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Student Support Services

The primary focus of our work in Student Support Services is to support students so that they can work positively and productively in their lessons and achieve their potential. Support is organised to reflect this. Students may be supported in one or a combination of the following ways:

  • An SEN or EAL teacher working alongside your child’s subject teacher to make sure that your child can access work in lessons and make progress.
  • A Teaching Assistant supporting in your child’s lesson.
  • Working with an SEN/EAL teacher outside of the lesson for a set period of time to develop skills required to make further progress in lessons.
  • Working together with a Mentor/Pastoral Leader to develop skills to enable your child to work positively and collaboratively in the classroom.
  • If your child is experiencing difficulties managing their learning and behaviour, we can work together with you through a Pastoral Support Programme to get them back on track.
  • We will provide your child’s teachers with information on your child’s needs and ideas/strategies on how best to address these when planning and delivering teaching and learning.


The SSS team is lead by:

Gordon Smith  – SSS Manager

and supported by a dedicated and well trained team of Learning Mentors and Teaching Assistants.

Outline on the role of Learning Mentors

  • To implement and monitor student-led plan of action for individual students.
  • To target areas of concern.
  • To observe students in lessons and advise.
  • To advise teachers on strategies to manage individual student’s behaviours within the classroom.
  • To plan and work with the classteacher to enable students with a variety of behavioural, emotional and social needs to positively engage in a classroom environment and learning.
  • To liaise with teachers and support staff working in lessons to implement and monitor student-led plan of action for individual students.

Teaching Assistants

  • To implement Individual Education Plan targets.
  • To ensure all targeted students get sufficient support.
  • To ensure targeted students can access class work.
  • To support targeted students to stay on task and maintain focus.
  • To ensure targeted students behave safely.
  • To ensure targeted students know what their homework is and it is written in their planners.
  • To support targeted student/s to manage his/her behaviour.
  • To support targeted student/s to contribute to lessons.

If you have any questions or queries about Student Support Service then please contact your son/daughter’s Form Tutor at the Academy, or alternatively contact, Gordon Smith , Student Support Services Manager.