty and in the severity and nature of any additional learning difficulties.

TEACHING METHODS

Children with Autism have particularly complex needs as they often have widely varying abilities in different areas. For example, language skills may be very poor whilst visual discrimination skills may be excellent. Imitation skills are often poor which inhibits learning from others. Children with autism have impairments in imagination, which often inhibits play. Conventional methods are rarely successful with children with autism and specialised teaching approaches must be used if the child is to progress.

Foyle View uses structured teaching methods with which significant progress has been made. This has been documented by the W.E.L.B. Educational Psychology Dept. The Autistic Spectrum Advisory Service is line managed by the Principal of Foyle View as a core service of WELB Special Education Department.

Education Plans

It is school policy to take all reasonable steps to ensure parents

Know that their child has an education plan

Are aware of the targets set for their child

Are updated in relation to progress being made

Know of any curriculum focus being pursued

See core policies file for further information

Annual Reviews and Transition Planning

Annual reviews of statements of special educational needs are required under the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 for pupils attending Foyle View School. The purpose of an annual review is to:

Assess the child’s progress towards meeting the objectives specified in the statement and to gather and record information, which the schools and other professional can use in planning support for the child

Assess the child’s progress towards meeting the targets agreed following the making of the statement, in the case of the first annual review, and the targets set at the previous annual review in the case of all other reviews

Review the special provision, which has been made for the child

Consider the appropriateness of the statement in light of the child’s performance during the previous year

Set new targets for the coming year, if the statement is to be maintained

The first annual review after the young person becomes 14 years of age is particularly important and includes the agreement of a transition plan, drawing together information from a wide range of individuals within and beyond school in order to plan coherently for the young person’s transition to adult life. This is a very important stage in our pupil’s education and the transition plan will focus on the following areas:

Curriculum and academic factors

Careers and vocational information

Health, welfare or therapy needs which may influence post school life

Personal/family/social views about the future and any special issues relating to the location of services when he/she leaves school

In meeting these aims a range of individuals and agencies are invited to attend. Arrangements for these meetings are discussed at whole school and departmental meetings prior to taking place.

Links With Other Schools

Inclusive projects are now firmly established and provide our pupils with weekly opportunities to interact and work alongside their peers in other schools and in the community. Staff believes that this provision will enrich our pupils ‘ experiences and lead to an increased awareness of our pupils’ needs and the community’s duty to help meet those needs.

The inclusive links programme consists of a variety of links developed between staff in Foyle View School and teachers in other schools. Over time they have proved useful in helping students at Foyle View integrate more fully into the local community.

There have been two main areas of positive growth. The original aim of helping our pupil’s function more easily in their local environment has been met. On a second level, there has been a breakdown of prejudice and a development of an understanding of the abilities of students at this school. In the past there would have been a greater tendency to patronise and expect little from them. As a staff in Foyle View, we also expect more from our students and this also applies to attitudes toward their overall abilities. In return our students have higher expectations of themselves.

Aims

That pupils will:

Become prepared for the opportunities, responsibilities and experience of adult life

Respect and value themselves and others

Develop greater self-esteem and self-confidence

Learn to respond appropriately to a range of personal and social situations

Build and manage relationships with their peers

Develop appropriate communication skills in a range of situations

Staff Development Policy

AIM

To develop and support a learning culture within Foyle View School. A learning culture is characterised by:

Future external orientation

Free exchange and flow of information

Commitment to learning and personal development

Valuing the people within the learning community

A climate of openness and trust

Recognising that experience can both assist and hinder new ideas

Focused on performance measurement

Asking difficult questions

Being prepared to be a heretic

Thinking Skills are highly valued by all within the learning community. Leadership is situational and is the responsibility of all staff

CONTEXT

The school recognises the value and importance of providing a range of opportunities for all staff to develop their job-related knowledge and skills. The individual staff member will be more effective and make a more positive contribution to Foyle View School. The staff is striving to become members of a learning school and therefore need to model life-long learning. The Governors provide staff development and training opportunities to enhance the learning programmes in school.

ORGANISATION

The policy is designed to support all staff and help them become continuous learners and to keep us at the cutting edge of learning. New teaching staff will undergo an induction process using the Early Professional Development Model or as part of school INSET. Other staff will be trained using INSET and working on the job with a teacher or co-ordinator.

The School Information Booklet and website will provide some background information on the school. A good test of learning is to parachute staff into unfamiliar situations both to identify learning requirements and give opportunities to demonstrate previously learned skills. Transferable-skills, which encourage flexibility and develop potential, will be highly sought after.

Each member of staff with responsibility for supporting a designated area of work will ensure that the respective skills and training is available as required by significant others in school. Responsible staff will liaise with the School Management Team to bring this about.

All staff are expected to take responsibility for their individual effectiveness, personal and career development. Performance review is an important element in this process.

It is our intention to use all appropriate training organisations to support the learning of the staff within the School’s development and training programme.

IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY

We will use School Development Reviews and School Performance Questionnaires to identify priorities for staff development and training.

Any member of staff wishing to attend award-bearing courses will be partially supported financially by the school when funding becomes available.

Group and individual training needs will be met through the provision of the following activities:

Organisation of school curriculum development projects or activities

Inviting relevant people from outside the school to come into school to develop policies and programmes

External courses to develop team-building exercises

Study opportunities for all staff

Visiting centres of excellence

Action research projects to support curriculum improvement

Individual professional and technical qualifications

Work shadowing or working with a mentor

Keeping a learning journal

Experiencing changing roles or responsibilities

EVALUATION

This will be conducted at an individual level through staff reviews and at an organisational level through school development plan review.

HEALTH AND SAFETY AND CHILD PROTECTION TRAINING

This will be provided for all staff, as demanded by the School’s Health and Safety Policy and the Child Protection Policy.

Homework

The Governors see homework as serving the following purposes:

To encourage self-discipline and personal organisation.

To create additional time for structured learning.

To bridge the gap between home and school.

To allow parents direct involvement in their child's learning.

The setting of tasks to be undertaken at home will be normal practice in the school.

The frequency and length of tasks will vary according to the age and needs of the child, and according to the programme of work at the time.

Tasks set will vary in their nature, and will not necessarily be of a formal pencil and paper style.

Tasks may include amongst others e.g. reading, learning of tables, spellings or other materials, completion and/or extension of work begun in class, additional research, collecting information, and investigations.

If a parent feels that particular circumstances (e.g. prolonged absence from school) warrant additional homework this should be discussed with the class teacher. If the class teacher feels that additional work would be appropriate adequate time will be allowed for work to be set and materials to be gathered. Additional homework will not normally be set simply because a child is being taken out of school for a family holiday.

Homework should be set for clearly defined purposes, not for its own sake.

It will rarely be appropriate for homework to be set for new work, which has not been introduced in class.

Homework set should be followed up in class and it should be made clear to children that, unless clearly specified, homework tasks are not optional.

This policy will be reviewed on an on-going basis.

Autistic Spectrum Advisory Service

WHAT IS THE ASAS?

It is a W.E.L.B. Special Education support service managed through Foyle View School co-ordinating support for pupils attending primary, secondary and special schools.

AIMS

To empower schools in developing effective responses to the needs of pupils assessed as being on the autistic spectrum.
To co-ordinate support to pupils who have been assessed as being on the autistic spectrum initially within the Foyle Trust area.

OBJECTIVES

To provide school and centre based support for teachers, classroom assistants and others
To provide practical support regarding the use of a wide range of effective strategies and interventions, within existing resources, for individual pupils
To establish peer support structures for those working with pupils on the autistic spectrum
To promote effective liaison with other professionals with an involvement in the education of pupils with ASD
To promote whole school approaches to the management of pupils with ASD
To develop strategies to encourage effective parental involvement
To assist schools in drawing up appropriate education plans for pupils
To co-ordinate other support that may be required

WHO CAN USE IT?

Secondary, primary and special schools in the designated area can formally request support for individual pupils assessed as being on the Autistic Spectrum. They may also request support with staff development in meeting the needs of pupils with ASD.

HOW IS THE SERVICE ACCESSED?

Individual Pupil Referrals

All referrals on behalf of individual pupils are to be made initially to the co-ordinating psychologist using the attached pro-forma. Pupils who have not been assessed by WELB Psychology Service are not eligible for support.

To access the service the co-ordinating psychologist will endorse the referral and forward it to the School Principal (Foyle View). The Team Leader will then prioritise within existing caseload demands. Further liaison regarding individual children should take place between the Co-ordinating Psychologist and the Team Leader. Informal approaches on behalf of individual pupils will be re-directed to the WELB Psychology Service.

School Support Referrals

Schools that want to request support for staff development must complete the attached School Referral pro-forma and return it to the Team Leader.

One fifth of the ASD team’s week will be allocated to whole school support.

For further information please contact Caroline O’Hara (Team Leader) Tel. 02871 263270

Learning and Teaching Policy

Introduction

This is considered to be one of the primary policies of Foyle View School. It provides an overview of the school community’s collective understanding of what enables effective learning and teaching to take place. While being very broad in scope it is important that it is read in conjunction with other important school policies. This policy was developed as part of a Regional Training Unit School Leadership Training Programme. A draft was presented to Staff, Parents and Governors for adjustment and ratification and the policy was formally adopted in October 2002. It was agreed that this policy should be reviewed on an annual basis or as required.

Values That Underpin Learning

A child’s experience of being disabled is heavily influenced by the attitudes, views and beliefs of those individuals and organisations around him/her

Children learn best in a positive affirming environment that allows each pupil to experience success

All children can learn with varying levels of support

All children have a right to learn

A child’s needs must always come first

A child’s learning experience should be enjoyable

Learning is valued at this school for both children and adults

Pupils learn in an environment that promotes mutual respect

Student involvement in devising, monitoring and evaluating learning aims will enhance progress

Aims for Learning and Teaching

To create an enabling, learning environment that fosters high self-esteem through high expectations

To promote self-determination (see policy)

To provide individualised planning for each pupil where appropriate

To provide educational opportunities that meet individual and group needs

To meet the individual needs of the pupils, recognising the range of intelligences and learning preferences and use active and agreed approaches.

To enable our pupils to be happy and autonomous learners

To share good practice

To deliver the N. Ireland curriculum at an appropriate level

The Autonomous Learner

Where possible and where appropriate the school will aim to develop skills, attitudes and abilities associated with autonomous learning. We aim to encourage pupils to:

develop self-awareness;

explore their learning environment;

be questioning;

identify and solve problems;

work on his/her own;

work with others;

reflect on what has been learnt;

experience connected learning;

develop all intelligences;

be curious;

have developed a moral sense of being;

have good self-esteem and self-worth.

The school also recognises the interdependence of pupils upon specific adults and services. (See Promoting Self-determination Policy and Personal, Social and Health Education Policy)

A Learning Environment For Staff, Pupils And Parents

The school aims, through partnership with parents, staff, pupils and other agencies, to facilitate the following:

a high level of awareness of the importance of self-esteem and promoting self-determination;

a happy, secure and relaxed environment;

a stimulating environment;

it is everybody’s responsibility within the school community to ensure an effective learning and teaching environment;

a commitment to learning;

a commitment to staff development (see school development plan);

access to resources and up-to-date information;

a readiness to learn new skills to meet new challenges;

learning together.

Leadership and Management Structures for Effective Learning and Teaching

It is the fundamental objective of school leadership to support effective learning and teaching within Foyle View School.

The school operates a traditional line management structure for the general maintenance of the school and to ensure effective communication.

A collective leadership approach is promoted within the school that values the contribution and insight of each individual in to school development.

Areas for development are pursued on a team basis, in consultation with the wider staff, and drawing on the strengths, interests and abilities of staff.

The School Development Plan is reviewed regularly and annual targets are specified and evaluated within an annual management plan.

Agreed Teaching Approaches

The school takes an eclectic and varied approach to meeting the needs of individual pupils. Approaches are taken based on the identified needs of pupils through professional judgement based on partnership. Approaches and interventions are assessed on their suitability for each pupil. However, a range of approaches and emphases are commonly used in school. These may include the following:

age appropriate curricula;

child-centred;

one to one, group and whole class;

TEACCH;

Makaton;

Circle Time;

Reading Recovery

Icon to Ican;

PECS;

multi-sensory;

multi-disciplinary;

experiential and practical e.g. Work Experience and Travel Training;

community-based;

topic-based and cross-curricular.

Resources and Classroom Organisation

Resources and classroom organisation are intended to facilitate the following:

age appropriate resources and environment;

to provide an imaginative, challenging and stimulating educational experience;

to be appropriate to individuals’ needs;

to be progressive throughout the school;

to create an environment that reflects the learning and teaching aims of the school;

to promote classroom organisation facilitating the teaching strategies outlined;

to provide choices.

Monitoring And Evaluation

The school values critical reflection as the main means of monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of teaching and learning. It has developed a range of tools both formal and informal to facilitate this. These may include:

management plan;

school development plan;

staff reviews;

see Assessment, Recording and Reporting Policy;

questionnaires;

parental meetings;

case conferences;

written reports;

annual report to parents;

teachers’ meetings;

department meetings;

whole school meetings;

behaviour management meetings;

senior management team reviews;

Community Partnerships

The school has developed a range of links and partnerships that are used to support the aims of the school. Participation within individual links is tailored to meets the needs of pupils based on professional judgement and partnership. Partnerships have included the following

links with local schools and churches;

local firms;

Training and Employment Agency;

NWIFHE;

Foyle Trust;

Foyle Common Purpose;

Health Promotion Agency;

University of Ulster;

Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce;

Credit Union;

Challenge Programme- Nairobi;

Barnardos;

Young Enterprise;

Youth Sport Foyle;

Greater Shantallow Area Partnership;

Disability Action;

New Horizons;

N I U S E;

P.S.N.I. ;

Fulbright International ;

Prison Service.

Policy on Promoting Self Determination

INTRODUCTION

Staff, parents and pupils identified the need for this policy during an audit of school development needs in 2000. This policy was developed through consultation with the whole staff and led by the Principal, Promoting Self-Determination Co-ordinator and Promoting Self-Determination Core Group. Promoting Self-Determination is at the centre of the Foyle View ethos and is an integral part of school and departmental planning. This policy is conjoined with the targets as laid out in the school development plan.

We define promoting Self-determination broadly, as developing those attitudes, abilities and skills associated with personal independence and preparation for adulthood.

KEY PRINCIPLES

The enablement of our pupils to take greater control over their lives is central to the ethos of Foyle View School.

Children and young people learn within an emotional context that can enable or disable.

All staff are expected to be what our pupils need them to be.

A pupil’s experience of disability also includes the attitudes, beliefs, values and practices of the staff who work with him/her.

Promoting self-determination requires a whole school-enabling environment.

Links between home and school are crucial to ensure a consistent environment that is enabling.

AIMS

To promote the acquisition of the following:

Autonomous behaviour - Occurs when a pupil acts according to his/her own preferences, interests and abilities free from undue interference.

Self-regulation - Includes self-management strategies, goal setting and attainment behaviours, problem - solving behaviours, observational learning strategies.

Psychologically empowered behaviours -

These include concepts that a person has about his/her

personal efficacy, (your perception of your ability to bring about your desired outcomes)

locus of control, (your belief about who has control)

motivation, (the urge or desire to apply skills to affect outcomes)

self-realisation,People who are self-determined use information and knowledge about themselves to their own advantage.

OBJECTIVES

In promoting self-determination we aim to develop skills, abilities and positive attitudes in the following areas:

Self-esteem

Choice–making

Decision-making

Independence

Problem- solving

Positive self-efficacy

Work Skills

Travel Skills

Independent Leisure Skills

In the design and evaluation of their teaching and learning teachers will incorporate promoting self-determination into existing schemes of work based upon the Foyle View Guide to Promoting Self-Determination.

METHODOLOGY

The Foyle View Guide to Promoting Self-Determination will be used as focus for creating an empowering learning environment. A number of significant points should be taken into account. All staff involved with our pupils have a key role as enablers. This requires a commitment to the rights of the individual and recognition of the fact that children may be disabled by the attitudes and beliefs that surround them. Promoting self-determination will be facilitated when the learning environment:

Promotes gradual independence and personal control at a level appropriate to the individual

Promotes high expectations and facilitates access to success

Involves students in the ownership and direction of their learning

Enhances self-awareness and promotes the acquisition of positive self-esteem

Is responsive to the individual student

Promotes inclusive practices with parents and other organisations and agencies

Provides external accreditation and recognition of learning;

Is age appropriate

Promoting self-determination will be facilitated when Educators are:

Reflective

Democratic

Discursive

Innovative

Positive

Challenging

Inclusive

Responsive

Empowering

ORGANISATION

Ensuring that all pupils are treated in ways that enable them as individuals is the responsibility of all staff. Promoting self-determination should be understood as relating to an enabling culture that permeates all aspects of school life; from formal lessons in the classroom to whole school assemblies and from how pupils are greeted in the morning to how pupils’ achievements are reported on parents’ night. Each class has responsibilities to ensure that the personal and social development needs of individual pupils are targeted, implemented in programme and reviewed accordingly.

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

Assessment and evaluation for pupils will take place within existing policy guidelines (see Policy on Assessment, Recording and Reporting). Overall implementation of the policy for promoting self-determination is the responsibility of the Principal.