Therapy

Speech and Language Therapy provision

The Speech and Language Therapy team at Newbridge School provides assessment and support for pupils who have speech, language, communication and/ or feeding difficulties.  Every child with identified difficulties is seen by the Speech and Language Therapists at school.

The Speech and Language Therapists work closely with parents, school staff and other professionals (e.g., Occupational Therapists, school nurse, community paediatricians and dietitians) in assessment, setting communication and/ or feeding aims, implementation of activities and making the environment communication and/ or feeding friendly.

The Speech and Language Therapists provide training for parents and school staff in supporting communication development, eating, drinking and swallowing management, and specific interventions.  They support pupils within a multisensory environment, using all the senses to help them to learn and develop i.e., visual, tactile (touching), olfactory (smelling), auditory (listening).

Pupils are encouraged to communicate using a range of means. This includes: -

Gesture (pointing, facial expression, body movements)

• Signing
• Speech
• Vocalisations
• Speech generated devices
• Signs
• Symbols
• Photos
• Real objects

The therapists work to ensure communication is available to all pupils and all attempts to communicate are valued, however this is achieved.

Physiotherapy provision

The physiotherapists work together within the school environment to assess, treat and provide staff training to support pupils’ therapy needs.  There are weekly meeting with class teachers to keep up to date on pupil’s progress and to advise accordingly.

Physio Programmes are put in place and monitored through reviews and include individual equipment prescription where required.

The therapy team are available on site at various points throughout the week and are also contactable at any time via email/phone directly or via the school office or through the home/school communication book.

Occupational Therapy provision

The aim of Astrum Occupational Therapy is to help pupils participate in activities of daily living whilst promoting independence and a better quality of life. We aim to enable each pupil to discover how much they can do for themselves and achieve their potential to access the curriculum and develop independent living skills. 

An occupational therapist can help transfer skills from school to home and vice versa to develop on the following skills using a holistic person-centred approach:

• Fine Motor Skills: Developing stronger hands, manipulating objects, using fingers individually, grasping and refine hand dexterity would enable a pupil to use cutlery, play with toys, use tools such as scissors or write and type on a computer.
• Gross Motor Skills: Using exercises in play to strengthen core muscles (i.e. trunk) and improve stability, such as working on endurance and strength, coordination and balance, attention, awareness of body and space and praxis (movement planning).
• Sensory Regulation: Providing movement breaks, personalised sensory diets, messy play exploration and sensory aids such as weight or hug vests to aid the pupil on their journey to self-regulate. 
• Self-care/life skills: Providing strategies to improve independence in self-care such as eating, dressing, personal hygiene and toileting.  Advice is given to provide adaptations or adaptive utensils. 
• Postural management: Seating and postural needs of the pupil are assessed with the aim to increase functional ability and promote good postural seating. This includes the provision of specialist seating within the classroom.

Therapy happens in various forms from individual sessions, to working with pupils in the classroom to generalise skills; to working directly with staff and parents to encourage independence in self-care skills.  The Occupational Therapist works with and trains parents, teachers and staff on a variety of subjects to support the pupil and increase their knowledge.

Astrum Occupational Therapy works alongside NHS Occupational Therapy and other health professionals, to follow a multi-disciplinary, holistic approach.