At Ealing Independent College, we pride ourselves on the level of care and attention we give to each of our students, regardless of their needs.  This week, one of my important tasks was organising the screening of the entire College to see if any of our students would be eligible for extra time in their examinations.

As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, our students come from a variety of different schools, many of them coming from large state schools.  Having taught in schools like this in my own career, I know that the teachers in these schools are very dedicated and hard-working.  However, the sheer size of the school often means that students’ needs can be missed.  The schools often end up focusing on the most able and those who are clearly struggling, meaning that those in the middle can become neglected.  In the push for grades 4 and above, those students who are on target for a 4 are often left to their own devices.  However, what if those students who are currently achieving a grade 4 actually have the potential to achieve a grade 5, or even higher?

In some cases, underachievement can be related to a student having unnoticed special educational needs.  For these students, being awarded 25% extra time in their exams can make all the difference.  In many schools, students are only screened if staff notice that there may be an issue and flag this up with the SENCO.  In large classes, many students fly under the radar.  At EIC, we believe that screening is an essential part of delivering our commitment to do our best for each student as an individual.  After all, how can we meet someone’s needs without knowing what these needs are?  Our screening this week identified that many of the new students who have joined us from other schools are in fact eligible for extra time but had never been identified as needing it before.  Using this extra time enables students with slower processing speeds to truly show their potential and, as we pointed out to some anxious students this week, the fact that a student receives extra time does not appear on his or her examination certificate.  

At EIC, we monitor our students’ progress very closely, and each subject gives a test every two weeks.  I am very pleased that some of our students will be sitting these tests with the extra time that they need for the very first time, and will be able to let their real ability shine.

We have students joining us at different times during the year, and any prospective students should not worry about having missed the screening date, as we will be running an additional session in February for any new joiners.