While it is true that every child has the innate ability to learn, at 21K school, we recognise that learning is most effective and pleasurable when it occurs in a way and pace that the child is comfortable with. To realise this, our school has a Special Education Needs (SEN) Department, which recognises that each child is unique in their own way and the traditional one size fits all approach needs to be disregarded.
Our SEN Team has specially trained and qualified counsellors, remedial educators, and special educators who work in tandem with the facilitators and parents to accommodate every child's needs and create a comfortable learning space for all the learners.
Inclusive education, in its essence, means a space for learning, where learners with and without any comorbidities attend classes together. The term inclusion refers to equality and equity, i.e. the provision of equal opportunities for all learners whilst being mindful of their concerns and challenges and creating mechanisms to help them through the same.
At 21K School, learners from diverse backgrounds and varying physical and cognitive concerns are part of the same classroom. The programme is structured so that all learners, with or without any difficulties, have an equal opportunity to learn, grow, and flourish. The learners are encouraged to participate and work together, leading to a two-fold effect where learners with special needs can interact with and learn from their peers and grow in an environment wherein learners learn to accept and celebrate our differences.
As our school is inclusive, we can accommodate learners with varying special needs. However, being an online school, we also recognise our limitations, and thus there are certain areas wherein we cannot be the best fit for your child.
We will be able to help your child if they have the following physical or cognitive concerns:
Parents are required to submit relevant medical and psychological assessment reports as part of the admission process. As every child is unique—with individual strengths and areas of growth—this documentation may vary and is not exhaustive. To better understand each learner's specific needs, the school follows an interactive interview-based approach, enabling us to assess our ability to provide appropriate support before confirming admission.
Our school's Counselling Department is available to every learner. It is both preventive and responsive. The counsellors develop a specific action plan to address the varying behavioural, emotional, academic, and adjustment concerns that a learner may be going through. These plans are then implemented in a comfortable way for the learner.
The following services are offered to learners with special needs, tailored to their individual requirements:
The Counselling Department provides individual and group counselling for learners with special needs, aligned with their personalised action plans. Support is short-term and goal-oriented where required, with a focus on helping learners develop coping strategies, build self-awareness, and confidently navigate their concerns.
Remedial support focuses on bridging learning gaps by using strategies, techniques, and modes of instruction best suited to the learner's comfort and learning style. The remedial educator meets learners at their current level, leverages their strengths, and reinforces concepts to ensure sustained learning and progress.
Appropriate assessment support and concessions are provided based on the individual needs of learners, ensuring equitable access and a fair assessment experience.
Parents are encouraged to connect with the Counselling Department throughout the academic year for guidance and support. The team works closely with families to provide psychoeducation and recommend suitable adaptations and modifications to best support the learner at home and in school.
The department collaborates with all stakeholders within the learner's ecosystem to foster an inclusive, supportive, and positive learning environment, ensuring the learner experiences a comfortable and successful academic year.
First and most importantly, All the facilitators associated with your child are sensitised towards their individual needs. The sensitisation training includes making them aware of the child's concerns, focussing on strengths and improvement areas. We also create an individualised education plan for the learners. This plan includes:
While being aware of their concerns and making accommodations for their needs, we also strive to push and challenge them like their peers, which helps them grow in their way. Thus, all the learners get an equal opportunity to participate in all academic and extracurricular activities.
All the facilitators and parents/caretakers will be made aware of the concessions and assistance that the child is eligible for during assessments. After discussion and review of the learner's performance with all the stakeholders, school will provide the following concessions based on the needs of the learner:
Remedial education is an approach to teaching where the aim is to bridge the gaps in learning by using modes/techniques which the learner is comfortable with. It also tends to focus more on building conceptual clarity in literacy and numeracy, which paves the way for future learning. A remedial educator goes down to the level of the learner and works with their strengths to cement the learning.
If a learner requires remedial support, an action plan will be created for the same after a review and discussion with all the stakeholders. The remedial classes will either be held on a separate link with the remedial educator at the time of the class or after school hours. This distinction is made keeping in mind the child's needs and ability to cope in the classroom.
All remedial sessions will be one to one, and the timings will be decided based on the availability of the remedial educator and the learner.
The counselling department constantly strives to work towards enhancing the socio-emotional well-being of all the learners in the school. However, this effort is most effective when everyone in the learner's ecosystem—facilitators, parents, coordinators, peers, and the school management—works together in partnership. The department conducts regular check-ins with all the stakeholders and updates the action plan to best suit the learner's needs. The school community including crew, learners and the management are constantly sensitised regarding the needs of the various learners. Parents play an important role in the child's development and well- being, hence their support is vital to us.
Being an inclusive school, we recognise the challenges that may crop up when learners with varying needs are placed in the same setup and have designed accommodations. We begin by educating the learners regularly, emphasising the need to accept all of their classmates. We constantly strive to foster a sense of community among the learners by encouraging them to participate in class group activities, cooperative learning, games, and classroom interactions. For example, there are no barriers to participation in any event. Learners can participate in all celebrations and festivals. Over the years, we have seen that learners become more at ease, more tolerant of diversity, and form caring friendships, contributing to the development of an empathy-driven society.
Furthermore, all the stakeholders support and maintain the learners' right to privacy and protect confidential information received from learners, their families, guardians and crew members. This includes and is not limited to medical reports, educational reports, counselling notes, etc. The sensitive information related to the special needs of the learners is only divulged on a need to know basis with their consent.
Lastly, the school management is committed to restructuring school culture, policy, and practices so that learners with diverse needs are able to participate in various academic and non-academic activities.
Our counselling team consists of experienced and trained Counselling Psychologists and Remedial Educators who facilitate individual and group counselling sessions with learners using different strategies and therapeutic approaches. The team designs and implements individualised action plans for learners with special needs while sensitising and psychoeducating parents, families and facilitators to ensure consistent support. In addition, the team also conducts talk sessions, discussions with learner groups, and structured activities throughout the year to promote learner's mental and emotional well being.
"The team has been superb and amazingly helpful! Thank you for everything!"
- The parent of the learner in Grade 7 (British Curriculum)
"The support given for my child was very satisfying. Making my child attempt each and every question in her exam was something really remarkable."
- The parent of the learner in Grade 5 (Indian Curriculum)
"We are really delighted and happy by our decision to choose 21K school for AAA's academics. Thanking all of you for making us successful. Truly appreciate the support mechanism provided to AAA.."
- The parent of the learner in Grade 4 (Indian Curriculum)
"My sincere thanks and regards to the school, admissions and tech support and mainly each of the facilitators and counsellors for teaching and supporting SSS 's needs. We are really grateful to have been associated with your school."
The parent of the learner in Grade 1 (Indian Curriculum)
"Very satisfied with the counsellor's patience and cooperation with respect to understanding my child and helping her accomplish the tasks by giving her time and making her feel comfortable throughout the assessment."
- The parent of the learner in Grade 1 (Indian Curriculum)