Occupational Therapy News OTnews May 2020 | Page 16

FEATURE COVID-19
Continuing to work on and
offline at the Children’s
Trust School
While many schools around
the country have closed their
doors, the Children’s Trust
School in Tadworth, Surrey, is
still very much open for business. The school continues
to offer education, therapy, health and care support
to children and young people with special educational
needs and disabilities (SEND) and complex needs, and
has both residential students as well as those who just
attend during the day.
While some day learners are being shielded at home,
the majority are in attendance, however the day-to-
day learning and therapy has changed, particularly for
several residential students shielded in their rooms.
Melanie Burrough, head of therapy at the school,
says: ‘Children and young people are aware of changes
in their environment; they have lost their typical routines
such as travelling to school, swimming, and participating
in community activities like bowling or going to the
cinema. The children experienced some initial anxieties at
first and we have worked together to support them.’
‘We’re adapting and flexing our approach, and where
possible we’re using collaborative consultation with our
teachers to see how we can support.
‘We normally run wake-up groups every day to
support our young people with orientation to the day and
transition to school. We now deliver that virtually.
‘We have also developed two sensory stories as some
of our young people have struggled with changes to
their routine, so we have one on COVID-19 and also one
about PPE to help prepare them.
‘If for example a therapist was supporting them
in PPE and the young person can’t see their facial
expressions or interactions, the story helps to decrease
that anxiety.’
The team is also continuing to find ways to use
assistive technology to ensure that young people can
participate as much as possible, including the use of
switches for gaming and for everyday activities such as
blending a smoothie.
A range of resources have also been developed by
the team, including a universal guide for carers and
education staff to support strategies for oral hygiene and
dressing and provide advice for carers around moving
and handling, posture and positioning.
Virtual resources to ensure that physical activity
remains a part of every child’s routine have also been
developed, including how parents can use furniture at
home to make ramps for balloons and balls.
16 OTnews May 2020
A universal, targeted and
specialist approach in school
Daniel Waldron works as an
occupational therapist in an inner-
city specialist secondary school
in Birmingham. The children have
experienced significant disruption to
their occupational lives as a result of
the school closure and social distancing measures, losing
not only their place of learning, but also the opportunities
for social interaction, physical activity and participation in
hobbies. Many have ‘lost’ their support systems and place of
safety also.
Daniel says: “The profile of our population – primarily
students with neurodivergent conditions, such as autism
spectrum condition and attention deficit disorder – leaves
our students amongst the most at risk of mental health
challenges and vulnerability to harm. Layered on top of this,
the high level of deprivation in the city will only exacerbate
these challenges for our families.’
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniel adopted
a tiered approach based on RCOT’s recent Unlocking the
Potential report on children, young people and families.
‘The initial emphasis has been on universal provision, to
ensure that have mechanisms and resources in place to
support all families,’ says Daniel. ‘Our staff team feel skilled
to support families in these challenging times and we are
able to identify which families will require a targeted level of
support. At this universal level, I have worked with the senior
leadership team in the school to expand their focus from
how they can continue to educate our students remotely,
to how we can also minimise the impact of occupational
disruption on the mental and physical health of our families.’
Staff are now completing safe-and-well calls with all
families each week, supported by remote CPD sessions
that Daniel facilitated around occupational disruption and
coaching approaches and by a questionnaire he produced
to help staff to identify the most ‘vulnerable’ families.
He has also created resources to help families to
introduce a new routine at home, including visual timetables
that can be personalised and packs to support families to
embed leisure, active and social occupations into their day.
At targeted and specialist levels, staff are referring families
who have expressed difficulties in participating in a balanced
range of occupations and Daniel is currently planning
provision, including family workshops via group video-
conferences and specialist assessments via telephone.
Says Daniel: ‘The school has been incredibly supportive
of the occupational therapy input, commenting that our
profession was “ahead of the game” and acknowledging that
our theory and perspectives have guided their home-learning
strategy.’​