Learning

Curriculum

We provide all children with access to the Foundation Curriculum, which is differentiated according to their needs and abilities. Teaching at Little Hillbrook Resource Base is supported by the use of SCERTS (Social Communication Emotional Regulation Transactional Support) It is a multidisciplinary framework that is based upon research in child development as well as research identifying the core challenges faced by children with autism and social emotional learning differences. A unique aspect of SCERTS is that the most significant challenges are addressed while identifying and building upon strengths.

We use TEACCH approach (“structured TEACHing”), which provides strategies and tools for teachers to support children in achieving educational and therapeutic goals.

TEACCH strategies aim to provide a structure through which the pupils can gain good understanding of school environment. It supports meaningful engagement in activities and works to increase students’ flexibility, independence, and self-efficacy.   

Our multi-disciplinary team all work together to develop personalised targets and strategies in a form of Individual Education Plan for each child. These are implemented into the daily curriculum activities, which are jointly planned and delivered by all staff.

Teaching

We are committed to offering a calm and consistent approach. We strongly believe in positive reinforcement in order to encourage our children to respect their peers and their school. We celebrate individual success, continually encouraging the class to celebrate one another’s achievements. This ensures all children are valued and respected by both their peers and the staff.

Children are encouraged to develop their independence and life skills as part of daily events during the school day. The children have opportunities to take part in the integration time with mainstream Early Years setting. They may participate in the whole school events and visit the local community. These visits are planned to support children’s social skills and understanding of the world around them.

All activities in the Resource Base curriculum are designed to help children reduce anxiety, to understand their environment and to develop and extend communication, interpersonal and social skills. We understand that many children face difficulties in coping with change. For this reason, we have developed many strategies which are firmly in place to help them know and understand the daily routine and to provide the support they need to cope with change.

Children at Little Hillbrook have daily access to the outdoor environment, which ensures the development of their gross motor skills. We have soft play/sensory rooms where children are accessing occupational therapy activities and sensory regulatory activities.

Specialist Support

We are extremely fortunate to have a highly specialist Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) and Occupational Therapist (OT) who are a part time member of the team.

The Speech and Language Therapist works closely with staff in the planning and delivery of the communication curriculum, supporting with Neurodiversity Affirming (NDA) practice. NDA practice means accepting and embracing all children for who they are, how they communicate and the differences they present with, supporting them to access the world around them in a fair way in relation to their neurotypical peers.

The SLT works in the following ways to support the children with their communication skills:

• - Training for staff and parents on how to support children
• - Supporting with adaptations to the environment
• - Setting up SLT groups for children
• - Engaging in integrated support throughout the day, such as supporting with communication at snack time, in the playground and throughout the day
• - Assessing children 1:1 and observing them

She provides specific support to the children in the following areas:

• Attention and listening skills through attention autism, visual supports and adaptations to the environment.
• Expressive language (talking) through child-led play sessions and supporting with a range of communication supports such as signing, communication books, core boards, talking tins and many more
• Receptive communication (understanding) through the use of visual supports such as visual timetables and objects of reference.
• Social communication (i.e. the way in which children interact for a social purpose), accepting their differences in their preferences for communicating and interacting with others and putting supports in place to help them feel safe and accepted. This may include supports such as setting up a structured routine, giving them opportunities to play alone or with others, and supporting their communication skills using their preferred method of communication.