Resource Library

What are objects of reference? Objects of reference are objects that are used alongside spoken language to represent activities, people, places, or events. These objects can support transitions from one activity or place to another. You’re probably already using some objects of reference, for...

Download here: Glossary of words you will hear in secondary school  

Moving to secondary school can be a big step for some children. It can be difficult for children to remember what to do in certain situations, especially if they are feeling anxious or overwhelmed. How do we use the help cards in school? Use the ‘help’ cards to talk through these situations with...

What is a school planner? Most secondary schools provide their pupils with a planner. This helps the pupils to be organised. It is like a diary but it goes from September until July. The planner has different sections. The main part is the diary section. This is where pupils record homework they...

Visual Support When chatting with your child, referring to pictures or objects related to the conversation topic will help them to learn and remember new words. Use sign and gesture to support your spoken language.   ‘Here and Now’ Try to relate things to the ‘here and now’ and your...

What are social stories? Social stories are a personalised, visual approach that: Describe a social situation or context in a way that helps people with developmental disorders (often Autism) to understand Helps a child or young person to make sense of social situations, routines, the meaning of...

Children need to be able to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. You can try the following activities at home to help develop your child’s sound awareness skills: Rhyming games Nursery rhymes sit opposite your child so they can see your mouth moving sing nursery rhymes...

The aim of this resource is to answer some of the questions you may have about travelling abroad by aeroplane. Whilst families with children on ventilators are able to travel abroad, we would recommend that it is important to plan in advance, especially if you need to use either oxygen or...

What is comprehension monitoring? Some children find it difficult to understand language, and what people are saying to them. This might include instructions and stories. These children often also need support to be aware of times when they don’t understand information or instructions, for...

Pre and over-learning topic vocabulary using word webs Choosing vocabulary Select the most important vocabulary items from the curriculum (identified on a weekly or half-termly basis). Learning vocabulary Create a ‘Word Web’ for each word: what it means what it sounds like how many...

What is a school timetable? At secondary school your child will be given a timetable. The timetable tells them what lessons and breaks they have on each day of the week, who teaches the lesson and which classroom they need to go to. Some schools have a two week timetable called Week A and Week...

What is an ‘All about me’ sheet? When a child is moving to secondary school, it can be helpful for their new teachers and SENCO to learn more about them. This information will help them best support the child in school and put extra help in place where needed. How do I use an...

What does emotionally dysregulated mean? Being emotionally regulated means that you are ‘emotionally available’ to interact and learn. When we are emotionally dysregulated we might feel cross, anxious, stressed, upset, distracted and this makes it hard to be ‘emotionally available’ to...

What are people games? People games are physical games you play with your child without any toys, for example, tickling and chasing. Why are people games so great for communication and interaction? There are lots of opportunities for your child to take a turn as they are repetitive and predictable....

What is understanding and managing feelings? Some children have gaps in their vocabularies for ‘feelings words’. This means that they can struggle to know and communicate how they feel. This can make it hard for them to manage feelings which can impact on their behaviour. We can use strategies...

When your child starts at their new secondary school, they will come across some new words that they may not have heard before. At secondary school, there are some new lessons that they won’t have done before or that may have different names to ones they used at primary, for example, food...

We will resolve complaints through an accessible, personal and flexible approach, treating each complaint according to its individual nature and your wishes. If you have a concern about any aspect of your visit please speak to a member of staff as soon as possible; we will try to resolve your...

The Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust collects and shares information relating to you and your child. What happens to the information that you give us about you and your child? Wherever possible we remove personal details to make it anonymous. Information may then be shared with other...

Simplify questions Questions that require the young person to summarise and retell can be too hard, for example, asking “Tell me what happened”. This requires the young person to ‘read-between-the-lines’ and understand what you might be referring to, pick out the important parts of an...

Introduction Your therapist has given you exercises to help with the healing of your injury and the movement of the area affected. Sometimes children can feel worried about doing the exercises or they can find it uncomfortable or painful. You may have been given medication for pain relief from your...