Autism in Schools

We’re excited to announce that we are one of the partners for the Autism in Schools project in Hampshire.

What is the Autism in Schools project?

It’s a NHS national initiative to better support children and young people with autism in mainstream schools. The project was initially rolled out in Isle of Wight, Southampton and Portsmouth. Success there has led to the pilot scheme being rolled out across other areas in Hampshire.

What are the benefits of the Autism in Schools project?

To initially support a small number of schools in Hampshire to develop and improve school practice, implement cultural change and transform support for children who are autistic/have a neurodiversity need to engage and thrive in school.

To develop an integrated, collaborative response by listening to and working with parents, children, professionals from health and education, and school senior leadership teams

Improve the well-being of autistic children and young people in school and support a reduction in the number of pupils being permanently excluded, fixed term exclusions, and lost school days through pupil absence

What does the project involve?

There will be 4 key areas of focus:

Training and development for school staff

Parent/carer hubs

Bespoke support offer for schools

Development of neurodiversity digital platform accessible to schools, parents, children, professionals involved in the project

Who is involved with the project?

BRAAIN

Set up and manage parent hubs in each school

Build relationships between parents and school

Coordinate project; training dates, learning walks, project meetings

Manage evaluations and feedback

Autism Hampshire:

Deliver environmental training to schools

Learning Walks & follow on consultancy

Project team meetings

Hampshire County Council:

Communication lead for project

Providers of identified bespoke support for schools (PBS, EP, Speech and Language Therapy)

Project team meetings

What changes have been made/seen as a result of the project taking place in Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight?

Schools noted improvements in the following areas:

Reduction in meltdowns in school and able to identify triggers.

Engaging more in lessons, attending class more regularly

Building better relationships with other pupils and with school staff

Enabling access into school

Happier, more settled and calmer in school

Improvements in use of language to describe how they feel about something

Improved behaviour in school, feeling like they belong

Improved understanding of school rules, routines, and expectations.

Improved self-regulation and knowing who to speak to for extra support and the types of support available.

Improved confidence and increasing friendship groups.

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^{We’ll keep you updated as the project progresses!}

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