Special Educational Needs
Coláiste Pobail Acla’s Special Educational Needs Department caters for the needs of children who for one reason or another are finding difficulty in coping with some area of the curriculum.
Students who need more individual help than can be given in the normal mainstream class are tutored in small groups in the core subjects or subjects with which they are having particular difficulties.
Here, under the guidance of Mrs Scully who is specially qualified in this area pupils can be assessed and receive the individual attention that they need and make use of additional resources including differentiated books, equipment and computer facilities that are available.
Whether a student’s difficulty is a specific one or more general, the special needs tutor and staff work together to ensure that any pupil experiencing difficulties will reach his/her full potential.
Procedure for Incoming Students
Application for entry to Coláiste Pobail Acla is made on a standard application form. This form is designed to elicit relevant information about special needs of pupils and parents are required to make known the child’s needs on the form. Where students have been assessed by a psychologist or have availed of any special tuition or resource at National School, parents are required to make this known.
Each year incoming students are invited to Coláiste Pobail Acla to complete Aptitude tests. The results will ascertain reading, mathematical and spelling ages of incoming first years.
Pupils with scores relatively lower than their chorological ages will be retested in September of that year. The diagnostic tests will reflect pupil’s difficulties in reading, writing, spelling and mathematical areas.
A profile of the particular pupil is prepared by liaising with parents, career guidance and resource teachers.
Parents are contacted to discuss their child’s needs and learning targets.
The curriculum is adapted to suit the pupil’s needs, timetables are drawn up and pupils are withdrawn from mainstream to receive support.
For further information, contact the school reception who will refer you to the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
