PRACTICAL CASE STUDY: Designing an inclusive learning situation in a mixed-age classroom (Years 3/4) in a rural setting: Level III response for a pupil with ASD in the area of English.

SCHOOL CONTEXT

Type of school: Grouped Rural School (CRA) "El Sabinar", located in a medianías upland area in the north of the island of La Palma (Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands), an area characterised by geographical dispersal and depopulation. The case study takes place in the teaching building of one of the hamlets, which has three active units: a mixed Early Childhood Education unit, a mixed-age unit for Years 1/2 of Primary Education and a mixed-age unit for Years 3/4 of Primary Education.
Setting: Rural, of medium-low socio-economic level, with strong ties to farming, livestock and rural tourism. There is a close relationship between the school and the local council in order to enliven the cultural life of the locality.
School Educational Project (PEC): The school stands out for its lines of innovation centred on project-based learning (PBL), the sustainable use of natural resources and the digitalisation of the rural environment. It takes part in the programme for promoting the organic school garden as an interdisciplinary thread.
Language programme: Authorised under the framework of the legislation in force in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and of the LOMLOE-based Canary Islands Primary Education curriculum (BOC, 2022). The school is part of the Canary Islands CLIL programme (Spanish–English) and applies a design of vehicular languages that guarantees linguistic balance, allocating to the area of Foreign Language: English a total of 3 weekly sessions in the mixed-age classroom of Years 3/4 of Primary Education, using English as the sole vehicular language in that subject.
Specific classroom: The CRA does not have an aula enclave in this teaching building, so all pupils with specific educational support needs (NEAE) are enrolled under full inclusion in their respective mainstream reference classrooms, receiving specialist support in an integrated manner.
Candidate's role: Foreign Language: English specialist teacher at the CRA (travelling between two of the school's teaching buildings). This school year you also take on the post of Digital Projects Coordinator (ICT) for the school, forming part of the pedagogical coordination committee (COCOPE).

CLASS GROUP

Year and group: Mixed-age classroom bringing together Years 3 and 4 of Primary Education.
Number of pupils: A total of 14 pupils (6 pupils in Year 3 and 8 pupils in Year 4). The gender distribution is 8 boys and 6 girls.
Initial assessment and Transition Plan: The analysis of the initial assessment and the information from the previous year's Transition Plan reveal a group with strong social cohesion owing to living together in a small rural setting, but with great heterogeneity in learning rates and in the level of communicative competence in English. Widespread difficulties are detected in oral production (speaking) and in acquiring systematic routines of independent work, accentuated after the summer break.
Previous programmes: In earlier years the class has taken part in language stimulation programmes and in projects promoting reading in foreign languages (such as the use of storytelling methodologies and small drama projects).

PUPILS

The group shows a high degree of diversity, with the following specific profiles standing out:

Lucas (Year 4) – ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder): Pupil with a psycho-pedagogical report and a proposal for a Level III (specialist) Educational Response. He presents ASD Level 1 (formerly known as high-functioning). He stands out for an excellent visual memory and a great interest in technological devices, but he shows severe difficulties in the pragmatics of communication (understanding double meanings, figurative language and unstructured social interaction), sensory hypersensitivity to unexpected noise and high cognitive rigidity that causes him anxiety when routines change without prior warning. He requires the design and implementation of a Personalised Action Plan (PAP) including an Individualised Curricular Adaptation (DIAC/ACI) in the area of English.
Carla (Year 3) – Global developmental delay: Pupil with learning difficulties and a one-year curricular gap in the language area. She has the support of the Special Education Assistant (EEE) during 2 of the 3 weekly English sessions in order to facilitate her participation in cooperative dynamics and her access to adapted materials.
Mateo (Year 4) – Situation of emotional vulnerability: Pupil in temporary foster care. He shows frequent episodes of low self-esteem, lack of motivation towards learning and socially withdrawn behaviour during group activities in the foreign language.
Olena (Year 3) – Late enrolment: Pupil of Ukrainian origin, who joined the school halfway through the previous year. She has a basic command of Spanish for everyday communication, but her oral competence in Spanish and in English is still emerging (CEFR level A1.1), so she is covered by the school's welcome plan and by Spanish as a language of learning. She shows a very positive attitude and excellent performance in visual and artistic tasks.
Sofía (Year 4) – High intellectual abilities (ALCAES): Pupil with a very fast learning rate, excellent oral communicative competence in English and great initiative. She becomes bored easily with mechanical or repetitive tasks, and therefore calls for extension activities, research work and positive leadership roles in the classroom.

RESOURCES

Human resources:
- Language assistant: A native speaker (United Kingdom), assigned to the CRA. He/she provides support in this teaching building 1 day a week (Thursdays, coinciding with one of the English sessions).
- Support specialists: Therapeutic Pedagogy (PT) teacher and Hearing and Language (AL) teacher, shared with other teaching buildings of the CRA. They visit this building 2 days a week.
- Special Education Assistant (EEE): Available part-time at the school, she accompanies Carla in the English sessions indicated.
- Families: Highly willing to collaborate in practical workshops and community activities linked to the school garden and to local traditions.
Material resources:
- Technological: An Interactive Digital Whiteboard (PDI) in the mainstream classroom, a high-speed internet connection (fibre optic recently installed in the municipality), and a mobile trolley with 6 tablets for shared use in the mainstream classroom.
- Spaces and other resources: A class library with children's literature titles in English adapted by reading level (graded readers), an organic school garden next to the school building and a basic educational robotics kit (Bee-Bots and Blue-Bots) managed from the ICT coordination post.

TEACHING STAFF

Teaching team: Made up of the class tutor of the mainstream Years 3/4 group (who teaches the areas of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences in a globalised approach), the Physical Education specialist, the Music specialist, and yourself as the Foreign Language: English specialist.
Coordination: There is one hour of weekly coordination (on Friday afternoons) for the whole teaching team of the building, as well as monthly general coordination sessions of the CRA held online.
Characteristics: The teaching team is dynamic, with a recent generational turnover that brings high motivation for the use of active methodologies and the co-design of learning situations. The management team actively supports and encourages co-teaching and flexible use of spaces and groupings in order to respond to inclusion.

QUESTIONS

Bearing in mind the context described, the point in the school year (first term) and the legislation in force (including the LOMLOE, RD 157/2022, the LOMLOE-based Canary Islands Primary Education curriculum (BOC, 2022) and the inclusion guidelines of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands —Decreto 25/2018 on attention to diversity—), answer the following questions, giving reasons:

CLASSROOM ORGANISATION AND RELATIONSHIP WITH FAMILIES:
How would you organise the spatial and temporal distribution (routines) and the groupings in this mixed-age Years 3/4 classroom in order to guarantee socialisation, emotional security and cooperative learning for Lucas (ASD), Carla and Mateo during the English sessions? Set out, likewise, which specific communication channels and which direct collaboration actions you would establish with Lucas's family and with the language assistant in order to encourage a positive and coherent transition between home and classroom in this first term.
COMPETENCES AND METHODOLOGY:
Design a Learning Situation (SdA) in English for this mixed-age group during the first term, using the CRA's school garden as the connecting thread. Explain in detail how you will apply the principles and guidelines of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) so that both the Year 3 and the Year 4 pupils (including Olena and Sofía) simultaneously develop plurilingual competence and digital competence, making active methodological use of the robotics kit and the tablet trolley in your role as ICT Coordinator.
INCLUSION AND ATTENTION TO DIVERSITY (Main Thematic Block):
Taking Lucas's profile as a reference (ASD, Year 4) and his proposed Level III Educational Response, justify the process of designing, deciding upon and implementing his Individualised Curricular Adaptation (DIAC/ACI) / Personalised Action Plan (PAP) for the area of English. Which organisational, methodological and cognitive accessibility measures (such as the use of visual timetables, anticipation and pictographic systems) will you implement in your English sessions in order to respond to his pragmatic and sensory self-regulation needs, ensuring that he is not isolated from the shared dynamics of his peer group?
CROSS-CURRICULAR ASPECT: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT, CO-TEACHING AND DATA PROTECTION:
How would you plan and coordinate the process of formative and shared assessment of this Learning Situation together with the PT/AL teacher and the Special Education Assistant (EEE), ensuring that the individual progress of pupils with NEAE (Lucas and Carla) is recorded? Specify which inclusive assessment instruments you will use and how, in your capacity as ICT Coordinator, you will resolve the ethical and organisational dilemmas concerning the protection of personal data and the guarantee of digital rights (in accordance with the LOPDGDD and the applicable regional legislation) when recording evidence of learning (photographs, videos, audio) of minors in virtual learning environments shared with families.