Lough Road Learning Centre Primary Key Stage

Lough Road Learning Centre Key Stages 1+2

Welcome to the Lough Road Learning Centre, Primary Department.

The Primary Department works in partnership with mainstream schools and parents throughout the Southern Education and Library Board area. Our aim is to assist children who have been identified as having severe social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and who require more support than is available in a mainstream setting.

The ultimate aim of this department is to facilitate the full re-integration of the child into his/her original school, in a welcoming and positive environment where each individual is valued and respected.

Lough Road Learning Centre  Key Stage 3

Key Stage 3 EOTAS is a fun place. It is not like a school. It is based on the top two floors of an old house on The Lough Road in Lurgan. There are 12 pupils, a Senior Teacher, 3 other Teachers, a Classroom Assistant and a Behavioural Assistant. We are all a Team who work together to make learning fun. We all try to get on with each other.

We are taught in small groups and the day goes really quickly. We have a healthy breakfast each morning to help us to have energy to study and we are encouraged to drink water to help our brains to work better. We have four work sessions a day when we do lots of different things. Wednesday is our Practical day when we do outdoor activities and woodwork etc. – not really the reading and writing stuff.

It was a bit strange at the beginning when I went to Lough Road. I thought that it would just be like any other school. It was not. We do lots of work on our behaviour and earn rewards for behaving well. We learn things in a different way and are helped to try things before saying that we can’t do them. It is safe to try new things at Lough Road. We are always told that if we believe in ourselves that we can achieve. We get lots of certificates for the work that we do and we feel good about learning. The staff helps us and don’t give up on us when we have a woopsie. They are very caring and understanding and most of all they forgive us. Each day is a fresh start.

Lough Road Learning Centre  Key Stage 4

The KS4 unit at Lough Road Learning Centre, provides a supportive and therapeutic environment for young people between the ages of 14 and 16 who have been expelled from, or who have had difficulty attending mainstream school.

The behavioural challenges of our young people are addressed and we aim to guide them towards alternative strategies for dealing with these. We also try to change their way of thinking about the issues which may have caused them difficulties.

The KS4 ethos is ‘For Inclusion and Diversity’ and to this end the centre aims to include all young people in the educational community and to respect and reward the diverse contribution that each one make to their own and everyone’s success.