Additional support

Placement in mainstream schools

Most children can be helped within their mainstream school with extra resources and different ways of learning. Some children may do better placed in a dedicated support centre, either full time or as a shared placement with their mainstream school.

A very few children will require more specialised education, which may mean using a special school outside the Borders. However, this is not a frequent occurrence and any such recommendation would always be considered in partnership with the family.

Section 15 of the Standards in Scotland 's Schools Act 2000 requires that education be provided within a mainstream school (a school other than a special school) unless doing so would:

  • not be suited to the ability or aptitude of the child
  • be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for the children with whom the child would be educated
  • result in unreasonable public expenditure being incurred which would not ordinarily be incurred

Who provides the service?

The service is provided by our Children and Young People’s services. We are committed to helping children and families in their own communities wherever possible. We work in partnership with other agencies such as the NHS to provide additional support for learning in our schools.

Find out more

If you feel that your child needs additional support for learning, the first person to speak to is your child's class teacher or the Headteacher at your school.