Autism in Schools
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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.
We’ll keep you updated as the project progresses!