Support & Therapies

Occupational Therapy

Our Occupational Therapy is part of our integrated therapy team. Occupational Therapy interventions are integrated across the curriculum to ensure a consistent approach and the ongoing development of skills to maximise potential for learning and independence.

Our Occupational Therapist works with students during 1:1 sessions to improve their physical and self-care/life skills in preparation for adulthood. Occupational Therapists lead on a whole school approach to ensure the students’ sensory needs are met and integrated throughout the school day.

We have fully equipped Occupational Therapy rooms in which to carry out specialist interventions; these include gross and fine motor rooms and rooms dedicated to developing activities for daily living and independence.

Play Therapy

As part of our integrated therapy provision, Seva Education provides Play Therapy as bespoke packages to meet our students’ individual needs. Our Play Therapists are part of our talented team.

Our Play Therapists are trained to work with children and young people who are experiencing challenges, to help them understand what has been going on, how they feel, and what that means. We use a wide range of art and play materials to help our students process their feelings and thoughts without the need to talk or answer questions.

As part of the admissions/referral process, our therapists, who are part of the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT), are highly involved in the process to establish the type of therapy that may be required and the level of provision that will be implemented within a child’s therapy plan.

Before a child begins therapy, our therapist will talk to the parent(s)/carer, professionals involved and review relevant reports to obtain a greater understanding of the support required. They will also learn more about what has been happening and what everyone hopes to achieve by coming to the sessions. Next, the therapist will introduce themselves to the child/family and sessions will begin. Sessions are always held in the same place, at the same time each week, and for the same length of time.

What is Play Therapy?

Play Therapy is a specific type of therapy which incorporates play and art resources, as expressive tools to support individuals to express themselves in a playful and artistic way; especially when educational professionals find it difficult to understand how a student is feeling or when the student finds it difficult to put their experiences into words.

Seva Education recognises Play Therapy to be a unique and supportive approach for children and young people who may be in the need of therapeutic support, which will enable them to access the curriculum.

Our Aim

Promoting social interactions and increasing our students’ communication skills through a holistic and unique social expressive environment
Supporting our students to express themselves in a safe and communicative way which will enable them to understand their own interaction needs alongside clear development with their self-esteem and confidence, so that they are able to communicate and socially interact with others
Assisting our students and teaching team to understand relevant needs such as autism and neurodiversity and specifically, what autism means to that student and why they are having difficulties expressing themselves confidently. Giving our children and young people the artistic and playful tools to express themselves regardless of their needs
Increasing our students’ ability to comprehend and self-regulate their emotions using the relevant play therapy interventions taught
Training and developing staff to understand different therapeutic interventions to increase a child or young person’s, expressive language skills by applying neurodiverse learning styles

Speech and Language Therapy

The Seva Education Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) Team are a talented and diverse team, which comprises qualified Speech and Language Therapists and Speech and Language Therapist Assistants. Our Speech and Language Therapists are extremely knowledgeable and experienced with supporting children and young people to cultivate a range of communication and interaction skills. These include social communication, emotional regulation, independence, receptive (understanding) language and expressive use of language. The Seva Education Speech and Language Team works closely with parents/carers, internal Seva Education teaching teams and external agencies involved, to ensure that the appropriate provision is offered, and students are making progress with their speech, communication and interaction.

The Seva Education’s SaLTs focus on the following areas through collaborative working with the relevant individuals who are crucial participants to your child’s development:

Adapting to their environment and making their environment a safe and friendly area that enables them to communicate more effectively with the use of relevant resources
Increasing positive relationships with peers and adults
Identifying, understanding, and managing emotions
Maintaining as healthy and well-balanced a life as possible
Preparing for adulthood pathways i.e., employability and independence
Understanding and managing emotions
Accessing the community

We believe in implementing a functional approach. This enables children and young people to develop the crucial skills that will prepare them for adulthood and for living safe and independently in their own communities when they are adults without an EHCP.

Seva Education’s speech and language therapist can:

Identify a child/young person’s strengths and needs
Identify the child/young person’s wants and needs at school/college in preparation for adulthood
Identify the barriers that affect a child/young person’s ability to engage in the curriculum
Identify interventions and provisions that can support the child/young person to increase their independent skills and communicate more effectively in school/college as well as the wider community

Stage 1: Referrals

When a referral is received additional information may be gathered.

Stage 2: Assessment/Observations

Assessment may include information gathering from parents, families and others involved in the child’s life and building on what is already known about the child from other agencies such as education and social work.

Assessment will include:

Understanding of spoken language and body language
Expression through speaking and body language
Production and use of sounds
Ability to use language in a social context
Play skills
Eating, drinking and swallowing

This may include formal and informal assessment such as observation.

The decision whether to offer further support from Speech and Language Therapy is based on the outcome of assessment, the impact of the difficulty on the child’s life and the likelihood of effecting change at this time.

Following assessment, the outcome will be discussed with the parent and a written report will be sent to the parent, the Head of School and the SENCo. The therapist may need to share this information with other people for the child/young person’s benefit. This will be discussed with the parents and SENCo.

Stage 3: Interventions

There are a range of possible ways of supporting a child/young person. These will always involve working with parents and others, such as teaching assistants, speech and language therapy support workers, class teachers etc.

Possible ways of supporting the child/young people may include one or more of the following:

Training and advice for parents/carers and other service providers (health, social work, education)
Provision of programmes of work and ways of supporting the child in different environments and by different people
Involvement with educational and transition planning
Direct therapy with a child individually or in a group
Assessment and provision of communication aids

Our SaLT team also trains our teachers and teaching support team so that they can model strategies and continue to deliver the strategies on a daily basis.

Stage 4: Review Cycle

Following the agreed period of support the child/young person’s progress will be reviewed in partnership with parents/carers and others and further recommendations and actions will be adopted according to the child’s changing needs.

The SaLT and teaching team come together on a termly basis to review the SaLT provision plan with an overall review on a yearly basis in line with the EHCP’s annual review date. At this stage, our Speech and Language Therapist may discharge your child from services, identify a decrease or increase in provision and review progress or areas of adaptations.

If the child/young person is discharged from therapy for one or more of the following reasons:

Communication potential achieved
Child not benefiting from therapy at this time
Child/young person or family do not want to continue with therapy

A formal discharge letter will be issued and the SaLT will notify the Local Authority.

If you think your child has Speech, Communication and Language Needs, please contact our SaLT education@sevacaregroup.com.

Pastoral Support

We are committed to supporting our students with behavioural, emotional, social and mental health difficulties. Our staff work to ensure our students are in receipt of therapeutic support through the relevant pastoral and therapy strategies.

All staff play an integral role in allowing our students to also succeed and reach their educational goals alongside developing characteristics to be tolerant, respectful, and courteous citizens. We recognise that students and their families can face various barriers. At Seva Education we implement a holistic approach through collaborative work with our families and external agencies.

Our Vision for Excellent Pastoral Care at Seva Education:

We ensure that our students feel happy and safe
We work with our students to feel confident in speaking to the right key staff if they are concerned or upset
We ensure that our students feel respected and show respect to others
All students are supported to achieve the best they possibly can in whatever they do
Motivation and recognition of the positive efforts they make at Seva Education
Ensuring that communication with parents is kept at a high standard and that parents feel confident in the support provided by the Pastoral Team
Communication with other staff is effective and allows students to feel supported holistically
Issues of poor behaviour are dealt with consistently and effectively
Staff training on behavioural techniques are consistently reviewed and provided

Wellbeing & Mental Health

The personal growth of our students could not be more important to us

Outstanding pastoral care is at the heart of everything we do. Through respect, warmth and openness, we aim to create an environment where students feel happy and healthy. Although success in all aspects of school life is celebrated, we pride ourselves as advocates for positive mental health and wellbeing.

We aim to provide the support and opportunity for every student at Seva Education to embrace their strengths and to develop the skills needed for them to flourish and thrive in the wider world with a positive outlook.

Pupils and staff are invited to take time out from their routine and attend daily mindfulness sessions led by our Pastoral Support Officer.

New students are welcomed with warmth and care, and we provide an individual approach to supporting them through their settling in period with us.

Our Mental Health First Aiders on-site support wellbeing and mental health at early stages.

Our extra-curricular activities are devised to support good mental health and wellbeing.