At Brentwood we work in partnership with a wide range of services to meet the individual needs of our students. Multi–agency professionals regularly support school to assess, observe, deliver therapy and share information. Close liaison with specialists ensures that we are able to provide best practice for our students. Where appropriate, multi-agency professionals contribute to Annual Reviews and Child In Need meetings. Our work with social workers and professionals from social care and health, is pivotal in providing holistic care for students.

An outline of multi-agencies at Brentwood:

School Nurse

We have a school nurse who supports and provides training to staff to meet students’ medical needs. The school nurse arranges regular clinics in school, led by specialist Doctors.

Speech Therapy

School employ a full time speech and language therapist (SaLT) and speech therapist assistant, in conjunction with a part-time SaLT from NHS Pennine Care, who works in school 2.5 days a week. The SaLT team work collaboratively with class teams to set and review challenging IEP targets, in addition to group and individual therapy sessions. The feeding/dysphagia specialist advises staff about students with eating and drinking difficulties.

Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy

The physiotherapist and physiotherapy assistant work 2 days a week to deliver physiotherapy as outlined on a student’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). These sessions include gross motor work, blocks of hydrotherapy, setting and reviewing individual programmes for staff to implement throughout the day. Physiotherapists advise staff on postural support and positioning and the use of specialist equipment. Additionally, the occupational therapist (OT) assesses students and gives advice regarding specialist equipment and furniture.

Music Therapy

My name is Jez and I am the Music Therapist working at Brentwood. I’ve been working with the pupils in the school since January 2013

I work with individual pupils and class based groups. The work I do is different to the normal music lessons the students may attend as the individual sessions are tailored for each person. Many pupils enjoy playing songs they know on the piano or guitar but much of the music we make together is improvised. I use lots of different instruments to give them the chance to try things they may never have done before, enabling us work together in creating our own music and songs. This allows all the children to express themselves creatively using their own unique abilities and discover new things about themselves.

This can bring a wide range of benefits for the development of each child and assist them with cognitive, social, emotional or physical difficulties they may have. The most important thing is that we have fun using the energy of each person to create our own songs and music.

Sensory Impairment

We work with both the visually impaired (VI) and hearing impaired (HI) services for who support our students by advising and making necessary adaptations and adjustments.

Sensory Integration

We commission a specialised sensory integration practitioner who visits school throughout the year to support staff to develop and embed sensory diets for students with sensory processing difficulties.

Healthy Young Minds

We work with Healthy Young Minds (formerly CAMHS) who provide early intervention and advice for students with mental health difficulties. Our Parent Support Advisor and Health and Well-being worker work alongside to support the families/carers.

Educational Psychologist

The Educational Psychologist (EP) assesses student’s cognitive, behaviour, social, emotional needs when school and families have concerns. The EP provides advice and recommendations to the school following observation and assessment.

Connexions

Connexions provide independent advice and guidance to young people aged 13-25 years. They attend annual reviews from Year 12 onwards and discuss future options with students and parents/carers. Connexions liaise closely with school staff, college providers and other relevant organisations such as social and health workers.