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Pupil & School Support

To support inclusion within Gravesham, Ifield School and Ifield Smile work in collaboration with local mainstream schools to provide a range of inclusive opportunities.

For pupils from Ifield School a variety of social or academic inclusion activities and community based life skills programmes are offered.

Referrals for support within mainstream schools can be made through the LA, School Based Reviews and from the Education Psychology Service. The Criteria for support is detailed later on this page. These requests are generally for support for pupils with a range of significant learning difficulties and social and communication disorders.

Ifield Smile involvement can take place in the following ways:

• Observations are undertaken of individual pupils within the environment or during the sessions where the pupil is experiencing the most difficulties.
• Advice and suggestions on intervention strategies. Staff at Ifield Smile like to discuss these with the SENCO, Class teacher or TA as appropriate before sending their written report. Suggestions can range from supplying suitable resources to an intensive programme of work undertaken by one of the Ifield Smile staff within a time framework.
• If a school requires any specific training in an aspect of SEN then Ifield Smile will endeavour to support the school and deliver inset either on an individual basis, to a group or to the whole school.
• If weekly small group work is the decided option, then the school is encouraged to select a few other children who might also benefit from specialist input as well as the target pupil. The programme of work is planned, resources and delivered by a member of the Ifield Smile team. Ifield Smile also request an TA, either new or experienced, to acompany the group, the purpose being that good practice, ideas and use of resources are shared and the attending TA's are increasing their knowledge and skills. This arrangement works well with schools as they often feel they are receiving 'in house' training. These groups tend to focus on literacy, numeracy and social skills.

'Drop-in Clinic'

Ifield Smile hopes to be a place where school staff feel welcomed and supported. To this end the Centre opens late once a week on a Thursday afternoon until 5.00pm to make it convenient for teaching staff to visit. They can enjoy a cup of coffee while they browse through the resources or chat informally with the Centre staff. On certain drop in clinics  there is a focus for the evening. These sessions are called 'Talkabouts'. the 'Talkabout' evenings are open to Gravesham staff only.

Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Mainstream Support

Ifield Smile works under the umbrella of the West Kent Communication and Interaction Outreach Service and offers support to pupils with ASD, staff and schools in the Gravesham area. The support to schools may take the following format:

• Observation of individual pupils in different contexts and settings within the host school to identify the nature of the difficulties the pupil is experiencing.
• Strategies are agreed and help is offered to implement them. The expertise of the staff enables schools to access a range of strategies which help the process of inclusion. These may include:
  • Implementation of the TEACCH programme
  • The use of Visual Supports in the classroom
  • Behavioural interventions
  • Social Stories
  • Appropriate Social Behaviour
  • Resources to address social skills
  • Resources for staff to raise knowledge and understanding of ASD

Schools can request training on raising awareness of ASD and managing pupils with ASD in schools and these sessions can be delivered to individuals, groups or the whole school.

Ifield Smile uses and advocates the 'Writing with Symbols' and 'Communicate in Print' software packages. This is a nationally renowned symbols programme which supports the learning of children with communication and interaction difficulties. It is now being more frequently used in Gravesham Schools and Ifield Smile have secured a 20% discount off the programme cost for these schools. Schools can request workshop sessions or days where staff have the facility to make up suitable and appropriate symbols to use within their schools. The programme is also beneficial for pupils who are experiencing literacy difficulties; through this programme, text can be adapted and differentiated using symbols which can significantly help pupils with SEN.

Ifield Smile endeavours to offer a breadth of ASD training either delivered by Ifield Smile staff or outside speakers.

While the Ifield Smile Centre has a large curriculum based library of books, it has concentrated on acquiring resources in the following area:

• Professional books on A.E.N.
• Multi-sensory games and equipment for use in literacy and numeracy.
• Games and activities to promote good behaviour and social skills.
• 'Smiley Boxes' (full details can be found in 'Smiley boxes')

Copyright © 2006 Ifield Smile