The Aspire Speech and Language Therapy  Team   support all pupils  in the school. 

We work  with    pupils and families to enable our   pupils to  become  the   best    communicators they can be.  We  work throughout the school to  develop children's    communication skills and   ensure that our learning environments meet the individual needs of our pupils.   

Communication Across the School

With the support of the therapy team, at Aspire school, all staff use a ‘Total Communication Approach’ to support the individual communication needs of our pupils.  This can include:

• Using    visuals such as symbols,  photos or objects alongside our spoken language to help our pupils understand us and communicate both inside and  outside school
• Using    Makaton sign language
• Make sure the spoken language we use is at the right level and give our pupils time and support to understand us
• Using Alternative and Augmentative forms of speaking    such as  hi-tech communication aids, or low tech communication books

Our priority is always to promote spontaneous communication, by offering all pupils engaging and motivating activities that they want to take part in and communicate about. We train our staff to model the communication techniques children are learning, throughout daily activities, rather than working on them in 1:1  therapy sessions, although these are still offered when    needed. 

 

Speech and Language Therapy  at Aspire

There are three levels of support offered by the Therapy Team. 

Specialist

Pupils are seen for direct therapy with follow up activities given to staff and parents. Therapy may be  delivered by   Speech and Language Therapist or a Speech and Language   Therapy Assistant.

A communication summary  will be written  and shared with  families each time a pupil's progress is reviewed, usually at the end of each therapy block.  This is also included in the pupil's Annual EHCP review paperwork. 

Targeted

Therapists assess and  review      pupils, then     set targets    jointly with parents and staff.  The targets are then worked on by trained classroom staff and parents, with support from a therapist as needed.

A communication summary  will be written  and shared with  families each time a pupil's progress is reviewed, usually at least twice a year.  This is also included in the pupil's Annual EHCP review paperwork. 

Universal

Advice, training, and support is available to all members of the school community.

At this level, pupils benefit from whole class strategies and interventions, which are built into every aspect of the school day.  

The amount of therapy or support each pupil receives is flexible and can change over time, depending on individual communication needs, e.g. if a child receives targeted support and then shows signs that they  would benefit from   a block of intervention this can  be offered  when a slot is available. 

If you fe  el your child needs  an assessment  or more support   from the  Speech and Language Therapy team at Aspire,  please speak to your Class Teacher. Developing communication is built into every aspect of the school curriculum at Aspire, and  additional, specialist  intervention from the therapy team is not  always needed. 

 

Working with Other Professionals

At Aspire, we work closely with other professionals to provide additional supports to our pupils when needed e.g. NHS colleagues who provide specialist feeding and swallowing advice, or physiotherapy. We also work closely with an Occupational Therapist   who supports our pupils to participate and engage with everyday activities, particularly if they need additional support to meet their sensory needs. 

To contact the Speech and Language Therapy team, please call 01795 899788 or email  : aspire@ba-mat.org.uk