At Rosamond School, our Allied Health team use a consultative model to deliver supporting therapeutic strategies to our students. This means, we work closely with teachers and educational support staff in the classroom to ensure that students can get the most out of the curriculum and their learning at school. We work with students across all year levels and collaborate closely with families at home to understand each student’s individual learning needs and provide accessible learning for all ages.

Our multidisciplinary therapy team consists of Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists and a Mental Health Practitioner who collaborate closely to create a well-rounded approach to therapy that meets a wide range of student needs.

By working with classroom staff and the other key people in our students’ lives, we aim to have “therapy” happen all day, every day, not just when we are around.

Occupational Therapy

The goal of our Occupational Therapists is to provide all students with the support to participate in school activities and access the curriculum.

We work closely with our Early Years teachers and education support staff to deliver a ‘Floortime’ approach to learning. The DIR Floortime model is a ‘Developmental’, ‘Individual-differences’, and ‘Relationships-based’ model. Via this model, we are able to build healthy foundations for social, emotional and intellectual capacities. We look at ‘Development’ from the perspective of the student, where they are currently ‘at’ and where they are heading. We identify ‘Individual-differences’ by understanding how each student takes in, regulates, responds to, and comprehends their surroundings. We aim to create a safe space where students trust our staff members due to the healthy relationships that exist between them. Strong relationships are key to promoting positive student development.

Consistent collaboration with classroom teachers, across the school, enables us to identify challenges preventing students from participating within the school environment. Some of the key areas that we, as Occupational Therapists, support include:

Through collaboration with classroom teachers across the school we are able to identify challenges preventing students from participating within the school environment. Some of the key areas that we as Occupational Therapists support include:

• Interoceptive awareness and emotional regulation
• Handwriting and typing
• Sensory processing
• Fine motor skills
• Gross motor skills
• Self-care (toileting, feeding, dressing)
• Play

By working closely with teachers (and their support staff), we are able to set up programs that allow ‘therapy’ to be embedded throughout the school week.

Speech Pathology

At Rosamond School our Speech Pathologists work closely with teachers and Education Support staff to enhance students’ understanding of spoken information, use of language, speech sounds, and literacy skills. Staff and students are also supported in using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), including Key Word Sign, Proloquo2go, Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display (PODD), and Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP). We welcome and encourage students to use their personal communication systems at school to ensure AAC is always available when required.

As support is tailored to individual student needs, delivery of supports may look different for each student. We may work with students individually, in small groups, or as a whole class however our ultimate goal is for strategies to be implemented throughout the day by teachers and Education Support staff so that ‘therapy’ can occur daily.