SEN Dept St Aidans CC Anne ODonovan August

SEN Dept St. Aidans CC Anne O’Donovan August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

Putting you in the picture • • St Aidans CC, Cork County VEC School Northside of Cork City 24 years old Currently in a growth phase 31 PWT Staff 7 TWT Staff 6+ Part-time Staff August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

SEN Profile • Sept 2007 105 ATS hours (+) • 5 Assistive technology • 10 (approx RACE) • 8 Full-time SNA August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

Challenges • • Natural increase in SEN/LS students Creative in the use of our resources Increasing administration demands Sharing best practice (ear-to-the-ground) Involvement and sharing of responsibility Encouraging and facilitating suggestions Mentoring and contact networks August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

Use of ICT • St. Aidan’s C. C. Enrolment Policy. • SEN Department Procedure. • Resource Students (Master sheet 2007/’ 08). • SEN Department members 2007/2008. • SNA Members 2007/’ 08. (Rotating Contact Person). August 22 nd 2007 • SEN Department contact person 2007/’ 08. -Policy and Procedures. • SEN Department Contact Persons 2007/’ 08. General SEN Areas. • SEN Department Contact Persons 2007/’ 08. -Per Year Group. • SEN Department Contact Persons 2007/’ 08. -Subject Areas. Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

Use of ICT cont. • SEN Department Contact Persons 2007/’ 08. -Disability Areas. • SEN Department Contact Persons 2007/’ 08. -Reasonable Accommodation. • SEN Dept Contact Person 2007/’ 08. – Available teaching/learning resources. August 22 nd 2007 • SEN Department Contact Persons 2007/’ 08. -Special Initiatives. • SEN Department Meetings (‘ 07/’ 08). • Suggestions for improvement. Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

SEN Contact person slides SEN Contact Person ‘ 07/’ 08 re. Policy and Procedures; all suggestions re. changes to policy/procedures welcome! • SEN Department Contact Person 2007/’ 08 re. General SEN Areas. • • • *Foreign Nationals. *Travellers. *Assistive Technology. *Additional Teacher Hours. *Special Needs Assistants. • SEN Department Contact Persons 2007/’ 08 re. Year Group. • *Junior Cycle. • • First Year Second Year Third Year *Senior Cycle. Fourth Year Fifth Year Sixth Year. • August 22 nd 2007 • SEN Department Contact Person 2007/’ 08 re. Subject Areas. • • • • • English Irish Mathematics French Science History Geography ESS CSPE R. E. SPHE PE Art Home Economics Woodwork/Construction Metalwork Graphics Music Business Studies/Accounting. Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

SEN Contact person slides cont. . • • • • SEN Dept. Contact Person 2007/’ 08 • Specialist Areas. Physical Disability. • Hearing Impairment. Visual Impairment. Emotional Disturbance. Severe Emotional Disturbance. • Borderline Mild General Learning Difficulty. • Mild General Learning Difficulty. Moderate General Learning Difficulty. • Severe/Profound General Learning • Disability. • Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Specific Learning Disability. • Assessed Syndrome. Specific Speech and Language Disorder. Multiple Disabilities. August 22 nd 2007 SEN Contact Person ‘ 07/’ 08 re. Reasonable Accommodation. SEN Contact Person ‘ 07/’ 08 re. available Teaching/learning resources. SEN Contact Person ‘ 07/’ 08 re. Special initiatives/programmes. Paired reading/Peer tutoring. Team-teaching-Pilot Programme. Team-teaching-General SEN Dept. List of contact support teachers from feeder schools. List of external support agencies and relevant contact persons. Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

SEN Excel sample template August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

School Profile Excel sample sheet August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

Types of Co-Teaching • One group – one lead teacher – one supportive teacher who observes, manages & tutors • Parallel Teaching – two groups – two teachers • Alternative teaching – two groups – one small – one large • Team teaching – both teachers share leadership in one group • Station supportive teaching – content divided in two and each teacher teaches one half to each of two groups August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

2006/2007 Timetable Commenced Nov. 2007 • • JCSP 2 nd Year – 5 periods (English) JCSP 3 rd Year – 3 periods (English) LCA 1 – 3 periods (English & Communications) 3 JC – 1 period (CSPE) for several weeks Dec. to Jan. • All with more experienced female teachers • Personality – quite different – all equally open to adapting and benefitting from shared strategy August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

Sample Group • LCA group • 5 periods English & Communications, 3 with co-teacher • Principal teacher set scheme – support teacher given responsibility for particular key assignments in each module • 17 students; 4 Resource Students (3 x m. g. l. d. ; 1 x A. S. D. ) • Familiar with both teachers • Split class into smaller groups as the need arose to give focus on completion of tasks • Teach whole class on particular area • Monitor/remove disruptive student(s) to cool off August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

What did the students get? • More people get better results • More focussed and immediate individual attention, feedback and explanation • Distracted students kept on task • Choice of two adults with different approaches, styles and perspectives • Reduced disruption – discipline & occasional absence • Pre-empted many problems • Allowed reinforcement of learning, especially in maths • Resource students – inclusive educational environment August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

What did teachers get? • • Pleasantly surprised – initial apprehension – autonomy Professional development – an opportunity to learn I. III. • • – working with more experienced teachers – introduced to different programmes (LCA & JCSP) – develop skills and methodologies, learning methods & approaches Facilitated the monitoring of resource students & implementation of IEPs Reduced disruption and more time engaged with teaching & learning Less stress More directed interaction, engagement with individual students, better relationships August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

Recommendations & Areas of Concern • Benefits across the board, especially in weaker, more “needy” classes • Balanced withdrawal, not as a replacement • Introduce as early as possible, both in terms of year groups and time of year • Both teachers from same subject area • Agreed approach to management, discipline & sanctions before beginning (“marriage” metaphor) • Clarify role of each teacher – not an SNA – both pro-active in planning, preparation and delivery • Shared responsibility for class, plan, schemes, etc. • Synchronised time for proper planning, preparation and evaluation • Flexible to cater for the needs of the group – allow for division of class into smaller groups for specific targeting of particular individuals • Focus remain on Resource Students August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

The holidays are over And so back to the drawing board…. ! August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork

SEN Department Meeting(1) August ’ 07 Agenda. • Policy and Procedures. • Agreed weekly meeting time. • General duties and responsibilities. (Completion and distribution of “contacts” list). • Specific duties re. distribution of ATS hours. • Timetabling and rooming. • Team-teaching Pilot Project. • Peer-tutoring/reading initiative. August 22 nd 2007 Anne O'Donovan St Aidans Community College Cork