Additional Learning Support

Additional Learning Support is available to learners with disabilities and learning difficulties and in some cases to those learners who need further help with their literacy, numeracy or language.

The College offers extra advice and support to help you learn and achieve your chosen qualification. Depending on eligibility, support is available for:

• Language, literacy or numeracy skills
• Dyslexia, dyspraxia
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Asperger Syndrome
• General learning difficulties
• Physical or sensory needs
• Medical and mental health issues

What support do we offer?

• Assessment of learning needs
• ALS teaching support
• Discrete one-to-one support sessions
• Workshops or drop in sessions
• Guidance to improve study skills
• Referral to the college counsellor
• Special arrangements for exams
• Support assistants to help in your classes
• Communicators, signers and interpreters
• Adapted documents and materials, for example in large print, Braille or on tape
• Hearing loops

How can you get the support you need?

If you think you may need help, it is important that you let us know as soon as possible – particularly if you need help during interview or enrolment.

Any queries or questions regarding ALS support should be emailed to: als@brooklands.ac.uk

You can also:

• Tell us about your support needs during interview
• Tell us about your needs during enrolment
• Speaking to your tutor asking them to refer you to ALS

You will then be contacted by one of the ALS staff to discuss your needs in more detail and to determine what services you may require given your individual circumstances.

There is an Additional Learning Support (ALS) office at each of the main college sites and you can also contact the ALS staff during term time or the Administrator at the relevant centre at any time during the year.

SEND Surrey, Local Offer

There are many services throughout the county that can offer support to parents and people aged 25 and under with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). To find out more about services in the Surrey click here

Disclosure

What is disclosure?
This is when you tell someone about your disability or learning difficulty so that they can make adjustments for you. The college will give you lots of opportunities to disclose so that we can support you in your learning journey. For example, you can tell us about your disability on your application form, when you enrol onto a course or you may prefer to discuss it with your tutor or member of the ALS team. We will not discriminate against you or treat you less favourably because of your disability.

What will we do with the information?
Information about your disability will be accessible to course information staff, staff involved in the enrolment process, teachers and tutors, examination officers and ALS staff. It will be used to make reasonable adjustments for you so that you are treated fairly. If college staff have a good understanding of your disability and your needs, they will be able to provide you with the best possible support in order to make learning easier for you. The information is also shared with our funding body, and in cases where we need to get approval for access arrangements for exams, it will also be shared with the relevant examination boards.

Confidentiality
You have a right to the information about your disability being kept confidential and we will respect this. However, it may be that the most appropriate adjustment cannot be made if you do not want the disclosure shared with key staff. If you are not comfortable with the information being shared please let us know.