Information about the school
St David’s College is an independent day and boarding school that educates boys and girls from age 9 to 19 years. There are currently 250 pupils on roll, of whom 95 are boarders. The school is situated just south of Llandudno in North Wales. The school’s mission is to ‘develop the whole person through a broad education founded on Christian principles, a wide choice of interest and activity, and an achievable personal programme for each pupil’.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
St. David’s College specialises in educating pupils with specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum conditions and attention deficit disorder. Nearly 70% of pupils are on the school’s SEN register. Class sizes are small, ranging from 6-14 pupils. From its foundation, St David's College has pioneered teaching that focuses on the whole person, allowing all pupils, whether they have specific learning needs or not, to thrive and excel. Alongside this, the school aims to develop each individual’s character, enabling each pupil to gain an extraordinary range of transferable life skills and discover true self-confidence through an individually tailored programme that sees pupils far exceeding their expectations.
At St David’s College, pupils from Year 5 to Year 13 learn together on one campus. The school believes that this allows pupils across the year groups to thrive and learn the values of a whole-school family – respect, strong communication skills, integrity and relationship building – that are essential life skills. The school provides a full mainstream education, leading pupils towards GCSEs, A Levels and BTECs Level 2 and 3. The opportunity to mix and match A Levels and BTECs enables pupils to learn appropriately and progress to university, further education courses, apprenticeships or direct entry to the workplace.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
The Cadogan Centre, the school’s learning support department, was founded over 50 years ago, and provides the hub for the school’s educational approach and specialist one-to-one support. The school does not employ teaching assistants, but rather, small class sizes and mainstream teaching staff with postgraduate qualifications in the ‘Teaching and Learning of Pupils with SpLD’. Twenty specialist support teachers work together with curriculum teachers to deliver around 550 one-to-one specialist support lessons each week. Teachers monitor pupils’ academic learning as well as providing a substantial level of pastoral support and guidance to both pupils and parents. Assistive technology allows pupils to be independent learners for life. All curriculum and one-to-one lessons are delivered using online platforms that allow pupils and teachers to share course content and collaborate.
The school provides individual tutoring for pupils with specific barriers to learning. These barriers may be hindering children from reaching their full academic and personal potential, which may have a negative impact on their social and emotional well-being and future opportunities. St David’s has broad experience in teaching pupils with:
• challenges associated with literacy
• extra support needed with maths
• difficulties with memory and recall
• slower processing skills
• focus and attention challenges
• language and communication support needs.
The school’s ethos celebrates pupils’ strengths alongside high-quality teaching and learning, where pupils are encouraged to reach for, and exceed, their full potential through individual targeted intervention. The school monitors and adapts the curriculum in order to ensure that teaching and learning match each pupil’s aptitudes and abilities. The pupil passport populated by mainstream teachers and therapists shares important information with mainstream teachers regarding individual pupil’s needs and strengths. Pupils learn resilience, communication skills, focus, self-control, and the use of assistive technology and related strategies in a multisensory way. These are an essential part of the school’s approach to intervention and help pupils to become self-directed, independent and engaged learners who can go out into the world and flourish.
The evidence-based annual tracking of all pupils by dyslexic specialist assessors allows use of up-to-date data to reflect pupil progression and to adjust provision when necessary, and to identify and share best practice in weekly multidisciplinary team meetings. This approach has a positive impact on learners’ outcomes regarding baseline literacy and numeracy skills but also their executive functioning, communication and emotional wellbeing.
In the last five years, the school has employed speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and counsellors as members of Cadogan staff. They work with pupils, teachers and parents to provide an integrated therapeutic approach. In addition, the school’s Social Use of Language Programme, overseen by the speech and language therapist, supports vulnerable pupils who struggle with social interaction and communication. These therapies and programmes use the same individual learning plans (ILPs) for pupil target setting and reviews.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
Pupils of all ages make strong progress in developing their social and communication skills and achieve high standards in relation to their learning needs and abilities. In particular, the school’s high-quality learning support provision helps pupils to develop effective learning strategies to overcome their difficulties, improve their self-confidence and to make secure progress in line with their abilities. These outcomes prepare pupils of all abilities well for relevant further educational experiences and future employment opportunities.