Head praises 'huge impact' of measures to help SEND pupils

A Somerset headteacher has said she’s noticed a huge impact since bringing in a specialist to help children with conditions like autism and ADHD.

Paulton Infants School also has a dedicated class for pupils with special educational needs.

Emily Omell's comments come after ITV News revealed many families in the West Country are struggling to get their children the right education - with many not going to school at all.

Paulton Infants hires in a SEN consultant to run 'Thrive' sessions. Sarah Copsey works for Apple A Day Supply and regularly visits the school to run sessions with small groups of children.

The activities and games help the children to develop strategies to cope in the classroom. She said: "These activities have been specifically chosen to help these children because, for whatever reason, they're not able to self-regulate whilst in the classroom.

"What this session is doing is helping to, through specific activities, help remap the brain to be able to increase their self-regulation system and be able to engage in classes."

Headteacher Emily Omell said: " I have noticed a huge impact. They may have been classroom avoiding, running out of classrooms, being very vocal, maybe throwing objects, all sorts of things - they weren't able to regulate their emotions.

"Putting in place interventions such as Thrive really supports them, as well as making sure that the learning environment meets their needs as well."