Maritime Academy Trust

Maritime is a charitable education trust with schools across London and the South East.

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Please be advised that our ASD Resource Provision is currently full with no expectation of having any available spaces within the next academic year.

 

Our ASD Provision

Welcome to Hook Lane Primary School’s ASD Provision,

At Hook Lane our mission is to provide all ASD pupils with a stimulating learning environment, where children can receive a curriculum tailored to meet their specific needs, strive to achieve their maximum potential, celebrate their differences and engage their curiosities. The children are supported to learn in their mainstream classrooms as much as is appropriate for the child and are included in all aspects where possible. Those children who are unable to manage time in a mainstream environment, and are awaiting a more specialised school placement, will be taught solely within Captivate Class and follow a personalised curriculum through a themed approach. Our ASD staff members provide and deliver specialist intervention learning opportunities to support the development of independence, self-esteem and confidence for each pupil. The resource provision does not run as a separate unit to the school and all children remain on the mainstream school roll. Adult support is tailored to the needs of the child, however they will be supported to become as independent as possible in the mainstream classroom as they progress throughout the school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs Cheeseman 

Lead ASD Teacher

Admission Criteria for the ASD Provision (Rec-Y6)

Referrals for admission will come from the Local Authority. The referrals are considered by the Assistant Headteacher and Headteacher at Hook Lane to ensure that the following criteria is met:

  • All pupils will have an EHC plan
  • There must be a clear medical diagnosis of Autism
  • Primary need must clearly be Autism
  • Pupil’s performance in English and Maths should indicate potential to achieve at least working within Band 1 at the end KS1 and at least working within Band 2 at lower KS2. Children should be working within band 3 in upper KS2.
  • Formal and informal assessments indicate that pupils at a preschool age are working within the ‘broadly average range’ eg making recognisable vocalisations suggesting the emergence of communicative intent; engaging with their environment; retaining information
  • Pupils will have the ability to verbally communicate without full reliance on communication aids, although may still need support and programmes devised by a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) – delivered by trained Teaching Assistants.
  • Pupils for whom their Autism is a significant barrier to their performance, and whose learning difficulties cannot be met entirely from resources available to and in mainstream school
  • That the child is able to manage some time in a mainstream class on a daily basis.

 

Admission will not be agreed if:

  • Home/parents are not in agreement of the strategies used at the school, and are not willing to support these by following them at home
  • The agreed number of funded places by the Local Authority is fully subscribed and admitting children over this number would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources
  • Home is using or expressing intent to use Applied Behaviour Analysis programmes (ABA) as this conflicts with our Good Practice guidelines for working with children with Autism.
  • There is insufficient evidence of a clear diagnosis of Autism eg where it is reported ‘there are autistic traits’ or where the child is still awaiting a confirmed diagnosis of Autism
  • There is evidence of moderate, severe or complex learning difficulties in addition to Autism.
  • The admission of a pupil would compromise the health and safety of the pupils and/or staff within the School or would compromise or disrupt the education of pupils already in attendance.
  • Siblings are not automatically admitted.

 

ASD Provision Groups: These are dynamic groups that will run depending on the cohort and needs of the children. 

Attention Building and Active Listening

Acorn:

Focuses on building joint attention skills. This group originates from the idea that children learn best when they are highly motivated through tailored, dynamic and engaging activities that stimulate their senses. Children take in information through their senses and this group helps build knowledge and understanding of the world around them, while shaping how they communicate and interact with one another.

Oak:

Is designed for children who have already developed skills to engage in some small joint attention activities, but who require strategies for active listening. This group focuses on building skills to retain information heard and read through both listening and reading comprehension activities. This multi-sensory based group allows for long processing times, which builds on the pupils’ ability to become self-regulated and independent in their learning.

 

Sensory Groups and Circuits

Sensory Circuits:

Sensory Circuits are used by children in the school who have difficulties with processing sensory information. Sensory Circuits are used throughout the day and are tailored for each individual child based on their sensory diet needs. A circuit runs in three sections and is based on the theories of sensory processing and sensory integration and the practical considerations of providing structured sensory motor input.

  1. Alerting section – The aim of this section is to provide physical stimulation within a controlled setting while preparing the brain for upcoming learning and demands of the classroom environment.
  2. Organising section – This section includes activities that require multi-sensory processing and balance. The child needs to organise their body, plan their method and do more than one thing at a time in a set order. These activities enhance skills that may increase a child’s focus, attention span and performance within the classroom setting.
  3. Calming section – This section of a Sensory Circuit is the most important. The calming activities provide input to ensure that as children leave the circuit and return to the classroom they are calm, centred and ready for what is next.

1:1 Sensory Input:

Children who have specific plans set by Occupational Therapists will have their input delivered by trained staff. Children who have recognised sensory needs will have 1:1 sessions in addition to Sensory Circuits. These sessions are held in our Sensory room, Soft Play room, and outdoor spaces - to ensure that the pupils sensory needs are met each day.  

Messy Play:

Running 3 times a week, the messy play group involves sensory integration therapy within a play based activity. The activities used in these groups are designed to help shape how the brain reacts to touch, sound, sight, and movement. These groups are tailored to the individuals within the groups to help decrease sensitivity to various textures and temperatures while working in a social setting with children in groups of up to eight children. The aim of this group is to shape how sensations are processed by the brain, we can help children with Autism make better sense of the information they receive and use it to access everyday tasks with more ease.

 

Motor Skills and Academic Groups

Multi-Sensory Write and Dance:

This group focuses on helping children feel happy, confident and comfortable with their bodies while improving their motor skills. This is an exciting programme that uses music and movement to introduce and build on handwriting skills using a variety of media and senses.

Literacy:

This highly motivating group focuses on building reading and writing skills in a small structured setting. This group is tailored for the individuals within the group to build on their phonic knowledge while learning the principles of reading and writing. These lessons inspire children to develop their own ideas for writing and incorporate multi-sensory approaches to reading.

 

Jump Ahead: 

This group is designed for children with motor-coordination difficulties. The group focuses on sensory motor integration and perceptual motor skills. The children work through various stages and activities while building and refining both their gross motor and fine motor skills. These groups are differentiated for the specific children within the group and adapted on a regular basis to continue to move the children on in their development. This group also involves language instruction.

 

Social Skills Programmes

Discrete Skill based lessons:

These groups are designed for those children who need to be taught extra social skills in a discrete manner. The groups are specifically tailored to meet the needs of the individuals within the group, to ensure they receive lessons to prepare them for the social world both in the classroom and outside the classroom. The lessons teach: both verbal and non-verbal communication skills, how to be part of a group, expressing and managing feelings, dealing with anxieties, caring about ourselves and others, problem-solving, listening and managing conflict. This group also focuses on transition during transition periods.

Cooking Club:

Once the children have been discretely taught Social Skills they will have opportunities to apply these skills in a lively and tasty lesson! These sessions provide an activity based group that builds on their newly taught skills while focusing also on speaking and listening, tasting a variety of foods and cooking. This exciting group allows children to have specific guidance and helps children learn to self-regulate socially.

Lego Club:

LEGO® Therapy is an intervention used to help children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in their social communication difficulties. This group is facilitated by trained adults, although child led, to allow the children a means of developing their social communication skills. This highly motivational group runs for key stage 2 children. 

 

Helping your child at home

National Autistic Society - What is Autism?

National Autistic Society - How to help your child sleep

National Autistic Society - Behaviour

National Autistic Society - Bexley

Fidget Toys

Bexley Snap

 

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