Additional Support for SEND – Internal & External Agencies
At St Martins, we work with and seek support from a range of internal and external agencies. Working with additional agencies allows us to provide additional support to meet a range of needs including; speech and language, physical needs and behavioural needs.
Listed below are some of the agencies we work with:
Speech and Language Therapy
St Martins currently have a service level agreement and fund two NHS Speech and Language Therapists to support our students/staff at St Martins & Horizons. Our current Speech and Language Therapists are Katie Bell and Victoria Hurley.
What we do?
Katie and Victoria provide a service that meets the specific Speech and Language Therapy for our students at St Martins. They specialise in various areas including Autistic, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), Social Communication needs, Sensory Processing, Intensive Interaction and Visual support. At St Martins School we assess all new students to find out what language they can understand. We also reassess existing students at regular points. Your child’s teachers may talk to you about their Blank’s level.
Our therapy at St Martins
Katie and Victoria work alongside staff to design and develop therapy programmes and strategies to support students with Speech, Language and Communication skills. They deliver therapy via one to one and group based work. The team is experienced at working within a multi-disciplinary team, including working with teaching staff, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Dieticians, and Psychologists, Nursing staff etc. We work closely with the SENCO, teachers and support staff at St Martins to address the needs of students.
Our therapists are in St Martins on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
How we can help parents?
If you would like any additional input and advice for your child outside of their therapy at St Martins, we are always happy to support this.
Occupational Therapy
Students at St Martins are supported by an Occupational Therapist who advises and plans interventions with our specialist support staff. The OT is able to identify strategies and solutions to minimise any functional difficulties that act as barriers, limit or prevent students participating in activities of daily living. Such solutions can be used effectively post diagnosis or when a student needs to develop functional skills in order to build confidence and their independence. We also work in collaboration with local universities and offer Occupational Therapist Students the opportunity to complete work placements & support our students.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHs) are specialist NHS services that offer assessment and treatment when children and young people have emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties. At St Martins, we support a range of students with accessing CAMHs support. We also support Parents/Carers with any worries or concerns they have and signpost to the correct service. For more information about CAMHs services in Derby and Derbyshire see: http://www.derbyshirehealthcareft.nhs.uk/our-services/childrens-services/camhs/
The Specialist Teaching and Psychology Service (STePS)
At St Martins, we work with a range of professionals within the STePS team to support our students. The STePS team includes:
• The Deaf and Hearing Impairment Team (DHIT) provide support and advice for children with a diagnosed hearing impairment.
• The Vision Team (VT) provide support and advice for children with a diagnosed vision impairment.
• The Physical Disability Team (PDT) provide support and advice for children with a diagnosed physical disability
• The Social Communication and Autism (SCA) Team provide support and advice for children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder or social communication needs.
• The Educational Psychology Team (EPT) provide statutory psychological advice and support for children with a range of needs in Derby City schools and settings.
Colleagues within the STePS team work with the SENCO and provide class observations, support for staff training and parent/carer meetings.
Our current contacts within the STePS team are below:
Kate Page Advisory Teacher for Deaf and Hearing Impairment 01332 641400, 07812 301606
Lucy Daullah Physical Needs Advisor 01332 641385, 07812 300881
Miriam Price Advisory Teacher for Social Communication and Autism 01332 641801, 07812301261
Alison Doyle-Stevenson Advisory Teacher for Vision Impairment 01332 641380, 07812 300880
Sara Krohl Educational Psychologist (Locum) 01332 641400
More information can be found at: https://schoolsportal.derby.gov.uk/steps/about-steps/
Educational Psychologist (Noma Psychology Ltd)
Our SENCO also works closely with an Educational Psychologist – Sara Krohl. St Martins currently purchases support from an EP privately & this allows us to arrange bespoke support to meet the needs of the students and the school. Sara will support St Martins with observational work, reports and recommendations and statutory work if requested by Parents/Carers or the Local Authority. Sara has also recently delivered ‘Emotional Literacy’ training to our staff team to support with understanding students’ emotional needs.
Complex Behaviour Service
The Complex Behaviour Service is a specialist mental health service for children with learning disabilities. The service provides intensive support in the family home to facilitate behavioural change. Staff work closely with the child’s existing professional networks, and can also provide consultation about children not directly referred to the service. The team consists of clinical psychologists and specialist learning disability nurses. This is a small team, and referrals will only be accepted if the child and family have already received significant support and advice from specialist professionals. Referrals can be made by paediatricians, child and adolescent psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, SENCOs and community learning disability nurses. At St Martins, we have half-termly consultations with the team, seek support/advice and discuss the support for current students on the caseload with CBS.