Study Skills & SEN

The Inclusion & Learning department consists of the College’s SENCo, Learning Mentor team and Access Arrangements team. The provision of the department is available for all students to access as well as offering more specialist support for students with EHCPs and SEN Support.

Study Skills

All students have access to our dedicated team of Learning Mentors based in the College’s ‘Focus Centre’. Learning Mentors act as study skills advisors on your child’s educational journey and offer one-to-one support sessions and study skills workshops in a small class environment. The team’s focus is creating successful independent learners who are prepared for their next steps into Higher Education or employment.

Types of Support

Special Educational Needs

We are dedicated to implementing support that allows all students with SEN to access excellence and opportunity in their learning, including those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP).

Students identified as having a special educational need is supported through our graduated approach that ensures consistent assessment, planning and reviewing of the support we offer.

All students with an identified need are met during our enrolment process by a member of the department to ensure that they feel supported and can access their learning effectively. Students meet with their teachers several times throughout the year to review their classroom provision.

The ‘Focus Centre’ is a dedicated space designed to be a welcoming environment for students to access to complete quiet work and meet with their Learning Mentor. We recognise that not all students can adjust to the demands of advanced learning as quickly as others. The Inclusion and Learning department offer timetabled supervision and support for students finding the expectations for completing independent study outside lesson time challenging.

For students with EHCPs, the SENCo encourages an invitation to the Annual Review to further understand your child’s learning needs and to begin building a relationship with your child and the family. The College must consult with the local authority to ensure that needs and provision can be met.

The College offers an enhanced transition process for students with EHCPs to ensure their transition to Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College is smooth and effective.

Students with EHCPs are assigned a key worker from the Learning Mentor team to offer support, guidance and to implement the provision outlined in the EHCP.

We meet with students with EHCPs and their families throughout the year to recognise their voice and adjust provision where necessary.

Access Arrangements

Access Arrangements ensure that students who have a substantial and long-term disadvantage can access the assessment process fairly in line with the ‘reasonable adjustments’ require by the Equality Act (2010).

Awarding Access Arrangements is regulated by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). Centres are regularly inspected by JCQ to ensure that malpractice is not occurring. Malpractice is defined as ‘putting in place access arrangements that are not approved or permitting access arrangements within the centre which are not supported by appropriate evidence’.

All students with Access Arrangements are invited to meet with a member of the team during enrolment to ensure the smooth transition from GCSE to studying at Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College. Access Arrangements are not automatically rolled over and require a period of establishing a ‘normal way of working’ within the College.

Access Arrangements should be in place before any exams are taken, as early as possible after the student joins the College, to ensure a ‘normal way of working’ can be fairly established and maintained.