ICS inter-community school zurich

Learning Support

The Inter-Community School is committed to providing a supportive and enabling learning environment for all our students. The Learning Support Department at ICS is comprised of six teachers who work across the Nursery, Primary and Secondary Schools. The school philosophy states that all pupils should receive an education that develops their full potential and the role of the Learning Support Department is to provide the necessary support needed for students to accomplish this.

The Learning Support department:

- Encourages students with learning difficulties to recognise their strengths and talents.
- Provides the necessary support for students with learning difficulties to access the curriculum.
- Ensures that students with learning difficulties are fully participating members of the school community.
- Establishes and maintains strong links between home and school.
- Encourages the students we work with to be responsible for their own behaviour.

Learning Support in the Primary School

Our aim is to provide an inclusive educational environment where individual students reach their academic, social and emotional potential. To this end the collaborative Primary learning support team - part of Student Support Services - includes a Speech and Language Therapist, a School Counsellor and access to a Physical Therapy room.

Learning Support means support for:-
- class teachers in developing differentiated programs to suit the needs of all students
- classroom teachers to develop and implement effective assessment to identify student learning strengths and needs
- the emotional wellbeing of our students, within the school and their family
- the developing academic skills of our students
- students to effectively function within the regular classroom in regards to behaviour, attention and academic skills
- the individual learning needs of our students within the Primary curriculum
- an inclusive approach including parents and carers in the process of education where possible

Highly qualified and experienced Learning Support staff may teach identified students for up to four periods per week and this is included in the regular tuition fees.  This support may be offered as in-class support,  individual or small group out-of-class lessons.

Learning Support in the Secondary School

The Learning Support department offers assistance to students in the Secondary School with an identified learning difficulty. The aim is to help them access the IB curriculum as much as possible. The learning support is based on our belief in:

- empowering students to take control of their own learning through effective study skills
- enabling students to build a clear understanding of their specific learning styles - including their strengths as well as areas of difficulty - and assisting students with strategies to overcome those difficulties
- developing a partnership with subject teachers to help provide differentiated classroom strategies which enable students to reach their educational potential 
- ensuring there is regular communication between the supported student, the school and home to maximise learning opportunities.

 Experienced Learning Support staff assist students who require curriculum support in two ways. One is an out-of-class programme - where students are taken out of class to work either individually or in a small group on learning and developing specific skills. Additionally, there is in-class support within specific subject areas. Additional academic support is also offered through after school drop-in sessions.