Joint Authority Support for Children, Families and Schools
Local Offer for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment Sensory Support Service Bristol, South Gloucester, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset
What does our service do? Our service supports children and young people with sensory impairment (hearing impairment/deafness, vision impairment, multi sensory impairment) from birth or as soon as a sensory impairment has been identified. Our aim is that children and young people have opportunities in life to thrive, succeed, reach their aspirations and have the best possible quality of life. To achieve this we work with parents/carers soon after diagnosis to give information and help them promoting their child’s development. We also offer family sessions for children in the early years where children and parents/carers can meet others, access a range of activities, specialist resources and information. We work with early years’ settings and mainstream and special schools to ensure they can meet their pupils needs, we provide training, on-‐ going assessments, advice on inclusive strategies and for some pupils, direct teaching of specialist skills. This includes communication skills, BSL, Braille, Moon, specialist IT skills, social skills, independence skills, listening skills, etc. We carry out specialist assessments and contribute to local authority statutory assessments and advise on support required to meet children and young people’s needs. We provide home visits, visits to the educational setting, training opportunities for teachers, parents, teaching assistants etc. For children and young people with high level of need we develop educational programmes of work and direct teaching. We
also provide awareness’ raising in the field of hearing, vision and multi sensory impairment. We work in collaboration with a range of others professionals and adopt the early support principles. The quality of the support we provide is very important for us and we use quality standards in the field of SEN and sensory impairment for our self evaluation as well as a range of questionnaires and reviews / audits to ensure our practice is the best it can be. What areas does it cover? We cover 4 Local Authorities: Bristol, South Gloucester, Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset. Who our service provides for? Any child or young person up to the age of 25 who lives in the area we cover and who has an identified sensory impairment which meets the NATSIP (National Sensory Impairment Partnership)eligibility criteria. How can CYP be referred to the service? Most referrals come directly through health departments but anyone who has a concern about a child or young person’s vision or hearing can refer to the service (parents, health visitors, teachers, social workers, therapists, etc). Medical information is always required prior to making a decision about the appropriateness of the referral. How are decisions made about who can use our service? Each referral is considered by the service in line with NATSIP eligibility criteria. We inform the referrer about the outcome of their referral and in the case of a referral not meeting the required criteria we try to signpost and provide additional information that may support parents/carers or professionals working with the child or young person. How we communicate with service users and how are they involved in decision making/planning?
We communicate directly with service users throughout our work with them, we do annual questionnaires to children and young people (from KS2), parents/carers and educational settings’ staff to gather views on the impact of our support and how this has contributed to meet the child or young person’s needs. We also have a strategic development group with parent/carer participation on planning/development areas, we consult with parents on developments and we encourage their participation in other groups, e.g. CHSWG – children hearing services working group. How accessible is our service? Most of the support /teaching we provide takes place in the child or young person’s home or educational setting. Our family sessions take place either in our premises or at the Woodside Family Centre, which is accessible. Our current premises are not fully accessible however most activities take place in the ground floor, we have visual fire alarms, a movable ramp so that we have wheelchair access to the ground floor, we have changing area for children but we do not have a fully adapted toilet. What qualifications our staff have? What training in teaching / supporting children and young people with SEND our staff has had or is having? Every child or young person with sensory impairment is allocated a specialist teacher. All our specialist teachers hold mandatory qualifications in the field (teachers of deaf / QTVIs qualified Teachers for visually impaired, or MSI – multi sensory support). If they are in training to qualify they are supervised by a qualified specialist teacher). Our specialist teaching assistants have followed specialist training such as partners for learning, BSL and all staff are up to date with new developments and technologies. We have a trained educational audiologist and our transition coordinator holds the careers guidance diploma. All our staff receive high quality regular training to keep up to date with developments and opportunities to continuously develop their practice. They are supervised by our senior leadership team. Where to get further information? Our website: www.sensorysupportservice.org.uk Telephone 0117 9038441 E-‐mail:
Head of Service –
[email protected] Vision Support Team Leader –
[email protected] Hearing Support Team Leader –
[email protected] What is available from the service? Below is information regarding what is available from the service – we have divided the information into Early Years’ section which may be offered before children attend any educational setting and then into 4 main areas once the child or young person attends an educational setting. Areas shadowed show what is provided not by the service but by additional support provided to the school. The 4 main areas are: Assessment, Planning and Review Teaching, curriculum and inclusion Environment and Resources Independence, Social emotional development and Pastoral Support Local Offer for children with vision impairment in the early years Initial assessment of need and on-‐going assessment to identify strategies / skills / aids needed to minimise any potential negative impact of the child’s condition Depending on level of the need the following may be provided: 1. Information to parents/carers: - professionals and roles - services available - understanding your child’s condition and implications - supporting informed choice - signposting to other agencies / voluntary sector etc. - educational provision available - opportunities to meet other parents
2. Support parents/carers in promoting development of their child – individualised programmes and areas of work - early parent/carer & child interaction skills - early communication skills - developing listening skills - developing tactile skills - Develop physical skills (fine & gross) - guiding your child’s hands - developing language skills and linking language to the world - play skills – learning through play - story telling - using low vision aids - early technology - monitor progress observed, development journal - develop early literacy through touch – Braille, Moon - develop early independence skills and mobility 3. Working with other professionals - sharing information with professionals involved , e.g. liaising with orthoptists, ophthalmologists, paediatricians, therapists, social worker, health visitor, etc. - raising awareness of child’s needs in EY settings and strategies to meet these needs - Specialist Vision Assessment – where a multi-‐agency approach is needed to ascertain needs 4. Early Years/ Family sessions - Bubbles - Explorers 5. Support transfer into EY settings / schools
Area Assessment, Planning and Review
Universal Provision Provision available to CYP with SI in educational settings
Targeted Provision Provision provided by the Sensory Support Service to CYP with SI
Education Early Years - Access to EY provision, children’s centres School age - Access to education and participation in extra curricular activities
Assessment carried out by specialist teacher to identify needs, e.g. - Assessment of access to the curriculum - Functional Vision Assessment - Language – receptive and expressive - IT, FM systems Monitoring of progress by specialist teacher - Developmental journal, monitoring protocol - Visual skills / language skills - Access to the curriculum - Development – based on areas where SI impacts more significantly
Educational settings Staff have opportunities to access CPD to develop awareness of meeting the needs of CYP with SI Staff are aware of indicators of SI Referring to outside services and signposting Planning demonstrates how CYP’s diverse needs are met Sharing information about assessments required, planning and review processes Accessing specialist teachers with mandatory qualifications and up to date, CPD Involving specialist teachers in monitoring progress and planning Implementing recommendations from specialist teachers Organising and contributing to reviews, IEPs, etc.
Personalised Provision Provision provided by the Sensory Support Service to CYP with SI who require more personalised provision As targeted Provision plus On-going assessment of specialist areas Joint planning with educational settings to ensure access to the curriculum (according to service criteria) Individual programmes of work in specialist areas – targeted interventions to develop specialist skills
Providing recommendations about levels of support and interventions required
Assessment and Personalised planning to meet individual needs
Contributing to assessments required for EHCP, IEPs,
Contribution to provision mapping
Produce sensory profiles or pupil inclusion plans with information about strategies required to include the pupil
Regular review of provision maps and levels of support required
Produce yearly plans with information about desirable long term outcomes and what support is in place to achieve it. Regular review of yearly plans, pupil inclusion plans and sensory profiles Contributing to school assessments. Contribute to multi agency assessments not necessarily specific to SI Planning transition between key stages and into HE/FE
Area
Universal Provision
Targeted Provision
Personalised Provision
Quality First teaching
Core training to staff in setting (initial training, refreshers at transition between key stages and annual meeting with new CT / SENCO) Transition support between settings Pupils with SI are included in their class/lessons as much as possible – there is consideration of the objectives of activities and how much pupil benefits from them Advice on adaptations / modifications required to access the curriculum and promote inclusion Undertake risk assessment and support others implementing any health and safety requirements Visits to educational setting (according to service criteria) Work with EY settings and schools (mainstream and special) to meet the needs of CYP with SI: - provide information, e.g. about interpreting behaviours/meaning, understanding issues around communication / exploration and learning, etc - advise on strategies, adaptations and modifications needed, - provide on-going training, e.g. strategies, use of IT, - technical support (e.g. hearing aids, radio systems, specialist equipment, as appropriate) - Support transfer into EY settings and schools Access to trained teaching assistant support (depending on the setting some of this is funded by the setting and some of it may be funded through high needs block held by LA) to: - mediate the environment as advised by specialist teacher, provide pre and post tutoring - implement programmes of work - produce resources and adapt/modify materials - ensure safety - liaise with teachers to contribute to monitoring of progress - mediate social interaction promote independence
As Targeted provision plus Regular visits – according to service criteria: - higher level of ongoing training and support (e.g. modeling/discussions with staff, etc). - timetabled planning sessions for educationally blind pupils - direct work with pupil by a qualified teacher of the visually impaired, deaf or multi sensory impaired including additional curriculum areas: - Braille/ Moon - language skills - ICT - social skills development - mobility and orientation - study skills - identification of equipment and space required by pupil - organisation of the environment to promote independence - small group activities to promote learning and inclusion Access to personalised curriculum including specialist curriculum, may require flexible timetabling to meet Balanced curriculum through involvement of CYP, family, specialist teacher, (other professionals if applicable, e.g. therapists) and setting in decision making Access to trained teaching assistant support as targeted support plus (depending on the setting some of this is funded by the setting and some of it may be funded through high needs block held by LA): - higher level of need likely to require more significant modifications/adaptations, implement programmes of work in specialist areas of the curriculum
Educational settings are aware of how to refer pupils with SI Staff access CPD to raise awareness of good practice in meeting the needs of CYP with SI
Teaching, curriculum and inclusion
Access to a broad curriculum that takes into consideration a range of needs Consideration of pace to include pupils Teaching methods that take into consideration learning styles Single Equality Duty – takes into consideration access to the curriculum ensuring strategies, materials, resources and specialist equipment are available. Opportunities to access outside school activities, e.g. clubs
Area
Universal Provision
Targeted Provision
Personalised Provision
Single Equality Duty – takes into consideration access to the curriculum Access to resources available to CYP within their setting
Advice is provided to ensure the environment is accessible to CYP with SI - Environmental audits maybe carried out to advice on reasonable adjustments such as changes to lighting, kerb edging marking, improved acoustics, etc.
Advice is provided to ensure the environment is accessible to CYP with SI - Environmental audits maybe carried out
Environment and Resources
Access to some specific resources required to meet CYP’s needs, e.g. black thick pens, coloured paper, Access to equipment required to produce adapted resources, e.g. colour photocopier, laminator, etc. Access to school network, e.g. compatibility issues with specialist software are dealt with Access to technical support Equipment on loan for the pupil is maintained, managed, insured and used effectively. Access to appropriate storage for resources and equipment
Advice on management of the visual and listening environment Advice on resources and equipment: - consumables and small pieces of equipment that support CYP’s needs, e.g. large think pens, hard card, thick lined paper, sound absorbing table cloths, some PE equipment like bright coloured balls, etc, - hardware / software required - Specialist equipment as stated in assessments carried out by specialist teacher - Low Vision Aids
Provide advice on environment management to meet the specific needs of the pupil, access to specialist equipment/resources and storage requirements Opportunities to trial equipment Access to specialist equipment as stated in assessments carried out by specialist teacher
Area Independence, Social emotional development and Pastoral Support
Universal Provision
Targeted Provision
Personalised Provision
Staff access CPD in this area enabling them to understand levels of frustration and tiredness that CYP with sensory impairment experience.
Provide information to ensure CYP understand their condition in a way that is appropriate for their age
As targeted plus:
Awareness of signs that show a higher level of need for support in this area and are aware of referral processes for CYP with mental health difficulties (CAHMS, deaf CAHMS, etc) or social emotional development needs. Promotion of inclusion, the development of self esteem and independence and is aware of the impact of isolation for CYP with SEN
Provide information about social events organised by the service, voluntary organisations, etc. including holiday schemes and sports activities Provide opportunities to meet other CYP with sensory impairment. Provide opportunities to discuss personal issues and be supported in developing appropriate social skills, resilience and independence. CYPs and their parents/carers involvement in planning and reviewing support to meet their needs.
Provision of SEAL (social and emotional aspects of learning)
CYP’s views are taken into consideration when deciding on delivery methods of support.
Access systems available in schools such as mentors, circle of friends (this will vary from school to school)
Support is organised and planned in a way that focus on developing independence and reaching long term positive wider outcomes for CYP.
Opportunities to develop independence Opportunities to discuss personal issues and experiences – things CYP may be finding difficult
Provide individual programmes of work to develop specialist curriculum, e.g. social skills, daily living skills, mobility and independence skills. Provide individual tuition for pre-tutoring of some PSHE curriculum, e.g. some aspects of sex education to build CYP understanding before they access group input in these areas. Access role models to promote self esteem and raise aspirations
