At Springfield School, we place great importance on the emotional and social well-being of our students. We believe that for children to fully engage with learning and benefit from our broad and balanced curriculum, their emotional and sensory needs must be recognised and supported.
To help achieve this, we are proud to offer our purpose-built Behaviour and Therapy Centre- a safe, supportive space designed to meet a wide range of individual needs. The centre provides targeted support in areas such as:
- Emotional understanding and awareness
- Sensory regulation
- Social skills and relationship-building
- Processing significant life events
Our dedicated team works closely with students to help them develop resilience, improve self-regulation, and build the confidence they need to succeed both in and out of the classroom. The centre is an integral part of our inclusive approach, ensuring every child feels valued, understood, and empowered to reach their full potential.
Play Therapy
Play therapy is a unique therapeutic approach where students use play, art and creative activities to express their emotions and experiences. It provides a safe environment, allowing individuals to communicate in ways that feel comfortable to them.
Sometimes, words cannot fully capture what someone is feeling, or students might not be able to effectively communicate their emotions. Whether it's through drawing, role-playing, sensory exploration or using toys, play gives individuals a way to process and understand their feelings without the pressure of having to explain them. Play therapy at Springfield School is a 1:1 session with a trained play therapist to support pupils to process significant life events and provides a nurturing environment for pupils to regulate their emotions.
Music Therapy
Music therapy is designed to help pupils develop skills and understanding in emotional regulation, effective communication and appropriate social behaviours. Music therapy can incorporate listening to music, playing instruments, singing, signing, vocalising, moving to music and writing songs. Music therapy develops pupils' self-esteem and confidence and gives pupils opportunities to explore emotional expression and creativity.
Music Therapy at Springfield School is delivered by a trained music therapist as a 1:1 session or a whole class session depending on need and gives further opportunities for pupils to make progress towards Education, Health and Care Plan targets as well as improve their overall well-being.
Rebound Therapy
Rebound therapy uses the trampoline as a therapeutic tool to support sensory integration, develop fundamental movement skills and progress social and communication skills. The setting allows pupils to move freely, and transfer the communication, transition and social skills learnt in the classroom, to a new environment.
Rebound therapy at Springfield School is delivered by a trained rebound therapist as a 1:1 session and is hugely beneficial to our pupils' holistic development.
Counselling
At Springfield School, counselling sessions can be offered from the Behaviour Therapy Centre by a trained child counsellor. These sessions are 1:1 and are designed to create a safe space for students to explore their thoughts, feelings and experiences with a trained professional. The sessions support pupils to cope with challenges that they are facing through building resilience and providing healthy problem-solving strategies and coping mechanisms.
Lego Therapy
Lego Therapy is a structured play session that develops pupils social, communicative and emotional skills and understanding. At Springfield School, Lego Therapy runs as small group sessions to progress skills of turn taking, sharing, collaboration and empathy. Within the sessions, pupils take on different roles (engineer, builder, supplier etc.) to support them to explore different communication styles and develop key social skills.
Nurture Sessions
As well as sessions offered by trained therapists, the Behaviour and Therapy Centre Team also offers support from staff trained in positive behaviour support, sensory integration strategies and emotional literacy.
Some nurture sessions are 1:1 to provide support for sensory integration, emotional regulation and effective communication skills to enable pupils to access the wider school and curriculum.
There are also nurture sessions offered as a small group, the focus being around transition to new spaces, developing social skills with a different group of peers and appropriately regulating their emotions within a social context. These sessions provide oppportunities to further develop pupils Education, Health and Care Plan targets as they progress social awareness and provide strategies to use in the classroom and at home to support appropriate emotional regulation.
Springfield School also offers specific 1:1 nurture sessions with a trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) to develop pupils emotional understanding and regulation. These sessions support pupils to access the wider school and offers strategies and skills to support pupils' emotional regulation in the home and community contexts too.
