Speech & Language Therapy
Blanche Nevile is a very special school, offering deaf pupils the opportunity to develop their communication, language and learning skills through both spoken language and/or British Sign Language (BSL). Pupils are taught in small groups with their deaf peers by specialist teaching staff, while also benefiting from opportunities to access learning within the mainstream partnership school.
Effective and confident communication is at the heart of learning, relationships, and independence. At Blanche Nevile, language and communication are central, with support tailored to the individual strengths, differences, and the communication preferences of every student.
Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) is provided by a dedicated team of specialist NHS Speech and Language Therapists with expertise in working with deaf children. We work closely with students, families, teachers, support staff, and other professionals to ensure that communication needs are understood and supported consistently throughout the day.
Working in School
The Speech and Language Therapy team works across both the primary and secondary departments at Blanche Nevile. Our provision is broad and varied and is embedded within the wider school curriculum wherever possible. We work alongside teachers, support staff, families and other professionals to develop communication skills that are meaningful to each student’s everyday life. Our work is closely linked to each student’s individual strengths, needs and EHCP outcomes, with the aim of helping every child become as confident and independent a communicator as possible.
How we work:
- We regularly assess, observe, and monitor students’ communication so that support can be tailored to their changing needs.
- Assessments and observations contribute to an individual ‘Communication Profile’ for each pupil. Communication Profiles highlight students’ strengths and provide practical strategies to help staff communicate effectively with them. These strategies are shared across school so that students experience consistent support throughout their day.
Working together
Collaboration is at the heart of what we do. We work closely with school staff to:
- Develop individual communication targets that support students to access learning and participate fully in school life
- Jointly deliver therapy with school staff
- Create programmes and activities for school staff to carry out with individual students or groups
- Share strategies and specialist advice to support communication across the school day
- Review and adapt support as students develop and their needs change
Therapy may take place within the classroom, in small groups, with a partner, or individually, depending on the students’ specific needs. We aim to make therapy relevant to ‘real life’ situations outside school as well as supporting their access to learning.
We are proud to be part of the multi-disciplinary team around each student and regularly liaise with Audiology services and Cochlear Implant teams to ensure our support considers students’ hearing technology and listening needs.
What are we aiming for?
- Help students to make the best of their communication potential in both spoken language and/or BSL
- Support students to develop their listening skills when using their amplification.
- Give students the confidence, skills and strategies to communicate successfully in the community.
- Work in partnership with families to support communication aims at home and within their local community
- Continually review our support as pupils move through school, helping them to develop their own strategies and become increasingly independent communicators
As students grow and develop, their communication needs and priorities change. Our role is therefore not simply to provide therapy, but to work alongside each pupil and the wider school team to help them develop the skills and confidence to communicate successfully in the world around them.
