Occupational Therapy for Schools

Having delivered whole year group, class and small group positive thinking programmes in Junior school settings in Gloucestershire, I am aware of the significant impact developing mental health resilience can have for children. These sessions have enabled children to meet social and educational challenges in a positive “can do” manner, increasing their performance results and their ability to engage in a classroom environment. They left the Junior school ready to embrace their secondary school experiences.

I have also offered my expertise in sensory processing to support teachers to think critically about the sensory needs of their pupils and to develop sensory strategies, increase engagement and productivity in the classroom. As we move toward an integrated health education programme, I feel it is important that educators have the tools they need to promote mental health and to identify potential mental health needs of their pupils.

I offer highly specialised mental health occupational therapy in schools for pupils, parents/carers and staff to build mental health resilience by:

• Delivery of class or year coaching sessions, focusing on positive reframing and motivational speaking.

• Small group intervention programme focusing on key pupils who are struggling to access the curriculum or perform to their fullest ability.

  • Programme includes an initial screening phase where individual pupil barriers to accessing the curriculum may be identified.

  • Recommendations for staff and the pupil to adapt the environment, the educational demands or develop the pupil’s skills to remove or manage the barriers, so the pupil can maximise their performance in the curriculum.

• Individual occupational therapy assessment for pupils who are failing to access the curriculum through:

  • specialist assessment of the pupil’s functional skills, sensory processing screen and the impact of their mental health on their performance;

  • Completion of assessment report to aide develop of an education support plan;

  • Bespoke intervention in the school to develop the pupil’s and staff skills to enable them to access the curriculum and develop adaptive coping strategies.

Links to the Department for education….

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-social-health-and-economic-education-pshe