Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties

Targeted individual support may include:

• Involvement of the SENDCo to monitor, advise, assess, review, liaise with external agencies and coordinate the child’s support plan
• Implementation of very specific teaching and/or behaviour management strategies designed to support your child’s needs
• External agency advice where needed e.g. Local Authority services such as STePS (Specialist Teachers and Educational Psychology Services) which includes ASD specialist teachers, Educational Welfare Officer, Health services such as the School Nurse, Community Paediatrician, Specialist Children’s Services, CAMHS, SCODAS and Speech and Language Therapists and Social services
• Referral to and assessment by any of the above specialists including counselling provided by an Integrative Play-Based Counsellor and/or Play Therapist
• Support from Social Care teams (TAF, Child In Need; Child Protection Plans)
• Involvement of the Virtual School Team if a child is ‘Looked After’
• A graduated approach that becomes increasingly personalised if your child’s needs increase in their complexity
• Support from a LM
• Individual Education or Behaviour Plan agreed in school with the SENCo, class teacher and parent/carer
• 1:1 mentoring/support¹ with a LM or other teaching staff in school following an Individual Education or Behaviour Plan or intervention programme which outlines specific targets
• 1:1 Weekly Thrive sessions¹ with one of our Thrive Licensed Practitioners²
• Individual TA or LM support in class for some or all lessons
• Additional ‘Talk Time’
• ‘Meet and Greet’
• Social Stories
• Restorative Justice
• Independent work stations
• Worry Bag and anxiety scaling activities
• Playtime and lunchtime support is put in place if needed
• Flexible and/or part-time timetables (see FAQ7)
• Exam access arrangements for KS2 SATS
• Transition support as your child moves from one year group to another and especially preparation for secondary transition
• On-going monitoring and additional specific assessment to inform target-setting
• Termly reviews with the SENCo, staff and parents/carers at which the child’s progress and provision can be discussed and modified

¹Children are usually withdrawn from class for their 1:1 mentoring/support sessions. The amount of time a child spends out of the class is monitored by their class teacher and care is taken to avoid the same lesson being missed all the time.

²Focused targets, strategies and activities are generated by Thrive’s on-line assessment which identifies the emotional and developmental needs