SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY POLICY

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1 INTRODUCTION ST CATHERINE S SCHOOL AND SIXTH FORM CENTRE SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY POLICY St Catherine s School and Sixth Form Centre is a residential school providing intensive integrated programmes of care, education and speech and language therapy for young people with specific communication disorders. Specialist speech and language therapists are working with a small caseload in an educational / vocational environment as part of a multi-disciplinary team. The main purpose of the work of the therapists is to address the special needs of an identified population of young people with specific speech and language disorders. Rationale Integrated speech and language therapy is a necessary part of the educational process at St Catherine s and the Sixth Form Centre in ensuring that the students are supported in accessing the curriculum, and in their development of the communication strategies required for life skills and personal development towards independence. Speech and language therapists work in close collaboration with all staff in the school and the centre. Students entering the school have well documented speech and language disorders which are of such severity that they seriously affect their ability to communicate effectively in ordinary situations and to access the National Curriculum without some level of modification. Students with this level of speech and language impairment are often unable to generalise knowledge and skills across learning contexts without significant levels of support. The Centre exists to provide the students with an interim period of continued concentration on improving the generic key skills, in particular, communication. In a small group teaching situation, their learning is underpinned and supported by an intensive, integrated speech and language therapy provision. By virtue of this specialist support, the aim is for students to make sufficient educational and functional linguistic progress in order to be successful in any future full-time vocational training within their home area. Caseloads Each speech and language therapist is responsible for the assessment, diagnosis, remediation and management of a small group of students. The maximum caseload for any speech and language therapist in this setting is ideally 10 students or 15 in very exceptional circumstances. Because of the complex needs of the students now attending St Catherine s 10 is the ideal. Aims The aims of speech and language therapy in this setting are as follows: establish and raise communicative competence and social independence through programmes of therapy which address the linguistic, phonological and pragmatic needs of the student; Resources/Policies/Speech And Language Therapy Policy Apr 2015 Page 1

2 establish a total communication environment within the context of the school, (this includes the development of signing); enable students to maximise their capacity for learning by providing consistent support in the classroom, focusing on the language skills needed to enable each student to access the education curriculum more effectively throughout the school and the sixth form centre; improve students written language and literacy skills; widen students vocabulary and conceptual understanding; provide students with strategies which will enable them to manage residual disabilities particularly as they move through the school and centre into the wider community and adulthood including the use of Alternative Augmentative Communication (technology) and signing; provide initial assessment, on-going review and evaluation of each student s levels of ability and disability and report as required for inclusion in the Local Authority s statutory documents including EHCPs; provide support for students moving towards integration in local schools and college and advice for teaching staff working with our students in those settings including talking to the next provider about what is needed; provide advisory support for students moving back to mainstream schools or colleges in their home areas; develop more social confidence and independence; provide training and inset to staff and significant others who are working with students to ensure the needs of the students are fully understood and met; provide support for sensitive interviews such as mediation and safeguarding issues. Intervention All students of the school are under the professional care of a named member of the speech and language therapy staff. Speech and language therapy correlates with coursework and literacy development throughout the school and the sixth form centre. Related policies such as the English policy should therefore be read alongside this. The speech and language therapist will be responsible for the following for the individual student: Identifying: individual areas of ability and disability through formal and informal assessment of the students needs in a variety of situations. Assessments will be carried out Resources/Policies/Speech And Language Therapy Policy Apr 2015 Page 2

3 on entry to the school or centre, prior to each annual review and on departure from the centre; aims and objectives for the student; expected outcomes from therapy. Planning: appropriate programmes of therapy; access to curriculum and courses with class teacher and specialist teachers; joint aims as part of the IEP with class teacher; joint aims as part of liaison meetings with education and care staff; contributing to the school improvement plan so that outcomes for students are improved. Implementing: Individual therapy programmes These are designed to meet the needs of the individual student. As the students move from school to the sixth form centre the emphasis will be on taking responsibility for persisting areas of difficulty and learning effective strategies to overcome them. For those who move on to their life after St Catherine s on the Isle of Wight and attend the Isle of Wight College, therapists will liaise with lecturers at the college about the kind of support needed. Equally, with the Work Station programme, therapists may continue to provide support. Individual programmes are set up based around the specific needs of the student as identified in their statements of special educational need. These programmes also work on reinforcing concepts and skills worked on in group sessions and in the classroom. All therapy staff are required to keep and maintain notes on each individual session with a student. These notes must be kept in accordance with good practice laid down by the Health Professionals Council and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy. These notes must be signed by the individual speech and language therapist. Classroom support is designed to: develop the students vocabulary towards more age-appropriate levels, particularly in those subject areas which involve words and concepts at an adult level or abstract level (e.g. History, Science, Careers etc.); assist the comprehension of text, according to the students specific disabilities in processing language, (i.e. the retention of information, the perception of implied or inferred information below the surface structure, etc.); assist and guide the organisation of students written language and literacy, as necessary, with reference to their original difficulties with sequencing sounds and sentences, phonological disabilities etc.; ensure access to, and differentiation of, the curriculum for the students so that they can continue to learn and achieve to their potential. This is carried out in partnership with the teaching staff. Resources/Policies/Speech And Language Therapy Policy Apr 2015 Page 3

4 Therapy groups Social Interaction Groups. Each student receives up to two social interaction sessions a week. These groups are designed to build the skills necessary for communicating and interacting in the different situation that students find themselves in as they grow and mature. These group sessions are age appropriate and the content reflects the needs of the students at their stage of development. The content ranges from basic group skills, to vocabulary for personality to practical vocational skills. A separate policy has been established along with a scheme of work. Functional Communication Groups. Students within the sixth form centre have access to one functional communication session a week. The aim of this session is to promote understanding of, and use of, language that occurs in everyday situations and to expand their skills in higher level language such as idiom, ambiguity and inference. There are four core themes which the therapists must cover along with further choices. A separate policy has been established along with a scheme of work. (Functional Communications Policy.) Other therapy-run groups. Therapists may from time to time be required to set up and run other groups to support and develop the specific skills of the students. These may take the form of supported reading groups to aid understanding of functional texts, or development of phonological, semantic and narrative skills. All therapists are required to keep and maintain notes on the group sessions carried out by them in accordance with the agreed format set down by the individual policies and also with recourse to professional standards. Reporting: initial assessment report; any interim reports, as required; statutory review reports for Local Authorities; EHCPs; interview reports for prospective students. Maintaining: formal and informal contact with other staff; formal and informal contact with parents; formal and informal contact with home speech and language therapists/local Authority. Attending: review meetings (annually); liaison meetings (termly); joint remediation/planning meetings (weekly); formal meetings of CAF/TAF and PEP which may increase over time; Resources/Policies/Speech And Language Therapy Policy Apr 2015 Page 4

5 any other relevant meetings as required. ICT and Technology Support With the growth in the use of computers and technology to assist and support students communication and literacy skills, therapists at St Catherine's School also provide individual support to students in relation to: developing their use of assistive software and hardware; identifying and assessing the needs of individual students with regard to IT and communication aids; training of students and significant others in the use of specific software and hardware; training of staff in AAC. Outreach Work In addition to work carried out within the school, therapists also provide support and training to outside agencies. This takes the form of: individual assessment and therapy to students on request; group assessment and group therapy to students on request; training for staff at the outreach establishments; specific accredited training to teachers and assistants purchased from the school; other training as requested by outside agencies; opportunities for teachers and assistants to visit/observe therapists working at St Catherine's School; commissioned work with Isle of Wight LA as appropriate. This work is contracted directly with the individual schools. This contract is an informal document and details expectations of staff at the schools, time available and costings. All staff carrying out this work are expected to keep notes and information according to protocols and procedures set up in the outreach policy. Thus this section should be read in conjunction with the outreach policies of the school. Clinical Accountability As professionals, speech and language therapists accept clinical accountability for the students on their caseload, as detailed above. All speech and language therapists working at St Catherine s and the Sixth Form Centre will have established their professional competence from their initial education, qualification, ensuing clinical expertise and continuation of in-service training. Speech and language therapists have the responsibility to maintain their standards of competence through continuing professional development and training, and awareness of clinical advances. All speech and language therapists at St Catherine s are required to be registered by the Health Professionals Council (HPC) and be members of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy (RCSLT) annually. While the HPC is the registering body for the profession in the UK and the RCSLT advises on professional responsibilities, the school is a separate body with its own rules, responsible for the provision of education to its students, and with a duty of care for them. Resources/Policies/Speech And Language Therapy Policy Apr 2015 Page 5

6 Speech and language therapists at St Catherine s should be aware of the policies of the school as a whole, of the clinical policy of the Speech and Language Therapy department and of the details of their own job description. Speech and language therapists are accountable to the Principal through the Head Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and the Head of the Sixth Form Centre. Legal Responsibility Speech and language therapists at St Catherine s are responsible to the school for the safety and well-being of the students committed to their care. Where speech and language therapists are working within the scope of their employment the employer will, in normal circumstances, support them should there be litigation. Speech and language therapists have a duty of care to the student and would be negligent when there is a breach of that duty which results in harm or damage to that student. They are accountable to the school for any action or process they are authorised to carry out or, being so authorised, fail to carry out. Speech and language therapists remain at all times responsible for their own acts and omissions. Speech and language therapists are expected to take appropriate precautions to ensure reasonable care of the student in all circumstances. Within the multi-disciplinary setting of St Catherine s speech and language therapists must be aware of the importance of exchange of information with colleagues and their mutual agreement on areas of responsibility in particular situations (e.g. school trips). Speech and language therapists should be alert to their own responsibilities at these times. As registered members of HPC and RCSLT, all speech and language therapists at St Catherine s have professional indemnity insurance to cover claims arising from alleged professional negligence or misconduct. Liaison With Other Professionals It is essential that the speech and language therapists working in St Catherine s and its sixth form acknowledge their role as members of the multi-disciplinary team involved in the student s education. Intrinsic to service delivery is the acknowledgement of the primacy of the student s education and the place of communicative competence in that process. Therapists are required to work in close collaboration with all other members of the multidisciplinary team, sharing skills and roles in order to provide the most effective learning environment for the student. The aim is that shared knowledge, expertise and information will ensure holistic and co-ordinated management of the student s speech and language disability. It is essential that speech and language therapy skills and the specialist teaching approaches used at St Catherine s are pooled in order that there is accurate assessment, relevant planning and effective programme implementation, in order that the needs of the students are met. Speech and language therapists at St Catherine s work within an educational setting and to a collaborative model of practice. Resources/Policies/Speech And Language Therapy Policy Apr 2015 Page 6

7 Continuing Education And Staff Development St Catherine s School and Sixth Form Centre have a clear policy setting out the individual s and management responsibilities for ensuring professional development. All speech and language therapists are required through continuing education to have: a knowledge of changes in general health, education and social care policy; a knowledge of new developments within the profession, both specific to therapy delivery at St Catherine s and regarding clinical practice in general; undertaken an annual evaluation of the clinical outcomes of practice by evaluating the actual outcomes against expected outcomes for students. Appraisal Appraisal at St Catherine s aims to provide professional and personal continuous development programmes for speech and language therapy staff. The Head Speech and Language Therapist appraises speech and language therapists annually. This process is important in both the personal professional development of the individual and in the effective management of training issues within the school as a whole. Supervision Good professional supervision is recognised as important to the provision of an effective speech and language therapy service. Supervision provides the opportunity for each speech and language therapist to discuss work regularly with an experienced and qualified peer. At St Catherine s supervision is formal and informal with most of the focus on peer support, as part of fortnightly departmental meetings and formal peer support meetings. Individual supervision is set up as requested by staff and formal half-termly individual supervision sessions are being trialled. Individual supervision is available for new staff on a weekly basis as part of the induction process. Resources Speech and language therapists at St Catherine s have access to equipment and test material that can be appropriately used with the full range of students in the school and the centre. Each speech and language therapist is responsible for ensuring that the equipment that is used is safe, complete and up to date. A supplies budget is held by the Head Speech and Language Therapist and the Head of the Sixth Form Centre. Access to professional information and resources to enable staff to maintain their awareness and access to developments in speech and language therapy and education, is available through the school s subscription to journals and relevant magazines. Resources/Policies/Speech And Language Therapy Policy Apr 2015 Page 7

8 The school is maintaining and developing a professional library and provides access for staff to electronic mail and world wide web facilities. Accommodation Although speech and language therapists will expect to spend a significant time of each working day in the classroom, each speech and language therapist has identified accommodation as a therapy base and office, suitable for individual sessions and test administration. This accommodation will be provided with necessary tools such as computers, tape recorders etc required for the ongoing assessment and remediation of individual students. Speech and language therapists are responsible for ensuring that accommodation is safe and accessible. Research Speech and language therapists seek out, and engage in valuable research programmes which assist the work of therapists nationally and form an essential part of raising and maintaining the profile of the school and sixth form centre. They attend conferences on a regular basis and contribute to St Catherine s being established as a centre of excellence in this field. HEALTH AND SAFETY The School s Health and Safety Policy will be adhered to at all times during speech and language therapy activities. EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY Therapists will create opportunities for the improvement of each student s communication skills, regardless of age, ability, gender, culture, or creed. MULTICULTURAL POLICY We live in a multicultural society and therefore education and therapy should reflect this. We encourage all students to appreciate that learning about other cultures enhances our own. This document should be read alongside speech and language therapy job descriptions and other school policy documents. Monitored by Governors Apr 2015 Reviewed Sep 2011 / Apr 2015 Resources/Policies/Speech And Language Therapy Policy Apr 2015 Page 8