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Stanbridge Earls is a specialist independent boarding and day school for girls and boys aged 10 – 19 with specific learning difficulties (SpLDs), including dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia and mild asperger’s syndrome. Our multi-sensory, whole-school approach with outstanding pastoral care enables our students to gain confidence and achieve success where previously they had experienced failure.

To achieve our aims of providing a suitable education for pupils with SpLDs we provide specialist help on a one-to-one basis in english, maths, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy as well as small class size and learning support assistants for their normal lessons.

CReSTeD

Like the majority of schools registered with CReSTeD we are a mainstream independent school. CReSTeD registered schools are assessed by CReSTeD, the Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils, for their suitability to teach children with dyslexia. Some of the schools offer finely tuned provision with a primary focus on dyslexia; these are category SP schools, like us, suitable for children needing considerable input to help them cope with their specific learning difficulties.

Changes

For many years children visited the centres for help with their difficulties and received expert help from their special needs tutors, and many did extremely well. Certainly they did far better than they would have done had they stayed in situations where they were failing and growing disillusioned with the very process of education.

It became apparent that we could provide even better and more targeted help if the support the pupils had in the centres was also available to them while they were in their normal lessons. To this end great efforts have been made over the last three years to integrate the service our students receive in all their lessons. Staff from the Accelerated Learning Centre (Special English) now act as second teachers in classes as well as advising subject staff about the best ways to help a pupil who may have trouble with particular aspects of a subject.

The number of learning assistants has been increased particularly in the lower school where pupils are at their most vulnerable and need most support.

More staff now support pupils during the evening prep sessions so that they always have experienced staff who can help when difficulties are encountered.

We realise that it is very important for our children have a positive experience at school besides the support and help they receive within the normal curriculum. To this end we have a strong activity programme, which highlights a variety of experiences. Examples of this are drama, where the most recent productions include Les Miserables (the Motor Mechanics Department built a revolving stage!), Grease, and Romeo and Juliet, music, where we have our school orchestra, choir, termly concerts and a newly refurbished music centre, and sport, where students have enjoyed rugby and netball tours to South Africa and Barbados, and have represented county sides and finalists in the Hampshire rugby finals 2006 and 2007. These activities encourage teamwork and an opportunity to practise in order to reach the highest possible standards. They show pupils what can be achieved even when they are faced with a learning difficulty and previous failure or simply a lack of recognition of what can be done.

Developments

We are in the middle of a major development programme despite the economic problems that beset the country. All the money has been raised prior to beginning the programme and work commenced in May 2008. A new swimming pool and sports hall were opened by Olympic Gold medallist Paul Goodison in October 2008.

Three boarding houses were refurbished over the summer holiday in 2008. A new IT suite, the Cisco Systems Academy, was opened, which enables pupils to learn how to network computers and build them from scratch.

The dining room and kitchen and the Year 11 boarding House have been refurbished, and finally a 37-bed sixth form boarding house with en-suite facilities is planned to be completed next year.

Innovations

If our non-specialist staff are to be able to teach children with learning difficulties effectively it is important that we supply them with the most up to date information and current good practice that is available. It did not make sense to send everyone away on courses and so a partnership with Learning Works has been forged.

Learning Works

Learning Works is a leading trainer in SEN education and there was a perfect symmetry between what we needed and what Learning Works could offer.

In the first instance this has resulted in a specialist mathematics course for all the mathematics teachers. This includes both class teachers and one-to-one specialists from our mathematics skills centre. It is delivered by Dr Steve Chinn, who is one of the foremost experts on dyscalculia in the world. We are now working on a pilot course for non-specialist teachers that will provide theoretical and practical advice on how best to help children with SpLDs. It has become apparent that there are real openings for staff to become SEN leaders in their chosen subjects as there are very few developments in this area. Most emphasis seems to go to the gifted and talented rather than those who find the written word or numeracy so difficult.

A second innovation has been the delivery of training days by Learning Works for staff from other schools at Stanbridge. The first seminar was given by international dyslexia expert Dr Gavin Reid, and over 50 staff from schools across the south of England attended.