Multi-Professional Support
The School Nursing Team
The special school nurses are part of the Children's Community Nursing Team. We provide skilled, high quality and comprehensive nursing support for the children at the school. In addition, we also provide support and advice to parents, carers and school staff.
Occupational Therapy
The Children’s Occupational Therapy service at Stephen Hawking School aims to work with children, their parents, carers, and school staff to support children to develop their play, self-care and learning skills on request.
To achieve this, Occupational Therapists will assess and offer advice, support, practical strategies, equipment and minor adaptations to enable children to participate and develop the functional skills they require for everyday living.
Where required, we support families to signpost or find solutions to reduce the moving and handling risks in the home environment. This is done in close working relationship with social care occupational therapy colleagues to make caring for your child easier.
We work collaboratively with other therapists, teachers, nurses, doctors, social care and behaviour support services to establish joint working and, wherever possible, joint therapy goals .
MUSIC therapy
Music therapists support children with social, emotional & developmental needs. The music therapists at Stephen Hawking school are trained in working with the non-verbal aspects of communication & assist children in finding creative ways to express themselves using music & play. The therapists assess and assist children in various ways including:
- to reach developmental or academic milestones;
- to develop transferable skills for learning;
- improve understanding and experience of social interaction;
- promote independence and support functional, cognitive and emotional difficulties.
The input offered may be one to one, group or family sessions. Children can be referred by family, school staff or other professionals involved in the child’s care. The music therapists also support and skill share with staff about ways of using music in class and with individual children to support learning and communication.
Physiotherapy
The children’s physiotherapy service aims to work in partnership with the school staff, our colleagues in speech and language therapy and occupational therapy to provide a comprehensive range of services to children in the school.
Each child is individually assessed to determine how physiotherapy may benefit them and appropriate goals are discussed with parents. Input from physiotherapy may include:
- individualised exercise programmes for parents and / or school staff to carry out with children;
- providing advice to teachers on how PE sessions can be adapted for children in their class;
- provision of equipment and advice for postural management;
- individual treatment blocks;
- hydrotherapy.
We also organise regular school based clinics for children who require specialist footwear, orthotics and lycra suits.
Speech and Language Therapy
The speech and language therapy team at Stephen Hawking School aims to work closely with parents/carers and school staff to build upon each child’s communication strengths and to foster independence.
To achieve this, speech and language therapy will focus on supporting the communication environment and ensuring there are opportunities to communicate at home and within the classroom. The speech and language therapist will work with the family and class teacher to set and review communication targets and model strategies.
The speech and language therapy team works closely with the school staff, family, dietitian and occupational therapist to assess, treat and manage children who present with eating and drinking difficulties.
Training and workshops are regularly offered to both school staff and families.
The speech and language therapist works closely with families and education , health and social care teams to ensure children, young people and families are at the very centre of the assessment and planning process.
SUPPORT FOR SENSORY IMPAIRMENT
Specialist teachers, from the borough’s Sensory Support Service, work in close partnership with parents/carers and school staff to help ensure each individual child’s hearing or vision support needs are known about and provided for in school.
The specialist Qualified Teacher for Visual Impairment (QTVI) and the Qualified Teacher of the Deaf (QToD), support a seamless flow of information about vision or hearing needs. They will interpret assessments from hospital clinics to ensure the school staff have the advice and support they need to help compliment their day to day work with individual children in school. The QTVI and QToD will also assess and provide feedback to hospital clinicians and specialist doctors on how each child is using their residual hearing or vision to assist medical input to be adjusted according to child needs in school.
The QTVI and QToD work alongside school staff to:
· Provide in class support, to observe and help assess how a child might be developing their use of residual hearing or vision and how this can help compliment any assessment of overall progress.
· Offer training on child needs including best use of bespoke amplification (hearing) and visual support aids in school.
· Present suggestions related to strategies, targets, and resources to help promote child progress and wellbeing in relation to hearing and visual needs.
We work very closely with many different health service providers and can help facilitate occasional clinical outreach visits to school, for example, audiology visits for routine procedures like ear mould impressions.