Access and Inclusion Policy

Previously named, Special Educational Needs (SEN) Policy

1. Philosophy.
2. Access and Inclusion - Definitions.
3. School Context.
4. Admissions (IB Division).
5. Supporting Access and Inclusion in The Middle Years Programme.
6. Supporting Access and Inclusion in The Diploma Programme.
7. Supporting Language Development.
8. Teaching and Learning.

1. Philosophy

The Tamagawa Academy International Baccalaureate Division recognizes and supports making both the MYP and Diploma Programmes accessible to the broadest possible range of students from Grades 6 -12. The IB Programmes are committed to provide an adaptable, positive, safe learning environment that appropriately strives to meet learners’ needs and that encourages all learners to achieve to their fullest learning potential.

The Tamagawa Academy IB Programmes understand:

• the need to acknowledge individual students’ cultural, social, and religious differences;
• the need to address the special learning needs of students in the MYP and DP Programmes;
• the necessity to provide support to all students in order to meet their own individual learning needs, personal goals, and overall educational success;
• the necessity to identify and manage the needs of students by implementing a variety of continuous classroom, learning, and, or assessment procedures;
• whereby students identified with special learning needs the IB Programmes seeks advice, guidance, referrals and strategies from our school counselors;
• the necessity for consistent, regular, transparent communication related to special educational needs processes, procedures, and requirements with parents, students, and teachers

The Tamagawa Academy International Baccalaureate Division supports the IB`s philosophy on access and inclusion through the following Programme standards and practices:

Student support (0202)

• The school implements and reviews systems and processes to identify the needs of students. (0202-02-0100)
• The school supports the identified needs of students, and evidences this support through planning, policy, and practice. (0202-02-0200)
• The school demonstrates a commitment to make the most effective use of learning spaces and learning environments in ways that meet the needs of all students. (0202-02-0400)
• The school identifies and allocates spaces and resources to support the social, emotional, and physical well-being of its students and teachers. (0202-03-0100)
• The school demonstrates in its systems, processes and policies attention to the social, emotional, and physical well-being of its students and teachers. (0202-03-0200)
• The pedagogical leadership team and teachers support students’ social, emotional and physical well-being. (0202-03-0300)

Teacher support (0203)

• The school allocates dedicated and scheduled and/or timetabled time for teachers’ collaborative planning and reflection. (0203-03-0100)

Culture (0301)

• The school provides opportunities to access the programme(s) for the broadest possible range of students. (0301-01-0300)

Coherent curriculum (0401)

• The school provides collaborative planning time for teachers to incorporate IB philosophy into the curriculum. (0401-01-0400)

Lifelong learners (0402)

• The school implements and reviews processes that actively engage students in their own learning. (0402-01-0200)

Approaches to teaching (0403)

• Teachers consider learner variability when planning students’ personal learning goals. (0403-05-0100)

Approaches to assessment (0404)

• The school regularly reviews and ensures compliance with all access arrangements. (0404-03-0200)

2. Access and Inclusion - Definitions

The following definitions are common references to students with individual learning needs, who have the intellectual capacity to meet all curriculum and assessment requirements, and who require special arrangements to demonstrate their level of achievement.

Extension: gifted and talented students who demonstrate extended levels of proficiency in their learning and require further challenging, extension, and inquiring tasks.

Specific learning issues, language and communication disorders issues in reading, writing, spelling or manipulating numbers associated with issues in processing symbolic language (for example, problems interpreting music notation, dyslexia, dyscalculia).

Speech and language issues characterized by communication problems (for example, aphasia, dysphasia, articulation problems).

Emotional and behavioural issues Includes: attention deficit disorder (ADD)/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); autistic spectrum disorders; withdrawn, depressive or suicidal attitudes; obsessive preoccupation with eating habits; school phobia.

Physical and sensory conditions Physical disabilities include a wide range of conditions that are not always immediately obvious, but affect mobility.
Sensory issues: hearing embraces an extensive range of hearing loss from mild to profound and can present communication difficulties; visual includes difficulties with either the structure or function of the eye, affecting vision.

Medical conditions The most common being: congenital heart disease, epilepsy, asthma, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, renal failure, eczema, rheumatoid disorders, allergies, leukemia and other cancers.

Mental health issues A wide range of conditions that can affect a person’s state of mind, ranging from psychotic conditions, such as schizophrenia and manic depression, to eating disorders, anxieties and emotional distress caused by circumstances in a candidate’s life.

3. School Context

As an Article-1 Japanese national, independent school, Tamagawa Academy accepts students based on both students and parents' demonstrated commitment to the School’s Zenjin (Whole Person) educational philosophy and principles.

If a teacher has a non-curricular concern about a student, such as having a student that can’t pay attention in class, they will email the relevant Homeroom Teachers and ‘Cc’ the relevant Year Level Homeroom Coordinator (Gakunenshunin) and the Lead Teacher for Student Affairs (Seikatsushunin). The Homeroom Teachers will then decide how to deal with the concern and if necessary contact the Year Level Homeroom Coordinator for advice. If necessary the Year Level Homeroom Coordinator will meet with the Lead Teacher for Student Affairs.
When necessary, parents will be notified and the school counselor may be consulted.
Curricular concerns should be referred to the Subject Leader who when necessary will consult the MYP or DP Coordinator.

Student Counseling Room

1. Cases are referred to the four school counselors, who are qualified clinical/certified psychologists.
2. Opening days and office hours of school counselors:
   Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday, 10:00 – 16:50
   ※ Days and hours are subject to change.
3. Appointments can be made directly by a student through the IB nurse or through the student’s homeroom teacher who will consult with the IB nurse.
   ※ Hours for making a reservation by telephone: 9:00 – 17:00
4. Location of the Student Counseling Room:
   1F, Upper Secondary Division building

4. Admissions (IB Division)

Students admittance at each grade level in IB Division is based on:

• admissions application: application form, previous school reports, recommendations from teachers / supervisors
• examinations in: English, Math (bilingual), Science (in Japanese), Social Studies (in Japanese);
• admissions interview with both the students and his / her parents.

The school communicates that for students who require higher levels of special educational needs support beyond what the school can accommodate, parents and families must facilitate of their own accord any long-term, ongoing specialist assistance.

5. Supporting Access and Inclusion in The Middle Years Programme

i. IB MYP Programme (Grades 6-10)

The Tamagawa Academy International Baccalaureate Division, with the assistance and guidance of the Secondary Division and or school counselors will aim to identify as early as possible the needs of students.
If students are deemed as requiring special educational needs, the school counselor will collaborate with teachers to endeavor to plan, implement, and monitor programs.
The school counselor may also assist staff to devise appropriate learning strategies for the provision of subject differentiation. Accordingly, teachers will endeavor to implement a variety of continuous assessment and classroom procedures.

Academic Support / Study Hall

Attending Academic Support is mandatory for students in Grades 7-10 and strongly recommended for Grade 6 students. The subjects Mathematics, Japanese, I&S, and Science are catered for on four separate weekdays. Students are to continue attending academic support until the end of the term unless there is a significant improvement in their grades and their teacher feels they no longer need to attend. Parents will be notified by the teacher when this decision is made.

Study hall is not mandatory and students may join on their own or if recommended by a teacher.

Morning Support

Morning support is an extracurricular service aimed at supporting students in accessing the Middle Years Programme Curriculum.

Morning support focuses on students who are learning in their second language.

• English Language Morning Support concentrates on the technical grammar needed for students to gain a basic understanding of the instructional language in all subjects across the curriculum.
• Japanese Language Morning Support is focused on supporting students in specific subjects. Support is concentrated on the language needed to help students understand what is required for class content and assessment tasks.

Teachers in the Language B Department work together, and with staff from across the Middle Years Programme, to identify the students who qualify for Morning Support. This process includes analyzing CEFR and WIDA data, as well as looking at each student’s attainment and progress within their subjects.

If a student is identified as being eligible for Morning Support their attendance is compulsory.
Morning Support is offered through both group and one-to-one sessions, where students receive bespoke assistance to suit their individual needs.

Once a student has been identified, they and their family will be notified by letter, explaining the aims of the support, the type of support being offered, and the times and place of the sessions.

Students may be identified to attend Morning Support at any time during the academic year. Students may also be moved to a different class or session based on their needs.

Teacher Mentoring

The aim of the Teacher Mentor Scheme is to support students from grades 7-10 who are in danger of not progressing to the next year level, and students in grades 11 and 12 who are in danger of not receiving the full International Baccalaureate Diploma.
Teachers will create challenging but achievable targets designed to help each student’s performance, and along with each student`s mentor, will support them in achieving them.
Volunteer Teacher Mentors will meet and work with their mentees, discussing their progress against the targets and offering advice. Teachers will have the opportunity to discuss each student's progress in staff meetings, with the aim of sharing ideas and strategies that work for them.

Peer Mentoring

Senior students have created an opportunity for students from different grades to interact with each other on a daily basis to strengthen the relationship between senior and junior students within the IB. Junior students ask questions about a subject or topic that they are studying or they could get advice for daily school life from the senior students. ATL skills such as communication and social skills would also be developed. Student mentors can include their mentoring duties to their Service or CAS portfolios.

ii. Access to reasonable adjustments

Reasonable adjustments are changes or additional conditions to the assessment process which may not be covered in the standard list of inclusive access arrangements. They are unique to a candidate based on their requirements.
Schools must consult with the IB before planning any reasonable adjustments for a candidate.
The decision on the most appropriate reasonable adjustment will be made by the IB after engaging in discussions with the school.
The IB will only authorize reasonable adjustments where no other inclusive access arrangement can be applied to meet the purpose.
Reasonable adjustment can only be applied to ePortfolio summative assessment tasks and the personal project.

An example of how inclusive access arrangements for access to reasonable adjustments would apply: A candidate with moderate to severe learning challenges requires a longer time frame to work on the personal project, which is usually introduced at the end of year 4, with the majority of work carried out in year 5. After discussions with the school, a reasonable adjustment is authorized whereby the candidate is supported with the scaffolding needed to commence the personal project in year 4. Investigation and planning commence in year 4 and taking action, reflecting and reporting are completed in year 5.

iii. Access to writing

4.3.1 Candidates may require access arrangements to provide written responses. Difficulties in writing may arise due to specific learning challenges, visual challenges, visual processing challenges, fine motor challenges, attention challenges or other psychological or medical challenges.

Graphic Organizers:

4.3.2 In order to be eligible to use graphic organizers as an access arrangement, a candidate must show evidence of the following.

• The standard score on written expression/information processing/working memory is 90 or less.
• The candidate has difficulties in planning and organizing and has access to graphic organizers as a usual way of working. Education evidence must be available to confirm this.
  4.3.3 Electronic graphic organizers cannot be used with the on-screen examinations. Graphic organizers must be paper based. They must be clean copies with no annotations provided by the school at the start of the examination.
  4.3.4 Graphic organizers should be shredded immediately after the completion of the examination.
  4.3.5 Graphic organizers can only be used for the duration of the examination. Once the candidate completes and submits the examination, content from the graphic organizer cannot be quoted to the IB as part of the response. Under no circumstances will the IB accept any content that is in the graphic organizer as part of the candidate’s response.

Scribe:

A candidate who requires access to writing may be supported by a scribe to produce their written responses.
A scribe would type the dictated responses of the student. Access to the scribe must be the usual way of working and the designated scribe must be familiar with the on-screen environment.
4.3.13 In order to be eligible to use a scribe as an access arrangement, a candidate must show evidence of at least one of the following.

• The standard scores on written expression/spelling/information processing/working memory is 90 or less.
• A below average speed for their age in typing.
• A medical, physical, or sensory challenge which makes it difficult for the candidate to use the keyboard for the duration demanded by the assessment task.
  Examples of how inclusive access arrangements for a scribe would apply
• A student who has a standard score of 83 on written expression has access to a scribe for classwork
  and tests. The same arrangement may be authorized for the on-screen examinations.
• A student with cerebral palsy has a very slow typing speed, the school requests a scribe for his or her
  on-screen examinations and this may be authorized.

iv. Access to reading

4.4.14 When required for the assessment, candidates who require a reader due to total vision impairment
will be provided with adapted examinations. This will include text script of images and other visuals and/or
adapted text when there is visual processing needed for the response to the standard question.
There will
be no modification to the assessment criteria when developing adapted questions.

6. Supporting Access and Inclusion in The Diploma Programme

Support offered by the IB in the Diploma Programme:

The accommodations permissible by the IB can be split into two parts.

Part One.

The IB allows school to make their own decision on provision for SEN students in exams based on the following criteria from the IB’s Access and inclusion policy - “Assessment requirements not requiring authorization” (Pg 12):

• A candidate is permitted to take an examination in a separate room if it is in the best interests of the candidate or other candidates in the group. For example, lighting may be a particular consideration for a candidate with a visual impairment, or a room with an echo may be difficult for a candidate with autism. Furthermore, a candidate’s condition or the nature of the inclusive assessment arrangement (for example, a scribe, a computer) may disturb other candidates, in which case a separate examination room is justified. If the examination is taken in a separate room, all regulations governing the conduct of IB examinations must be observed. The candidate must be kept under the constant supervision of an invigilator.
• The coordinator may arrange for appropriate seating to meet the needs of individual candidates (for example, sitting near the front may be appropriate for a candidate with vision or hearing difficulties).
• An assistant, if necessary a nurse, may be in attendance if this is necessary for the welfare or safety of a candidate. The assistant must not be another candidate or a relative of the candidate.
• A candidate who normally uses an aid (for example, a coloured overlay, a Braille slate, a sound amplification device, a radio aid, a hearing aid, a low vision aid, a magnifying aid, coloured filter lenses) is allowed to use the aid in examinations. Note: It is in breach of regulations if candidates are found in possession of any other mobile devices in the examination room.
• A candidate with a hearing condition may receive instructions from a communicator. This arrangement must be confined to explaining the conduct of the examination and the instructions in an examination paper. The communicator must not convey information about any aspect of a question in the paper without prior authorization from the IB Assessment center.
• If a candidate has difficulties in reading or attention, test directions may be clarified by the invigilator or a designated reader. This arrangement must be strictly confined only to clarifying the directions and the instructions and not the content of the questions.
• Magnifying devices to enlarge and read print may be used by candidates with vision issues. These may include magnifying glasses and line magnifiers.
• For a candidate who has colour blindness, the coordinator (or invigilator) is permitted to name colours in an examination paper (for example, on a map in a geography examination). However, no other form of assistance may be given without authorization from the IB Assessment centre.
• A candidate who is hypersensitive to sound is permitted the use of noise buffers such as headsets, earplugs and individual workstations with acoustic screens. If an individual workstation is employed, all regulations governing the conduct of IB examinations must be observed. The candidate must be kept under the constant supervision of an invigilator.
• A candidate may be permitted rest breaks if required to do so due to medical, physical, psychological or other conditions. The amount of time permitted for rest breaks is not counted towards the duration of the candidate’s examination. Rest breaks must be supervised to ensure that the security of the examination is maintained. There must be no communication with, or disturbance to, other candidates. The amount of rest time and number of breaks permitted must be pre-determined and will depend upon the candidate’s circumstances, although 10-minutes per hour is the general recommendation. During a rest break, the candidate is not permitted to read, respond to the examination paper or write notes of any kind. Candidates may be allowed to leave the room for all or part of the rest periods. For example, a candidate with diabetes may be provided rest breaks to check blood sugar levels and take medication. If a candidate’s personal examination timetable is such that, with rest periods and additional time more than six and a half hours of examinations would take place in one day, rescheduling should be requested.
• A candidate may be permitted the use of a prompter due to attention issues, psychological or neurological conditions. A prompter would ensure that a candidate pays attention to the examination. The use of the prompter should not disturb other candidates. The coordinator or invigilator may act as a prompter, but the examination must be conducted according to IB regulations. In all cases, the prompter may only prompt the candidate and not provide any form of assistance. The prompt may be a gentle tap on the candidate’s arm or desk/table but should not be given verbally. The prompter must not draw the candidate’s attention to any part of the examination paper or script. The prompter should be familiar with the candidate’s behavior so that he/she knows when the candidate is off-task. The candidate should be familiar with the kind of prompt that he/she would likely receive from the prompter. The prompter should be in a position that provides a view of the candidate’s disposition rather than his/her work.
  The candidate should not feel as though he/she is under pressure or scrutiny.
• At the discretion of the coordinator, a candidate may be given additional time to complete assignments during the two-year programme (for example, the extended essay, the theory of knowledge (TOK) essay) without authorization from the IB. However, if an extension to the deadline for the submission of work for assessment is required, the coordinator must contact IB Answers (See section 4.7 Access to extensions and exemptions).

Part Two.

In order to get extra time for one or more DP students in the exams we must follow the following steps in the IB’s Access and inclusion policy “Assessment requirements requiring authorisation” (pg 16).

We must apply for special educational requirements 6 months before the exam session (May 15th deadline).

We must identify one or more areas of concern, regarding the student, for example: reading, writing, processing information, medical, mental health, anxiety, physical.

We must get both student and parent approval before we start the process. Without this approval the IB are unable to take any action.

The IB require two supporting documents from the school:

A)

• The student must be referred to the school psychological / Special Educational Needs (SEN) counsellor / an external Educational Psychologist.
• The counsellor must give the student a test in the area of concern only (The IB does not require tests in other areas). There are no official IB tests, each school/country will have their own preferred tests. If the school doesn`t have the tests, the counsellor should know how to get them, if this is not possible the tests can be bought from outside.
• The test scores must be sent to the IB.

B)

• At least one piece of evidence of the student's work (for example, showing unsuccessful work owing to lack of access or successful work owing to access given); the work submitted, which needs only be in one subject, must be work that has been written in English, French or Spanish.
• Teacher instructions given for the piece(s) of work sent in.
• Teacher feedback on the piece(s) of work handed in.
• Evidence of the support the teacher has given the student in relation to their potential learning needs.
• The teacher's assessment of the problems the student faces in their subject and an overall account of his/her performance in the subject.

According to the IB Handbook of procedures, the following is also acceptable:

• anecdotal observations from the school such as records or correspondence from a class teacher, a learning support/inclusion coordinator or school counselor
• an individualized educational plan (IEP)
• evidence of correspondence or records from a previous school where the candidate was enrolled and whether the assessment arrangement was used.

Procedures at Tamagawa for offering the IB Support in the IB Diploma Programme (Grades 11 and 12)

The process for identifying Special Educational Needs and applying for special arrangements in the Diploma Programme are as follows:

1. At the start of each academic year the DP coordinator and the Lead Teacher for Student Affairs will address the school community to explain the IB`s commitment to inclusion and its supportive philosophy towards students who have special educational needs.
2. The DP coordinator and the Lead Teacher for Student Affairs will give an overview of the support on offer to staff and parents through meetings and workshops. At the workshops the DP Coordinator will outline the provision offered by the IB, this information will also be communicated to parents through a letter in Japanese and English.
3. Parents will be made aware that they can take the first step by contacting the Homeroom Teacher Team if they feel their child needs accommodations from the IB. The Homeroom Teacher Team will notify the Year Level Coordinator and the Curriculum Coordinator to discuss support options.
4. The DP Coordinator and the Lead Teacher for Student Affairs will make staff aware of the SEN process in the Diploma Programme as laid out in this policy and in the DP SEN at Tamagawa document at regular intervals throughout the academic year at meetings, staff briefings and in response to parent and / or teacher concerns.
5. If a subject teacher suspects a student has Special Education Needs he / she will notify the Homeroom teacher and the Year Level Homeroom Coordinator (Gakunenshunin) of their concerns.
6. The Homeroom teacher, and the Year Level Homeroom Coordinator (Gakunenshunin) will contact the DP Coordinator to decide if speaking to the student and their parents is necessary, to explain the process and the different types of support the IB can give in final exams and assessments (as seen in this policy and the DP SEN at Tamagawa document.)
7. If there is agreement to carry on with the process, the school counsellor will be contacted and will meet with the student and parents. The Lead Teacher for Student Affairs (Seikatsushunin) will also be contacted.
8. The school counsellor will recommend medical institutions who can give a test and diagnosis.
9. The student's teacher (and other teachers if necessary) will provide the IB required sample of the student's work, teacher comments and teacher`s provisions for the student.
10. The diagnosis and student/teacher work will be sent to the IB who will make a decision on extra provision based on the evidence received.
11. The IB Diploma Coordinator will ensure that all documentation and registration of SEN students in the Tamagawa Academy IB Programmes conform with IB expectations and that “special arrangements” are authorised through IB Cardiff through the IBIS website. The IB Programmes understands its responsibility to determine whether accommodations can be made for individual students and that all such accommodations must be in agreement with IB policy.

Accordingly, the IB Programmes recognizes that applications for special arrangements have specific requirements and require the appropriate supporting documentation. Hence, the Programmes shall ensure that all special arrangements comply with Section 4 of the Candidates with special assessment needs document.

7. Supporting Language Development

The majority of Tamagawa Academy IB students speak native-level Japanese, with most students spending their pre-IB education in Japanese schools. Some students have varied linguistic and cultural backgrounds due to living abroad and/or having multicultural families; most have native or near native level Japanese proficiency, although some students who have lived abroad come to the programme with weaknesses in their academic Japanese.
The predominant language of the school is Japanese, although IB teachers model and encourage the use of English whenever possible. The IB foreign staff come from a variety of countries, and interact with students primarily in English. IB support staff, as well as Tamagawa mainstream teachers who teach in the IB Programme, have varying levels of English proficiency, and communicate with students in both English and Japanese. The academic environment exposes students to a variety of world Englishes while encouraging bilingual development.
The primary language need for the majority of learners in our programme is to build both social and academic English skills and knowledge while continuing to develop their Japanese literacy.
A few students who have come from other countries require support in Japanese language. All teachers endeavor to treat each learner as an individual regarding their language needs.
The majority of the IB parents are Japanese speakers. In addition, some Tamagawa Secondary teachers, mostly Japanese speakers, teach in the IB Programme. Official communication with stakeholders, through workshops and programme guidebooks, is done in Japanese and English.

8. Teaching and Learning

Collaborative planning and reflection.
Approaches to Teaching and Learning, including differentiation for different learning needs and styles will be developed through regular staff meetings and regular departmental staff meetings and will be a focus of lesson observations between the Programme Coordinators and teachers.

In school professional development includes reference to the IB Document `Meeting Student Learning Diversity in the Classroom.’

Students’ and parents’ opinions on meeting the needs of all learners, including the support of SEN students, are sought through questionnaires, workshops and parent interviews.

The student counselor will hold staff meetings where he/she will give an overview of his/her role at the school, the support they can offer and the system of diagnosing special educational needs in Japan.

References

The following documents were consulted in creating this policy:

• Access and inclusion policy (Updated February 2022), International Baccalaureate
• Meeting student learning diversity in the classroom (December 2019), International Baccalaureate
• Programme standards and practices (Updated April 2022)
• Candidates with Special Educational Needs (May 2011), International Baccalaureate
• Diploma Programme: Principles into Practice, (August 2009), International Baccalaureate
• Special Educational Needs Policy (March 2013), Highland Secondary School, British Columbia, Canada
• Learning Diversity in the IB Programmes (August 2010), International Baccalaureate
• Middle Years Programme: Principles into Practice (August 2008), International Baccalaureate
• Special Educational Needs Policy (May 2009), Queensland Academy for Creative Industries, Queensland, Australia
• The IB Guide to Inclusive education: a resource for whole school development.
• Candidates with Assessment Access requirements (Updated July 2014) International Baccalaureate.
• Learning in a language other than mother tongue in IB programmes (April 2008) Internal Baccalaureate.
• Meeting Student Learning Diversity in the Classroom. (May 2013) International Baccalaureate.