Outreach

The Bridge Outreach is a well-established team of specialists supporting the inclusion of school aged pupils (3 – 19) with autism, Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) or Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) in mainstream settings. We are a team of Senior Teachers and a Senior Teaching Assistant who have many years of experience and expertise in working with pupils with autism/SLD/PMLD. We liaise and co-operate with all other Islington based Education, Health and Care professionals.

We support staff in developing their understanding of autism, SLD and PMLD and their skills in meeting the needs of pupils with SEN in mainstream settings.

Ashleigh Johnson
Head of Outreach

Ashleigh Johnson [MA in Inclusive and Special Education, BA in Elementary Education] is a SEND teacher and Head of The Bridge Outreach.

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Ashleigh Johnson [MA in Inclusive and Special Education, BA in Elementary Education] is a SEND teacher and Head of The Bridge Outreach.

She trained as a teacher in the USA and has worked in both mainstream and special school settings, including teaching pupils with autism and SLD/PMLD at The Bridge. Most recently, she was head of an autism resource base in Camden and led on the expansion of this provision.

Ashleigh is passionate about making school a happy and inclusive place for every autistic child and young person. She believes in listening to and incorporating the views of autistic people in decisions involving them, from a young age. Her other special interests include teaching reading to pupils with learning differences and empowering educators to be confident in SEND.

She is a member of the Autism Professional Learning Network at UCL, the Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools Focus Group and keeps up-to-date with current autism and education research.

Menita Sekhon
Autism Advisor

Menita Sekhon (BA History and Geography, BEd, QTS) is a SEND Teacher and part-time team member for The Bridge Outreach Service.

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Menita Sekhon (BA History and Geography, BEd, QTS) is a SEND Teacher and part-time team member for The Bridge Outreach Service.

Menita has been teaching since 2003 when she qualified as a Secondary History and Geography teacher in Vancouver, Canada.  After teaching in a variety of settings (Secondary, Primary and SEN) she joined The Bridge School in 2005 as a class teacher working with children aged 5-11 with Autism, SLD and MLD. 

With support from The Bridge Outreach Service, she helped set up the first inclusion class in Islington which was based at Hungerford School.  This class enabled pupils to access the social and learning opportunities available at a mainstream school whilst still being linked to an SEN school.

Her particular interest is within inclusion class settings and supporting the transition of children from special needs settings into mainstream schools. 

Laura Heduan
Autism Advisor

Laura Heduan (FdA Working with Children: Education and Wellbeing, BA Hons Education, MA Special and Inclusive Education, Post Grad Cert Psychology and MSc Psychology of Education) is the newest member of our Outreach Service.

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Laura Heduan (FdA Working with Children: Education and Wellbeing, BA Hons Education, MA Special and Inclusive Education, Post Grad Cert Psychology and MSc Psychology of Education) is the newest member of the Bridge Outreach Service.

Laura has 12 years experience working within mainstream secondary schools in London, she has supported many young people with challenging and complex SEND, especially those with ASC and ADHD.

Laura’s particular interests lie within inclusion, and she has successfully developed alternative provisions and programmes within mainstream schools to support some of the most at risk, disengaged and vulnerable students to better meet their needs and engage them with education. Laura is passionate about working with young people and supporting school staff to help students reach their full potential.

Sarah Tyce
Lead Advisory Special Needs Professional

Sarah Tyce is a Lead Special Needs Professional and has worked at The Bridge School for 22 years. She has worked with a wide spectrum of pupils with Autism from ages 2-19.

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Sarah Tyce is a Lead Special Needs Professional and has worked at The Bridge School for 22 years. She has worked with a wide spectrum of pupils with Autism from ages 2-19. Sarah has been a member of the Outreach team since the service was set up in 2003.

Sarah is a friendly member of the team who prides herself on her ability to work with all members of school staff and pupils across the borough.

Sarah has a particular interests in behaviour that challenges, and functional life skills for pupils on the spectrum.

What We Do

How our service works
  • Schools refer pupils to the Outreach Service with parental consent
  • Outreach staff may observe the pupil and meet with key school staff to identify priority needs and plan support accordingly
  • Schools receive written recommendation/resources
  • Outreach staff monitor pupils’ progress and provide ongoing support

 

We can advise on

  • Inclusive classroom practice, Curriculum Differentiation, Behaviour, Communication, Social Skills, Understanding diagnosis, Transition

The Bridge Outreach is a service to schools and as such does not work directly with parents/carers

 

  • Parents/Carers are given a leaflet explaining the work of the service and permission is always obtained before a pupil is seen or discussed
  • When individual pupil reports are written (e.g. following an observation), schools will share them with parents/carers
  • We meet parents/carers at school-based meetings

Training and CPD

Each Islington school is entitled to choose two free training sessions per year at a date that suits them. We can deliver training during INSET days, as twilight sessions or during the school day. Our training can be tailored to meet the needs of the individual schools. We highly recommend that schools allocate at least 90 minutes per training session.
Training

For Staff

  • Autism Education Trust (AET) Making Sense of Autism
  • Autism and the Early Years
  • Autism and Classroom Strategies
  • Autism and Challenging Behaviour
  • Autism and Sensory Needs
  • Autism and Playtime
  • Autism and Girls
Webinars

For Staff

Please visit our Vimeo page to access the following training:

  • Introduction to autism
  • Autism and classroom strategies for Primary School
  • Strategies for Secondary School
  • Getting Back to Green – whole class emotional regulation programme
Training

For Students

  • Autism Peer Awareness. A whole class 3 to 5-week programme for pupils in Y4, Y5 and Y6
  • ‘Getting Back to Green’.  A whole class emotional regulation programme for Primary schools
  • Autism Awareness assemblies for Secondary schools
  • ‘The Buddy Project’ A peer inclusion programme for Secondary schools
Outreach

Resource Samples