Recommendations for children leaving St. Oliver Plunkett N.S.

Recommendations for children who are reintegrating into mainstream after a placement in St Oliver Plunkett NS (a school for children with a Specific Learning Difficulty)

  • An exemption from the study of Irish may be available for this student.  It is worth remembering that an exemption is not an exclusion and the child may choose to study Irish at any point in the future.
  • It should not be assumed that this child will not be able to study a foreign language.
  • We recommend that all staff working with this student are informed of his/her difficulties.
  • It will be important to remember that this student’s written work may not be an accurate reflection of his/her ability
  • This child may benefit from a simple summary of the class content.  This is especially important if there is a lot of information in the lesson.
  • It may be helpful to this child if his/her written work is marked on content as opposed to spelling or grammar.
  • It may be helpful for this child to submit information in bullet points.
  • This child could be allowed to record his/her homework using a Dictaphone or voice recognition software.
  • This child may have difficulty expressing him/herself orally.
  • This child may take longer to process oral instructions and/or find complex instructions difficult to follow.
  • This child may need to be required to do less writing as part of their homework.  It will be a balancing act to decide how much is enough and may take time to establish.
  • Visual aids like mind mapping, visual timetables and colour coding may help this child.
  • This child may be entitled to a school grant for technology to help him/her access the curriculum.
  • He/she may have difficulty with organisation and may require extra support in this area.
  • He/she may need longer than the rest of the class to copy from the whiteboard and to complete assignments.
  • We suggest that this child is not asked to read aloud in class until he/she is comfortable with same.
  • We recommend that he/she are not excluded from any subjects that he/she is interested in.
  • He/she may be very tired because of the extra effort involved in completing work.
  • This child may benefit from a reduction in external distractions while working.
  • It will be important that, while staff have an understanding of the child’s difficulties and that these difficulties are not used by the child as an excuse not to attempt or complete work.
  • This child may be a very strong visual or auditory learner.
  • There are specific apps available for children with SLD which may help.
  • Two IEPs have been written for this child for each year of their placement here.  These are available from the school on request.