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Meet the team: (L-R) Debbie Cripps (Assistant SENCO), Gayle Raybould (SENCO), Rachel Scarff (SEMH Coach)

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Follow our Twotter account for updates: @BrooklandsSen

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Sensory needs can be hearing loss and/or visual impairment or sensory processing difficulties and physical difficulties, can occur for a variety of reasons, e.g. congenital conditions , injury or disease.

Different forms of Sensory and Physical Difficulties

Hearing Loss

Hearing loss can be sensorineural, conductive or mixed

The levels of hearing loss are mild, moderate, severe or profound. For medical definitions see EHC Criteria below.

Vision Loss

Visual impairment is an eye condition that cannot be fully corrected by glasses or contact lenses

The levels of vision are mild, moderate, severe or profound. For medical definitions see EHC Criteria below.

Multisensory Impairment

Multisensory impairment occurs when there is a hearing loss and visual impairment, which are both educationally significant although they may be at different levels.

Sensory Processing Difficulty

Our bodies and the environment send our brain information through our senses.  We process and organise this information so that we feel comfortable and secure. When a child has difficulty coping with these demands, they may have sensory processing difficulties.

A child may be under-sensitive or over-sensitive in the 5 areas:

Proprioception

Vestibular

Auditory

Oral Sensory

Tactile

Physical Difficulty

Physical/medical injures can be for a variety of reasons, eg congenital conditions (some progressive), injury or disease.

A child with a physical difficulty may have a diagnosed medical condition which affects them physically. There may be an undiagnosed condition where the child presents with delayed development or impairment with their physical ability and/or presentation.

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What is Sensory Processing Disorder? | Kati Morton

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In England, the government defines special needs as:

A child has special educational needs if they have a learning problem or disability that make it more difficult for them to learn than most children their age. They may have problems with schoolwork, communication or behaviour.

'Special educational needs' is a legal definition and refers to children with learning problems or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children the same age.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/children-special-educational-needs

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Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) is an umbrella term. Pupils with SpLD may have a particular difficulty in learning to read, write, spell or using numbers. Pupils may also have difficulties with short term memory, organisational skills, visual processing and coordination. Pupils with SpLD cover the whole ability range and the severity of their impairment varies widely. Examples of specific learning difficulties are:
* Dyslexia
* Dyspraxia/DCD
* Dyscalculia

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Infographic Video - Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)

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Children with speech, language and communication needs have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.

Children and young people may have difficulty with:

Receptive Language

Difficulty in understanding and processing language

Expressive Language

Difficulty with the use of spoken language or nonverbal communication

Pragmatic/social communication

Difficulty with social interaction, social cognition, and pragmatics.

Speech sound difficulty

Difficulty with phonological skills or articulation skills. The difficulty may not be restricted to one area and may be demonstrated at different levels.

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Introduction to Speech, Language and Communication Needs

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Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties. You may see them becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or distressing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

Children and young people with SEMH difficulties may display passive behaviours such as:

Anxiety

Low mood

Being withdrawn

Avoiding risks

Unable to make choices

Low self-worth

Isolated

Refusing to accept praise

Failure to engage

Poor personal presentation

Lethargy/apathy

Daydreaming

Unable to make and maintain friendships

Speech anxiety/ reluctance to speak

Task avoidance

Children and young people with SEMH difficulties may display active behaviours such as:

Challenging behaviours

Restlessness/over-activity

Non-compliance

Mood swings

Impulsivity

Physical aggression

Verbal aggression

Perceived injustices

Disproportionate reactions to situations

Difficulties with change/transitions

Absconding

Eating issues

Lack of empathy

Lack of personal boundaries

Poor awareness of personal space

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Special Educational Needs at Brooklands (Information for Year 4 into 5 parents)

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Who can I contact for support with mental health?

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Who can I contact for support with mental health?

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* School: Contact the main school office, or SENDCO - graybould@brooklands.school. We can see if speaking to a counsellor or an SEMH Coach might be useful
* Your GP. Make a list of all the things that are worrying you before going
* CHUMS - mental health and well being service for children: http://chums.uk.com
* CAMHS support. Contact through the Local Offer: https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/18/health_and_social_care/325/mental_health
* Find a list of resources and phone apps that may be useful to maintain mental wellbeing during the Covid19 crisis and beyond. These resources are free to use unless otherwise stated. https://centralbedfordshire.app.box.com/s/tjfxcuh6xuzbgyx78u1w26xu3gs0yv7s
* Contact Young Minds https://youngminds.org.uk/ or subsribe to their Youtube channel for helpful advice:

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YoungMinds is the UK's leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. Driven by their experiences we campaign, research and influence policy and practice. We also provide expert knowledge to professionals, parents and young people through our Parents' Helpline, online resources, training and development, outreach work and publications.

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What is autism?
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. Autism affects about 1 in 54 children.

Who can I contact? Where can I go for more information or support?

1. School: SENDCO - graybould@brooklands.school

2. Your GP

3. Autism in Beds: https://www.autismbedfordshire.net/

4. Facebook Bedfordshire Autism support group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/586781791470589

5. Carers in Beds: https://carersinbeds.org.uk/

6. Outside in: https://outsidein-solutions.com/

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What is dyslexia? - Kelli Sandman-Hurley

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What is DCD (developmental Coordination Disorder)?

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What is DCD (developmental Coordination Disorder)?

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https://www.cambscommunityservices.nhs.uk/Bedfordshire/services/occupational-therapy/developmental-skills-package

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The following development of everyday skills package provides information on graded play activities and ideas to help children practice and progress fine motor skills (how they use and coordinate their hands).

The package includes development of everyday skills, such as:
Development of Cutlery Skills Development of Dressing Skills - Socks Development of Ball Skills Development of Pencil Skills Development of Scissor Skills
The following developmental leaflets are also available to read and print in various different languages. Click here for more information

You can also view some video's that have been created by our Cambridgeshire Occupational Therapy service, by clicking here:
www.cambscommunityservices.nhs.uk/cambridgeshire-children's-occupational-therapy/paper-pencil-and-scissor-skills

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The following development of everyday skills package provides information on graded play activities and ideas to help children practice and progress fine motor skills (how they use and coordinate their hands).

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The progress of children with an EHCP are reviewed using an APDR. An example is attached. It is reviewed 3 times a year.
Children at SEN Support Stage 2 have a Provision Map which is also reviewed termly.

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It is important to support reading and writing at home, as being able to comprehend information in all subjects is vital to making progress. At Brooklands School we have programmes such as IDL to support children whose reading age is lower than their chronological age https://idlsgroup.com/

What can you do to support literacy?
* Encourage reading for pleasure
Children should be encouraged to read books that the enjoy. It doesn't have to be books either. It could be magazines such as AQUILA https://www.aquila.co.uk/ that has a variety of topics and activities to go with them
* Listen to them read, and read to them
If your child struggles to read age appropriate material, read to them. Ask them questions about what you are reading and check they understand the vocabulary within the text
* Listen to the news
Encourage your child to listen and watch the news and talk about new words that they may not have heard before. Improving a child's vocabulary and exposing them to new words will help them in school. It doesn't have to be the BBC news, it could be watching Newsround https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround

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Supporting your child's reading comprehension | Oxford Owl

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When your child comes to Brooklands we may use a screener called GL Assessment if we have concerns about their literacy skills. GL Assessment will see if there are difficulties with spelling, reading comprehension and the ability to see shapes a patterns. These are not formal assessments, so if you have concerns we can recommend a specialist teacher to assess your child privately.
Every week in their English lessons, your child will receive spellings that follow word patterns that they need to practice at home. These spellings will be differentiated depending on their ability, and will be appropriate in supporting progress.

What can you do to support spellings?
* Practice spellings with your child
They will be tested on spellings each week- practice these at home and encourage them to recognise the patterns in the words
* Discuss new vocabulary and how it could be spelled.
For example on signs on buildings or vans.
* The English language is hard!!
Acknowledge that the English language is hard to learn! Although there are patterns there are lots of exceptions to the rules, so discuss these with them and empathise with how hard it is, whilst at the same time encouraging them not to give up if they find it hard

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How to Teach Spelling | 10 Creative and Fun Ways I Teach Spelling in Our Homeschool

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School based anxiety can lead to school refusal and mental health difficulties. We recognise the difficulty that some children have geting into school- particularly after lockdown- and so if your child is experiencing difficulties getting to school in the mornings there are things you can do to support them:
* Listen to them
Listen to your child and their worries. Reassure them. Is there something specific about the start to the school day that is making them anxious?
* Routines
Have a clear routine to the start of the day and stick to it. Make sure bags are packed and uniform is ready the night before, so that you can avoid the last minute school dash
* Rely on friends
Encourage your child's friends to walk to school with them. It fosters independence and avoids the school gate clinging!
* Sensory support
Think about putting some perfume on a tissue, or trying Calm Balm https://skinandtoniclondon.com/products/calm-balm on wrists and temples. Can they carry a picture of you or the family with them? Could they bring a small comforter into school to keep in their bag?
* Talk to us!!
Have you talked to us at school? Think about getting in touch with their Form Tutor or Head of Year if there are difficulties so we can try to make the start of their day easier.

Take a look at the Young Minds website for some ideas:

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It's normal for children and young people to feel worried about something that's happening at school - for example, when starting a new school or during exams. Sometimes, however, school can become challenging, stressful or distressing over a much longer period of time.

If your child is feeling anxious about school, or not able to go, it can be exhausting for both of you. Mornings in particular can become really stressful for the whole family, as you try to juggle your child's feelings alongside the need to get them to school and get on with your other responsibilities such as work. Even if you manage to get your child to the school gate, you might know how difficult they're going to find the day - or know that you'll be facing the same problem tomorrow morning.

If you're in this situation, we've got advice to help you explore what's going on with your child, make changes at school that can help, and find the support you need if your child can't go to school.

About the term 'school refusal'

When anxiety builds up to the point that a young person cannot go to school, this is often called 'school refusal' - and you might hear the school or other professionals using this term. However, many young people and parents do not like this term because it implies that 'refusing' school is a choice, and you may prefer to use terms such as emotionally-based school avoidance (ESBA) or anxiety-related absence.

What makes young people feel anxious about school?

Young people can feel anxious about school for lots of different reasons. They might be worried about making friends or fitting in, find schoolwork or lessons confusing, feel pressured to learn in a certain way or find their relationships with teachers difficult.

Sometimes, going through difficult experiences outside of school - such as bereavement, an illness in the family or being a young carer - can also make it harder for a child to feel settled at school.

For some young people, the school environment isn't right for them, and trying to fit into it can create a huge amount of stress. This might be the case if they are struggling with their mental health, or have a neurodiverse condition or Special Educational Need (SEN) such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia or dyspraxia. This can make the school environment anxiety-provoking and exhausting, especially if their condition or need is undiagnosed or not being well supported.

Young people might show they're feeling anxious about school by:

not wanting to get up and get ready

saying they can't go

worrying a lot about small issues, such as having the right equipment for a lesson

feeling sick, or having stomach aches or headaches

not sleeping well

not doing schoolwork, or their grades dropping

being angry or upset, or acting out - at school or at home

withdrawing - seeming low, quiet or depressed

Finding out what's going on for your child

Sometimes it can be difficult to work out what's making your child feel anxious, and the first step is often helping them to identify exactly what's worrying them. Once you understand the problem, you'll be in a much better position to make changes that can help.

Young people can find it hard to explain what's causing their feelings, and might not be able to answer direct questions like 'what's going on?' Using an anxiety iceberg can help to open up the conversation - giving you a more relaxed way of exploring together what's causing their anxiety.

Watch our video to find out how to make an anxiety iceberg with your child.

If you're making an anxiety iceberg with younger children, you might want to draw images on the iceberg, or encourage them to write simple words. With older children and teenagers, you can ask them to write key words and phrases on the iceberg, or do this as a mind map, with 'school' in the middle and all the things they're finding difficult around the outside.

Through this exercise, you might identify worries such as arriving at school, finding the environment noisy or overwhelming, finding lessons confusing, feeling lonely through the day, or feeling uncomfortable during specific subjects.

Making changes at school

Once you understand what's going on for your child, you can use their anxiety iceberg or mind map to communicate with the school and ask for specific changes.

Follow these steps to start a conversation with the school:

Here are some examples of things you can ask the school for:

Remember that even though this situation can be really tough for you and your child, it's a good idea to maintain a positive relationship with the school. Recognise the support they're offering and any changes they're making. This will help you work together to make things better for your child.

Building a relationship with the attendance team at my son's school was hugely helpful, we were talking with them each day.

Strategies you can try at home

For more information and advice on managing anxiety, have a look at our guide for parents.

If your child isn't able to go to school at the moment

If your child isn't going to school at the moment, this can be incredibly stressful and exhausting for you - and really tough for your child. You might be worried about whether they will be able to get back to school or the impact on their education. Or, you might feel overwhelmed because you're juggling this alongside work and other family commitments.

If your child's anxiety about school has built up to the point where they can't go, it's a good idea to get them some professional mental health or SEN support - see our advice on this below.

Alongside requesting professional help, try to:

The school's SEN and attendance policies should be on their website. Knowing what these are can support you during meetings with the school.

This can help if your child is unable to go to school for a longer period of time and you need to ask for more support, including provision of alternative full-time education.

Encourage your child to get up, do some studying and stop for lunch at the same times they would if they were in school. This will make adapting back to school easier. Explain to your child that if they cannot go to school, they will need to study at home - at least until alternative arrangements are put in place. Ask the school to help you facilitate tasks and activities your child can do and use online resources such as BBC Bitesize.

Not going to school could leave your child feeling really isolated. Make sure they stay connected to the outside world by seeing friends and family, doing activities they enjoy and getting outside for walks and exercise.

Speaking to friends online can be really important if your child is feeling isolated at home. Sometimes, however, you might notice that your child is spending lots of time gaming or on their phone, and that this is getting in the way of important daily activities like spending quality time with family, learning, or sleeping and eating well. If this is becoming a problem, have a look at our guide to gaming or guide to social media for more information and advice.

Local authorities must provide alternative education if a child of compulsory school age is unable to attend school over a longer period of time. If your child cannot attend school because of a mental or physical health issue, the local authority should provide an alternative as soon as it is clear that they will be away from school for more than 15 days (either consecutively or over time). Find out how to request alternative education.

What will happen if my child doesn't go to school?

Parents often tell us they are worried about fines and prosecution, but schools generally consider this only if they feel there is no valid reason for the absence, or that parents aren't engaging with the problem.

If the absence is prolonged, the case may be referred to a local council Education Welfare Officer (EWO). They will arrange a home visit to find out more and discuss strategies. The school may also refer to other support, including from CAMHS.

Helping your child return to school after an absence

Getting back to school after weeks or months may feel extremely difficult for your child, but you and the school can help make it more manageable. Here are some things you can do to help:

Set small, achievable targets, such as visiting the building outside school hours or attending one lesson.

Request a home visit from a school staff member so your child can check in while feeling safe, see that the school cares and discuss any strategies that might help them.

Ask for a reduced timetable, with regular reviews to discuss building back up at a manageable rate.

Discuss changing classes or sets if your child thinks this would help.

Focus on qualifications needed for what your child wants to do next, perhaps dropping a less relevant GCSE to reduce stress.

My son wasn't questioned about his absence when he did feel able to pop in for favourite lessons, helping to ease him back into full days of education.

Getting mental health and SEN support

If your child is struggling with anxiety and it's affecting their day-to-day life, learning or relationships, it's a good idea to find some professional support. Speaking to the GP and finding them a counsellor or therapist are two good places to start. You can find more information about GPs, counsellors and other mental health services in our guide to getting help for your child.

If there is no other obvious reason for your child's inability to attend school, they may have an undiagnosed Special Educational Need (SEN) such as dyslexia, autism or ADHD.

If you think this is the case:

Speak to the school's SENCO or your GP to ask for a referral for an assessment.

While you are waiting for an assessment, you can also ask the SENCO to refer your child for support from other professionals, such as an Educational Psychologist or Speech and Language Therapist. These professionals can identify specific needs and make recommendations for additional support the school can put in place - even if your child hasn't had a formal diagnosis yet.

SEN support at school
If your child is diagnosed with SEN, extra support and adjustments should be put in place at school to help them attend and learn. This is called SEN support, and should be available within the school's existing resources. Speak to the school's SENCO in the first instance about how the school will support your child.
Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans
If you do not think your child's needs can be met by the school's existing resources, you can ask the local authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment (EHC needs assessment). If the local authority decides your child needs additional support, they will then make an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan). This outlines how the extra support they need will be provided. Find out more about EHC plans.
Your Local Offer
Your Local Offer is the information, support and services available for young people with SEN, and for their parents and families. You can find out what support is available in your area by going to your local authority's website and searching for their Local Offer.

If you need more information and advice about getting the right education for your child when they have been diagnosed with a Special Educational Need (SEN), IPSEA can help.

If you need to talk through a problem, their Advice Line can provide support with any educational issue resulting from your child's SEN. You can also find lots of information, including information on assessments and diagnosis, as well as getting support from the school and local authority, on their website.

Finding more information and advice

Useful helplines and websites

While we take care to ensure that the organisations we signpost to provide high quality information and advice, we cannot take responsibility for any specific pieces of advice they may offer. We encourage parents and carers to always explore the website of a linked service or organisation to understand who they are and what support they offer before engaging with them.

You might also find this helpful

We have more tips and advice on supporting your child with school, and information about how you can get in touch with our Parents Helpline.

This page was reviewed in December 2022. It was created with parents and carers with lived experience of supporting their child or young person with school anxiety. We will next review the page in 2025. YoungMinds is a proud member of PIF TICK - the UK's quality mark for trusted health information.
Whether you love the page or think something is missing, we appreciate your feedback. It all helps us to support more young people with their mental health.

Please be aware that this form isn't a mental health support service. If your child is in crisis right now and you want to talk to someone urgently, find out who to contact on our urgent help page.

At YoungMinds we take your privacy seriously. If you'd like to read more about how we keep the information we collect safe, take a look at our privacy policy.

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School Anxiety and Refusal | Parent Guide to Support

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If your child is anxious about school, or refusing to go to school at all, read our tips and advice on how you can support their mental health.

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There are a number of local Facebook pages to support parents of children with SEND. The Central Bedfordshire SEND Action Group on Facebook is worth following. cbcsendaction@gmail.com

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We've detected that JavaScript is disabled in this browser. Please enable JavaScript or switch to a supported browser to continue using twitter.com. You can see a list of supported browsers in our Help Center.
Help Center

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Tweets by CBCSENDAction

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SNAP @snappcf is a parent carer forum for parents and carers of children and young people (0 – 25 years) with any additional needs in Central Bedfordshire.

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SNAP (Special Needs Action Panel) is a pro-active, independent forum of parent carers who all have children or young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). As members of the National Network of Parent Carer Forum's we support the development of parent carer participation, a process in which parents work together with professionals to make improvements to local services. We act as a conduit for a wide variety of local professionals in their work with children and young people with SEND.
SNAP's purpose is to improve the services provided for our young people, aged between 0 and 25 years.
We are a Parent Participation Forum enabling parent carers to participate in developing and influencing local services. We work with service providers, individuals and organisations to bring a real-life perspective and experience to the planning and development of the services that our families use. We focus on helping to raise the standard of Social Care, Education and Health Services within Central Bedfordshire, to ensure that these services are provided in a way that meets the needs of all disabled children and their families locally.
To become a member of SNAP you must be a parent of a child or young person with SEND aged 0-25 and live in Central Bedfordshire. Fill out a SNAP Membership Form
'Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.'
Find out more about SNAP >>

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Who is SNAP? - SNAP PCF - Central Bedfordshire

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Who is SNAP? SNAP (Special Needs Action Panel) is a pro-active, independent forum of parent carers who all have children or young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). As members of the National Network of Parent Carer Forum's

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Here is our amazing team:
(L-R): Mrs Clarke, Mrs Cole, Mrs Brazil, Mrs Dodds, Mrs Hill, Miss Starling, Mr Pakes, Mrs Vickers, Mr Penn, Miss Hudson

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Children who are at Stage 2 of SEN Support will have their progress reviewed termly using a Provision Map (example attached)