LAIDLAW HALL SPECIALIST CENTRE
Our Ethos
At Laidlaw Hall, our specialist learning support department, our motto is “Caring, Learning, Growing”. We are extremely proud of our CReSTeD registration (Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils) and outstanding inspection reports.
Our teachers strive to build trust and overcome any adverse experiences your child may previously have had with learning, thus breaking down barriers and building confidence. The key priority is to create an atmosphere where each child can feel supported, be encouraged to enjoy learning and thrive. When children have learning difficulties, confidence is so often a problem and we strive to develop a child’s strengths, and instil a feeling of self-belief in a secure, happy and purposeful environment. In all our activities we ensure that the needs of each child are carefully reinforced so that everything they do with us supports their learning.
Our Staff
Our team of fully-qualified teachers are highly experienced in special needs and are sensitive and skilled in ensuring that they find the best approach to teach each child. All our teachers are very open, encouraging and understanding and work in partnership with children to build their trust.
We have the following in-house specialists who are brought in to work with the children as required: educational psychologist, speech therapist, occupational therapist.
How We Work
Our teaching takes place one-to-one, or on a very small group basis, so that every child will have focused attention.
Our fully-qualified and highly-experienced specialist team carry out diagnostic and standardised assessments to establish particular areas of difficulty. We then create a unique programme for your child, tailor-made to meet their needs, which we then teach using the best approach for them to learn. We offer flexible help embracing specific or intensive literacy and numeracy support as well as a wider curriculum. Our tailored programmes comply with the objectives of the National Curriculum.
Where a child needs intensive intervention we are able to offer term-time flexible morning and/or afternoon sessions. For children needing less intensive support, we offer specialist tuition after school and on Saturdays. Specialist tuition is also offered during the school holidays.
Our years of experience have shown that the very best way to support children is with a concerted and united approach. This means everyone connected with your child’s education should work together. At Laidlaw Hall, all teaching and learning objectives are agreed only after full consultation with you, your child and their school. This means everyone works in partnership and we build a helpful, open and transparent line of communication between the school, our parents and the specialist support teachers here. We report weekly on progress and liaise with schools to see that the skills we are teaching are being transferred to the classroom.