What is the Special School team?
The Special School team is a school-based team supporting children and young people who attend specific specialist education settings within Blackpool and Lancashire.
We see children and young people who have a speech, language or communication need which requires additional support to that which is already provided as part of their specialist learning environment. Children and young people can transfer onto this caseload from other needs teams when they enrol into one of these SEN schools.
Children and young people may have moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties, Autism and social communication differences.
Children and Young people we see will have significantly delayed or significant differences within their speech, language and communication skills. They may have a medical diagnosis which is known to affect speech and language development. They may have a disability or additional support need which impacts communication, for example they may be quadriplegic or have some level of sight or hearing loss.
The Speech and Language Therapist will work with the people that are in the child or young person’s environment, such as parents/carers, school staff, and other people working with the person, to gather information about how they communicate and relate to others.
We support everyone in the child or young person’s life to deliver the intervention or advice appropriate to the child or young person’s communication needs. We support parent/cares and school staff to embed this within everyday activities and learning environments.
Usually we will see the child or young person within a school setting as this is a familiar and natural environment for them. Assessment may involve classroom observation as well as any appropriate direct work.
We advise everyone on how to adapt the way they communicate and interact with the child.
We advise everyone to make changes to the environment e.g. making it more structured and meaningful for the child.
We provide training for everyone to support their understanding of the child’s communication differences and how to support them within their everyday activities.
For a small number of children we may offer specific speech and language interventions. We will usually request that a school staff member or parent is available to watch these interventions and carry out practice in-between therapy sessions.
Usually the child will have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) although this is not a requirement to receive this service. As part of the statutory duties when a child is on our caseload with an EHCP we will set the objectives for their EHCP for a full key stage and liaise with the appropriate SEND team. We will give advice and clear next steps of how the objectives can be supported at home and school.
We will closely liaise with education staff; and may also complete any onward referrals to other services as appropriate.
Further information about the support we offer to children and families and how we work can be found in our team leaflet: Special School Speech and Language Therapy Team :: Blackpool Teaching Hospitals.
Our team is a school-based team for children and young people aged 0-19 who are attending the following specialist education provisions in Blackpool and Fylde and Wyre:
- Blackpool - Woodlands School, Highfurlong School, Park Community Academy
- Fylde and Wyre (Lancashire) - Red Marsh School, Pear Tree School (including Compass Centre), Great Arley School
Where appropriate, we can also offer home visits to support communication in the home.
- Blackpool Local Offer - Information about what is available in Blackpool for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and their families
- Lancashire Local Offer - The local offer brings together information for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families
- Aiming Higher - A charity offering different levels of family support, counselling and events families with children who have disabilities
- Local Family Hubs in Blackpool - Blackpool Better Start provide free services and events at community venues, libraries and green spaces that help local families.
- Blackpool SENDIASS - SENDIASS is short for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Information, Advice Support Service (IASS) and exists to help parents and carers of children who have, or may have, special educational needs and/or disabilities; and children and young people themselves, in matters relating to their Education, Health or Social Care provision.
- Lancashire SENDIAS
- Neurokin Family - Peer support group for parents and carers of neurodivergent children and young people. Contact them by emailing neurokinfamily
@gmail.com - Health Facilitation teams in Lancashire and Blackpool - these teams can support people with additional needs to access health care. This can include support to attend health appointments, reasonable adjustments, and information on annual health checks. Find out about the Lancashire team here: Health Facilitation Team :: Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust. Find out about the Blackpool team here: The health facilitation team
- STAMMA - for stammering advice and support
- Lancashire: All age Learning Disabilities team - You can also visit the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board to find out about support: LSC Integrated Care Board :: Support
- Blackpool Learning Disability team
- Down's Syndrome Association - Information for parents or carers of a child with Down's Syndrome including speech and language, behaviour and benefits an finance
- Reasonable adjustments - If the child or young person (CYP), or parent/carer of that CYP needs support to attend health appointments you can find advice on our coming to your appointment page.
