A WALNEY School are doing everything they can to help support children with communication difficulties.

George Hastwell School have been running music therapy sessions within school for many years now to support their students, many of whom have more challenging needs.

Every Wednesday a specialist music therapist, called Ann Bruce comes into school running both small group and one-to-one music therapy sessions.

Karen Baxter, headteacher of the school, said: “The sessions support emotional regulation and allows children more appropriate ways to express their emotions.

“It is also fun and engaging because it is child-led, giving the children a sense of control and purpose when communicating with an adult.

“Children sometimes don’t see a purpose to communicating, and can be locked in to their own world.

“Music can unlock a child’s communicative potential and gives them an engaging way to relate to another person.

“It is a shared experience with another person and there are no right or wrong ways to communicate, it can be small and subtle or very loud.”

When asked whether a child feels more frustrated if they cannot communicate properly, Mrs Baxter said: "Children definitely feel frustrated if they can’t communicate their feelings.

"Music can give them an outlet for these feelings whilst also improving their communication skills at the same time.”

The school also uses various other strategies to help their children communicate. This includes Makaton signing, which is a simplified version of British Sign Language developed to support people with learning and communication needs. It does not replace spoken language, but promotes speech alongside signing.

They also support students using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), where pupils exchange symbols for something they would like. This again supports the development of spoken language.

George Hastwell School uses these and other techniques to help children to overcome their communication difficulties, always striving to support each student the best they can and to help each one become as independent as possible.