Who are we?

We are a Specialist Resource Provision (SRP) and known within the school as Birch Class. Birch Class supports children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) who require highly specialist provision for their Speech, Language and/or Communication needs (SLCN).

The children who access the SRP have a diagnosis of:

• A Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
• A Language Disorder associated with a biomedical condition
• And/or a speech disorder

We have a team comprised of a Specialist Teacher, an additional teacher to provide support when needed, two Teaching Assistants and two Speech and Language Therapists who work in collaboration with mainstream classroom teachers and TAs to deliver bespoke teaching and speech and/or language programmes. Teaching including English, Mathematics and Phonics are delivered in Birch class as well as interventions which are targeted to each individual child. As a provision, we follow the National Curriculum, but at a level and rate appropriate for each individual.

All children are on an individual timetable which is organised depending on their individual needs. Every child within Birch Class is also assigned to a Base Class within school. They will have many opportunities to be taught in their Base Class and this also includes extra-curricular activities, break and lunchtimes, afterschool clubs and trips. Every child who attends The John Wesley CEMP School attends daily worship, in line with our school’s ethos and Church status.

Our Aims:

• To enable our children to be involved in a base class within the school so that they feel included and part of the wider school.
• To provide children with a broad and balanced curriculum that is appropriate and accessible to our children.
• To allow our children to have intensive speech and language support across the curriculum.
• To provide a structured, supportive and nurturing environment where children can feel secure, develop confidence and achieve their full potential.
• To use a wide range of teaching methods and strategies to support the children that we teach.
• To work in close partnership with parents and carers, outside agencies, the school teaching staff and the children.

How do we help?

• Every child has access to Speech and Language therapy which may be individual or small group. This therapy is tailored to meet each child's targets.
• We provide small group teaching which allows children to have unhurried time and opportunities to consider their ideas and to plan responses in a nurturing environment.
• We use Communicate in Print to support our learning and understanding of our environment. These symbols are also used across the school.
• Children use Cued Articulation alongside the phonic programme Sounds Write - a multisensory approach to litracy. Cued Articulation is also used across the school. Please see our Cued Articulation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rnO5l4ZK60 
• Other strategies used are: Language through Colour, Makaton and Language for Learning.