..We make our dreams come true
At the Red Rose School we provide for the educational, emotional and social needs of 52 boys and girls, aged between 8 and 16 years, of average and above average intelligence who experience Specific Learning Difficulties and/or experiences which cause them to become delicate and vunerable in a mainstream setting. Children on the Specific Learning Difficulties continuum assessed as Dyspraxic or ADD/ADHD may be registered in the School. Moreover, children who present with 'mild' aspergers traits may also be registered in the School. In our experience many children who experience specific learning difficulties have a tendency to be sensitive to some educational environments. At the Red Rose School we recognise that many of our children are delicate, particularly in a school situation and we strive to ensure that all children feel comfortable and happy.
Take a chartered educational psychologist, acknowledged as an expert in Learning Difficluties, behaviour management and ‘delicate’ children. Add experienced specialised teachers from each class and at least one dedicated assistant from each class. Mix in the latest research and up to date resources. Season with an ethos of Christain love and care and pour into a multi-sensory container. Cook for a year or two and watch before your very eyes the wonder of 'self esteem' grow each day.
At last ingredients are working to 'crack the code' of each child's problems. Difficulties are overcome, coping strategies and skills are developed and the child learns the values of respect and kindness to others.
Then it happens!
Where has that underconfident, 'I am stupid', no eye contact child gone - now parents have 'little Jonny or Mary' back again - smiles, confidence, straight backs, 'let me read that to you Dad', 'Mum, Did you know that I am going to University?'
Our job done, the child grows wings and flies away in the anticipation of the many good tomorrows.
That is our package!
That is what we are dedicated to each day!
Our Defintion of Sp.L.D.
Persons identified as having a Specific Learning Difficulty or Difficulties all show different intellectual and emotional profiles, strengths and weaknesses, learning styles and life experiences. Within this context, Sp.L.D. can be identified as distinctive patterns of difficulties, relating to the processing of information, within a continuum from very mild to severe, which may result in restrictions in literacy, language, number, motor function and organisational skills.
Children who are in a potentially failing situation can become delicate. This will impair their ability to learn and co-operate with other children and adults. They may have specific learning difficulties, or perhaps they are' delicate and vulnerable' because of some temporary change in their situation at home or school. There may be educational, social or medical reasons for a child being described as delicate. It is important to address this as soon as possible otherwise their learning and emotional needs can become more difficult to deal with in the school setting.
It is important to recognise the additional needs of delicate and vulnerable children and we at the Red Rose School place a high priority on providing a learning environment that caters for the diversity of emotional and learning needs in order to help children achieve their potential.
Just as the eagle shields and cares for its young, the school shields and cares for the pupils in its charge. All of our pupils have felt the previous 'failures' caused by their learning difficulties and, as such, it is essential that they feel safe and unthreatened in their new school environment. Just as importantly, our pupils must learn to trust again this can only be done by staff establishing a loving and caring relationship with each child in their charge.
When the eaglet reaches maturity the mother eagle 'stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions'. In reality, she takes the nest out from under her eaglet. The eaglet tumbles downward but before it hits the ground she catches it and carries it back to safety. This process is repeated until nature takes over and the eaglet spreads its wings and flys for the first time. Soon the young eagle is soaring high above the storms.
This analogy epitimises the challenges we must set for our pupils. Once they feel safe and 'strong', we will start to stretch (challenge) them until the time comes when they can 'fly' on their own this done, our job is finished and they can either reintegrate back into mainstream school or go on to college.
Inclusion implies that the needs of all children, irrespective of their strengths or difficulties, will be met in the mainstream setting. We at the Red Rose strive to achieve that ideal. We are committed to the principles of inclusion, of social equality and full curriculum access for all children. We recognise however that some children, because of their social, emotional or learning needs, may not be 'ready' for full inclusion. In this situation these children may become 'temporary casualties' of the desire to pursue this ideal. At the Red Rose School we respect and acknowledge the necessary benefits of inclusion and strive to ensure that all our children, while in our care, enjoy as much as possible an inclusive education. Our aim is always to re-integrate all children to mainstream school and therefore we view our role as firmly part of the inclusion agenda and the inclusive educational process with the education authorities who place children at our school.
Most of the children admitted to our school have failed in the mainstream setting and have, not surprisingly, low levels of self esteem, as well as low attainments. But within our specialised resource the children progress and are all eventually re-admitted to mainstream schools or further education. Within this specialised resource the principles of inclusion are operating. All children have an entitlement to a full curriculum and to have their social, emotional and educational needs met. Inclusion needs to be seen as a flexible package to meet the diverse needs of children. Mainstream schools are of course a key part of that package but just because a child is placed in a mainstream classroom does not necessarily mean the child is receiving the benefits of an inclusive education. At the Red Rose School we see ourselves as part of that flexible package to achieve full inclusion for all children with specific social, emotional and learning needs (from Dyslexia and Inclusion: Classroom Approaches for Assessment, Teaching and Learning. Reid, G. 2004, David Fulton/NASEN publications).
All of our students make great strides in improvements to their self esteem. Of the 150+ students who have left the school the average improvement in years is 8, 7 and 8 for reading, spelling and number respectively.