SENSS Assistive Technology (AT) Team

The SENSS Assistive Technology (AT) Team is part of SENSS which is a countywide Special Educational Needs (SEN) teaching and advisory support service.

The AT Team offers a specialist multi-disciplinary assessment, intervention, and review of highly specialist ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) for children and young people who have special educational needs or disability that primarily affecting their physical access.

For general advice for ICT and SEN pupils please contact the OXSIT team or see the AT Team training offer and Local offer.

What’s important to us (our values):

We work in partnership to identify ways in which technology can support access to the curriculum and/or aid communication for children and young people.

Our aim is that children and young people make good progress, achieve well and enjoy school, family and community life.

What we do:

We provide an outreach service in the child/young person’s school or home. This service includes:

·        Carrying out assessments, for children and young people who have special educational needs or a disability that primarily affects their physical access, to ascertain how ICT can be used to support a child/young person’s access to the curriculum

·        Carrying out assessments to ascertain how AAC can be used to support a child/young person’s communication needs.

•   Working closely with staff at school to support access to learning through ICT, following the school’s interventions programs or scheme of work.

·        Providing comprehensive reports which explain how technology can support the child/young person, identifying the management and training implications.

·       Ensuring that the views, wishes, perspectives and experiences of the child/young person are fully reflected in the provision.

·        Providing training for children/young people, families and schools in the use of specialist equipment such as Eye-Gaze and switch access and specialist software such as Dolphin’s Supernova software.

·        Offering general advice, through the AT team training offer and the Local Offer, and information to parents, schools and support agencies about hardware, software and support with communication.

·        On-going monitoring and reviewing of the child/young person’s equipment and ICT/Communication needs when  appropriate.

•   We base our work on the strongest evidence base recognising that there are other approaches

Who we offer this service to:

We work with children and young people:

·  Who have difficulty in communicating with others and/or accessing the curriculum without the use of specialist ICT resources

How and when we do it:

·  We are a service which is available during school term time.

·  We work primarily in schools and educational settings, but also in homes, where necessary.

·  We work with a range of professionals including specialist advisory teachers ,therapists and highly specialist centres with expertise in Alternative and Augmentative Communication  .

·  We work closely with SENCOs, class teachers, teaching assistants and other support staff in schools.

· We liaise closely with families and we work collaboratively with other agencies involved with the child.

· We provide advice, support and interventions.

· We offer a range of training from individual training around a child/young person’s needs to whole school and specialist courses to support continuing professional development

SENSS staff work hard, in partnership with schools and families, to ensure that children with SEND are well supported.  In doing this they are entitled to respect.  SENSS will not tolerate rudeness or any behaviour toward staff that undermines them and we request that staff are treated with respect at all times. Thank you for your support in this.

Safeguarding

We respect the need for confidentiality and the responsible and informed sharing of personal information. If there are concerns regarding a child’s safety we would, having, where possible, initially identified our concerns with the parents/ carers, liaise with Social Care in accordance with Oxfordshire’s Safeguarding Children procedures. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/report-child-abuse

Comments, Compliments and Complaints:

If you wish to make a comment , give a compliment or make a complaint about the service, please contact SENSS on 01865 323070 and ask to speak to a senior manager. Or you can email the service at senss@oxfordshire.gov.uk. Alternatively contact: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/comments-compliments-and-complaints-about-oxfordshire-county-council