FINTON HOUSE SCHOOL

Special Needs at Finton House

"Now there are diverstities of gifts, but the same spirit"- 1 Corinthians, 12:4

Finton House was founded on a policy of including children with special needs and it is an approach to which we remain deeply committed. As a result of the ethos of the school, all children at Finton House gain an extra set of values that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Every year we have places available to children with known Special Needs and this group can comprise about 10% of the school role at any one time. These needs have included Downs Syndrome, hearing impairment, Aspergers, speech and language difficulties and developmental delay. We consider applications from children with a variety of special needs and offer places to those who we feel will benefit most from integration into a mainstream class with the extra support that we provide. Children on special needs places are supported by a dedicated Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, a team of Special Needs Assistants and in-house therapists. Many of the children we take have a statement of educational need.

Mainstream children who are found to have learning difficulties are supported by a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator and, when appropriate, extra support is offered. We are able to provide one-to-one tuition for children with dyslexia, dyspraxia or speech and language difficulties.

"To parents starting out on the road to disovering their child's special needs, and how best to fulfil them, both the journey and the destination may seem bleak, until you discover your friends.

You will make more friends in the course of that journey than you ever thought possible. Some will help you a few steps, others will lift you a mile forward with giant steps of invaluable advice and support. Every milestone is to be celebrated. The time taken to reach that point, by definition for special needs children, is meaningless: it is the view forward and back that matters.

Gloom-mongers, bureaucrats, uncomprehending critics are all just there to spur you on - they too need special help, and you will have time to give them that as well, as you surmount the obstacles they provide.

Awake each morning and relish the journey. It is the most important one of your life, and another life will depend on your parental guidance, long after you have gone."

Written by a Finton House parent.