Newbury Manor School is proud to offer a range of on-site therapy for our students. Our highly experienced therapy team of both in-house staff and visiting professionals includes:
- Speech and Language Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
- Counsellor/Play Therapist
- Educational Psychologist
- Art therapist
- Music therapist
- Literary specialist
A toolkit approach
Newbury Manor School does not advocate one single type or brand of therapy. Instead, we prefer to take a ‘toolkit approach’, combining best practice from a number of different fields to create bespoke packages that fit the individual needs of our students. The types of therapeutic approaches/assessments used by the school include:
- Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
- Counselling
- Emotional Literacy
- Intensive Interaction
- Music Therapy
- Play Therapy
- Principles of ‘Unconditional Positive Regard’
- Social Stories
- Spectrum Star
- Talk Tools / PROMPT
- Talkabout Communication
- TEACHH
- Verbal Behaviour Analysis (VBA)
Specialist therapeutic facilities
Newbury Manor School has a range of specialist facilities which are used by the therapy team to support their work with our young people. These include:
- A sensory room where students can work on their visual, tactile and auditory stimulation
- A sensory integration room with suspended equipment
Our therapists’ specialisms
Speech and Language Therapist
Our highly experienced Speech and Language Therapist is registered with RCSLT and specialises in supporting young people with autism. She is a Makaton training co-ordinator and is trained in sign-along and PECS. She is also our Autism Lead and sits on SLT, meaning that her input can be felt at every strategic level of the school.
Occupational Therapist
Our Occupational Therapist specialises in sensory integration and is trained as a ‘listening programme’ provider.
Counsellor
Our counsellor is able to offer 1:1 or group sessions and can facilitate family and play therapy if required.
Literacy specialist
We employ a literacy specialist who offers skilled assessment and intervention and has been highly effective in helping a number of our pupils with dyslexia to increase their reading and spelling ages. With the support of our literacy specialist, one of our students increased his reading age by the equivalent of three years in six months.
Educational Psychologist
Our Educational Psychologist has over 25 years’ experience and is committed to empowering children, parents and others to use Psychology to help them fulfil their personal and academic potential.
Knowing when therapy is appropriate
Newbury Manor School only uses specific therapeutic techniques where:
- There is a clear and widely accepted theoretical basis/evidence base underpinning their effectiveness
- There is the continuing agreement of the young person’s parent/carer/responsible and the individual concerned where they have sufficient understanding to make an informed decision
- The specialist professionals are professionally qualified and, where applicable, registered by the appropriate professional body
An integrated approach to therapy
Here at Newbury Manor School, we do not see therapy as an ‘add on’ but as an integral element of the learning package for each of our young people. Our therapy team works closely with the wider staff team so that their expert knowledge is integrated into practice in our education and residential provision. Our Speech and Language Therapist also sits on our senior leadership team (SLT), allowing for her therapeutic-led expertise to influence the running of the school at a strategic level.
Whilst we strive to incorporate therapy into our overall approach to care and education across the school, we are still able to offer direct 1:1 and/or group therapy sessions where we feel this would be beneficial.
Our therapy, care and education teams work together to ensure that each individual pupil’s needs are met. The school’s 24 hour curriculum also allows residential pupils to work towards targets and outcomes set by the therapy team during the academic day and into the evening at the children’s home.
Using therapeutic techniques at home
When a pupil takes up a place at Newbury Manor School, we understand that we are not just welcoming the young person themselves to the school, but also their family. We recognise that supporting parents, carers and siblings can play a vital role in helping our young people to develop both academically and personally. For this reason, our therapy team welcomes parents/carers to visit the school and speak to them about techniques they can use with their child at home.