At Greenhills Community College, we are committed to providing a comprehensive integrated education that will enable every student to fulfil his potential in a positive, caring, respectful, learning environment where skills and attitudes for lifelong learning are developed.  We welcome students with Additional Education Needs (AEN), and in line with the Education for Persons with Special Needs Act 2004 recognise “the need to provide that the education of people with such needs shall wherever possible take place in an inclusive environment”.  

Greenhills Community College strives to ensure that students are free to participate in school life in so far as is reasonably practicable. Proactive steps are taken to ensure that the school provides an inclusive environment that is non-judgemental and supportive.  

Aims of our AEN Programme, include the following: 

  • Ensure that students with individual needs are educated in a responsible inclusive environment. 
  • Ensure that students with special educational needs are identified and provided for in a fair and equitable manner so that their learning potential and their sense of self-worth and dignity is developed and respected.  
  • Provide, in line with the new model of education, a level and quality of education appropriate to the needs and abilities of all students in the College. 
  • Provide for the involvement of parents in the education of their children and in the decision-making process in relation to the children. 
  • Encourage and foster partnerships with parents, in order to achieve appropriate support at home and at school. 
  • Develop staff expertise in supporting students with special educational needs. 

Types of Additional Education Needs 

All students attending Greenhills Community College are unique. Some students attending Greenhills Community College have a variety of individual needs. We aspire to put the student and not the need first. The school has provided for the following categories of students with Additional Education Needs: 

  • Learning Support Students 
  • Borderline/ Mild General Learning Disability 
  • Emotional / Behavioural Difficulties (ADD/ADHD, OCD, CD)  
  • Specific Learning Difficulty (Dyslexia) 
  • Physical disabilities (Dyspraxia, Cerebral Palsy) 
  • Dyscalculia (difficulty with numbers) 
  • Dysgraphia (difficulty with writing)
  • Mild Speech and Language Disorders 
  • Sensory Difficulties (hearing & visual impairments) 
  • ESOL students (English for students of other languages) 
  • Autism / Autistic Spectrum Disorder (e.g. Asperger’s Syndrome)  
  • Mild speech and language disorders  
  • Hyperlexia (difficulty with comprehension)  

Our ASD Unit 

At Greenhills Community College we have a best practice, well-recognised ASD Unit. Students that are supported by our ASD programme attend mainstream classes and also timetabled classes within the ASD Unit. The unit is also available to them should they need to withdraw for an unscheduled class period. Scheduled classes within the unit are on an individual and group basis.  

Classes target the triad of impairments, and a variety of teaching approaches are employed. The purpose of the ASD Class is to assist children with ASD’s to leave school with the skills necessary to participate to the level of their capacity in an inclusive way in the school and economic activities of society and to live independent and fulfilled lives and to provide for the greater involvement of parents of children with special educational needs in the education of their children. 

Students are supervised across breaks and lunch. Lunchtime contains structured activities, such as games club and library facilities; this helps promote peer interaction. 

To find out more about our Special Education Needs supports, click here to read our SEN Policy.