Interventions

We use a variety of interventions to support our SEND children. Sometimes these are whole-class interventions, which take a holistic and adaptive approach to teaching and learning and help all children access the mainstream classroom. Sometimes however, we need to tailor support to individuals, or groups of individuals, who need something additional and different delivered outside the classroom. We are not trained therapists, but staff have had training and experience in the following approaches and use these successfully as part of daily practice. Examples of some of our interventions include:

Sand Tray - This is an expressive and creative therapeutic approach where children choose objects to symbolically respresent their inner world, emotions and life experience in a sand-filled tray. Children love this intervention and it works on both a 1:1 level and also in larger groups. 

Free Drawing - This is an embedded practice for all children in our school to support emotional regulation. Offering children a space to enter into creative flow is a powerful way to instil a sense of calm and self-validation. Drawing is often used as a specific intervention to use mark-making as a visual language to express themselves or a feeling.    

Free Writing - In a similar way to free drawing, this is embedded in daily practice, but also used to help children explore a feeling through creative expression and words. 

Comic Strip Conversations - This is an intervention that helps a child explore a social situation or conversation they've had. They can be an effective way of helping chidlren process emotions and feelings. 

Using images and metaphors - these can be an effective way of helping children express a challenging emotion. We use images and metaphors regularly to explore emotional themes in literacy or in collective worship, but we also use these in 1:1 situations to help children process a feeling. Images could be as simple as a picture in a book, or somehting like a Blob Tree or Feeling Bear. 

The Hidden Chimp - we actively encourage conversations around developing understanding of the brain and how it effects our emotions and behaviours. These are embedded in classroom practice, but sometimes we tailor these sessions to help individuals with strong emotions or those experiencing fight or flight.