LEARNING SUPPORT

Ensuring all students succeed

ICS welcomes a diverse student population with different learning styles and aptitudes. Our experienced learning support specialists ensure that all students successfully engage with the curriculum.

 

Our Learning Support Department at ICS works to provide the necessary support needed for students to receive an education that develops their full potential. We provide the necessary support for students with learning challenges so they may be fully participating members of the school community - and access the curriculum while recognising their strengths and talents.

Our multidisciplinary team draws on each learner’s unique skills and strengths and we work closely with parents, teachers, and other external agencies involved to provide the most appropriate instruction for each individual student.

By establishing strong links between home and school and knowing our students well, we are able to develop a student’s understanding of their own learning profile and promote their ability to self-advocate. 

Programme Delivery

Learning support services vary across a continuum of tiered delivery models. Services may be provided through:

• Consultation with classroom and/ or specialist teachers;
• In-class support;
• Withdrawal services, in which the student comes out of the regular class setting (often to follow a specific, structured programme); or,
• A combination of these models.

Support may be provided on an individual or small group basis, based on the needs determined through assessment, observation and consultation. The structure of the support is based upon an individual support plan which consists of specific goals collaboratively agreed upon by the LS teacher, class teacher, parents and student. Plans are monitored and revisited throughout the year.

Primary School Learning Support

The Primary Learning Support Programme supports the unique needs of students through appropriate instruction, accommodations, and modifications to maximise their academic, as well as their social and emotional success at ICS.

A key guiding principle of the department is to know our students well and define their individual strengths and weaknesses, rather than apply global labels.

Learning Support staff, together with the class and specialist teachers, help equip students to learn independently and productively and develop lifelong learning skills and behaviours.

Secondary School Learning Support

The Secondary Learning Support Department offers help to students who have an identified learning difficulty. The aim is to help them access the IB curriculum as much as possible. 

Our goal is to empower students to take control of their own learning through effective study skills. We help students to understand their specific learning styles, including their strengths and areas of difficulty, and offer strategies to overcome those difficulties.

Students develop a partnership with subject teachers to help provide differentiated classroom strategies that enable them to reach their educational potential.

Experienced Learning Support staff help Secondary students who need curriculum support in two ways. One is an out-of-class programme - where students are taken out of class to work either individually or in a small group on learning and developing specific skills. Additionally, there is in-class support within specific subject areas. Additional academic support is also offered through after-school drop-in sessions.