Health Team
The Health Team at Portesbery School consists of Nurses, Physiotherapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and their support staff. The team are employed by the NHS and Surrey County Council, but work as an integral part of the school community, working in partnership with pupils, parents, carers and teaching staff. The aim of the team is to ensure that the health needs of the pupils are met so that they may achieve their full potential whilst at school.
Nursing Team
The Nursing Team become involved with a pupil through an initial health assessment, prior to the pupil starting school. Any health needs will be identified and staff training will then take place through a rolling programme, covering generic topics including; epilepsy management, administration of medication, enteral feeding, oxygen use and suctioning, asthma and infection control. The second part of the training involves practical sessions specific to individual pupil’s needs, with ongoing classroom support once the child is attending school.
The Nursing Team regularly liaise with other professionals within the community, including GP’s, Community Nurses, Consultants, Dieticians, Continence Service, and Social Services.
The Nursing Team are supported by 2 visiting Paediatricians, and clinics are held at school on a termly basis. Other clinics include immunisations, growth assessment, audiology and vision screening. The aim is that children will be able to have most of their health care coordinated at school and therefore mimimise their time at appointments and optimise their attendance at school.
You can telephone the Portesbery Nursing Team directly on 01252 832104.
You can access more information about the Special School Nursing Service at the following website:
https://childrenshealthsurrey.nhs.uk/services/school-nursing-specialist-schools
Physiotherapy Team
Physiotherapy is provided at Portesbery School. If your child has been referred, they will be assessed and allocated to a physiotherapist.
The team consists of two Physiotherapists and a technical instructor, who oversee the physical management programmes at school.
The programme is implemented throughout the school day and monitored regularly through liaison with both class staff and parents.
Relevant wheelchair and Orthotic clinics are held at school and parents are very welcome if they wish to attend with their child.
Should you wish to contact us regarding any aspect of your child’s physiotherapy provision, please feel free to call us either at school, or at Berkshire Road Clinic (Camberley) on 01483 782840.
You can telephone the Portesbery Therapy Team directly on 01252 838646.
Speech and Language Therapy Team
Speech and Language Therapy is provided onsite at Portesbery School and is funded by Surrey County Council. The Speech and Language Therapy team is comprised of two Speech and Language Therapists and two Speech and Language Therapy Assistants. Our primary goal is to support the class teams in establishing a functional means of communication for the students and ensure their opportunities to communicate are maximised.
There is regular input into every class. Our close links with the class teams and being onsite means we are available to problem solve and pick up on changing needs in a timely manner. Input is matched to each student’s identified needs.
Class teams have a good skill mix to implement individualised communication strategies across the whole day. Where needed, we provide general and child specific training and modelling of strategies for school staff which is part of their continuous professional development. We work with the school staff to offer training opportunities to parents and carers.
We also provide input for students with eating and/drinking across the school. Our overall aim is making meal and snack times as safe and pleasurable as possible for all students. For referred students we provide assessment, advice, adaptions and child specific training for key adults to increase the safety of oral eating/drinking.
If you wish to contact us to discuss your child’s communication or eating / drinking skills please feel free to call us at school or send us a message via the home-school book.
You can telephone the Portesbery Therapy Team directly on 01252 838646.
Occupational Therapy Team
Children’s Occupational Therapy is concerned with enabling children to participate more successfully in daily life. The focus is to improve skills for self-care, leisure and educational tasks. This may include assessment and provision of equipment to aid function and postural management, therapy sessions and/or programmes for implementation at school or home. Assessment and intervention will focus on difficulties and the underlying skills that impact on function e.g. motor, sensory, perception and cognition.
The Occupational Therapy service provided at Portesbery School is through Surrey Community Health.
The Occupational Therapy team work as part of the school team and in close liaison and collaboration with school, multidisciplinary team and home. Intervention may be direct (assessment and therapy) and/or indirect (provision of programmes, setting of goals).
If your child has been referred to the Occupational Therapy service, you will be notified and your child will be assessed at school. Following assessment a report, recommendations/care plan and any suggested programmes will be provided.
You can contact the O.T. team regarding any aspect of your child’s Occupational Therapy at Frimley Children’s Centre on 01483 782810.
You can telephone the Portesbery Therapy Team directly on 01252 838646.