Learning Support Units

Learning Support Units have an ethos that promotes positive attitudes to learning and accepts each person as a unique individual capable of  change and therefore of success. The term ‘LSU' is generic for the part of the school system that deals with this.  Many schools have a specific name for their LSU and others call them ‘Centres' rather than ‘units'; so, amongst others, we have The Haven, The Phoenix Centre and the Genesis Centre.

There is an emphasis on nurture and support in a carefully structured environment designed to improve learning skills.

Learning Support Units are a key element in the Government's strategy to promote inclusion by improving behaviour and attendance. LSUs are school-based areas for pupils who are disaffected, at risk of exclusion or vulnerable because of family or social issues. They provide short-term teaching and support programmes tailored to the needs of pupils who need help in improving their behaviour, attendance or attitude to learning. The aim is to keep pupils in school and working while their problems are addressed, and to help to reintegrate them back into mainstream classes as quickly as possible.

Good LSUs have a positive impact on attainment and attitudes towards learning. They are an integral part of a whole-school behaviour and attendance policy that reflects inclusive philosophy and practice as defined in ‘Every Child Matters: Ofsted say that pupils with emotional and social difficulties can often respond well to specific, well-targeted and well-managed support.

Consequently, when LSUs provide a curriculum and tuition which meets individual needs, combined with close attention to preventing and controlling outbursts, they make an effective contribution to ensuring that pupils succeed in mainstream lessons. Pupils who spend time in LSUs often feel better understood and supported and, as a result, become less anxious, less volatile and less prone to being riled by others.

This page was last updated on 29 February 2012