Schools Partnership Programme
Autism support for schools
We provide Autism support for schools, offering nursery, primary, and secondary schools transitional support for Autistic children starting a school for the first time.
Whether that’s transitioning from nursery to primary school or from primary to secondary school, we know from our work with young Autistic children and their families that this time can be challenging even traumatic for children, parents and teachers in school. We also know this is a crucial time for young Autistic children to build their confidence, and feel understood and supported.
Delivered by our qualified and experienced Child Psychotherapists and Paediatric Occupational Therapists, who have extensive experience working with Autistic children we will work with parents and school teaching and support staff to ensure children realise their full potential.
What we offer
- Autism support for schools
- Online assessment of Autistic children or children with autistic traits.
- Face-to-face individual support to children in school and in the home.
- Online support to parents of Autistic children.
- Online support to teaching and support staff.
- School consultations
- ‘Be Yourselves’ A classroom-based group programme. Designed to play an important role in the assessment and prevention of early signs of body image difficulties, body shaming, and low self-esteem, and to reduce episodes of bullying and cyber-bullying against all children including those with Autism.
New School's Transition Programme
Therapeutic support for Nursery to Primary and Primary to Secondary.
Confident Autism School's Transition
Equipping SEND, teaching and support staff with specialist skills.
'Be Yourself' Group Intervention
Improving body image difficulties, self-esteem, well-being .
New School’s Transition Programme
Nursery to Primary and Primary to Secondary.
Starts February-March
- Assessment: 5 sessions carried out over 2 weeks
- Session 1: An online meeting with parents to gather crucial information through our caregiver questionnaire.
- Session 2: Home observation by our therapeutic team.
- Session 3: A class observation by our therapeutic team.
- Session 4: A review meeting with parents to provide feedback and communicate areas of support.
- Session 5: A review with teaching staff and SENCO of findings and next steps.
April – July
Therapeutic Support
- Two 1-hour Child Psychotherapist and Occupational Therapist Sessions with the child and parent or child-parent and school staff, will be carried out in school or at home. X 6 sessions.
- End of term review with Lead Therapist, Child Psychotherapist, Occupational Therapist, parents and teaching staff.
- End of term report and recommended ongoing support programme to be provided to the school, the new school and to parents.
September – New school start
- Two 1-hour Child Psychotherapist and Occupational Therapist Sessions once a week before school starts with parents and child at home (to support the child to be ready for the new school).
- Week one of school: 1-hour Occupational Therapist session with new school staff and child (the Occupational Therapist will review the environment, support staff to implement the programme and support the child to settle).
- Week two of school: 1 hour Child Psychotherapist session with new school staff and child (to support the child, staff, the programme and to support the development of secure attachment).
Confident Autism Parenting
We can bring together up to 10 parents of Autistic children (or showing signs of Autism) once a week for 1 hour for 6 weeks online to support them through school transition equipping them with strategies and skills to be able to support their child and build effective relationships with the school and teaching staff.
The programme delivered by our therapeutic team will be co-created and peer-supported by parents, online in a private mutually supportive environment.
The programme is beneficial to families and their children but also to schools, as parents become better equipped to support their child through this challenging transition.
Total cost: £960.00
Confident Autism School’s Transition
We can bring together SEND, Teaching and support staff to equip them with the specialist skills to transition Autistic children (or showing signs of Autism) through the next stages of their education.
Once a week, online for 6 weeks we will support them through school transition equipping them with strategies and skills to be able to help autistic children and build effective relationships with the school teaching staff and parents.
The programme delivered by our therapeutic team will be, online in a private mutually supportive environment.
The programme aims to reduce early-term absence, increase engagement and reduce exclusions and challenging behaviour during transitions.
Total cost per group: £960
School Consultation Support
We provide confidential online consultation support to schools for advice or guidance when working with very young Autistic children. This is particularly helpful to newly qualified teaching staff and to teachers and school staff dealing with complex cases or with severely challenging behaviour.
Price on request
'Be Yourself' Group Intervention
- ‘Be Yourselves’ aims to bridge child psychotherapy with avatar technology. ‘Be Yourselves’ is a classroom-based intervention of six sessions conducted by a Child Psychotherapist and the class teacher. This innovative school-based intervention supports children and aims to improve body image difficulties, self-representation, self-esteem and emotional well-being. Race, equality, diversity and individual differences are considered in order to promote integration and prevent bullying and cyberbullying among children. This intervention could play an important role in the assessment and prevention of early signs of body image difficulties, body shaming, and low self-esteem, and in reducing episodes of bullying and cyberbullying against all children, especially Autistic children.
- Be Yourself: BEYOnd the screen – a virtUal digital woRld fo asSEssment and prevention in children and adoLescents with early signs oF bullying and cyber-bullying.
- Founder Arianna Pulsoni a, Co-founder Norman Gabriel a, Katerina Bourazeri b co-and Vito De Feo b
- a Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
- b Artificial Intelligence Group, Future Health Technology Lab, School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
Overview:
- 2-hour focus group with parents prior to and after completing the programme.
- 1 session with a teacher (prior to starting to understand the classroom presenting issues and the teacher’s difficulties with individual children and with the whole class).
- 6 sessions with children in the technology room with a teacher.
- 4 sessions of 10 minutes with the play leader at playtime.
- End of programme review meeting and post-programme report.
Cost per group: £1,320.00