Banbury Crossroads
Independent School

Special Education Background: The Special Education Policy is influenced by the nature of this school, and by financial realities. Its purpose is to delineate the feasibility of effectively and cost-efficiently including special needs students at Banbury Crossroads. The needs of gifted children are easily accommodated within our general program, since they may work ahead, and have many opportunities for enrichment activities. Therefore, this section is devoted to the needs of students who experience difficulties with learning. This policy will describe admission guidelines and considerations, as well as program delivery procedures. Policy: The purpose of offering special education programs at Banbury Crossroads, which is consistent with our educational and social goals for all students, is to give students an opportunity to individualize their personal learning and development. Another goal for integrating special needs students is to provide the opportunity for the remainder of our student body and staff to develop compassion, tolerance and understanding of these students with extraordinary challenges. The experience is thus intended to be a positive one. Therefore, the admission of special needs students who are extremely aggressive or loud would be counterproductive to this goal, 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. Referring to our Student Evaluation Policy (Section 17.3), "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." 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. For enrolment purposes, a student shall be deemed eligible if the guidelines in the following section have been met. Guidelines and Procedures: Eligibility for enrolment depends on fulfillment of one of the two following acceptable criteria: the student is independent to the point that he/she can truly be integrated academically and socially with minimum teacher/staff assistance; or if the child needs one-to-one attention, then the parents are responsible for providing an aide/teacher to assist the child with integration. In addition to fulfillment of the above criteria, consideration must also be given to the physical lay-out of the location of the school. At present, our setting is small, and is not conducive to the addition of large equipment. Nevertheless, admission could be judged according to individual circumstances. The behaviour exhibited by the student is another crucial factor in a student's suitability for our school. Since we are a small school, extreme aggressiveness and unusually noisy outbursts are noticed by everyone, feared by the younger ones, and unappreciated by the staff and older students involved in academic pursuits. Overall, such behaviour is stressful and disruptive to the school environment, and we strive to minimize the extent of it in our midst. These factors play a significant role in the admission of any student, including special needs students. Medical concerns may also have impact upon the decision to admit a student for enrolment. Special dietary needs, allergies and asthma, epileptic seizures, deafness and other mild to moderate disabilities may be accommodated within our school, provided that the child's needs may be met within the small-group setting with the classroom teacher. It is also advisable that independent toiletting and feeding are not a difficulty with any student admitted, including special needs students. In any particular case, decisions will be made in the best interests of the child, as well as those of the other children and staff. Therapy needed by the students must generally 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 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. Transportation to and from the school must be arranged by the parents. Transportation on field trips is arranged by the school, although in cases where the student is not independently mobile, parents may have to work in concert with the school to provide transportation on excursions. 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. We are aware of other specialty schools in the Calgary district which cater to a variety of special needs. In some circumstances, we may assess that one of these schools 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. 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.