Therapy Team

Therapy is provided by the NHS ‘CYPIT’ service – the Children’s Integrated Therapy Service, part of BHFT (Berkshire HealthCare Foundation Trust)

The Therapy Team consists of Speech and Language Therapists (SALT), Physiotherapists, Occupational therapists and Integrated Assistants. They are based on site and are available on a variety of days throughout the week. They work both in and out of the classroom and work in partnership with children and young people, school staff, families and key carers to meet pupil’s needs. They work together to provide integrated assessments and programmes to ensure therapy is integrated into students' education.  This may be to support their communication, or to ensure that their maximum level of movement and functional independence is achieved.

We also have a Music Therapist and and Art Therapist.

https://cypf.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/referrals/

If your child is not yet in school and has speech, language and communication difficulties

We recommend that families and early years settings start by following the advice and strategies on our advice pages or take one of our Early language development workshops. Strategies should be followed for 8-12 weeks. If after this you are still worried, and you have a Berkshire GP, please call us and speak to a Speech and Language Therapist to discuss your child’s communication.
 

Our phone lines will be open from 9am-3.30pm on a Tuesday and Thursday.  Many issues can be helped by talking, so let’s talk! Call us on: 0118 9043700

The online referral form is no longer needed to access Early Years Speech and Language Therapy Service. Therefore please do not complete a referral form, instead please contact our enquiries line to discuss your concerns with a Speech and Language Therapist.  Please also feel free to take a look at our support and advice.

If you require additional support to make a phone call, please email: cypittriage2@berkshire.nhs.uk.

Physiotherapy

We work with children and young people with physical difficulties and provide advice to school staff and parents to promote a child’s physical skills and independence.  Where indicated we complete physiotherapy assessments and devise individual therapy programmes that are integrated into all areas of the curriculum. We work closely with school staff to ensure they have the skills to effectively deliver these programmes within the classroom.  

Physiotherapy interventions include; postural management programmes, exercises and stretches, blocks of 1:1 treatment provided by either the Physiotherapist or Integrated Assistant. We also provide advice and assessment of equipment provision within school.

For more information please email the physiotherapy team on physiotherapy@addington.wokingham.sch.uk

Speech and Language Therapy

We work with children and young people who have difficulties with speech, language or communication to develop the skills they need to communicate and interact with others.  In some cases, we also work with children experiencing eating and drinking difficulties.

Within the school, we promote and support a ‘Total Communication Environment’ including the use of  Makaton signing, symbols, pictures, Objects of Reference, Communication books and other communication systems.

We support the implementation of interventions such as Intensive Interaction,  Attention Autism Project, Alex Kelly Social Communication Skills Package, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and a wide range of Alternative and Augmentative Communication Systems (AAC), ensuring teaching staff are trained and equipped to use these as required.

We work closely with parents/carers and classroom staff as well as other specialist services within the school, including Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, ASD Support and Assistive Communication, in order to support children and young people to make the best possible progress with their communication skills.   

Please email  speechtherapy@addington.wokingham.sch.uk if you would like to speak to a member of the team.

You may like to visit https://cypf.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/support-and-advice for support and advice on communication, as well as other areas of development.

Occupational Therapy

Natalie Thomas-Calvilarelle

Music, Art and Drama Therapy