GvP school

GvP

the gvp school Care system

Some students have special educational needs. They may have reading difficulties, for instance. Other students may be very active and not focusing much, they may have attention deficit problems, such as ADD or ADHD. There are still others who have social or emotional issues. The school has the obligation to address these special needs as best as it can. The GvP School has a number of trained personnel and teachers which focus on the extra care that our students may need. The school can also call on specialized institutions such as the Expertise Center St. Eustatius (ECE) for help.

The GvP School care system is organized as follows:

  • When a teacher realizes that a student has a special educational need, the teacher will speak first to the student.
  • If the issue persists, the teacher reports to the Mentor, who in turn will contact the student’s parent or guardian. The Mentor is the teacher  assigned to a class to take good care of the class. The Mentor gives support and encourages students to manage their own learning, so they can maximize their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the best students they can be.
  • Mentors have regular meetings with the Department Heads and the Internal Guidance Officers, so that students with a special need can be discussed with all teachers concerned.
  • If then the special need still needs to be addressed, it will be discussed with the Care Team. This small group of specialized people will discuss the issue and will assign the student to one of the persons within the scheme, according to the special educational need.
  • If the special need still persists, the Care Team will discuss the issue either with specialists from ECE (Expertise Centre for Educational Care), which specializes in learning problems, CYF (Center for Youth and Family) which specializes in emotional and social problems or MHC (Mental Health Care Foundation) which deals with addictions and other mental health issues. All these institutions may call in help from outside.
  • Also, students may be discussed during one of the regular multi-agency meetings. These meetings are between representatives from the various institutions on the island, which are involved in young people’s well being.
  • If a serious incident with a student occurs, parents are immediately called in and included in every step that is taken.
  • The consent of parents has to be obtained regarding referral to a specialized institution.