We are a small team consisting of a Team Manager, a Senior Specialist Teacher Physical Disability and a Specialist Peripatetic Teaching Assistant, with a specialism and expertise in supporting children and young people with physical difficulties in mainstream schools.
This team has the following support offers:
The physical difficulty support team support children and young people on caseload from reception to year 11, who have a physical difficulty that has a significant impact on their physical access to the school they attend.
The team supports children and young people by:
Offering educational advice on the physical access to the curriculum. This ensures the children and young people make progress and are fully included in all aspects of school life.
Recommending resources and strategies that they can use in the classroom to show the teacher what they have learnt.
Recommending ways of recording their work using computers, laptops, and tablets.
Supporting children and young people to be active and join in with PE and swimming lessons with their peers.
Supporting children and young people to join in with practical lessons e.g., Art, Food and Design Technology and Science.
Supporting children and young people to join in with all educational visits/school trips.
Supporting young people in preparing to leave school.
Listening to the views of parents, carers, children, and young people, and including them in decisions that affect them.
The team support education settings by:
Offering advice to schools about the Equality Act.
Advising schools about educational provision and funding.
Attending annual reviews of children and young people on active caseload who have an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) (at key transition points or where there has been a significant change in need).
Supporting schools in writing physical management plans for children and young people on active caseload.
Advising on risk assessments and personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPS)
Offering advice around accessible schools in the local area.
Supporting the return to school for children and young people who have been away from school because of illness/hospital stay, resulting in a physical difficulty.
Offering training for primary schools and secondary schools, including safer handling training.
Offering P.E advice to schools.
Offering advice around educational trips.
Encouraging schools and health care professionals to work together.
Letting schools know about appropriate support groups and charities.
Before you refer a child or young person to the team, you must discuss the reason for the referral with parents/carers and gain consent. If schools wish, you can gain additional written consent that can be kept on file (this would be in addition to the verbal consent given for the Microsoft form).
In some cases, we may contact the parents/carers for additional information prior to our first visit. We may even ask that the parents/carers are present in school for the first meeting. This can help to build a better picture of need and the level of support/provision needed.
The member of the team who is allocated for the initial visit will either feedback directly to parents/carers or we will ask that our visit reports are shared via school.
Transition refers to the support available to children and young people with additional needs as they move between different stages of their education or to a new school or setting. Preparing for adulthood looks to help beyond school, supporting young people as they move into adulthood, and ensuring they enjoy living independently as adults.
Our main transition support will be around transition into primary school (we are now working closely with the IEYS team to ensure transition processes are smooth, or as smooth as possible!) and transition to secondary.
The team can support transition in the following ways:
By attending Educational and Health Care Plans reviews for children and young people at key transition points.
Keeping in touch with parents/carers about applying for an appropriate secondary school for KS3 transition and college/sixth form for KS5 transition.
Looking at the new school and education setting environment to make sure the child or young person can access things and join in.
Advise the new school or education setting around any changes that are needed to the environment so that the child or young person can access all areas and so that their personal care (toileting) needs can be met.
Talk with the child or young person to understand their views around the support they need and their plans and ideas for their next steps or future.
Update the child or young persons Physical Management Plan (if one is needed) which shows the support needed in their new school or education setting.
Provide information to the new school or setting about any health or safer handling training required, so the new school or setting are ready to support the child or young person.
Who should you refer to us?
Our eligibility criteria looks at the following:
Mobility/Gross Motor – does the child/young person have any mobility aids (wheelchair, rear postural walker, standing frame etc)? Do they need physical assistance with their transfers, e.g. transfer onto the toilet, between their specialist equipment, on and off the floor? Do they need assistance to get around the school building? Do they need an accessible or adapted environment?
Seating – does the child/young person require specialist seating or seating adaptations? Do they need physical assistance for transfers? Do they need height adjustable furniture?
Fine Motor – does the child/young person have an upper limb weakness affecting their fine motor activities? Do they need specialist equipment to record their learning? Do they need a scribe? Can they manage fastenings? Do they need assistance in practical lessons?
Independence with regards to functional daily living tasks, e.g. dressing – do they need physical assistance for getting dressed for PE or swimming?
Health and Medical Needs (associated with the child/young person’s physical needs) – does the child/young person have significantly reduced independence due to complex health and medical needs?
Eating and Drinking – does the child/young person have a dietician involved or a NG feeding tube? Do they need assistance to carry their tray or cut up their food?
Toileting – does the child/young person have either bladder or bowel difficulties which require a medical overview? Do they need physical assistance to transfer onto the toilet? Do they need adaptations to access the toilet independently, e.g. a free-standing toilet frame?
How to access the service
In order to access support from the CIPS Physical Difficulty Team, a referral needs to be made using the following form:
