Our Transdisciplinary Offer

Teaching, Therapy & Wellbeing Support within an Embedded Trans-disciplinary Offer

Learners are taught in small classes, with high pupil to staff ratios. Teaching teams, Wellbeing Practitioners and Cognus therapists at Sherwood Foundation School (Sherwood Park Campus, Sherwood Hill Campus & Sherwood Manor Campus) work in a trans-disciplinary way as an integral part of the school team to meet the provision requirements and outcomes of the EHCPs and the learning offer for all children and young people within the school. The transdisciplinary model of practice aims to provide more family-centred, coordinated, and integrated services to meet the complex needs of children with disabilities and their families. Transdisciplinary work seeks to develop holistic provisions by integrating different disciplinary perspectives, thereby creating new frameworks to understand problems for the purposes of developing more effective solutions.

The teaching teams, therapists and wellbeing practitioners work together at all levels of our school to enable a trans-disciplinary approach, providing equal representation and consideration in relation to commissioning, admissions and school development, as well as integrated pupil assessments, reports and outcomes. This ensures that the people around the child/young person share skills, use consistent approaches and are equipped to effectively deliver the universal and targeted services described in more detail in the offers attached. This also ensures that all teaching, wellbeing and therapy approaches and interventions are fully embedded within the curriculum and day to day running of the school. This model of working enables specialist teaching, wellbeing and therapeutic interventions to be moved effectively to targeted and universal options in order that the team around the child can better support the individual. This also ensures continuous growth of the whole school community, enabling us to adapt alongside best-practice developments.

Education Funded Speech Therapy

The Cognus Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) team is based on site, with Campus specific teams attached to classes. We dynamically assess, set outcomes and support progress towards all areas of communication development including:

attention and listening
engagement
social communication,
interaction and play skills
receptive language
expressive language
augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
alternative access AAC
speech sounds
phonological awareness
literacy

A total communication approach is used, which recognises and encourages all forms of communication including facial expression, body language, behaviour and gesture. Along with listening and responding to students we are enabling them to feel heard, honouring their voice. In addition, we understand the importance of developing communication through regulated interactions, play, and within functional life skills. This approach enables our students to communicate using a range of strategies depending on their environment and communication partner, and allows adults to model and support them to work towards more conventional forms of communication such as spoken language, symbols or sign. We promote autonomous communication, neuro-affirming approaches, the use of core vocabulary through aided language input and complete detailed assessments in order to provide individualised robust AAC systems to ensure all students have a voice. This facilitates development of an authentic self, and self-advocacy as our students prepare for adulthood. Communication and language skills are also key to literacy development and we work closely with teachers to build understanding, awareness and enjoyment of print for those with emergent and conventional literacy skills.

Speech & Language Therapists

Hill Campus

Tessa O’Brien (Lead Speech & Language Therapist)

Mikayla Colley (Senior Speech & Language Therapist)

Aleisha Teske (Senior Speech & Language Therapist)

Rachel Tassone (Senior Speech & Language Therapist)

Park Campus

Rebecca Tinney (Lead Speech & Language Therapist)

Paris Ryan (Senior Speech & Language Therapist)

Samia Malik (Senior Speech & Language Therapist)

Chloe Anderson (Senior Speech & Language Therapist)

Safiyah Talidi-Bustamante (Therapy Assistant)

Manor Campus

TBC

https://www.cognus.org.uk/services/cognus-therapies/

Education Funded Occupational Therapy

The Cognus Occupational Therapy (OT) team is based on site, with Campus specific teams attached to classes. We support children and young people to participate fully in everyday meaningful activities by addressing challenges related to their occupations (well-being, daily routines, school skills, play & leisure, and transition to adulthood). Our OT team utilises a holistic transdisciplinary approach rooted in the balance between person, occupation, and their environment. We believe that every child and young person has the potential to thrive when all aspects of their life are meaningfully addressed and supported. Our work goes beyond isolated skill-building, it focuses on building trusted relationships, supporting wellbeing and regulation, as well as nurturing and honouring the uniqueness of each individual in order to develop their autonomy and engagement in meaningful occupations.

Our team provides a wide range of assessments, interventions, upskilling, training, and environmental adaptations tailored to the daily occupations of our learners. We focus on functional activities such as:

supporting the foundations of well-being and self-care (good health, sleep, regulation, sensory differences, toileting, dressing, grooming, feeding);
enhancing school-based skills (engagement, focus and attention, using tools including pencils, scissors, alternative pencils, active participation in PE)
developing play & leisure skills (chosen activities in free time, self-occupancy, relaxation, play, social life, sport and fitness) for the purpose of supporting wellbeing, social connection, and self-expression, which are vital for emotional growth and forming self-identity.

In preparing our young people for adulthood, we support the development of life skills that foster independence:

making a drink, snack and meal preparation
access to the community
shopping
domestic skills
supporting vocational studies
transition to living away from home

Our interventions also extend to modifications and adaptations to activities and the environment, ensuring that pupils can navigate and thrive in their surroundings (coping with transitions, equipment needs and environmental modifications and adaptation, ICT and alternative access methods).

Occupational Therapists

Hill Campus

Kelinka Bipath (Lead Occupational Therapist)

Oliver Renner (Senior Occupational Therapist)

Anna-Christina Davila (Senior Occupational Therapist)

Bronwyn Scheepers (Senior Occupational Therapist)

Vacancy (Occupational Therapist)

Park Campus

Belle Parsons (Lead Occupational Therapist)

Caroline Collier (Senior Occupational Therapist)

Jake Teader Reed (Senior Occupational Therapist)

Anu Obikoya (Occupational Therapist)

Safiyah Talidi-Bustamante (Therapy assistant)

Manor Campus

TBC

https://www.cognus.org.uk/services/cognus-therapies/

Pupil Wellbeing Support

The wellbeing team consists of wellbeing practitioners based at each campus. The team is led by a lead wellbeing practitioner who works across all sites under the guidance and leadership of our Head of Strategy & Transdisciplinary Working, supported by the Heads of School.

Our wellbeing offer is achieved through wellbeing practitioners working alongside Designated Safeguarding Leads, families, teaching staff, therapists, and outside agencies to embed wellbeing outcomes and interventions into meaningful, functional activities within the home and school environment. Supporting our learners and their families to live enjoyable, meaningful lives is central to our learning environment. It is therefore important to acknowledge that our starting point is well-being.

The Well-being team aims to:

To provide support, coaching, and training for parents of children with well-being needs to ensure carryover of approaches between home and school. This also includes sibling support where appropriate.
To provide well-being support in school for pupils at universal, targeted, and specialist levels
1. Train and support staff to embed a universal well-being offer rooted in our LEARN values and the practice of Shanker Self-Reg
2. Lead on the robust assessment of wellbeing needs for pupils who are struggling to cope in school (including Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP) and wellbeing assessment and access to forest school when possible)
3. Promoting and embedding proactive support to support positive wellbeing and prevent the use of restrictive practices
4. Introduce, train, and support the use of more targeted and specialist well-being interventions (for example, play therapy, DIR-Floortime, rebound therapy)
5. Support teaching staff in complex risk assessment and enabling community access for all pupils
6. Facilitating and supporting extra-curricular activities and school trips (including residentials)
7. To ensure the use of robust monitoring systems for well-being support
  1. data collection
  2. incident and accident recording
  3. reporting systems
To provide a contact point between the school and parents, and linking the wellbeing of parents and pupils, providing a link between wellbeing and safeguarding
To prioritise close collaboration with parents/carers. We also work closely with the NHS nurses and NHS therapists who work on site and with other outside agencies, including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), social care, Mencap, and respite services.

Wellbeing Team

Jenna Clements (Lead Wellbeing Practitioner - Sherwood Foundation School)

Hannah Campbell (Wellbeing Practitioner - Sherwood Park Campus)

Angel Pereira Carracedo (Wellbeing Practitioner - Sherwood Hill Campus)

Niamh McIlroy (Wellbeing Practitioner - Sherwood Hill Campus)

NHS funded Therapies

Sherwood Park Campus

Onsite NHS therapies are provided on our Sherwood Park Campus only. The team consists of Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and multi-therapy assistants. The Sherwood Park NHS therapists are commissioned by the Sutton CCG and provided by Sutton Health and Care to meet the health and therapy needs of the children and young people on the Sherwood Park Campus as outlined in their EHCP. Therapists work closely with the school’s teaching, education therapy and wellbeing teams to provide an integrated approach to delivery. Please see the NHS therapy offer attached

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E45LhVUrhSpuhTmEkhXL0Vt1D5SF9UU3/view?usp=drive_link

Sherwood Hill & Manor Campuses

Pupils on the Sherwood Hill and Sherwood Manor Campuses receive their NHS therapy support from their visiting therapists from the community teams. All therapy advice is integrated into the curriculum and across the school day by the relevant teaching teams

NHS funded nursing

Sherwood Park Campus

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E45LhVUrhSpuhTmEkhXL0Vt1D5SF9UU3/view?usp=drive_link

Sherwood Hill & Manor Campuses

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ajBtUZpYTvSAEKnAUrwLgg96CY1fIIzT/view?usp=drive_link

Music Therapy

Each campus has access to music therapy for 1 day per week. Music therapy is a form of therapy that uses music and its elements to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs. It's a clinical and evidence-based practice that involves a trained therapist working with individual children and groups of children to achieve therapeutic goals through music-based interventions. These interventions include singing, playing instruments, songwriting, and listening to music, tailored to the individual's needs and preferences.

Nordoff and Robbins - Music Therapy Provider

Play Therapy

Each campus has access to Play therapy for 1 half day per week on all three of our campuses, delivered by a trained member of staff.. Children naturally use play to make sense of their world. Through play, they can explore their feelings, experiences, and relationships in ways that feel safe and familiar. Sometimes, when children feel overwhelmed, worried, or confused, they may not yet have the words to explain how they feel. Play Therapy provides a supportive space where they can express these emotions and begin to understand what is happening inside.

Play Therapy helps children to recognise and make sense of their thoughts, feelings, and bodily cues. This awareness is the first step towards regulation and their ability to manage strong emotions and respond to stress in healthy ways. Within the safety of the therapy room, children can explore what helps them to feel calm, connected, and in control. Through play, children explore different ways of coping, problem-solving, and communicating their needs. Over time, these experiences strengthen their ability to manage their regulation, leading to improved confidence and resilience.

Play Therapy can support children who:

Find it hard to manage big emotions and stressors
Have experienced change, loss, or trauma
Struggle with friendships or social situations
Show signs of anxiety, low confidence, or withdrawal

As children learn to understand and regulate their emotions through play, they develop greater self-awareness and confidence in managing life’s challenges.

Pupils are referred for play therapy by members of the team and generally have access to this intervention for a targeted period

https://playtherapy.org.uk/for-parents/

Rebound Therapy

Rebound therapy is available for 1 half day per week on all three of our campuses, delivered by trained members of staff. Rebound Therapy is a therapeutic method utilising trampolines to provide exercise and movement opportunities for individuals with a wide range of disabilities and special needs. It's distinct from general trampolining, focusing on specific therapeutic goals and movement patterns tailored to the individual's needs.

Pupils are referred for rebound therapy by members of the team and generally have access to this intervention for a targeted period to support areas of need including physical skills, interaction or wellbeing.

Staff teams are trained in the safe set up and use of the trampolines so these can also be used as part of PE or play & leisure sessions as part of our universal and targeted offer.

https://www.reboundtherapy.org/

Canine Assisted Therapy

Canine assisted therapy is available for 1 half day per week. Each campus has access to this intervention for 1 term each year, split in rolling half termly blocks. Canine Assisted Learning provides specially trained assistance dogs and animal assisted intervention practitioners to deliver specialist interventions, activities and support. Many young people who are reluctant to engage in traditional therapies and interventions thrive from the therapeutic environment created by specialist canine and practitioner teams. They will be working on a one-to-one basis and in small groups, focusing on specific strategies for each child/young person providing a safe and non-judgemental space.

Pupils are referred for canine assisted therapy by members of the team and generally have access to this intervention for a targeted period to support areas of need.

https://www.canineassistedlearning.com/school-dogs/