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Find links to some important policies and documents.

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Examination Access Arrangements (EAAs) are adjustments that ensure students with additional needs can demonstrate their true ability in formal exams. They are not designed to give an unfair advantage, but to remove barriers that might otherwise prevent a student from showing what they know and can do. Examples include extra time, a reader, a scribe, rest breaks, or the use of a laptop. These arrangements are always based on evidence of need and must reflect the student’s normal way of working in the classroom. This means that if a student uses certain strategies or support regularly in lessons and assessments, this may form the basis for an access arrangement in exams.

To determine whether a student qualifies, a formal assessment must be carried out by a qualified assessor. In our school, this assessment is completed by the SENDCO, who holds the required qualifications to carry out and interpret the testing. The process involves gathering teacher evidence, reviewing classroom practice, and discussing needs with the student before completing a specialist assessment. If the evidence shows that an access arrangement is appropriate, the school will apply for it through the exam boards. Parents are kept informed throughout the process so that they understand what support is in place and why. EAAs help ensure every student has a fair and supportive environment in which to complete their exams.

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An Adaptation Plan is a clear, straightforward document that outlines a student’s needs and any difficulties that may affect their learning. It is divided into five key sections: Barriers to Learning, Classroom Adaptations, Voice of the Child, Voice of the Parent/Carer, and Current Provisions. Together, these sections give a holistic picture of the support a student requires and the strategies that help them thrive in the classroom.

Adaptation Plans are formally reviewed at least twice a year, but they are living documents—meaning they can be updated at any time if a student’s needs change or if new strategies prove effective. Teachers receive a printed copy at the start of each term so they can adapt their teaching accordingly. Parents play an active role in both writing and reviewing the plan, ensuring that their insights and concerns are part of the process. Teachers regularly feed back on what is working well or what may need refining, and students themselves are fully involved in evaluating their plan, helping them develop ownership of their learning and confidence in the support around them.

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Adaptive teaching is an approach that ensures every child can access learning in a way that suits their needs. Instead of expecting all pupils to learn in the same way, teachers make thoughtful adjustments—such as breaking tasks into smaller steps, providing models or visuals, giving extra practice time, or offering different ways to complete a task. It doesn’t mean lowering expectations; it means finding the right pathway so each child can succeed. Adaptive teaching helps every learner feel supported, challenged, and able to make progress.

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A keyworker plays a vital role in supporting students with additional needs by acting as the first point of contact with the SEND team. They build a consistent, lasting relationship with the young person, staying with them throughout their time in school where possible. This continuity allows the keyworker to develop a deep and detailed understanding of the student’s strengths, challenges and individual needs, ensuring that support is both personalised and meaningful.

Keyworkers also maintain regular communication with parents and carers, keeping them updated through email or phone and working in partnership to ensure a joined-up approach. They advocate for the student across the school, liaising with teachers and other staff to ensure that reasonable adjustments and adaptive strategies are in place. As part of this role, keyworkers write and review the student’s adaptation plan, ensuring that it reflects current needs and is implemented effectively across the curriculum. Through these responsibilities, keyworkers play a central part in helping students feel understood, supported and able to thrive.

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Special educational provision is educational provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for others of the same age. This means provision that goes beyond the adaptive teaching approaches and learning arrangements normally provided as part of high-quality teaching.

The four areas of special educational needs (see below)

· Communication and interaction

· Cognition and learning

· Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

· Sensory and/or physical

More specific needs can be identified as (this is not an exhaustive list):

MLD: moderate learning difficulties – this might include developmental delay, language paucity, poor literacy and  low cognitive ability.

SPLD: specific learning difficulties – this would include students with dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia.

SEMH: Mental health, emotional or social difficulties – this would include students diagnosed with ADHD, Attachment Disorder and would also include a whole range of complex social and emotional conditions which may lead to poor or challenging behaviours.

SLCN: speech, language and communication needs – this would include those students with receptive and expressive language disorders, stammering and stuttering and those with autism.

PD: physical disability includes mobility issues and motor coordination difficulties; chromosomal disorders such as Down’s Syndrome, cerebral palsy and Fragile X Syndrome.

VI: visual impairment

HI: hearing impairment

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Mrs Smith has been at Park High School for 2 years and is responsible for delivering intervention. She is based in the Intervention Centre.

Mrs Smith's subject specialism is English, but she really enjoys supporting students with developing their confidence skills.

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Mrs Foster has worked at Park High School for 4 years, First as a teaching assistant and now as Assistant SENDCo.

She is responsible for internal and external referral systems and daily oversight of the learning support area of school.

Mrs Foster is currently undertaking the NPQ SENDCo qualification, as she aspires to be a SENDCo in the future.

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Ms Solis Tejeda has served at Park School for 12 years, demonstrating unwavering commitment and expertise.

In her current role, she oversees the operation of the Bridge, a dedicated space designed to assist mainly Key Stage 4 students who face challenges in mathematics.

A qualified teacher, Ms Solis Tejeda aspires to become a JCQ qualified assessor within the school. She is also involved in the implementation of Exam Access Arrangements, collaborating closely with the SEND team to provide essential support to students during their GCSE examinations, ensuring they receive the assistance needed to succeed.

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Mr Singleton has been a SENDCo for 22 years and brings a wealth of experience to the Park SEND team.

He is responsible for the strategic oversight of SEND within the school as well as ensuring that the day to day needs of students are met alongside members of his team.

Mr Singleton is a qualified JCQ assessor and is able to use a range of assessments to determine the needs of children within the school as well as arranging access arrangements at KS4.

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or you can download a copy of the report using the link on the Policies page of our school website.

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Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance support is offered as a structured programme designed specifically for those affected by EBSNA. It incorporates strategies that focus on rebuilding students’ confidence and a sense of belonging within the school community by providing individualised learning plans and support.

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Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) parental guidance

This guidance has been produced by Lancashire Educational Psychology Service. It has been created based on current research/best practice and on what local families and schools have told us about things that are helpful for pupils with Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).

What is EBSA?

Feelings of worry or anxiety are something that everyone will experience from time to time. They can help to keep us safe from difficult situations. There are times, however, when worry can be so great that it stops an individual from doing daily activities.

It is not uncommon for children and young people to worry about school. For some children, however, that worry can become so great that they may have difficulties in attending school. If your child has high levels of anxiety and is finding it difficult to attend school, they may be experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).

Your child is not alone with this issue as it is suggested that 1-5% of the school population experience EBSA. Your child may have worries about their peer relationships, bullying, their teachers or about being away from home.

The impact of world events

In recent years, we have experienced, and received lots of news about global and local events, including the Covid-19 pandemic, wars in other countries, climate change, and more recently the 'cost-of-living crisis' within the UK. All of these have had a lasting impact on our country, our economy and our education system. These events will have proven for many to be unsettling and upsetting and may have brought additional pressures to pre-existing personal, familial and school factors.

Prior to school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, some students were already experiencing difficulties with attendance. When schools closed, most children stayed at home and developed a new routine in which they were told that they were safe at home with their families and did not have to go to school. Some students enjoyed online learning or other activities that they were able to do within their day. During this time, students have had a lack of face-to-face contact with others, they may have lost skills they once had or despite everyone's best efforts they may have missed learning. EBSA can be exacerbated and maintained through periods of absence with children being isolated from friends, through fear of being behind with schoolwork or an increased anxiety about leaving their safe space at home. Some Lancashire families have talked about children experiencing anxiety around their own or family members' health, the uncertainty of what school will be like now, anxiety about being separated from caregivers, no longer being motivated to learn in school when they have seen they can learn effectively at home, no longer having friendships or finding the school environment overwhelming.

Signs of EBSA?

Your child may show any of the following signs of EBSA:

Be fearful, anxious or angry when faced with the prospect of school.

They may avoid getting ready for school and become upset during their morning routine on a weekday.

They may complain of physical illness: headache, tummy ache, feeling sick.

They may share anxiety symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating, fast breathing or pins and needles.

These symptoms may be present mostly during the week or on a Sunday evening when they know they are going to school the day after. They may not show these signs at weekends or during school holidays.

Where a child has been finding attending school difficult for a long period of time, they may no longer be attending school, have difficulty sleeping, have isolated themselves from friends or have a fear of leaving the house at all. This highlights the need for support to be put in place sooner rather than later.

What families told us

What other Lancashire families who have children who experience EBSA told us...

We believe that the lived experiences of children, families and our schools have much to tell us about how we can better respond to this issue. Parents and carers told us that the difficulties their child experiences are made worse when they are blamed for their child's absence or when the school maintains that the child is 'fine' when they are attending in person.

This can lead to conflict between home and school and whilst parents and school are in disagreement, the child continues to struggle and feel isolated. Our children and young people told us that they and their parents often do not feel listened to or believed, which can make them feel worse.

Parents shared that they are often under immense pressure and that an understanding and supportive relationship with school staff is very important and key to moving the situation forwards.

Parents reported that having somebody at school with whom their child could build up a relationship was supportive. Meeting this person when they arrived at school was also important to the child so they did not have to walk into school alone. Some parents also noted that external agency support and mental health support were helpful.

"They are being as flexible as they possibly can be now but if they'd been this flexible right at the beginning how different would the outcomes have been."

"To acknowledge what we are going through, this is a real issue. The stress and pressures we are already facing as a family is really difficult to then have professionals question our ability of parenting."

"We had daily communication with the school who were willing to listen and help and it became a totally different experience."

"No one sent him a card. If he had broken his legs they would have. It didn't come across as though they want him back."

"We got a lovely email that was open and honest and not patronising. The person who sent it wasn't afraid to say he didn't know and that he would try and find things out. We felt included and respected."

"'The thought of having to pay a fine the house was a war zone."

"My child has to know exactly, maybe not just what will be expected but what won't be expected of her to kind of quell the fears that's she's got."

Other barriers to school attendance

Whilst Lancashire have chosen to use the term Emotionally Based School Avoidance to develop its package of support, there could be many reasons why a child might struggle to attend school. Some of these might include caring for a relative, helping around the house or spending time with peers outside of school. Equally, sometimes a child's worries about school or home may not be obvious and/or they may not appear to be anxious.

Part of the EBSA strategy involves school staff using the ATTEND framework as part of a discussion with parent, carers and children. The ATTEND framework is a tool designed to identify any barriers to school attendance. In Lancashire, we ask schools to use this framework with any child who has attendance under 90%, regardless of their presentation, so any support that is required can be put into place. The ATTEND framework is purchased by schools as part of the Lancashire EBSA training.

EBSA and the law

The Education Act 1996 places a legal duty on all parents to ensure that their child has an education and is attending school regularly. There are only certain reasons why a child might miss school, e.g., ill health. If it is deemed a parent is not supporting their child to access school it can lead to a variety of actions such as Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) and/or court action in a criminal or family court.

For young people experiencing EBSA and struggling to attend school, it is the head teacher's decision whether to authorise an absence or not. In February 2023, the Department for Education published new guidance: 'Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance: guidance for schools' on GOV.UK. It outlines the expectation for schools to build strong relationships with families, to listen to and understand barriers to attendance and work with families to remove them. The guidance shared that medical evidence is not required for schools to make adaptations to support a child and that as long as parents and carers are working with the school to improve attendance they should not be prosecuted.

The Lancashire EBSA strategy is in support of this approach by offering training, a toolkit and resources to support schools to support families. If a school did decide to refer for legal intervention, it would be expected that they have already tried an array of strategies to encourage and support your child's attendance (see the 'What can you expect the school to do? ' later on in this guide).

Autism and EBSA

Some parents who attended focus groups to contribute to this guidance have children who are autistic and are also experiencing EBSA. They queried whether the resources within the toolkit are the most appropriate way to support their children.

Autistic children can often face additional challenges in school. Sensory processing differences can make a child's surroundings unpredictable and overwhelming. School life can include busy corridors, uncomfortable uniform materials and bright lighting which all may be difficult for a child to tolerate. Autistic children may find it difficult to understand their own and other emotions which can make it difficult to process and regulate their emotions.

All of this uncertainty can contribute to autistic children experiencing feelings of anxiety. It is important, however, to remember that anxiety is not simply a part of Autism and it can be supported in its own right.

As with other children experiencing EBSA, it is important that adults supporting the autistic child work to identify what they are finding difficult to tolerate in school and the barriers they are experiencing. Hearing the child's experiences from their perspective is the most important step. Resources from the Lancashire EBSA toolkit can be really helpful for this, such as the 'Mapping the Landscape' activity which explores environmental and sensory experiences. Parents and carers can also be invaluable in sharing their knowledge of how to support a young person with the sensory and social challenges they experience and how this is managed in situations outside of school.

Schools should be well equipped to support autistic children. There is information on whole school approaches and intervention through quality first teaching within the Teaching And Learning Toolkit: Ordinarily Available Provision (PDF 1.49 MB) (pages 54 to 58).

The Autism Education Trust has also created the following video providing insight into how autistic young people experience school and their advice on how schools can support them: Top Tips on How to Support Autistic Young People from the AET Autistic Young Experts on YouTube.

There are also some helpful examples of adaptations to supporting autistic young people created by autistic young people that can be found here: Our key principles on the Autism Barriers to Education website.

How to get support?

We know that it can be really difficult to see your child upset. One of the best things you can do is calmly listen to your child and acknowledge how real their feelings are to them.

It is important that you share your concerns as early as possible with school staff. EBSA can be complex but it is important that everyone is working together to support your child.

A plan should be made between your child, you, and the school to help your child. Your child's views should be at the centre of that plan. We have found asking your child what the first step they feel they can achieve is can be really helpful. Steps should be small and the plan should be regularly reviewed between you and the school (we recommend at least every 2-4 weeks).

What can you expect the school to do?

Listen carefully to you and your child. They should acknowledge the challenges faced by your child and you as their parent or carer.

Maintain regular contact with you and your child, even during extended periods of non-attendance (at least twice weekly).

You and your child should have a named member of staff as a link person.

Follow the Lancashire Multi-agency Flowchart in supporting your child. This can be found on page 14 of the Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) guidance.

Work together with you and your child to find out what difficulties your child is experiencing and find ways of making school a happier place and improve their attendance.

Together you should make a plan that outlines what the next steps will be. It is important that adults take your child's lead in identifying what is an achievable first step.

Goal-setting should be done collaboratively with you and your child, ideally using the Target Monitoring Evaluation resource in the Lancashire EBSA Guidance. A date for review should be agreed within a 2-week period.

Respond to any school-based needs, such as academic support, dealing with bullying or support with social relationships.

Consider the support your child might require when they arrive at school. This might include meeting with a friend or key adult at a specific place and time, using a quiet space to settle before school starts, engaging in a preferred activity or being given a responsibility such as a monitor role.

If difficulties persist the school should consider requesting involvement from other professionals including their link educational psychologist.

Lancashire schools told us that they wanted training and resources to be able to support children and their families. This is now available to schools and more information can be found on the Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) guidance for professionals.

It is possible that there may be setbacks when following the plan. It is important that these are anticipated and solutions are found. If setbacks happen, whilst this can be difficult, try to keep an optimistic approach. If your child is not able to attend school on one day, start again the next day. At times, steps in the plan may need to be revisited. It is also important to remember it is likely to be more difficult after a school holiday, period of illness or after the weekend. If your child is finding the current plan too difficult, this may tell us that the next steps were too ambitious and need to be reviewed.

You may feel tempted to change schools, however, research tells us that often difficulties will re-emerge in the new school and whenever possible it is normally better to try to resolve the issue in the current school.

What can you do?

Speaking with your child about why they are not currently able to attend school is likely to make them anxious. It can be helpful to acknowledge this but tell them that you want to know how they think or feel. We have tried to include a range of resources that might support them in sharing their feelings and thoughts about school.

Sometimes children may find it hard to tell you face to face, perhaps you could ask them to write it down, email or text you. Some children also find it easier to draw how they are feeling.

Your child may benefit from having greater control over the strategies that they use to overcome their EBSA or what their first steps are. Although they will still need your support and guidance they will be more capable of carrying out some of the strategies independently and are likely to want to do them independently.

There are some activities within the EBSA toolkit that you may want to complete with your child or they may want to complete them with someone from school, whom they trust. There is a card sorting activity (pages 21-25) or a mapping the landscape activity (pages 26-31 for the primary version and pages 32-38 for the secondary version), which will help you and the school staff to understand what is 'pushing' or 'pulling' your child to being at home and at school. There is also a laddering activity (pages 39-43) which young people and parents have told us has helped in ordering their worries and looking at what the young person thinks are the first steps they can achieve in their return to school.

In our experience, a plan is likely to be most successful if the young person has ownership over the next steps they feel able to manage, rather than the adults making assumptions about this. It is also important to remember that these steps will likely need to be very small.

Finally, as a parent it can be really difficult to see your child unhappy. Make sure that you have someone to talk to too. This could be a friend, family member or an organisation such as those listed below or at the end of this guide.

Parents can speak with an educational psychologist from Lancashire Educational Psychology Service through the parent/carer helpline:

The Educational Psychology Service parent/carer helpline is temporarily closed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Lancashire SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SEND IAS) is a service that provides free, confidential, impartial advice and support to parents with special educational needs and children and young people with SEND.

What we have learnt supports improvements in children experiencing EBSA

Over the last two years we have seen examples of children experiencing EBSA successfully returning to school. Each reintegration has looked different for each child but there have been some common themes that school staff, families, children, and other practitioners have reported have contributed to the success.

A gradual plan/stepped approach involving very small steps with staff and parent/carers understanding that it is important to be prepared for setbacks. Small steps might include a staff member building a relationship with the child virtually, in the home or in a local park initially, practicing walking past school, going into school after school, completing learning in a support hub or choosing a favoured lesson to join initially.

A flexible approach must be taken in relation to the child's timetable to avoid pressure on a return to school. Parent/carers reported that it was helpful and avoided placing further stress on the situation when school staff worked together with them to find ways forward and avoided attendance procedures for prosecution.

Allowing the child more ownership and empowerment over next steps and what they felt able to manage; affording them choices around flexible expectations (e.g., choosing their start time). Young people found completing the 'laddering' activity where they were able to identify steps they felt were more achievable about returning to school (e.g., initially visiting school after school hours when pupils were not present).

Regaining trusted relationships for the child with key adults at school was a priority, building up the time they spend together/having daily contact.

It was essential to make it clear what is not expected of child as well as what will be expected by any visits to school (i.e., they will not be expected to stay longer/attend lessons, etc.).

Increasing the child's sense of school belonging (e.g., joining after-school clubs of interest).

Accessing a student support base as a 'safe space' within school.

Regular home-school communication (by key adult).

Building first upon areas of a child's interest and strength as a 'hook'/motivator.

Support for developing positive peer relationships by providing safe opportunities. This has included opportunities for social time with peers with a similar interest, having a buddy system and giving the child tools/scripts to use to explain their absence to others.

Supportive strategies to manage the child's anxiety regarding academic pressures (e.g., allowing the child to RAG rate lessons and removing subjects they find the most anxiety-provoking from their timetable; providing 'catch up' sessions for missed learning, initially focusing on preferred subjects.

Strategies to support with separation anxiety (e.g., allowing text check ins with family members at certain times).

Examples of targets for EBSA

Direct communication with the family. Direct written communication with the young person (e.g. through email).

Between one and three communications per week, including a mix of written and verbal exchanges, with one key person in schools.

Verbal communication, at least three times a week with two or more people.

Brief face to face communication, with at least one person, not on the school premises.

Sustained face to face communication, with at least one person, not on the school premises.

Brief face to face communication, with at least one person, on the school premises.

Sustained face to face communication, with at least one person, on the school premises.

Attending school on a part time basis.

Attending school full time, within an inclusion base or similar.

Attending school full time with a mix of mainstream lessons and withdrawal.

Attending school full time and accessing all mainstream lessons with support.

Attending school full time and accessing all mainstream lessons independently.

Case study example

Target 1

(Week 1): Daily email contact with key adult at school.

Target 2

(Week 2): Josh will be able to put on his uniform and walk past school during school hours at least once; daily email contact with key adult will continue.

Target 3

(Week 3):

Josh will have at least one contact (possibly via email, phone call or video call, depending on his preference) with at least two trusted members of staff.

Target 4

(Week 4): Josh to visit school at an after-school timing to meet with key adult in Student Support Base. Josh empowered to determine the duration of this.

Target 5

(Week 5): During Easter holidays, Josh to attempt walking past school supported by his mother.

Target 6

(Week 6): In the first week(s) of summer term, Josh to have one after school visit and 1-2 visits during school hours; by the third visit, for Josh to attempt some manageable work with a focus on 'catching up' missed/previously learned work.

Target 7

(Week 7): Josh to have after school visits (1-3) as an aim of having more regular visits to school which can then be built up over time to daily.

Target 8

Revisit previous target of Josh accessing after school time visits (1-3) then gradually increase again to afternoon timings during school hours.

Target 9

Josh to consistently access school from 12pm or 11am timings Josh to access lunchtime outside with peers.

Josh to access a PE lesson or maths or science lesson.

Sources of support

When a child is out of school, it can be worrying but also disrupting to family life. We know from families we have worked with that these disruptions can include having to take time off work or stop working completely, it can impact on time spent with other children in the family and the wellbeing of other family members.

Below are some local services that you may find it helpful to get in touch with.

Citizen's Advice can offer advice on finances and if you are entitled to any support if you are not working. You can search the Citizen's Advice website for your local Citizens Advice.

Young people, their families or practitioners can refer into Lancashire Young Carers which is ran by Barnardo's. This service may be able to offer support for siblings of children experiencing EBSA. Find out more on the Barnardo's Lancashire Young Carers website.

Adult mental health support can be found through Lancashire MIND and supporting services including free wellbeing coaching. For more information visit the Lancashire Mind website.

If you are concerned about your child's mental health, you can visit your GP and they may be able to make a referral to the child and adolescent mental health team: Children and Young People's Psychological Services: Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust website.

If you live in East Lancashire, parent/carers are able to make a referral to ELCAS. Further information can be found here: ELCAS Community Psychiatric Teams: East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust website.

If you have immediate concerns about your child's mental health and feel they are in crisis take them to A&E straight away. You can also telephone the 24/7 mental health helpline: 0800 923 0110

Kooth - Online support for children and young people (where they can remain anonymous) aged 10-18 years, (25 if SEND) available Monday - Friday 2pm-10pm, Saturday - Sunday 6pm-10pm. Kooth website.

Lancashire Parent Carer forum - The forum brings together parents and carers from across Lancashire with an aim to ensure the needs of children and young people are met. Please see the website for further details Lancashire Parent Carer Forum website.

Resources

Square Peg website
Square Peg are an organisation working to effect change for children who struggle to attend school and their families.

Not Fine in School website
Not Fine in School is a parent support and advice group made up of parents with children who have experienced attendance barriers.

Parents/ Carers EBSA Guidance | Support Services for Education website
Somerset Council offer a virtual training video for parents who are interested in learning more about EBSA and how to support your child at home.

Five Tips for Families | Suffolk County Council website
Suffolk County Council have provided some helpful fact sheets of the five tips for EBSA. These include noticing EBSA, answering anxious questions, advice for parents, ways to self-regulate for children and young people and planning a return to school.

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst (Author) and Joanne Lew-Vriethoff (Illustrator)
The invisible string is a story book that can be helpful for children who experience anxiety around separating from loved ones.

YoungMinds website and parent helpline
YoungMinds is a charity championing the wellbeing and mental health of young people. They offer support, advice and guidance to parents and young people. They run a parent helpline, webchat and email.

Lancashire and Cumbria autism support hub is for autistic people, clinicians and families to share knowledge, ideas and experiences. There is a range of support and advice that has been developed with autistic people, including information about school anxiety.

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This guidance has been produced by Lancashire Educational Psychology Service. It has been created based on current research/best practice and on what local families and schools have told us about things that are helpful for pupils with Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA). Feelings of worry or anxiety are something that everyone will experience from time to time.

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An intervention aimed at developing pupils' basic grasp of numeracy and number. The work covered aims to equip them with the foundations necessary to access the curriculum. Usually, this intervention is for students who are working at a level significantly below their peers.

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Pupils will study a range of fiction and non-fiction texts with scaffolded activities to build reading, writing and comprehension skills. This is usually an intervention aimed at students who are working significantly below their peers.

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Online based intervention to support reading, spelling and maths arithmetic. Students are assessed at the start of the programme track progress at termly intervals.

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Students will work in small groups for 15 minutes twice per week, focusing on fine motor skills to support handwriting. Pupils will also look at learning and spelling key vocabulary to support learning across all subjects.

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Lego therapy is an evidence-based social skills intervention, developed by Dr. Dan LeGoff, that uses Lego bricks to teach communication and teamwork to children with social communication difficulties, especially those on the autism spectrum. In small groups, children are given specific roles, like engineer, builder, or supplier, to collaboratively build Lego models, requiring them to share, take turns, listen, and problem-solve to complete the task.

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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.
LEGO®-Based Therapy was developed in the mid-1990s by US paediatric neuropsychologist Daniel LeGoff. He was inspired by watching two of his customers with Autism Spectrum Disorder play with LEGO in his waiting room and displaying previous non-demonstrated positive social interactions.

While initially developed for children with autism, LEGO®-Based Therapy has since been found to benefit children with a variety of communication and social developmental difficulties.

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.

Children with autism sometimes find it challenging to understand what is expected of them in a social situation, particularly within unstructured play activities. LEGO®-Based Therapy provides a highly structured environment where everyone plays a specific role within the group. This can help children with autism feel calm and relaxed as they are doing something that they enjoy and know precisely what to expect and what is expected of them.

At Therapy Focus, we regularly host LEGO®-Based Therapy groups to help our customers work towards their goals. We usually call them LEGO® Club.

What happens during a LEGO®-Based Therapy session?

During a LEGO®-Based Therapy session, three or four children of similar ages and abilities work together to build a LEGO® model following.

Each child takes on one of four specific roles to do this:

The Engineer oversees reading and relaying the instructions. The Engineer must tell the Supplier what pieces to retrieve and tell the Builder how to build the model.

The Supplier oversees finding the correct LEGO pieces. The Supplier must listen to the Engineer and figure out what piece to retrieve, and then given these pieces to the Builder.

The Builder oversees physically building the model. The Builder must listen to instructions provided by the Engineer and receive the pieces that are retrieved by the Supplier.

The Foreman makes sure everyone is doing what they need to do. They provide help to other roles when needed and look out for social challenges that may need problem-solving by the group.

Using this format provides each child with an opportunity to practice and develop a wide range of skills, including language skills (in both giving and receiving instructions) turn-taking, negotiating, sharing and collaborative social problem-solving. It also encourages children to reflect on their own actions and skills as well as give constructive feedback to their peers.

Can you do LEGO®-Based Therapy at home?

Absolutely! Dust off some of those LEGO® sets and get the family involved with LEGO Therapy at home.

Do not have any LEGO® sets at home? That is okay! If you have random LEGO bricks search 'simple LEGO builds' on Google, and you'll be provided with a range of different things to build.

Two, three, or four people can join in this activity with each person taking on a fun role!

Playing with three people:

1. First, choose someone to be the Engineer. This person will be the gatekeeper of the LEGO® project (the instruction booklet). The other members of the group are not allowed to see the project book. This means The Engineer will need to use their communication skills to describe the pieces needed and how to put them together.

2. The Engineer provides instructions to both the Supplier and the Builder.

3. The Engineer will describe the size, shape, colour, how many pieces, and how many bumps the LEGO® pieces need.

4. The Engineer will provide instructions for how to build the project. For example, the Engineer could say "Put the white piece in the middle of the blue roof" if you were building a house.

5. Second, choose someone to be the Supplier. This is a pivotal role in the world of construction.

6. The Supplier is responsible for ensuring that they have the correct pieces of LEGO for the Builder.

7. The Supplier can 'check-in' with the Engineer by showing them the LEGO piece and confirming it is correct.

8. If it is correct, they pass it to the Builder.

9. If it is incorrect, the Supplier can ask for more information from the Engineer.

10. Finally, choose someone to play the most coveted role in the project - the Builder.

11. The Builder is responsible for building the project.

12. The Builder listens to instructions provided by the Engineer for building.

13. The Builder must work with the Engineer to ensure what they are building is the same as what is in the project booklet.

Playing with two people.

If there are only two of you, one person can take on two roles. For example, one person may be the Supplier and Builder and the other person the Engineer.

Playing with four people.

If you have four people, then the Foreman role can be introduced. The Foreman makes sure the team are working together to build their project. This person can share encouraging words, compliment others, or help someone with their role.

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What is LEGO-based therapy? Expert Advice - Therapy Focus

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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. LEGO®-Based Therapy was developed in the mid-1990s by US paediatric neuropsychologist Daniel LeGoff.

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Outdoor learning is an active, experiential approach to education that takes place outside traditional classrooms, leveraging the environment to enhance understanding, skills, and wellbeing. It involves planned, purposeful activities that can happen on school grounds or off-site, using nature and real-world settings to teach various subjects, build problem-solving skills, improve mental health, and foster environmental awareness and resilience.

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A 6-12 week intervention to support pupils who struggle with one or more aspects of executive functioning such as:

organisational skills

memory

planning

note-taking

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A 6-12 week intervention which helps pupils to manage and control their anger. Sessions will focus on recognising triggers and understanding hat triggers their own anger. Pupils will then practise and learn coping strategies and techniques which they can use when their anger is triggered.

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A 6–12 week intervention which aims to develop pupil's ability to manage anxiety. The intervention will teach pupils to know and recognise the physical and emotional symptoms of anxiety and will teach them why our bodies react this way (fight or flight, production of adrenaline and cortisol). Pupils will learn and practise using mindful and grounding techniques, such as mindful breathing, guided visualisation and grounding techniques before learning strategies to use when they are feeling anxious.

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A 6 week intervention aimed at female students which focuses on staying safe online, body image, managing friendships and relationships, developing assertiveness and avoiding peer pressure.

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A 6 week intervention designed to support male students in managing their behaviour more effectively. The sessions aims to develop positive engagement with school, with a view to reducing the number of negative behaviour points and increase attainment.

The sessions will teach student to recognise the difference between positive and negative behaviours both in themselves and others and will encourage pupils to reflect on their own behaviour.

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Information for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.

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Special educational needs and disabilities - local offer

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The local offer brings together information for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.

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SNJ is a website dedicated to supporting parents and professionals in navigating the complex, and often confusing, SEND system.

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Special Needs Jungle provides parent-centred information, news, resources and informed opinion about SEN, disability, children’s health and SEN politics

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Lancashire SEND Information, Advice and Support Service is a statutory service which is run at ‘arm’s length’ from the Local Authority and provides free, confidential, impartial advice, guidance and support to parents of children with special educational needs and children and young people with SEND

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More information

Lancashire SEND Information, Advice and Support Service is a statutory service which is run at 'arm's length' from the Local Authority and provides free, confidential, impartial advice, guidance and support to parents of children with special educational needs and children and young people with SEND

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If you wish to discuss any of the Interventions listed below please get in touch with us. You can speak to any of the following:

Form Tutor

Director of House

Keyworker (if they have one)

SENDCo

if you have a general query about SEND please email send@parkhigh.apex-trust.org

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These kinds of difficulties can show in lots of ways, such as being withdrawn or isolated or having challenging and disruptive behaviour. Difficulties could include things like:

social anxiety, phobias or refusing school

mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming or an eating disorder

physical symptoms that there is no identified cause for

attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)

attachment disorder or difficulties

self-esteem and confidence issues

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These are physical and sensory things (over or under sensitive senses such as touch or hearing) that could make it more difficult for your child to learn in a usual school or college environment. SEN in this area might include:

difficulties with hearing or sight or multisensory impairment

sensory triggers or difficulties

any physical disability

problems with fine or gross motor skills – fine motor skills are small movement skills such as picking something up between thumb and fingers and using it, gross motor skills are larger movements such as running and jumping

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This is about how your child communicates with others and their relationships and social skills. SEN in this area might include:

speech and language difficulties

problems communicating with others, such as not being able to say what they want to, or having difficulties understanding what’s being said to them

not understanding or using social rules or how relationships with other people work

struggling with their relationship with you, any siblings, wider family and friends

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This is about how your child learns and how they think. Some learning difficulties may be obvious, whereas others aren’t. SEN in this area might include:

difficulties reading or writing or with maths

specific difficulties such as dyslexia or issues learning new skills

issues with memory, organisation or planning

a reduced ability to learn because they have difficulty managing their emotions