Ready Steady Reception

A senior therapy assistant will train and support a member of staff to run an intervention group for reception aged children on the following topics, which are a combination of OT and SLT Topics:

Topics covered:

• Communication and interaction
• Pre-writing

Meeting the needs of your school

BCHC Plus Occupational Therapy services are provided by qualified and experienced Occupational Therapists, employed by BCHC and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Occupational Therapists are trained to understand the whole person, including physical health, mental health, cognitive difficulties, neurodivergence, emotional and behavioural needs and their impact upon occupation. This expertise allows our Occupational Therapists to assess for, and recommend environmental adaptations, equipment, aids and strategies. Our Occupational Therapists can also produce individual treatment plans and deliver evidence-based interventions to enhance occupational functioning of children and young people within all education settings.

All the work carried out will be agreed collaboratively by the setting and the therapist, ensuring a tailored service that meets the desired outcomes, priorities and needs at a universal, targeted, and specialist level.

BCHC Plus Occupational Therapy service can provide:

Universal level

Bespoke training packages, with the aim of strengthening the skill base of staff, increasing knowledge and understanding of occupational performance difficulties, and providing practical advice and strategies that can be used within the classroom to support children experiencing these.

Examples of our training sessions include:

• School based occupations (e.g handwriting)

• Motor co-ordination difficulties 

Targeted level

• Screening and identification of children and young people that would benefit from occupational therapy intervention
• Environmental assessments within the setting to inform recommendations regarding adaptations to maximise occupational participation and performance of pupils
• Recommendations of classroom strategies and equipment to support the pupils' needs and engagement in learning.
• Development and implementation of therapy programmes for an identified group of children, modelling to teaching staff and assistants
• Delivery of parental workshops to provide strategies and support to the parents or carers

Specialist level

One-to-one assessments of identified children experiencing functional difficulties within in the classroom related to:

• Co-ordination (fine/gross motor skills and the impact on functional participation in activities of daily living)
• Core stability
• Motor planning skills
• Visual perceptual skills
• Sensory processing differences
• Self-regulation
• Self-care (dressing, feeding and toileting)

Individual goals and evidence-based treatment plans can be developed and reviewed, along with the provision of detailed individual reports and contributions towards annual review meetings as per the individual needs of the education setting.