Interventions
Fischer Family Trust
Fischer Family Trust Wave 3 (FFT Wave 3) is an evidence-based literacy early intervention run at Wimborne First School to help support children who have difficulties with learning to read and write. It is 1:1 intervention delivered by a trained TA. It is designed for children who are unable to access group interventions and its aim is to accelerate learning so that each child makes enough progress in reading and writing in order to access a group intervention and/or continue to progress through whole class /group teaching.
Please see the link below for further information and research:
Learn to Move
Learn to Move, Move to Learn is a proven, evidence-based intervention developed by Dorset Council to support children with co-ordination difficulties in school.
Children who benefit from Learn to Move intervention include:
- Children who are demonstrating difficulties with their movement skills compared to others in their age group, such as running, balancing, hopping, catching.
- Children who have difficulty with their self-care tasks using their hands, such as using cutlery, toileting and dressing.
- Children who find it difficult to hold a pencil and write, or are unable to use scissors.
- Children who are unable to sit still.
- Children who dislike PE or physical tasks within the school day because they find these activities challenging.
- Children who appear clumsy, fall over or bump into things frequently.
Lego Therapy
At WFSN, we have a Lego Therapy trained therapist and are able to offer identified children LEGO®-Based Therapy. LEGO®-Based Therapy is a social development program that uses LEGO® activities to support the development of a wide range of social skills within a group setting.
What are the benefits of LEGO®-Based Therapy?
Playing with LEGO® in a therapy setting promotes social interaction, turn-taking skills, sharing, collaborative problem-solving and the learning of concepts. It can be used to target goals around social skills, language and motor skills. By using a commonly adored tool like LEGO® it capitalises on its existing motivation and supports self-esteem by allowing the participants to demonstrate their skills in a social situation. It also sets up a positive opportunity for guided social problem-solving to help develop social skills that can then be used in other situations.
Lego Therapy can also be adapted to work on language targets, so it can work really well as an intervention for children with Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN).
Research into the benefits of a Lego Therapy programme have shown it can help develop the following skills:
- Visual perception
- Language concepts
- Descriptive language
- Positional language
- Sequencing and planning
- Flexibility
- Patience
- Empathy
- Non-verbal skills
- Asking for clarification – resolving communication breakdowns
- Memory skills
- Motor skills
Nessy Reading and Spelling
NESSY is an online education system that helps children learn through fun, multi-sensory, tiered activities. Nessy is designed to help students of all abilities learn to read, write and spell but especially those with literacy difficulties including dyslexia. Individuals with dyslexia benefit from a supportive environment combined with an individualised, multisensory program of learning, structured into small steps. The Nessy Reading and Spelling program has been designed to include all of these strategies for success. It is used globally by hundreds of thousands of teachers and students and a three-time award winner at the prestigious Educational Resources Awards.
You can find more information on the Nessy programmes using the link below
Draw and Talk
Draw and Talk is a safe and easy to learn serial drawing technique for use with children or young people who have suffered trauma or have underlying emotional difficulties. It supports those who are not realising their full potential, either academically or socially.
The purpose of the method is to encourage children to draw with a person with whom they feel comfortable, at the same time each week. Our trained Draw and Talk Assistant in school is Mrs Franklin. Mrs Franklin will ask a number of non-intrusive questions about the drawing and over time a symbolic resolution is found to old conflicts and trauma is healed.
Working with the children is carried out safely and non-intrusively, with respect for their own pace and state of being. This is why anyone using Draw and Talk learns to stay in the world of the child’s drawing. The child sets the pace and decides what to bring to the session. Once they feel safe, their imagination begins to unfold.
After completion of Draw and Talk Therapy, children are more able to control their behaviour, better able to access an academic curriculum and most importantly have higher self-esteem; this allows them to thrive in the world around them. We want all children and young people to have the opportunity to achieve and develop the skills and character to make a successful transition into adult life.
ELSA
There will always be children and young people in schools facing life challenges that detract from their ability to engage with learning. Some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others. ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) intervention is an initiative developed and supported by Educational Psychologists. It recognises that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are also addressed.
We are lucky enough to have Mrs Whitbread as our qualified Emotional Literacy Support Assistant at Wimborne First School. She 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. ELSA sessions will take place in our very own 'ELSA space' which provides a calm, safe space for the child to feel supported and nurtured.
In ELSA, we aim to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs:
- Recognising emotions
- Self-esteem
- Social skills
- Friendship skills
- Anger management
Children are usually referred for ELSA support by their class teacher, Senior Leaders or, on occasion, the SENCo. Every half term we meet with Mrs Harmer - Inclusion Leader, to discuss the referral forms and to identify and prioritise which children require a weekly programme for the next 6-8 weeks. With the programme aims in mind we then plan support sessions to facilitate the pupil in developing new skills and coping strategies that allow them to manage social and emotional demands more effectively.
Supporting - not fixing:
Remember, ELSAs are not there to fix children's problems. What we can do is provide emotional support. We aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective space where they are able to share honestly their thoughts and feelings.
It needs to be appreciated that change cannot necessarily be achieved rapidly and is dependent upon the context and complexity of the presenting issues. For children with complex or long-term needs it is unrealistic to expect ELSA intervention to resolve all their difficulties; however, support will be designed to target specific aspects of a child's need. Training and development of ELSAs is an ongoing process and wisdom is required to recognise when issues are beyond the level of expertise that could reasonably be expected of an ELSA. The Educational Psychologist that works with our school would be able to offer advice on suitability or nature of ELSA involvement in complex cases.