Therapy Support

Therapy Support

Our education and care staff work alongside a specialist team of therapists so that every pupil gets the support they need to help them thrive.  Just like our approach to personalised learning, therapeutic support at Abbey School is shaped to fit each young person and is therefore, highly individualised.

Speech and Language therapy

At Abbey School we promote a total communication approach which values all forms of communication. Our Speech and Language therapists support pupils to maximise their speech, language, and communication abilities in order to access the curriculum, increase independence in day-to-day activities and to engage with others in the social world around them. Communication underpins many aspects of learning and the ability to communicate with others, both verbally and non-verbally is an important part of each young person’s development. Each young person has an assigned Speech and Language Therapist who works with the class and care team to assess each pupil’s speech, language and communication skills. They work with their trans-disciplinary colleagues to design individualised communication programmes for pupils and may work individually or in small groups with pupils on a sessional basis dependent on individual needs.

Occupational therapy

At Abbey School our Occupational Therapists work with pupils to help them develop functional skills for everyday life in the areas of self-care, life skills, curriculum access and play/leisure. In addition, the occupational therapy team support the development of pupil’s sensory, motor and perceptual processing skills which are essential for young people in making sense of the world in which they live and to develop emotional regulation skills. Occupational therapy is fully embedded within each pupil’s learning and support journey at Abbey School with our therapists working closely alongside class and care staff to assess, develop, monitor and evaluate personalised support programmes. Therapists may also work with pupils individually or in small groups on a sessional basis dependent on induvial needs.

Positive Behaviour Support

Our approach is both positive and proactive, never punitive. Behaviours that challenge usually occur for a reason and our skilled and experienced Behaviour Analysis team use a range of assessment tools to understand the functions of a young person’s behaviour and to design, implement, monitor and evaluate personalised and holistic positive behaviour support plans. In addition, Behaviour Analysts are experts in understanding how people learn. They work closely with class staff and trans-disciplinary colleagues to break down the curriculum and implement effective teaching and learning approaches for each pupil. For further information, please see section on Positive Behaviour Support.