Paston College is passionate about supporting students with learning disabilities and/or difficulties.

Our aim is to ensure young people have information and support to enable participation and to assist in achieving the best possible education outcomes.

Curriculum Services will assess special educational needs to understand the learning disability or difficulty which requires special education provision to be made for a young person.

Special education provision means educational provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for others of the same age.

Special Educational Needs Support

On course support

In class support can be one to one, where a member of Curriculum Services supports you on an individual basis in class

Shared support where a staff member supports you and others in the class

Discreet support where you might not want everyone to know and our support staff can help you without it being obvious

Off course support

Off course support to help with your course work, homework, supporting you at lunchtime or taking you to your taxi and personal care.

Specialist Special Educational Needs staff

Our specialist staff are experts in:

Autism, ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, Dyscalculia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Emotional Behavioural Difficulty, Hearing Impairment, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Severe Learning Difficulty, Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties, Complex Needs and Visual Impairment.

Specialist Educational Services at Paston College

• Specific Learning Disability team (SpLD)
• Speech and Language Therapist (SaLT)
• Educational Psychologist
• Assistive Technology (A full list can be provided)
• RUG room for ASD students
• Sensory room

All special educational support is dependent on assessment criteria and funding conditions being met.

How do I get Specialist Educational support?

Curriculum Services aims to support you to reach your full potential and achieve your goals.

We strive to support you in becoming an independent learner and we can adapt the support you need as your learning progresses.

Support on application

When you tick any of the boxes on the application form disclosing a disability or difficulty, we will discuss what level and type of support would be good for you.

Education Health and Care Plan

If you have an Education Health Care Plan, please share this with us to help plan your support needs. You can email this to SEN@ccn.ac.uk or bring it to reception for the Curriculum Services team.

Tell Curriculum Services about your needs as soon as possible so we can plan your support and secure the funding from the Local Authority. Without this you may not be able to access support.

To find out more about the support available to students, please contact our Curriculum Services team on 01603 773 241 or SEN@ccn.ac.uk

Transition to college life

Preparing for adulthood and starting at Paston College might be a bit of a worry, so you can request a guided tour to come and look around to gain an insight into college. It will also give you a chance to ask any questions you may have about the college.

Local First Inclusion Statement

• Paston College is a varied post-16 setting therefore we cannot universally offer small group sizes in cross college provision.​​​
• One-to-one support is generally not provided to encourage independence.​​​
• One-to-one teaching is not universally available.
• Laptops are not considered standard post-16 equipment and will only be provided if there is a need for specialist software to meet the needs of the young person on their college course.​​​
• Paston College does not universally offer specific individual intervention programmes/ therapies /small group social skills classes.​​
• Paston College does not offer online or remote learning.​​​
• Daily/weekly Specific Learning Difference sessions are not available, however we can support students in class and via off-course support to develop their skills.​​​
• Staff at Paston College are not trained in CBT, however, we can refer students to our wellbeing support. ​​​
• Most rooms are fully accessible without stairs; however, a few are not and, some facilities are not able to be reallocated to a ground floor. This will need to be considered when applying for a specific course.​​​

Paston College will, with best endeavours: 

• support students with confidence building, social and communication skills, emotional regulation etc.​​​
• support students as appropriate to the needs of the individual and the course they are studying.​​​

Our expectation is that a young person:

• ​applies to the college to help us gauge the area of interest (sector/ course and level - help with understanding ability)​​​
• enrolling at Paston College has an updated Annual Review completed by the local authority or previous provider.​​