At the secondary school level, various support measures are available to students with special needs. This support is tailored to the student’s individual needs and learning difficulties. This enables them to participate in regular education as much as possible.
What types of support are available?
Different measures are offered at the secondary school level in order to meet the student’s special needs:
- Academic support allows the student to study certain subjects individually or in a small group.
- Classroom teaching provided by the class teacher and the other teachers is adapted to the student’s specific needs in collaboration with the members of the support team for pupils with special educational needs (équipe de soutien des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, ESEB).
- The teaching content is adapted to enable the student to keep up with the pace of their chosen educational path.
- The student is supported by one or more members of the support team for pupils with special educational needs (ESEB).
- Partial or total redirection towards other educational paths or specialised classes makes it possible to adapt the pace, content and teaching methods to the student’s abilities and needs.
- The aim of reasonable adjustments is to adapt teaching and assessment methods to the student’s needs. They make it easier for them to process and understand the subjects taught and do better in assessment tests.
These measures are implemented at the secondary school the student attends. Other measures are also available at a national level. These include enrolment in a special learning workshop, special schooling in a class at a competence centre for specialised psychopedagogy or schooling outside the Grand Duchy in a specialised educational establishment.
Who can work with students with special educational needs?
The primary contact for students and their parents are the teachers and the class teacher. Other people are also available to implement suitable follow-up for the student, in concertation with the student and their parents:
Each secondary school has a support team for pupils with special educational needs (équipe de soutien des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, ESEB). The ESEB members support students to enhance their well-being, autonomy, personal development and participation in school life. They advise the parents and the teachers and may themselves provide ambulatory support to pupils with special educational needs. At the request of the inclusion commission (commission d'inclusion, CI), they can, within four weeks (during school time), make a diagnosis that provides information on the needs of the student and the measures to be implemented whilst taking the parents’ and teachers’ input into account.
The role of the secondary school’s inclusion commission (commission d’inclusion, CI) is to inform the students and parents on the different support measures available and, if necessary, on the appropriate measures to be offered to the student. These measures are then included in the student’s individualised training plan (plan de formation individualisé) which is adopted by mutual agreement between the CI, the student and the parents. The CI supervises the implementation of the individualised training plan and evaluates the latter on an annual basis to integrate any adjustments deemed necessary to ensure the student’s educational progress.
If the CI believes that reasonable adjustments are required for the student, it can submit an application to the reasonable adjustments commission (Commission des aménagements raisonnables, CAR), provided the parents or adult student have given their consent.
The CI may assist the parents if they wish to contact the national inclusion commission (Commission nationale d’inclusion, CNI). The adult student or the parents may also choose to contact the CNI directly.
The reasonable adjustments commission (Commission des aménagements raisonnables, CAR) defines the reasonable adjustments granted to the student in order to adapt the learning environment to their needs.
A reasoned request may be submitted by the secondary school’s inclusion commission substantiated by a case file and on the condition that the parents or the adult student have given their written consent. A reasoned request may be submitted by the parents or the adult student.
Who can be contacted?
For more detailed information on the available support measures, you can contact the following persons or services:
- the class teacher and/or the other teachers at the secondary school;
- the support team for pupils with special educational needs (équipe de soutien des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, ESEB) at the secondary school;
- the secondary school’s inclusion commission (commission d’inclusion, CI);
- the secondary school’s management.
