Student education
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R ecent changes to education legislation in Wales ( Welsh Government 2018 ) and new professional guidance for occupational therapists working with children , young people , and families ( RCOT 2019 ) have brought into question more traditional approaches to practice delivery , which have often been cited as lacking interagency collaboration and falling short with respect to occupational therapy meeting the needs of a wider population of children and young people .
The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal ( Wales ) Act ( Welsh Government 2018 ) aims for a fully inclusive education system for learners where needs are identified early and addressed quickly to support them to reach their potential .
As such , the transformation agenda expects greater collaborative working across health , social care and education to offer a more seamless service for children and families .
Key to the Act is the vision that specialist services will support education in meeting the needs of all children and ensuring school staff are empowered to become skilled and confident in identifying needs and implementing strategies that overcome barriers to learning ( Welsh Government 2018 ).
This shift in the focus of practice delivery is mirrored by RCOT ( 2019 ), which proposes a redesign of services , requiring a shift in ‘ resources from specialist interventions towards prevention , early intervention and partnership approaches ’.
The premise of working more collaboratively with education staff is not new and a tiered approach to service delivery , commonly referred to as ‘ universal ’ or ‘ upriver ’ service provision has emerged in the literature , albeit often not UK-based ( Pollock et al 2017 , Missiuna et al 2012 , Missiuna et al 2015 , Missiuna et al 2017 ).
The literature places a greater emphasis on collaboration in the community , aiming to reach a greater proportion of the population at the universal level ( beneficial for all ) and targeted level ( beneficial for some ), with a smaller proportion requiring individual specific provision .
One such tiered upriver model , Partnering for Change , ( Missiuna et al 2012 ) proposes that occupational therapists based in school can facilitate early identification of pupils , build the capacity of others , such as education staff , to understand and manage pupils ’ needs , improve children ’ s participation and facilitate selfmanagement .
This has clear parallels with the aims of the Additional Learning Needs transformation
Staff [ education ] are very educationally minded [ the students ] influenced from an occupational therapy perspective .”
framework ( Welsh Government 2020 ) and those identified by our professional body ( RCOT 2019 ).
In response to the call for transformation , it was and continues to be , the intention of the Children ’ s Occupational Therapy Service in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board ( ABUHB ), to explore and evaluate new ways of delivering their service . However , there are challenges to making evidence-informed changes while continuing to provide a service .
An opportunity that offered the chance to explore and evaluate one mode of delivery was afforded by supporting final year occupational therapy students from Cardiff University .
Following much discussion between partners , a collaborative agreement was made between ABUHB ’ s Children ’ s Occupational Therapy Service , Cardiff University and Torfaen Education Authority that a placement within an educational setting would be facilitated .
It was agreed that it would be beneficial for both the students ’ education and development and the occupational therapy service , which wished to explore a potential role for occupational therapy at the universal and targeted level of involvement .
Four students were placed in two specialist education provisions for pupils identified as having an autism spectrum disorder . They were provided with long-arm supervision by two qualified occupational therapists , both experienced educators from the ABUHB Children ’ s Occupational Therapy Service , with an identified day-to-day mentor in school .
It was recognised and discussed with all stakeholders that the service would potentially differ to that provided by qualified therapists and to a service provided in a non-specialist education setting .
However , it was felt that lessons could be learnt from an evaluation of the placement , and it had the potential to act as an initial pilot project for the provision of a tiered model of occupational therapy services in schools .
July 2022 OTnews 45