Learning Support
Welcome to Learning Support
Our mission is to be a support service which offers social, emotional, mental health and academic support to pupils in a safe, calm, positive and welcoming environment.
Our Team
Learning Support has three permanent members of staff working on the team. Sam is the Learning Support Manager, Kayley and Kay are both Learning Support Assistants.
Sam Lee
Learning Support Manager
Kayley Jones
Learning Support Assistant
Kayley Woollard
Learning Support Assistant
Learning Support is a proactive pastoral and welfare service. We have three permanent members of staff working on the team. Sam is the Learning Support Manager, Kayley and Kay are very experienced and valued members of the team.
We each work directly with a designated Key Stage to offer the best support possible to all of our pupils. We work in the Learning Support rooms and the classrooms in order to best do this.
Our area in school is called The Grove and we are lucky to have 4 areas within it for pupils to access. Our main space is called the Learning Hub. This is an ideal environment for pupils to work in, talk informally with staff or interact socially with staff and other pupils. We also have the Snug/Reading room, which is a more private space. We call this the Nest. We have the Loft; our nurture room upstairs and the Studio, which is our arts and craft room. It is important to remember that Learning Support is an alternative space. We are an additional option to consider in times of need by all.
Pupils frequently work in the Learning Support rooms. A member of the classroom staff may accompany and work with a pupil in our rooms.
Learning Support also gives pupils an opportunity to take a chance to re-group if they are finding the classroom environment or school to be stressful. This may mean that a pupil may not be ready to accomplish an academic task, but they may wish to talk about an issue that is concerning them, engage in a social activity or merely take some time out/quiet time before returning to class.
Alternatively, if a pupil requires a break from class and/or staff but wants to work we can facilitate this in Learning Support.
Our service is a stepping stone between pupils and class. We frequently engage with pupils who are upset, angry, disaffected, distracted, fearful, anxious, troubled or generally struggling to get to the place that they need to be in order to work. Pupils come to us for time and understanding. For a shoulder and for support. They may wish to vent, talk, shout, cry or simply sit quietly. It is our role as a team to facilitate this and use our skills as effectively as possible to support the pupil in working out their issues and a way to resolve them.
We also offer advice and support to our colleagues, liaise with SLT or Safeguarding Officers when necessary and communicate with parents/carers when required as part of our pastoral duty of care.
The future looks bright
We have worked hard to provide a calm, sunny, multi-purpose environment where everyone feels comfortable, safe and welcome.
Each of us also has personal ambitions and areas that we would like to develop our skills in. We are actively looking for opportunities to do this, in Mental Health, counselling and behaviour management. We also take ownership and governance of our School Council. It is important to us to develop, to enhance our own professional lives and hopefully the lives of the pupils in our school.
We feel that the root of Chaigeley School’s success is based in the people who choose to work here and the way each of us finds a way to connect with and inspire every pupil. Every member of staff brings their own skills and contributes to the progress and development of each pupil academically, socially and emotionally. Our pupils find confidence and resilience through this consistent and whole school approach. Each pupil leaves school with their many and varied qualifications, a better, more robust sense of self and the knowledge that they have belonged somewhere, that they have given to us as much as they may have taken. The core strength of Learning Support is to develop and build on the relationships and bonds that the pupils rely on and need to complete their journey through school.
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