Preparing young people to navigate a complex and ever changing world is at the heart of everything we do.
As well as meeting pupils’ medical needs, staff work together to promote healthy and active lifestyles, develop good social relationships and help pupils manage the online world safely.
Pupils have a voice and influence throughout the school, as food or care group ambassadors and members of the school council. They choose their own keyworkers and can contact independent listeners outside St John’s.
Our aim is to promote a sense of identity and self-worth in all our young people, empowering them to make positive choices and develop psychological resilience. We work closely with the Deaf Child and Adolescent Mental Health team who have a base in school. The school nurse coordinates their work across the school which includes staff training and family or individual therapy sessions.
This focus on emotional wellbeing promotes better learning, enjoyment of life, and sets a pattern for good mental health in the future.
Speech and Language Therapy
We believe the development of language and communication skills is vital to help our young people thrive both academically and socially. To support this, we have our own team of specialist speech therapists who plan and deliver personal programmes for each child.
Where it is part of their EHCP, pupils can access speech and language sessions individually as well as therapy in small groups, where they can practise the social use of language. Sixth form work may include sessions on subject specific vocabulary and discussions relevant to young adults.
Our therapists work with staff across the whole school and maintain close contact with parents so everyone is clear how to maximise children’s progress.
Audiology
Promoting speaking and listening skills is integral to our teaching approach and, for hearing impaired children and young people, this means providing the best possible access to high quality amplification.
We recognise the commitment our pupils and their families make to use hearing aids or cochlear implants and the importance this technology has in supporting speech and language development.
We have our own clinical audiology suite, to enable our school audiologist to monitor pupils’ hearing and access to speech in a variety of different listening conditions. Our audiologist can re-programme and replace faulty hearing aids and fast-track the replacement of cochlear implant components to ensure pupils have the maximum possible learning time with good amplification.
Our audiologist also ensures we achieve good listening conditions throughout the whole school environment. She monitors the acoustics of all our teaching areas and the effectiveness of the digital sound field systems used in all classrooms. This maximises pupils’ ability to hear their teachers and each other.
Physical Health
Our in-house Nurse works with pupils and their families to ensure their physical health needs, including medications management, are met during their time at school.
Our in-house PE and Therapy practitioner also supports children and young people with their physical wellbeing and delivers physiotherapy programs, activity sessions and fitness programs to promote healthy lifestyles.