Therapies
The school currently receives input from Therapists working for West Kent Community Health for the following;
| Speech and Language Therapy | 4 x days per week |
| Occupational Therapy | 2 x days per week |
| Physiotherapy | 1 x day per fortnight |
The teams works closely together to provide a comprehensive Therapy Service to the school, staff, parents and students. As a team we offer:
- A full comprehensive assessment & report for all students entering the school
- Written contributions to Review & Planning meetings
- Open referral system for parents and staff
- Integrated cross-curricular therapy targets and strategies
- Advice and liaison with parents and staff
- Training programs for staff
Speech & Language
The communication and interaction team, consisting of two Speech and Language Therapists and two Speech and Language Therapy Teaching Assistants, work to deliver the following:
Whole school
- Monthly “drop-in” sessions for staff to raise issues or seek advice.
- Training in Communicate In Print & Kar2ouche computer programmes.
- Self esteem groups for selected students.
- Individual sessions for selected students where appropriate.
Lower school
- Fortnightly Communication & Interaction (C&I) lessons which are written into the school timetable.
- Weekly Social Use of Language Programme (SULP) groups or Social Communication groups run by the Speech and Language Therapy Assistants.
- Kar2ouche sessions for selected students where appropriate.
Further Education Department
- Weekly Communication & Interaction (C&I) whole day sessions which involve students receiving a range of interventions dependent on their needs. These may include involvement in social communication groups, Kar2ouche work, small group or paired work on targets & individualized speech and language programmes.
- Problem-solving sessions regarding issues with peer relationships where appropriate.
Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
The Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist have designed a structured programme for the Lower School. The structured programme involves activities such as theraband exercises, gym balls, scooter board, target toss, trampette, balance beam and speed stacking. The varied activities are aimed at improving the students gross and fine motor skills, balance, co-ordination and agility. These prove beneficial across many parts of the curriculum, for example with sitting posture in the classroom and handwriting.
Occupational Therapy also provides the following:
- Assessment & provision of specialist equipment as required.
- Assessment & support at mealtimes for eating and drinking skills for selected students.
- Individual sessions may be appropriate for selected students.