Therapy

The Team

Our team is made up of two physiotherapists and two physiotherapy assistants. We are all passionate about working with childrens and young people and helping the students at Jack Tizard to reach their physical potential.

A snapshot of some of what we do..

• We deliver Individualised assessments and treatment sessions to work on your childs specific physical skills in accordance with their development and therapy goals.
• We work in close liaison with your child class teams to ensure that the recommended physiotherapist advice is embedded into the school setting and provide individualised theory programmes.
• We assess for and manage equipment needs that your child may have or need. This includes items such as standing frames, positioning wedges, and supportive walkers amongst others.
• We are directly linked to local orthotic services and support the assessment and referral processes for orthotic devices such as foot splints / AFOs and specialist footwear.
• We routinely work closely alongside our occupational, speech and language therapy and nursing colleagues at Jack Tizard and through joint working practices, are able to deliver a holistic approach to your child’s interventions.
• We also work to ensure we maintain close working relationships with the wider multidisciplinary team, including our colleagues at Chelsea and Westminster hospital. We work alongside the Paediatric Orthopaedic team at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and aim run a regular clinics in Jack Tizard School.
• We also have developed professional relationships with colleagues at other tertiary centres such as Great Ormond Street and the Royal national Orthopaedic Hospital so that we have clear communication pathways. We have close links with other community based services to whom your child may be known.

Who do we work with:

Your child would receive input from our team if they have educational based physiotherapy needs outlined in their EHCP. We also deliver health based physiotherapist input to students living locally in Hammersmith and Fulham.

We are an open and friendly team and we greatly enjoy our work with the students at Jack Tizard School. We welcome you to contact us should you have any questions. Our contact numbers are as follows:

Jack Tizard Therapy contact number: 02087353590

Chelsea and Westminster childrens physiotherapy contact number: 0203 315 8667

We work alongside parents and the school team to support students to be able to learn comfortably in an accessible environment, and do all of the things that they want and need to Here are some examples of what this might look like at Jack Tizard (amongst other things):

We work alongside parents, school staff and other therapists to:

• complete seating assessments to facilitate access to learning activities as well as support good posture.
• ensure that children are encouraged to be active in moving safely between positions
• identify strategies that support students to be “ready to learn” or “ready to participate”
• support access to the community and road safety skills
• identify when a child is ready for toilet training and help with setting up a plan for use at home and at school.
• provide adapted tools or equipment to support independence e.g. Providing an adapted bowl and spoon for eating or adapted scissors for cutting
• work alongside OTs from Social Care working with students at home.
• work alongside NHS OT teams and the wheelchair services to ensure the best outcomes for students.

It is a real privilege for us to work with the students and families at Jack Tizard. We are so proud to be part of such a dynamic and enthusiastic school team.

We will work closely with you, your child, their teachers/ school team, therapy team and medical team to support your child's language and communication skills and eating, drinking and swallowing needs (Dysphagia needs). We provide support as outlined in your child’s Education, Health and Care plan. This may include:

Communication:

• Assessment of your child’s language and communication skills including attention skills, interaction skills, understanding of language and the world around them and use of language. we will provide strategies on how best to support your child’s communication.
• Assessment to find the best method of communication for your child. We promote a “ total communication “ approach where all methods of communication are encouraged and responded to. This might include body language, facial expression, vocalising, Makaton signing, using objects, photographs, symbols, speech and equipment such as a communication book or voice output communication aids
• Providing training to parents and school staff to help you understand your child's way of communicating and how to support their language and communication skills
• Working with your child in a whole class and/or small group and/or 1:1 setting (depending on your child's needs). We model strategies and activities to teaching staff which can be used across the week.
• Jointly setting and reviewing progress towards functional targets and EHCP outcomes alongside you and those working with your child, as well providing information for meetings such as annual reviews.
• Jointly planning activities and lessons with class teachers.

Eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties (Dysphagia):

• Where indicated, assessment of eating, drinking and swallowing skills.
• Providing an eating and drinking care plan / guidelines to optimise safety at meal times and support your child's eating and drinking skills.
• Providing training to meal time partners on how to best support your child's eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.
• Working with our catering team, including participating in menu meetings, to support understanding of texture modified diets.

We are always happy to discuss strategies to support your child and discuss their progress, please do call the therapy office to speak to a member of our team.

The Speech and Language Therapy Team.