Special Needs Program
Special educational needs (SEN) are learning difficulties or disabilities
that can make it more difficult for a child to learn or access education
than other children of a similar age.
Children with SEN require extra (or different) help from that given to
other children of the same age. This help is referred to as special educational provision. Many children will have SEN of some kind during their education.
Special educational needs require special educational provision that is
additional to and different from everyday differentiation.
At MILC we have qualified and experienced professionals that have chosen to love, care for and teach SEN learners.
MILC Broad areas of special educational needs include:
1. Cognition and learning
2. Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
3. Communication and interaction
4. Intellectual disabilities
1. COGNITION AND LEARNING
Children have learning difficulties if they have significantly greater difficulty learning than most children of the same age.
Learning difficulties can be:
• General learning difficulties – difficulties acquiring basic skills that
result in difficulties with all school work. These difficulties can be
moderate (MLD), severe (SLD), or profound and multiple (PMLD).
• Specific learning difficulties – difficulties in a specific area e.g. difficulties with reading, writing, math or understanding information.
This category includes dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
We support our learners through the use of suitable teaching strategies and resources. We believe in structured teaching which involves developing skills through activities that are broken up into small achievable tasks. We also use multisensory methods for children who have difficulties especially with reading and mathematics concepts
2. SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, AND MENTAL HEALTH DIFFICULTIES
Children have social, emotional or mental health difficulties if they have
significantly greater difficulty than most children of the same age in one
or more of the following areas:
• Behaving appropriately
• Making friends and/or relating to adults
• Understanding and/or expressing emotions appropriately
At MILC we have a clear conduct policy that sets out the range of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. We believe in positive behaviour management that rewards the learner for good behaviour and aims to deal with disruptions swiftly.
3. COMMUNICATION AND INTERACTION
Some examples of communication and interaction needs that may require
special educational provision include:
• Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)
• Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Learners with communication and interaction problems can be supported using different approaches and interventions. Learners can be helped through either structured approaches or through flexible approaches depending on the needs and disability of the learner. These approaches teach basic life, communication and social skills in a highly structured manner. We support our learners by presenting information visually that can be very useful in supporting communication and understanding.
4. INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
Intellectual or learning disabilities are caused by the way the brain develops before, during, or soon after birth.
The two most commonly known causes of intellectual disability are
Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome.
Learners with intellectual disabilities learn and develop slower than expected but we strive to provide effective support so they can reach their full potential in their own time. We have a clear understanding of our learner’s needs and capabilities and believe in developing a strong bond and a positive relationship with the learner.