Inclusion Team

The inclusion team is led by the following team members who work together to support children and their families in order that all children have full access to the curriculum and that barriers to learning are removed:

Inclusion Team Leaders

Claire Byron  – Principal, Inclusion Manager

Jacinta Gordon – SENCO

The inclusion team also consists of a number of members who provide direct, specific interventions and support to children, families and teachers across the academy:

Deena Singh – Welfare Officer

Terri Needs – Attendance Welfare Officer

Kelly Underwood – Welfare Officer

Loise Benta – Welfare Officer

Marli Uys – Speech and Language Support Assistant

Rachel Giles – Speech and Language Support Assistant

At Oakway Academy we are committed to ensuring all children achieve their potential in all areas of learning. We recognise that some children have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and as such may require additional support to enable them to enjoy equal access the curriculum and all other provisions we offer.   

Through regular assessment of children’s learning, including initial assessments when children start at Oakway Academy, teachers are able to identify those who are not progressing at the expected rate or are falling behind their peers. We also gather information from parents, previous school or preschool settings and use this when assessing possible SEND. If a child is identified as having an SEND then their names are placed on the academy’s SEND register as part of our statutory duty.

The following programmes are provided to all children, mainly delivered to whole classes by the class teacher:

• Zippy’s friends – a 24 week Year 1 and 2 programme which helps children to build resilience
• Apple’s friends – a 24 week Year 3 & 4 programme which helps children to build resilience
• FRIENDS – a 24 week Year 5 programme which helps children build resilience
• Protective Behaviours – a 6-12 week programme designed to build children’s capacity manage risks in their lives and to know how to seek help and support if they need it
• Anti-bullying programmes –are delivered to all children regularly throughout the year
• 123 Magic and Restorative Approaches are used as the basis of our whole school approach to behaviour management (see Behaviour and Relationship Policy for further details)

The following programmes are provided to children either in small group or one a one to one basis with, usually led by a member of our Inclusion Team:

• Drawing and Talking – one to one support for children who have suffered trauma or who require counselling. Usually lasting 6-8 weeks

• Growing Optimism – small group intervention for identified children who have negative thought processes and who need support to alter their thinking using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy approaches. Usually lasting 10 weeks

• Social Detectives and Superflex – small group intervention to support children who are have social and communication difficulties and who may be diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Usually lasting 6-10 weeks

• Loss, Bereavement, Anxiety and Self Harm – one to one support programmes which are usually delivered by the school counsellor and will be planned around the needs of the individual child. Length of support will vary

The following programmes are provided to parents in small groups, usually led by a member of our Inclusion Team:

• 123 Magic for Parents – a 10 week course for parents to help them introduce a behaviour management system in the home which is consistent with the systems used at Oakway Academy
• Solihull Approach for parents – a 6 week programme for parents which develops an understanding of early attachment and how to nurture positive relationships between parent and child from birth onwards.

In addition to the TaMHS programmes on offer we also provide the following interventions:

• • ELSA – One of our Welfare Team members is a qualified Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA)) who has been trained by Educational Psychologists to plan and deliver programmes of support to pupils who are experiencing temporary or longer term additional emotional needs. The majority of ELSA work is delivered on an individual basis, but sometimes small group work is more appropriate, especially in the areas of social and friendship skills. Sessions are fun, we use a range of activities such as: games, role-play with puppets or arts and craft.  

• Friendship lunches – Our school counsellor invites children to join her for ‘friendship lunches’ where the identified child may invite a few other children they wish to develop or strengthen friendships with. Children usually self-refer to her for this support, but other members of staff may also identify children who may need additional support developing friendships.

• • PSPs – Pastoral Support Plans and BSPs – Behaviour Support Plans are individual written plans used to support an identified child with well-being or managing behaviour. The plans detail the people involved in supporting the child, the strategies and interventions required to support the child and the stages of response should the child be distressed. The children who require a pastoral support plan are identified by the SENCO, Welfare Team or class teachers. Class teachers write the plans.

• Champion plans – are individual plans which are used to support children who have experienced developmental trauma or attachment difficulties. They detail adults who are significant to the child and how these adults can build relationships with the child in order to help them feel safe. They also detail how to respond to the child when they are distressed. The children who require a pastoral support plan are identified by the SENCO, Welfare Team or class teachers. Class teachers write the plans.

• Growing PRIDE – is a whole class approach used to help class teachers, teaching assistants and children to build positive relationships with one another and to develop the positive behaviours required for learning, such as listening skills and cooperative skills. Growing PRIDE involves identifying and developing a specific learning behaviour that would enable the class to work better together. The skill is then developed through skill-building lessons and through taking time to notice the skill in action in other lessons.

How do children access the support?

Social, Emotional and Mental Health support is available to all children through a range of whole class interventions as detailed above. The small group and individual support is access through referrals made by teachers and members of the inclusion team using the pastoral support referral form.  These will be allocated at weekly team meetings and the referrer will be notified of the outcome and likely start date of the intervention. This form includes some simple assessment measures that will be used to determine which support would be most appropriate for meeting the child’s needs.

Who do I contact?

Jacinta Gordon, SENCO for pastoral support plan & behaviour support plans

Lisa Blackwood, Assistant SENCO for Champion plans

Claire Byron, Inclusion Manager for any other behaviour support required

At Oakway Academy we offer Theraplay to support parents and children with a qualified practitioner

What is Theraplay?

Theraplay is a child and family therapy for building and enhancing attachment, self-esteem, trust in others, and joyful engagement. It is based on the natural patterns of playful, healthy interaction between parent and child and is personal, physical, and fun. Theraplay interactions focus on four essential qualities found in parent-child relationships: Structure, Engagement, Nurture, and Challenge. Theraplay sessions create an active, emotional connection between the child and parent or caregiver, resulting in a changed view of the self as worthy and lovable and of relationships as positive and rewarding.

Sunshine Circles

At Oakway Academy teachers are being provided with 2 days of training in which they will learn how to deliver Theraplay Sunshine Circles in all classrooms:

What are Sunshine Circles?

Sunshine Circles ® are adult-directed and structured, but rather than talking, the teacher leads playful, cooperative and nurturing activities with children. Sunshine Circles are 99% interactive and create an atmosphere of fun, caring, acceptance and encouragement that leads to better social, emotional and even cognitive development.

Children generally embrace the three rules of Sunshine Circles… No Hurts, Stick Together and Have Fun! These rules can then can be carried on with the children throughout the day. Sunshine Circles can very quickly and dramatically improve the quality of the classroom and provide teachers with resources to maintain an emotionally positive and cognitively enriched environment.

What support do we provide?

Our school offers Sunshine Circles, Team Time as group interventions based on Theraplay® principles. 

Sunshine Circles are a small group intervention led by one of our two practitioners who have attended Level One Training in Theraplay®.

Team Time is led by the class teacher who has been trained to use Theraplay® informed practice. These sessions involve the whole class and class teacher as they engage in enjoyable multi-sensory activities together. 

Team Time and Sunshine Circles are designed to build relationships, allowing children to grow socially, emotionally and intellectually. Every activity helps to develop children’s self-esteem, sense of belonging, ability to trust and to care for themselves and others.

Theraplay® for child and family is also offered by our school counsellor for building and enhancing attachment, self-esteem, trust in others, and joyful engagement. It is based on the natural patterns of playful, healthy interaction between parent and child and is personal, physical, and fun. Theraplay sessions create an active, emotional connection between the child and parent or caregiver, resulting in a changed view of the self as worthy and lovable and of relationships as positive and rewarding.

How do children access the support?

All children have access to weekly Team Time sessions with their class. For Sunshine Circles and child and family Theraplay® interventions children are identified by teachers, or members of the Welfare Team who complete a referral form and hand to the Head of Pupil Safety and Welfare. Children will then be allocated to an appropriate intervention.

Who do I contact?

Claire Byron, Inclusion Manager

What support do we provide?

EAL pupils are welcomed in to the rich diverse culture of Oakway Academy. When they join the school they are allocated a peer buddy, they are seated with good language role models and introduced to other children who speak their home language. All children access small group or one to one interventions to teach key vocabulary. Children are assessed using our own assessment tool based on the Department for Education EAL Census. At Oakway academy we promote communication friendly classrooms using visual aids, translation tools and interactive resources to immerse the children in a rich language environment. Children with English as an Additional Language who enter Oakway in Reception classes are also assessed on a Chatterways communication and language programme by one of our Speech and Language teaching assistants. If their communication and language development in English is below age related expectations, they will join a small group intervention which is overseen regularly be our Independent Speech and Language Therapist.

How do children access the support?

All EAL pupils are assessed and individual needs are planned for. The assessment tool is reviewed termly to track children’s progress and ensure interventions are in place to support struggling learners. If a child requires additional support teacher refer to the EAL Lead by completing an Inclusion Referral Form.

Who do I contact?

Jacinta Gordon, SENCO and EAL lead.

What support do we provide?

All children’s whose attendance falls below 95% are monitored on a regular basis and parents are invited to meet with a member of the welfare team to discuss any reasons for low attendance and possible support that could be offered in order to help this improve.  This support could involve pastoral support for the child or early help intervention for the whole family from a multi-agency team.

All children are allocated rewards for attending school. Each child receives a team point for every day that they attend school and team points accrue to be spent on tangible prizes from the reward shop. Classes are also rewarded for good attendance in order to develop a collective responsibility for school attendance, through the PERFECT ATTENDANCE rewards. Every day that the whole class attends school the teacher will allocate a PERFECT ATTENDANCE award and cover one letter from their PERFECT ATTENDANCE display (which is in every classroom). Once the class has all the PERFECT ATTENDANCE letters covered up they are eligible for a class reward, such as games afternoon or extra playtime.

How do children access the support?

All children’s attendance is monitored on a regular basis by the welfare team and families are offered support accordingly on an individual basis.

Who do I contact?

Claire Byron, Inclusion Manager