We are committed to narrowing the attainment gap and ensuring that all children achieve their full potential through high quality teaching, an accessible curriculum and additional support. We also seek advice and support from outside agencies, where appropriate.

Mrs Gresswell is the Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo) who works closely with all academy staff and outside agencies to support and assess children as a need arises. She can be contacted via the academy office: office@avpa.school

Key Information

Our Local Offer

Abbey View SEND Policy

Coffee Mornings

We hold a termly coffee morning for parents with children on the SEN register. We have the first part of the coffee morning looking at an area of interest to support you at home with your child’s needs. Then the second part allows everyone to have a drink and a cake whilst talking to fellow parents.

You can view our previous session PowerPoint slides below:

SEND Session- Zones of Regulation

SEND Session- Executive Functioning

SEND Session- Power of Positivity

We also hold parent information sessions with the Mental Health Team in Bucks. 

Introduction to the Bucks Mental Health Support Team

Useful Information and Links

 Click on the links below for more information:

Autism and ADHD

Autism

Autism is a spectrum condition and affects people in different ways. Children with autism have their own strengths and weaknesses. Below is a list of difficulties children with Autism may share. 

• Social communication - interpreting both verbal and non-verbal language
• Social interaction
• Repetitive and restrictive behaviour
• Sensory needs
• Highly focused interests or hobbies
• Anxiety
• Dysregulation

Children with autism have significant strengths as well. 

Sometimes children with autism need support regulating their emotions.

 ADHD

ADHD has 3 core characteristics: inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity.

Children with ADHD and Autism can struggle with their executive functioning.

Referrals

In Buckinghamshire, children, over the age of 5, can be referred to the CAMHS neurodevelopmental team for an assessment. However, please note that the waiting list for this is between 2-3 years (this is subject to change).

Children under the age of 5 would be referred to the Community Paediatrics Team.

Paediatrics Team

If you would like more information regarding referrals, please email the SENDCo and class teacher via the academy office.

Resources to support your child at home

At Abbey View, we use a Now and Next board to show children what is coming up. This also helps complete tasks that the child may not like for example, now homework, next computing.

Resources to support your child at home

Below are some resources for Autism that you might find useful:

Finding Out Your Child is Autistic: What To Do Next

The Best Autism Calming Strategies For Children

Practical Strategies for Parents

The Power of Neurodiversity: Celebrating Autism Strengths

Below are some resources for ADHD that you might find useful:

Understanding and Supporting your child with ADHD

Creating a Stress-Free ADHD Morning Routine For Your Child

How to Help Your ADHD Child With Boredom Intolerance

ADHD Worksheets For Kids To Empower & Inspire

Sensory Needs 

What is sensory processing?

Sensory Processing is how the brain takes in, filters and puts together all the sensory information from inside and outside the body to produce a behavioural or motor response. Sensory processing is something we all do all of the time. We are all constantly processing, filtering and acting on the sensory information we receive from our bodies.

The picture below shows some behaviours which may indicate your child has differences with sensory processing:

Eight Senses

We have 8 senses. 5 of them are commonly known.

Vestibular system is related to movement (lets us know where we are in relation to gravity, speed and direction of movement, balance and muscle control). It links to out attention and listening skills. Therefore, movement allows for better concentration. NHS guidelines are that children should be aim for an average of at least 60- 180 minutes of moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity a day across the week.

Proprioception is your body awareness. Engagement in proprioceptive activities supports our regulation and enables us to maintain a calm and alert state.

 Interoception allows us to understand what is going on inside our body e.g.

• When to go to the toilet
• If you are hungry or thirsty
• Heart rate
• Breathing rate
• Sweaty

Children with interoceptive difficulties may miss the early signs of dysregulation resulting in extreme behaviours.

Over responsive/Heightened

• The body registers there is too much sensory input
• The brain registers these sensations as negative or threatening.
• It therefore causes a fight/flight response or exaggerated emotional response.

Under responsive

• The body does not register enough sensory information; therefore, the brain requires more sensory input.

The child will then either:

• Not respond to their environment (passive)
• Seek to obtain sensory information to increase their levels of arousal, attention, posture, focus and pleasure (sensory seeking)

Zones of Regulation can support this. Please find more information on our website:

Zones of Regulation

Occupational Therapist Buckinghamshire

The occupational therapist in Buckinghamshire lead useful webinars that parents can attend (some of the webinars are pre-recorded on the website and some happen on a specific date.) They include sensory processing, eating, dressing and handwriting. They also provide resources to support children on their website:

Buckinghamshire Occupational Therapy

Parents can attend virtual advice sessions alongside the school. If you have a concern that you would like to speak to an occupational therapist about, then please contact your child’s class teacher and Mrs Gresswell, the SENDCo.

 Speech Language and Communication

What are speech, language and communication skills?

The pyramid below shows those stages of communication development. The skills at the bottom provide the foundation for the skills at the top of the pyramid. It’s important to get the foundation right before moving onto the other skills. Conversation and interaction skills are important at every level.

Improving Speech, Language and Communication Skills

The best way to improve these vital skills is to have exposure to lots of language and to get as much practise as you can. The great thing is that one of the easiest ways to do this is through play.

At Abbey View, we assess children using a programme called Language Link in KS1. If your child’s assessment shows that they need support, then we will inform you at parents’ evening and your child will receive intervention to support their language or speech needs.

In Key Stage 2, we use in school interventions to support your child including Black Sheep Press resources (e.g. semantic links).

Speech and Language Link have a parent website which has lots of activities and advice to support you at home from when your child is in reception to when they are in Yr6. They have some great advice about attention and listening.

Speech and Language Information

Speech and Language Therapist Buckinghamshire

The speech and language therapist in Buckinghamshire lead useful webinars that parents can attend (some of the webinars are pre-recorded on the website and some happen on a specific date). They include support with vocabulary, developing joint attention, receptive language and communication skills.

Speech and Language Parent Support

They also provide resources to support children on their website:

Speech and Language Support for Children

Parents can attend virtual advice sessions alongside the school. If you have a concern that you would like to speak to a speech and language therapist about, then please contact your child’s class teacher and Mrs Gresswell.

Speech and Language Virtual Advice Sessions

Cognition and Learning

We use scaffolding and modelling to help our children learn and make progress. This includes the use of visuals. 

 

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a very common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling. Children with dyslexia have difficulty with memory it can also affect maths and organisation.

This website has lots of support and guidance on dyslexia.

Dyslexia explained

Executive Functioning Skills

•  Plan tasks and activities
• Meet deadlines
• Prioritise work to be completed
• Regulate our emotions
• Inhibit responses
• Regulate behaviour
• Organise belongings
• Organise thoughts on paper
• Working memory – the ability to hold information in our heads and remember things
• Keep track of our thoughts
• Maintain focus
• Persevere on a task
• Keep time

It is important to teach your children these skills. You can do this by using the following strategies:

• Develop your child independence
• Over-learning the skills
• Metacognition - intentional thinking about how you think and learn
• Provide strategies and tools e.g. organisers, schedules, timers

Memory Boosters

Social and Emotional

Social and Emotional Needs

We have a range of services in school to support pupils with their SEMH needs. These include ELSA, Learning Mentor support and Lego Therapy.

Social

It is really important to us that children develop positive relationships.

 Many different skills fall under the umbrella of social skills, including:

• Understanding social rules
• Understanding and using correct body language
• Using appropriate language
• Using empathy to understand the world from someone else’s point of view
• Understanding and using appropriate tone of voice and volume when communicating

Emotional

Hand Model of the Brain

When we become very upset, anxious, or angry it can be very difficult to process what someone is saying to us, understand our emotions, and think clearly. When this happens, we have ‘flipped our lid’!

What happens when we 'flip our lid'?

A simple way of explaining what happens when we ‘flip our lid’ is through the Hand Brain Model by Dan Siegal. Below is Dan Siegal's hand brain model to help you recognise what is happening to your child’s brain (and yours too) when they are dysregulated (i.e. very upset, angry, or anxious). You can use this model to help your child understand what is going on in their brain during these moments.

You may find the YouTube videos below useful:

The Three Main Parts of the Brain

Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot This helps protect our community. Learn more Sign in Dan Siegel's Hand Model of the Brain, Flip Your Lid

When these two parts work together, we can think and act logically and calmly. However, when we become dysregulated and our 'lid flips' (fingers uncover the thumb), the ‘downstairs brain’ regions are working alone and acting on pure emotions to protect and keep us safe. Without the ‘upstairs brain’ helping to make good decisions or problem solve, the ‘downstairs brain’ moves quickly into the protective fight, flight or freeze modes.

Some children ‘flip their lid’ multiple times throughout the day, and some may be able to hold on during day (e.g. in school) but then ‘flip their lid’ when they get home. The triggers for your child 'flipping their lid' may be obvious e.g. new situations, loud noises, or they could be something that isn't so obvious e.g. smell, a memory etc.

 What to do in the moment?

• 1.The first step is to reflect on how you and your child are feeling. It can be easy in these moments to become dysregulated (upset) ourselves. We are all human and ‘flipped lid’ behaviours can be very challenging.
• 2.Take a moment to regulate and calm yourself. Look at the regulation strategies for tips on how to do this and ensure your ‘lid is on’ so that you can respond calmly.Regulation Strategies
•  3.You might need to take some time for yourself, and that is ok. If you are unable to walk away from the situation, due to your child needing you to keep them safe, you can verbalise your feelings e.g. 'I am feeling very overwhelmed, so I am going to take some deep breaths to help me calm down.' You can ask them to do this with you.
• 4.By responding calmly in these situations you will be modelling the behaviour to your child. During this time the tone of your voice is very important. Children can become more dysregulated when adults use aggressive or loud tones. A calm, sing-song voice that matches their intensity will help you to slowly bring them down to your calmness level.
• 5.Use PACE for resources: PACE Resource

Support for Social and Emotional Needs:

• If you have any concerns, then please talk to your class teacher.
• The Mental Health Lead within the academy is Mrs Kemp.

Family support service can help when parents/carers are struggling with children’s social and emotional needs at home:

Get help from the Family Support Service

At Abbey View, we may also refer your child to get support from Buckinghamshire PRU.