Support in nurseries and schools

The Bi-borough Inclusion Service provides special education support for children and young people with a range of SEND needs. The service works with children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 in partnership with families, schools, health professionals, social care an other services.

Our service consists of: 

• Autism Advisory Team
• SLCN Advisory Teachers
• SEN Occupational Therapists
• Sensory Support Team
• Qualified Teachers of the Deaf
• Qualified Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment

For more information on our service, please read our service offer

Training

Our training is delivered by the Bi-Borough Inclusion Service advisory teachers and therapists as well as external experts in many areas of SEND. The training offer is developed in response to a CPD needs audit and it includes evidence-based, whole school approaches supporting the inclusion of CYP with SEND.

Our training calendars are available on our Local Offer: WCC | RBKC

To book a training session, please use the relevant link:

• For Staff: Services to Schools Website  
• For Parents/Carers: Bi-borough Inclusion Service 

We deliver our support packages in-person and remotely via online training, pre-recorded presentations, bite-size videos and learning management platform for modular learning. We are regularly reviewing the format of training to respond to the needs of schools and settings. The team is available to offer bespoke support to schools/ settings to support the implementation of training. We also offer SENCO coaching and run the termly in-person SENCO Forums. 

Our vision

We believe in a collaborative model of working based on schools' strengths and knowledge of CYP. We use coaching approaches and appreciative inquiry with elements of mentoring (when needed / wanted). We would like to get away from the deficit model and celebrate neurodiversity whilst empowering the teaching staff and building capacity in our Bi-borough schools and settings. 

Who to contact:

Anna Selwyn - Head of Bi-Borough Inclusion Service - [email protected]

Kathryn Gilgallon - Team Leader for Sensory Support Service -[email protected]

Michelle Tan - Team Leader for Autism Advisory Service (link for WCC schools) - [email protected] 

Ziekelle Noakhes - Team Leader for Autism Advisory Service (link for RBKC schools) - [email protected] 

Deirdre Murphy - Lead SEN OT - [email protected]

Carolyn Gelenter - SLCN Advisory Teacher - [email protected]

Saara Saarnio - Service Development Officer (finance and training enquiries) - [email protected]

We are a team of specialist advisory teachers and an advisory occupational therapist working within educational settings in Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. This includes nursery, primary, secondary schools and colleges. We also provide input for private, voluntary and independent nurseries. 

The team supports autistic children and young people by providing advice and support for schools and parents, enabling them to meet the needs of autistic children and young people. We also support children and young people who are currently on the social communication pathway. 

What do our Autism Advisors do? 

We ensure that we follow neurodiversity-affirming approaches. This includes using identity-first language and recognising neurodiversity as a natural part of human variation.  

Our team supports educational settings to enhance their autism knowledge and provision enabling them to meet the needs of autistic children and young people, embedding this within an inclusive environment.  

Our team can offer bespoke work with autistic students (with or without an EHCP) following the referral criteria below. 

Our team draws heavily from the SCERTS approach and uses appreciative inquiry, coaching, and strength-based approaches to promote positive outcomes and meaningful engagement for autistic children and young people.  

Our team has adapted the Thrive Model - an integrated, person centred and needs based approach to delivering support for autistic children and young people, as well as schools and settings. The Thrive Model is a co-created a plan of support, based on developing strengths and supporting areas of need. 

Training 

The team offer a variety of autism focused training sessions for settings and parents/carers. This is updated on a termly basis.

Our training calendars are available on our Local Offer: WCC | RBKC

To book a training session, please use the relevant link:

• For Staff: Services to Schools Website  
• For Parents/Carers: Bi-borough Inclusion Service 

As a school-based service, we are unable to support/work with families in the home environment. However, we do offer training for parents/carers on a variety of topics. 

Referral Process

Following a consultation with staff and parents, a referral can be made to the Autism Advisory Team. This will be triaged and next steps communicated to the referrer by the link advisor. 

We accept referrals from settings and the SEN team.  

You can make referral queries by emailing the Bi-borough Autism Team: [email protected] 

The Cheyne Clinical Psychology Team run a transitions workshop for parents of children moving up from primary to secondary school. For further information, email [email protected] or call 0203 315 3196

Kensington and Chelsea School Nursing support all children referred with identification of need via Family Health Needs Assessment. School Nurses provide hearing and vision screening to all children starting school, health questionnaires at the start of primary and secondary school, health promotion in schools and a drop-in service. They also provide weekly group sessions for children in special schools. For more information, email Marta Thlon at [email protected].

The Speech and Language Therapy Education service offers a centralised programme of online learning workshops that are accessible for all school staff who work in bi-borough schools. These workshops cover a range of different language and communication topics. For more information, email Kate Saunders at [email protected].