Learning Development

The Learning Development Department is at the heart of our school life.

Our approach to Learning Development

Our Aims and Expectations commit to students that ‘we remove barriers to learning’ and ‘we build self-belief and ambition’. We tell all our students that we ‘will teach you how to how to take control of your life and learning’ and ensure you ‘have the tools and strategies you need to regulate yourself and to access any help you need’. The Learning Development Department is central to this process.

Many schools operate on the premise that some students ‘have learning difficulties’ and others ‘do not’. At Milton Abbey our philosophy is that all learning is difficult – if you are doing it properly! We all learn differently and can benefit from opportunities to develop and refine our approach to learning.  

The majority of our students have identified learning challenges: many have received ‘pull-out’ support for several sessions a week throughout their education. Too much education for those who learn differently focuses on the deficits and problems of the individual. Segregating children from their peers can lead to negativity, lack of belief, a sense of exclusion and learned helplessness.

We take a different approach and focus, more positively, on the ‘Development’ of learning for all. Our Learning Development (LD) Department serves all our students and staff. Much of their work goes on outside the LD base, with LD teachers (including Maths, Science and English specialists) visiting classrooms, observing teaching and learning, and advising students and teachers on ways to make every lesson work best for every student.  

At Milton Abbey, Learning Development is not about a session or two a week but is embedded in every lesson, in every subject, for every student.  

How do we ensure every student gets the support they need, in every lesson?

You can see this in practice when you walk into a lesson and find that In English, one student might be listening to audio while another is reading the text; a third might be preparing to give a talk for homework instead of writing an essay: all are in the same class and achieving the same objectives, but all are learning differently. The LD Department advise on what each child needs to do to learn best – and follow up to see that it is actually happening! 

Many of our students have very ‘spiky’ profiles, with high scores in some areas of cognitive functioning, and real challenges in other areas. Our Learning Development Department does not just provide help where a child may be struggling, but also offers ‘stretch and challenge’ in areas where a child can and must go beyond the curriculum. There is no ceiling on achievement here.

What does our Learning Development Department offer?

The Learning Development (LD) Department provides: 

• Support in understanding your learning profile, including your habits and attitude 
• Research-based strategies to enable you to learn optimally, in the context of your learning profile 
• Individual and small group sessions designed to enable all to access the curriculum  
• Support with independent study including drop-in and self-referral opportunities 
• Opportunities for all students to be stretched and challenged beyond the curriculum 
• Whole-school support with target-setting for every student 
• Advice and training on the use of assistive technology 
• Expert advice for teachers in understanding the best ways to teach every student 
• Specialist services (for example speech and language therapy) 
• English as an Additional Language – EAL - programming 
• Expert advice for parents in understanding how best to understand, encourage and assist  

If you walk into the LD base, you may encounter everything from a reading skills booster group, a one-to-one session in Maths, a ‘boot camp’ on organisation, exam technique sessions, speech therapy, a masterclass in Physics, a discussion with a student about the diagnosis of dyslexia they have just received or an EAL lesson. There will almost certainly be some students quietly getting on with independent study, knowing advice is on hand if they need it. Some of the LD teachers will be working in the base, others will be out in classrooms, observing and advising. 

What do parents need to know about Learning Development?

Don’t be surprised if – sometimes for the first time in years – your child does not require one-to-one LD sessions once they come to Milton Abbey. Our small classes, sympathetic and responsive teaching and expert LD advice for teachers often means a child needs no further input beyond the classroom. For those who do have individual sessions, there is no stigma about going to LD. Our philosophy is that we all learn differently and it is important to access any support required to level the playing field.

An area of focus for all our pupils is the importance of laying down the fundamental skills needed to live and learn.  These are known as Executive Functions.  They encompass a wide range of behaviours that govern actions in the world such as managing time, being organised and controlling impulses.  

With our focus always on the self-regulation and independent study habits your child needs for success in adult life, we put the child in the driver’s seat of their education.  Or, as we often put it to them, learning here is like being on a bike, not a bus: we will equip, encourage and teach, but they will steer and pedal. 

The team around your child

Based on prior assessments, discussions with parents, our own assessments of students and ongoing monitoring of our students, detailed learning profiles inform all our teaching and programming for each child. LD work closely with parents, our House teams, Health Centre and Counsellors, ensuring that every child’s academic and pastoral needs are understood and met by a team who really ‘get it’. LD staff are members of the Boarding Houses, which helps the team maintain excellent communication with subject teachers, personal tutors and pastoral staff, and gives insight into your child’s wider school life.

This teamwork enables us to meet another key aim at Milton Abbey: to ensure that every child ‘finds enthusiasm, direction and purpose’, in and beyond the classroom. Please make an appointment to discuss how our team can understand and meet your child’s needs.