Page 162 - Bellfort Magazine 2025

It has been another busy but great year for the LSC KS3 class. In September we welcomed five
new year 8 pupils and have enjoyed getting to know them and helping them settle into the
community here at Dunclug College, whilst continuing to work with the year 9 and 10 cohort
that avail of the provision in the unit.

The Learning Support Centre (LSC) is part of our growing SEN suite on the top floor of the
college that works with a small number of pupils in years 8—10. The room itself is well equipped
with digital technology, helpful resources and stimulating wall displays to engage and enable the
learner to get ready for their studies. With our own library, sensory corner, computer suite and
of course Trudy the fish (!), it is a wonderful and unique space that our students enjoy coming
to.

Within the LSC, we teach the main literacy subjects including English, Geography, History, RE,
Business Studies, LLW and European Studies (an alternative for MFL). Within these subjects,
students are able to access the curriculum taught to their peers in mainstream yet at a pace and
style that allows them to grapple with it and giving them the opportunity to succeed . We have
been blessed with a great team of LSA’s this year that have worked hard alongside our pupils to
support them in their studies and to build positive relationships with them, holding to our
classroom ethos of “a community within a community”.

We also give great importance to active learning. Through our class nurture programme, we are
allowed freedom from the mainstream timetable to explore other themes and topics. This could
be topical or seasonal studies throughout the year, working on every tasks such as making a cup
of tea or tying our shoe laces or completing mindfulness exercises such as jigsaw puzzles and
meditation. We also believe in the importance of nurturing the holistic development of our
students by building into them as contributors to society and therefore we have a number of
class projects that allow the students to get out of the classroom and engage in the world
around them. Projects such as leading a whole school donation to our local Foodbank,
partnering with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to tidy up the streets of our local
community or getting our hands dirty in our garden patch, kindly donated to us by Dunclug
Primary School. We also get the opportunity to go down and enjoy some time in the People’s
park which the students greatly appreciate.

This year we also said goodbye to Mrs McIlroy who has worked in the the LSC since its
beginnings in 2021. We are very thankful for all she has done and wish her every blessing for the
future.

It is hard to believe that another year has passed and the summer is nearly here. We wish our
students who are moving into year 11 and the LSC2 all the very best in their further studies and
we look forward to what another year in the LSC might bring.