Speech & Language Therapy
All out pupils have individual speech and language sessions as well as therapy in small groups where they practise the social use of language.
Sixth form work includes sessions on subject specific vocabulary and discussions relevant to young adults.
What do we offer?
Intensive individual time with an experienced speech and language therapist is important for the majority of the pupils in St John’s. This provides essential support to improve areas of need related to communication, speech and language. It is a time when the pupil can both develop and reinforce communication skills with confidence and learn at their own rate.
A variety of speech and language therapy provision is in place to suit a variety of needs. The amount of input varies according to assessment findings, individual needs and reference to recommendations from the pupils’ statement of special educational needs. Sessions range in duration from 15-45 minutes. For some pupils we establish communication programmes that are delivered on a daily basis. In addition, group sessions are offered for pupils who need to develop more effective practical or functional communication skills or social use of language.
The speech and language therapy team has a broad range of assessments, which are used at least annually to chart progress. There are frequent informal assessments being carried out throughout the year to monitor progress in a particular area being targeted. Assessment is used to inform therapy and set new targets termly.
The speech and language therapy team have experience and highly specialist skills working with deaf children and young people. We work closely in collaboration with parents, class teachers, learning support workers, care staff and other professionals to ensure an integrated approach to communication, speech and language learning where common goals can be shared.
We aim to:
- Provide an appropriate level of speech and language therapy to each pupil based on our assessment findings.
- Help each child reach his/her potential for successful, independent effective communication by developing skills for:
- listening and lip-reading
- understanding and use of spoken language (at a word, phrase, sentence and conversation level)
- use of voice and speech skills
- social interaction and conversation