With a strong emphasis on our school value of belonging, wherever possible we adapt to the unique needs of each student so they feel valued as an important part of our school community.

Additional Needs is an intentionally broad term, which encompasses any student who requires extra long-term or short-term support. These needs may include physical, sensory, learning, behavioural, social, or emotional differences.

SENCO (Special educational needs co-ordinator)

Lesley Brewer, our deputy principal, helps to identify students with additional needs and charts their progress. If needed, Lesley also liaises with the Ministry of Education, external agencies, and educational psychologists.

Experienced learning assistants

All our learning assistants are experienced in working with students who have additional needs. You can read their profiles here: Rachel Bennett, Fiona Olley, Sarah Gemin. 

Depending on what is appropriate for each student, our learning assistants provide one-on-one support in the classroom or outside the classroom, and also facilitate groups of students with similar additional needs. 

For example, they run a number of programmes specifically designed to support students with emotional regulation:

Bounce Back is a resilience-building programme that is often valuable for students who struggle with anxiety or social challenges.

Zones of Regulation is a simple, yet powerful tool to help students identify their energy levels and emotional state (for example, "I'm in the yellow zone now"), and learn self-regulation techniques. 

Lego Therapy

In conjunction with the zones of regulation, our intensive coaching programme includes opportunities for students to practice self-regulation tools and techniques, during structured and unstructured Lego sessions.

They learn about collaboration, respecting others' personal space, asking politely for help, resolving conflicts, and managing their emotions when it is time to tidy up.

Additional reading support

School-wide structured literacy approach

In 2022, all our junior teachers and learning assistants trained in BSLA (Better Start Literacy Approach), which is a structured way of teaching and assessing reading competence through phonological awareness (letter sound knowledge). Our senior teachers will begin training in 2023. 

With this consistent whole-school approach, we will maintain a shared language and understanding that will be highly beneficial for students as they move through the year groups. 

Targeted reading support

For our students with reading-related additional needs, we have several programmes to help them catch up with their classmates. 

Reading Recovery 

This is an intensive one-to-one reading and writing programme for students whose educational progress may otherwise be affected. The programme is run by Lesley Brewer. Students who take part in Reading Recovery tend to see improvements fairly quickly. You can find more information here: http://www.readingrecovery.ac.nz/

Rainbow Reading 

This is a series of books and related reading activities developed by qualified reading specialists to boost students who need a bit of extra practise with their reading. Learning assistants or parent helpers sit with students, often in groups, as they progress through the series. You can find out more information here: www.rainbowreading.org.nz 

Inference training

Some students are competent readers, but may struggle to make sense of the meaning of texts, particularly subtexts (i.e. inferring meaning when it is not explained explicitly). Usually, we identify these students after a reading test, which we analyse to find out exactly which aspects are most challenging. We then source relevant books and work in groups or one-on-one to prompt students to look for clues in the text and build their confidence in understanding authors' intentions. 

Get in touch

If your child has additional needs, or if you suspect they may have, Lesley Brewer would be happy to meet with you to discuss testing or how we can provide additional support. You can email her at lesleyb@devonport.school.nz