Learning support units

Learning support units have been a strand of the Excellence in Cities programme since 1999, although many schools have had similar provision for some time before that date In essence they are resource centres designed to meet the needs of pupils who ... 

Staff need to understand that the Inclusion Team are not miracle workers. There are pupils who have such deep-rooted problems which need such specialist support that they cannot survive in mainstream schools. Learning support units cannot change behaviour overnight. Some staff feel that there should be an immediate change on exit, rather like pupils taking a pill which makes them a different person. As inclusion is a process, so is the way which the services impact on pupils. Pupils difficulties could be as a result of a range of problems such as ... 

The Inclusion Team plays a key role in preparing both pupils and staff to receive pupils with a number of needs. Many schools use the learning support unit and learning mentor support as a half way house to preparing the pupils to enter school. Time invested in this planning is a key to success in the future. The use of LEA support services for pupils with particularly complex needs can be helpful. Resources and training may be available to prepare peers to help understand the complex problems of a new member of their community. ... 

Learning Support Unit Audit Tool (DfES)... 

Anne Hayward is a leading expert in the fields of inclusion and special educational needs (SEN) in schools, colleges, Children s Services and charities. She has been the DfES consultant for learning support units, learning mentors, the Excellence in Cities programme and for the SEN and Disability Team on Special Schools and Specialist Status. 

This is not to imply that the transition from rear area to forward area operation was easy and uncomplicated. There were lessons to be learned by both the supporting and the supported units and tactics and techniques had to be developed for the rather radical change of arenas. Not the least challenge was the need for smoke troops, whose duties changed almost overnight from rear support to action in the foremost areas of the combat zone, to adapt themselves to their new role. 

Several recent epidemiological studies have involved examination of populations that consume unusually high levels of fish. One of these, conducted in the islands of the Seychelles, has not so far revealed behavioral and learning impairments in children whose mothers exhibited mercury levels (measured in hair) higher than those typically seen in the United States and European countries. But another study, conducted in the Faroe Islands, turned up evidence of cognitive and behavioral impairments in children. Scientists have struggled to understand why two well-done studies have produced such different outcomes, and some possible reasons have been suggested. The EPA and public health officials have acted on the basis of the Faroe data, out of both caution and also because they seem to be supported by other, more limited data, and by experimental studies. The debate is not so much about whether methylmercury is a developmental toxicant, but rather over the dose required. 

Knowledge transfer, capability building, and mutual learning are even less likely than usual to happen automatically and naturally if colleagues rarely see each other here, appropriate incentives need to be defined to make sure that people communicate with and support one another. Finally, there is a danger that overhead will be duplicated in each business division. This should be kept to a minimum by finding ways to tap into synergies across business units, in local sales operations, for instance. 

---