Students with Additional Needs
At BFPS we hold high expectations for all of our students and aim to meet every child’s individual needs. We strive to provide high quality, engaging learning for all of our students. This includes the extension of highly successful students as well as identifying gaps in student learning for early intervention. Every child is entitled to an education that guides them to reach their full potential.
Through data analysis and evidence based assessment practises, teachers monitor the learning needs of all of our students in order to provide relevant and directed learning opportunities. One on one support is provided by our experienced SSOs for students who have been diagnosed with a specific learning disability, which is guided by an individualised learning plan called a One Plan. We also provide a range of targeted intervention programs across Reception to Year 7 in both Literacy and Numeracy. These programs are specifically targeted to provide the explicit support that each child needs in order to build their skills, knowledge and understanding in the areas most needed.
One Plans
Students receiving a time allocation for support in line with their verified learning disability, will receive this time for 1:1 support in the classroom. The teacher and SSO will work with both leadership and the family to develop an individualised learning plan called a One Plan. This document will outline the learning achievements, specific goals and strategies that will be employed in order to meet the students’ needs. The classroom SSOs will work in collaboration with the classroom teacher to develop the essential skills and understandings outlined in their One Plan.
Intervention Programs
Literacy
Strategic Literacy Intervention is available at BFPS to meet the individual needs of students who require additional support in their learning. These programs are offered to students at risk of not achieving educational outcomes recommended for their year level. Each intervention program is reviewed regularly to monitor effectiveness and impact on student learning. Intervention sessions run for half an hour, 2-4 days a week.
Jolly Phonics Intervention
The Jolly Phonics Intervention program is designed to support the phonics development of students from Rec to Yr 3. This intervention program will revisit the 42 sounds of the English language as well as exploring how letters make blends and how these are used to make words. It will focus on the recognition of sounds as well as writing and the application of phonics knowledge in spelling. Students will be grouped based on their stage of phonetic development, their understanding of blends and diagraphs and well as their ability to transfer this understanding into their writing.
Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI)
LLI is an intensive Literacy Intervention that can range in reading abilities from Reception to Year 8 (depending on the kit). It is a program that is heavily based on research in the development of reading across the Primary School Years. This program is very structured and combines a range of essential Literacy skills that are linked to a central text. Each week the group unpacks shared books where they discuss the narrative/ information content, practice explicit reading strategies, decoding tricky words, mapping sentence structure, blending sounds and practicing common sight words. The group works together to build knowledge on sequence, comprehension and inference skills. This program also includes a writing component to link the focus skills to the process of writing.
Project X Code
Project X Code is a program designed for engaging older students in reading. As students progress through primary school, we often find that struggling readers become more and more disengaged in reading. This program has texts starting as low as Level 5 but engages the reader in problem solving tasks that requires them to read (and comprehend) more. The texts are based on a common theme where each text increases in challenge and complexity in reading. The students move through a series of ‘worlds’, using both paper based books and online interactive activities. In order to move on to the next ‘world’, a student must solve a series of problems based on depth of comprehension. This allows students to work at their current stage of reading development while they practice explicit skills required to move into the next stage of development.
Numeracy
TooSmart
TOOSmart is a Maths intervention program that was designed for 6-8year olds, by a teacher at Seacliff Primary School. It is a play based program for Junior Primary students and is based on the QuickSmart resource. The program has been developed based on brain research which tells us that the brain needs regular, short bursts of practice to consolidate understanding. TooSmart builds on a child’s automaticity in the conceptual development of Number. Each session focuses on the deeper understanding and fluency of Number including subitising, mental computation, doubles, skip counting and Place Value. This intervention program will be offer to students from years 1-4 who have been identified as having gaps in their conceptual development. It will allow time for the consolidation of the concepts leading to greater confidence and success in their classroom learning.
Quicksmart
The QuickSmart program is a Numeracy intervention program designed to support Numeracy skill development. QuickSmart targets low performing students and aims a building efficiency in cognitive processing. It focuses on the role of automaticity in developing students understanding and quick recall of basic number facts. Ultimately, QuickSmart aims to free up the working memory of students so that they can engage meaningfully in class activities like problem solving and computations.
Students will be identified for QuickSmart through discussions with their teacher and current data including PAT and NAPLAN. Students will work in pairs and take part in 3 sessions per week. The program follows a structured lesson sequence based around a ‘focus set’ of number facts. Teaching and learning strategies include explicit strategy instruction, modelling, questioning, practice and feedback.
