At Queen Anne High School we believe that all pupils should receive a progressive education appropriate to their age, stage, ability and aptitude delivered within an environment where they are valued and safe.
Pupil Support plays a very important role in realising this ambition. For most pupils their time at Queen Anne will pass smoothly and successfully. For some pupils they may experience short term challenges and for a few pupils those challenges can be longer term. Pupil Support has structures and strategies to support pupils to overcome those challenges and to be successful.
Throughout their time at Queen Anne pupils will receive the support they need to make appropriate progress. For most pupils, most of the time, this support will be provided by their subject teachers as part and parcel of the usual programme of teaching. Sometimes pupils need a bit more support to enable them to get the most out of school and that is where Pupil Support comes in.
The first, and most obvious, part of that structure is the placing of pupils into a school House. The four school Houses are Abbey, Bruce, Carnegie and Denmark. Each house has Guidance Teachers assigned to it and each registration class has one specific Guidance Teacher attached meaning each pupil knows exactly who they should see if or when issues arise.
At Queen Anne every effort is made to place pupils from the same family in the same House. As far as is possible pupils will remain with the same Guidance Teacher throughout their time in the school. This arrangement, we believe, enables pupils and their parents/carers to get to know their Guidance Teacher very well and to develop the strong home-school links that support successful learners. This link is built up through regular contact in school between each pupil and their Guidance Teacher and through contact with parents/carers at parents’ evenings and other similar meetings.
Guidance Teachers co-ordinate and deliver a programme of Personal and Social Education (PSE) to pupils in S1 to S4. This programme aims to equip pupils with the knowledge, understanding and skills to enable them to make sense of the challenges, opportunities, rights and responsibilities they will have as a citizen of Scotland, and the wider world, in the 21st century.
Guidance Teachers are usually the first point of contact for pupils if there are problems or difficulties. If a pupil is having a difficulty which is not linked to a specific subject then their Guidance Teacher would be the most appropriate member of staff to contact, in the first instance.
Pupil Support has an important role to play in helping pupils who have Additional Support Needs (ASN). For most pupils these will have been identified during Primary School but can, sometimes, develop during the years of secondary schooling.
To make sure that those pupils who have ASN make as smooth a transition to Queen Anne as possible there is a programme of visits to our associate primary schools by a Depute Rector, Pupil Support Teachers and subject teachers from departments such as English, Maths and Modern Foreign Languages. During these visits to the primary schools sessions are run for all pupils so they are clear on the expectations, rules, routines and opportunities that exist at Queen Anne. Pupil Support Teachers will also meet with the teachers from the Primary Schools to exchange information on the pupils transferring to Queen Anne to ensure that the Queen Anne subject teachers have the most up-to-date information to support the learning of all pupils.
When a pupil with ASN starts at Queen Anne they will be allocated a Pupil Support Teacher who will act as their keyworker in school. The Pupil Support Teacher will work with the pupil and with their teachers to make sure that teachers have appropriate information about each pupil to support their learning and to take account of any particular difficulties they may have.
For children with an Integrated or Co-ordinated Support Plan a member of the Pupil Support team (either a Guidance Teacher or Pupil Support Teacher) would normally be the person to oversee and regularly review the Plan.
The Pupil Support Staff also recognise that pupils can experience difficulties during secondary school when none has been identified before. These can range from short-term illness to long-term family upheaval. The Pupil Support Staff are experienced in identifying issues that arise in school and work constructively with parents, carers and other outside agencies when challenges in a pupil’s life outside of school cause difficulties for them inside school.
The support that a pupil requires varies enormously depending on the exact nature of those needs. Some pupils require help due to learning difficulties, some have physical problems, others because of social, emotional or behavioural difficulties. The strategies used by Pupil Support Staff aim to enhance learning skills, to boost achievement and to encourage good behaviour and self-discipline. All of these skills are skills for life not just for school.
The provision of support for pupils is managed in such a way as to maximise the impact of the resources available on the greatest number of pupils. For support to be effective it needs to be tailored to each individual pupil and through all the many strategies and procedures used by Pupil Support staff that is what we strive to do.
The support offered by Pupil Support staff includes:
- advice to class teachers
- anger management
- attendance monitoring
- direct tuition
- EAL support
- flexible curriculum arrangements
- flexible timetabling
- in-class support
- liaison with parents
- life skills provision
- phased reintegration to school
- sensory impairment support
- social skills workshops
- support in examinations
- supported registration class
- target setting
- withdrawal from class
The majority of in-class support is provided by a team of dedicated and experienced Pupil Support Assistants (PSA). They work one-to-one or with small groups of pupils under direction from the class teacher to support learning. They help pupils be better organised, better focused and to develop better strategies for both learning and behaviour. They work very closely with pupils and, as such, form a very important part of the support for those pupils with ASN.
Withdrawal from class may be short-term to allow restorative work on behaviour or to catch up on missed work or it may be longer term, very occasionally permanent. In this latter case this may be for the pupil to participate in a Learning Enrichment Group to target literacy, numeracy or other necessary skills that the pupil requires.
For pupils with sensory impairment there are dedicated support staff that work with the pupils. In addition to technological support, where appropriate, and training for both pupils and staff in how to make use of technology to aid learning the Sensory Impairment staff work with pupils to support examinations and to develop successful learning strategies.
English as an Additional Language (EAL) pupils can receive support to develop their English skills from specialist teachers from Bilingual Support Services. In addition Pupil Support Staff will advise class teachers on appropriate strategies to support EAL learners and also work with EAL pupils to boost English oral and written skills.
Our flexible curriculum arrangements link into many partner agencies outside of school, including Carnegie College and Integrated Community Schools. There are number of courses that pupils participate in that improve life skills, learning skills, attendance and engagement with school. This gives these pupils much better chances of moving on from Queen Anne into employment, training or further education. These programmes, which form an important part of the support for some pupils in S3 and S4, are co-ordinated by the Flexible Curriculum Manager.
Pupil Support does not only work with staff within Queen Anne. As has been mentioned previously we work with staff from many external agencies. These include:
- Adam Smith College
- Carnegie College
- Community Learning Development
- Educational Psychology Services
- Fife Police
- Integrated Community Schools
- Skills Development Scotland
- Social Work Services
- The British Army
- The Carnegie Trust
- The Fire Service
- West Fife Community Drugs Team
- West Fife Pupil Support Services
This description of Pupil Support at Queen Anne High School may create an impression that Pupil Support has a ‘finger in every pie’. If so, then that is a reasonable picture of how we want Pupil Support to function. Ultimately we want all our pupils to succeed at this school. Whether that success is found in examinations or through performance, sport or service to the local community the Pupil Support staff aim to provide a structure for all pupils to have the opportunity to be successful, despite any obstacles life may place in their way.