We commission and employ a wide range of HCPC registered professionals, to provide integrated therapeutic support across our sites.  Our sites typically benefit from at least weekly visits from an Educational Psychologist, a Sensory-Integration trained Occupational Therapist and a Speech and Language Therapist.  We also regularly liaise with a Clinical Psychologist who is also a frequent on-site visitor.

We recognise that our students have often been exposed to a number of therapists and off-the-shelf therapy programmes prior to enrolment at a Wider Ambition setting.  We take a different approach, subtly delivering integrated therapeutic support across the school day and being careful to avoid triggering previous school-related trauma.

Our therapists get to know our students well, by informally joining learning sessions as an active participant, playing games during break-time and supporting fun activities aligned to students’ interests.  This enables students to develop trusting relationships with our therapists and supports students’ ability to communicate openly and explore individual strategies.

Our staff are provided with regular training by our therapy team, including daily whole-team briefings and debriefs which are routinely enhanced by therapeutic advice.

We timetable Key Person Time with our highly skilled support staff on a 1-1 or 1-2 basis, enabling students to be assured that they are being held in mind by a trusted member of staff.  Key Person Time provides another opportunity for integrated therapeutic support, with careful use of a depersonalised PHSCE curriculum and implementation of recommended strategies.

All our therapists are committed to working closely in co-production with students, families and staff, seeking feasible and sustainable student-centred solutions.  Parents are welcome to ask for online or in-person meetings with our therapists, to access specialist advice and information for supporting students at home and on-site.

You can find out more about therapy at Wider Ambition in our Integrated Therapeutic Offer.