Dominic's Story

As part of the assessments that take place once a child enrols at Hall Cliffe Primary, we could see that with therapeutic input from our speech and language therapist and occupational therapist we could help adjust the learning environment to make engagement in lessons much more accessible for Dominic. We provided him with his own wobble cushion for his chair, ear defenders and access to our sensory room so that he could self-regulate his behaviours.

As a school we have worked in collaboration with Children’s Social Care to support Mum and Dominic’s siblings and this has resulted in him being able to access respite care within his local area. We have established a close relationship with respite staff and ensured a close handover so that we could support Dominic with this transition in the best possible way. To further enhance our work with the respite team, we invite them to our ‘Internal Team Around the Child’ meetings so that we were able to support each other and the family.

Dominic now has 100% attendance and has made outstanding progress in all curriculum areas. He is a happy and valued member of our school community and has become a HERO (Helps Everyone, Respect Others). As part of this very special role Dominic has recently helped to plan activities for other children during Anti-Bullying week. He has been able to show visitors around the school and helps new children to settle into the school.

The boy that was labelled the ‘naughty’ child is now a role model who has flourished in an environment that is tailored to his needs. A true hero if ever there was one.