Banbury Crossroads
Independent School

Section 21: Special Needs Students Banbury Crossroads School is not a Designated Special Needs School, as deemed by Alberta Education. Our philosophy is to accept students where they are at, academically and emotionally, and guide them to improving skills, increasing knowledge and becoming self-directed learners. Success occurs with a careful determination of suitability and can be highly dependent on the student’s level of motivation and independence. Banbury Crossroads is unable to provide for the needs of children with severe disabilities unless the nature of the problem is solved by the basic environment of the School. Background: The School does not staff teachers who have specialized training in physical, cognitive or emotional/social challenges nor does it have the necessary resources to support such challenges. HOWEVER, the School’s small, nurturing environment CAN provide dramatic benefits to some non-typical learners such as those with gifted tendencies and those experiencing some mild/moderate disabilities. The increased flexibility, teacher attention, relaxed atmosphere and social assistance within small groups that is the very nature of Banbury, can be enough to solve many problems that students’ might be experiencing elsewhere. The integration of students with special needs provides the opportunity for the remainder of our student body and staff to develop compassion, tolerance and understanding of people experiencing challenges. Guidelines and Procedures: All students will be subjected to a careful assessment to determine suitability through try-out days and/or a probationary period. Suitability will be determined through observation of behaviour, socialization, motivation and independence, by simple diagnostics of academic ability, and with consideration of the current group dynamics and the teacher’s overall capability. The physical lay-out of the building and any medical concerns may also impact suitability. The admission of special needs students who are extremely aggressive or loud would be counterproductive to the basic goals of the school, since that type of behaviour would frighten or anger the other students and staff. It could also place the safety of our other students and staff at risk, and this cannot be tolerated. Transportation to and from the school must be arranged by the parents. In the event that mobility is an issue, parents will also be responsible for arranging transportation for excursions. Once accepted, all students will generally experience full inclusion, however, there are times when pull-out teaching will be necessary to work on specific skills or with specialized assistants. In reference to our Student Evaluation Policy, Section 17 of the Policy Manual, "in the case of children with special needs, the referring psychologist, Alberta Children's Hospital, or other appropriate specialist should be involved in evaluation and program development." As per Alberta Education guidelines, all special needs students enrolled must have an Individual Program Plan, devised and authorized by the involved specialists, parents and staff, as well as the student, if possible. Evaluation shall be ongoing, involving all parties, and subject to appropriate changes in response to the child's actual development and needs. In pursuing our goal of guiding students to improve skills, increase knowledge and become self-directed learners, the mandated grade level curriculum may be inappropriate to a particular student’s needs and the residing teacher will need to implement alternatives. *Note: It is important that the Alberta Programs of Study be the starting point when designing an appropriate program but not a restraint to learning. Alternatives that are implemented: need to be based on the student’s abilities and learning styles should be more sophisticated and in depth for areas of giftedness should be modified/simplified for areas of weakness can be taken from the Alberta Programs of Study at other grade levels can veer off the mandatory Alberta Programs of Study to enhance, enrich, motivate, address interests, and modify Any therapy needed by the students must be provided by the parents or other community health personnel, since the income of the school is not sufficient to cover such costs, and since we do not have a Special Education teacher on staff. The type of therapy which would therefore have to be obtained from outside professionals could involve the services of psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, optometrists, physiotherapists, play therapists, etc. See Section 13: Outside Professional Advisors of the Policy Manual for further information. The provision of specialized equipment to assist special needs students is determined by cost and ability to pay. In some cases, materials may be purchased by the school, particularly when these materials may be used by other students as well. At times, parents provide equipment to be used specifically by their child/ren. In other cases, equipment may be borrowed or obtained from outside agencies on a donation basis. If the child needs one-to-one attention, then the parents are responsible for all costs associated in providing an aide/teacher to assist the child with integration. The following will need to be taken into consideration if such an action is determined necessary: The arrangement for the hiring of staff to assist particular special needs students must involve input from both parents and school administration. Interviews must be conducted by the parent, to ensure a smooth fit with the child's temperament and needs. Interviews must also be given by the Principal, to ensure a smooth fit with the other students and staff, as well as to ensure that the educational philosophy of the new teacher is in keeping with the goals and beliefs endorsed by the school. In delivering the program to the special needs student, where a special needs teacher or aide has been hired, this assistant must be continually aware of the daily activities and needs of the remainder of the student body. This awareness and sensitivity must be maintained, in order to produce a comfortable coexistence within the school. Adaptations to daily routines or procedures must be made only with consensus from the other staff members and students, in order to allow for involvement in decision-making by all stakeholders. All teachers should communicate their plans for the use of space and for activities that allow for easy integration. Evaluation of progress is an ongoing activity for all students at Banbury Crossroads, since we must be able to determine whether or not we are able to provide an effective program for each of our students. In some circumstances, we may assess that a Designated Special Needs School may be better suited to serving the needs of some students who have attended our school. In these cases, we will recommend a transfer. In all cases, both the needs of the special needs student, as well as the needs of the remainder of the student/staff population, must be considered. At any time a teacher has some concerns about a student’s academic ability, emotional state or negative behaviour that has not previously been diagnosed/professionally assessed, contact with the parents will be made to: provide an opportunity for parents to disclose any background information deemed relevant provide an opportunity for parents to relay successful strategies they use at home to determine a course of action which may include: a time-line of steps if initial measures/strategies are unsuccessful a request for a formal psychco-educational assessment a request for specialized assistance If the School deems a formal assessment or specialized assistance to be necessary for moving forward, the parents will be required to make the arrangements and cover all costs associated with it. In the event that the parents refuse to have their child assessed or provide specialized assistance, and the child is not progressing, suitability for admission to the school may be re-evaluated.