Phoenix Primary and Secondary School

The SALT Team at Phoenix work with the school staff to support the mission statement of Phoenix school

"To offer a positive, life enhancing education, providing opportunities for the development of each individual's potential and to achieve a fulfilling adult life"

What is Speech and Language Therapy?

Our team of Speech and Language Therapists work closely with class teams to support the communication of all children and young people within the school.  Each class has a Link SALT who can support children and young people to develop skills and overcome challenges in many areas including:

Play Skills
Understanding Language
Expressing themselves using words and/or symbols
Following instructions
Answering and asking questions
Social interaction
Friendships
Independence
Work Skills

Why?

One of the key features of Autism is “persistent difficulties with social communication and social interaction” (DSM-5). It is vitally important that we support children and young people to develop their communication and social interaction skills so that they can have positive long term outcomes and be happier in their homes and community.

What does the service do?

The SALT service offers a child/family centred approach to support children and young people with speech, language, communication needs.  We work together with parents, carers and the team around the child. We offer a 3 tier model of service - universal, targeted and specialist services.   This model aims to deliver prevention, intervention and a therapeutic approach for our children and young people.  The aim is to improve communication and emotional wellbeing, together with functional and academic attainment amongst children and young people in Phoenix who have Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN).

This means that we provide:

• Something for all children, e.g. advice, support and training
• Something for some children, e.g. targeted groups
• Something for children who need direct support from the Speech and Language Therapy team – assessment and intervention

Phoenix School students may receive direct and/or indirect Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) input which is provided by our team of Speech and Language Therapists. As student’s needs change over time, our support may take a variety of different forms at different times.    Most frequently this includes offering consultation, advice and training to those who support the child at home or school.  The Speech and Language Therapy team support staff in creating an environment which facilitates the communication needs of all children on the Autistic Spectrum and ensuring that communication targets are integrated into all aspects of the school day.

On occasion student’s communication needs cannot be fully met through this model of joint working and students may receive direct intervention through group or individual work for a limited period of time, e.g. social skills groups, smiLE Therapy, Attention Autism and Musical interaction groups.

Phoenix school also employs a team of Speech and Language Therapy Teaching Assistants (SALTTA's), who have additional time and responsibility for supporting communication.  SALTTA's are based in the classroom and are given additional training from the SALT team as part of their on-going professional development.  SALTTA’s are confident and proactive in supporting teachers in meeting the language and communication needs of pupils in their group as well as providing effective support for their TA colleagues within the class team.

What to expect?

Those attending Phoenix School are automatically referred to the Speech and Language therapy service on entry.  When your child starts at Phoenix, a Speech and Language Therapist will assess their communication skills and write a report within the first term. This will outline all areas of their communication strengths and needs and suggest next steps for their language and communication development. 

An EHC review report will be provided for EHC meetings.  The report will provide an update on how your child is progressing towards their EHC outcomes

Parents can also request additional information on their child’s progress by contacting the Link SALT for the child’s class for e.g. SALT programme, End of therapy report (if applicable) and end of year report

Parent and Careers are encouraged to contact their Link SALT for advice and consultation on how to support their child’s communication at home.