Meeting our Children’s Needs
At Beech Hill School we provide learning, which meets the needs of every child. Like most schools, we have a number of pupils who have additional educational needs. Such needs may include:
- Learning difficulties
- Communication difficulties
- Medical conditions
- Behavioural issues
- Children who are new to the country and speak very little English.
Children with additional or special educational needs may need extra help and support from us and here at Beech Hill we have a dedicated team of Learning Mentors, translators, support assistants and other adults who, alongside class teachers, will provide support for those children who have additional educational needs.
Children who are new to the country, and speak very little English, can have daily sessions with a translator and Learning Mentor to help them develop key vocabulary to help them in everyday school life. These sessions are a key part of their welcome and introduction to life at Beech Hill School.
In our school we are very lucky to have a classroom dedicated to children with additional needs. The classroom has been set up to allow children a multisensory approach to their learning. It has a fine motor skills area where there are a variety of activities available to help children improve these vital skills and also incorporates areas for learning through play.
SEND Information for Parents Leaflet
Speech and Language
We have a full time Speech and Language Therapist who works with children who have difficulties with their understanding of language, use of language, speech (pronunciation), and social communication.
His role involves observing and assessing children’s strengths and needs; giving advice and strategies to support their success in school; running 1-to-1 and group interventions to develop children’s communication and language skills; and delivering training to staff to develop their knowledge and enable them to run speech, language, and communication interventions for specific children.
To ensure that children’s individual needs are met and the necessary support is given, we liaises with a range of agencies such as the NHS Physiotherapy Team, Speech & Language Therapy Service, Occupational Therapy, Hearing Impairment Team, The Autistic Spectrum Disorder Team and many more.
Links to
SALT Communication Top Tips Leaflet
Useful websites
https://www.afasic.org.uk/
http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/
https://www.ican.org.uk/
http://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-parents/
http://www.cht.nhs.uk/services/clinical-services/childrens-therapy-services/childrens-speech-and-language-therapy/
SEND Interventions
Beech Hill provides a wide range of additional interventions and strategies to help our pupils with their difficulties. Including but not limited to:
Cognition and Learning
‘Read Write Inc.’
Read Write Inc. Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.
‘Black Sheep Narrative’
The ability to tell a stories is a key element of everyday communication, Black Sheep groups focus on the development skills to support children’s ability to use narrative.
The ‘Five Minute Box’
A multi-sensory teaching programme and literacy resource. It supports children to understand the alphabet, letter sounds, key high frequency words and much more.
The ‘Five Minute Number Box’
A multi-sensory teaching programme and maths resource. It supports children to understand the basic concept of number, to understand and use the complex maths vocabulary as well as understand the concepts of shape, money, measure and more.
‘Numicon’
A multi-sensory resource which encourages an understanding of number and arithmetic relationships. It also helps to reinforce the use of number in real-life contexts.
‘Times Tables Rock Stars’
On online way to practice times tables which can be accessed in school and at home.
‘Accelerated Maths’
Accelerated Maths is simple, the teacher explains a new skill in class, the children log into Accelerated Maths to practice this new skill with unique assignments, once finished they will get immediate feedback. This encourages them to become more involved in their learning. Every assignment in Accelerated Maths helps children to practice the right skills at the appropriate time and pace, leading them towards mastery of the concepts they have been learning.
‘Accelerated Reader’
Accelerated Reader engages children, motivates reading practice and improves reading progress. A child reads a book, takes an online quiz, and gets immediate feedback. Children respond to regular feedback and are motivated to make progress with their reading skills.
‘Nessy’
This is a computerised program that aims to offer an alternative approach to learning how to read, write and spell for children with dyslexia or who present with dyslexic tendencies. Lessons emphasise phonemic awareness, phonics, blending, sight words, fluency, spelling, vocabulary and comprehension. Children work through different islands and each island consists of a series of lessons composed of strategy videos reinforced with games, which teach fundamental reading & spelling skills.
Communication and Interaction
‘Language Steps’
Is a structured resource to develop both comprehension and expression, of spoken language in young children.
‘Language for Thinking’
Is a resource that provides clear structure into developing children’s language from the concrete to the abstract. It is based on fifty picture and verbal scenarios that can be used flexibly with a wide range of ages and abilities.
‘Let’s Talk’
Is a programme that aims to maximize young children’s communicative potential by encouraging speaking, listening and language skills.
‘Social Use of Language Programme’ (SULP)
Is a cohesive framework within which to develop interpersonal and social abilities from a communication and thinking skills perspective. Within this framework, it provides a series of multisensory activities sequences designed to appeal to different age groups
‘Word Aware’
Is a structured whole school approach to promote the vocabulary development of all children. Focussed on whole class learning, the resource is of particular value for those who start at a disadvantage – including children with Developmental Language Disorder, Special Educational Needs and those who speak English as an additional language, but it will extend the word learning of all students.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
‘Forest School’
Forest School is an inspirational process that offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees. It’s a specialised learning approach that sits within and compliments the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.
‘Social Stories’
These stories, which can be a written or visual, guide describing various social interactions, situations, behaviours, skills or concepts to support those children who don’t understand them.
Sensory and/or Physical Needs
‘Disco Dough’
Dough disco involves moulding dough in time to music and performing different actions such as rolling it into a ball, flattening it, putting each individual finger into the dough, rolling it into a sausage and squeezing it. This activity helps to strengthen children’s fine motor muscles to enable them to develop their pencil grip which in turn will help to develop their writing skills. But most of all it’s fun!
‘Fine Motor Box’
Each year group has a ‘Fine Motor Box’ which is full of activities that children can use to support them with their fine motor skills. It has lacing, threading, weaving, cutting skills, pencil skills, stacking, balancing and much more.
‘Brazil Sensory Room’
Our sensory room is a special room designed to develop a child’s sense, usually through special lighting, music, and objects. It is used by those children with limited communication skills and who need ‘play-based’ learning to support them past their reception year.
