Knowledge Centre

We provide autism behavioural therapy to children with additional needs to help them learn new skills that they can use in their everyday life. We can help them speak, get dressed, try new foods, do their schoolwork, use the toilet, and more. These are all things that sometimes struggle with and need a little extra help with.

We do not provide any food to the children as many have allergies or may be particular about eating. Parents/carers must provide snacks, lunch, and drinks, bearing in mind that we do not allow fizzy drinks at SENtre. We may provide your child with water if they have run out.

If your child has specific behaviour challenges, they must be disclosed to us before they attend. We must know their triggers, and how you try to reduce them at home and in school. We will then use this information and modify our environment and communication to benefit your child. If your child is having Autism behavioural therapy, we’ll incorporate this into their targets. If your child requires 1:1 supervision due to their additional needs, there may be an additional cost for this to reflect the cost of the team member, which we’ll discuss with you.

If you’re not having therapy and your child bites, spits at, or physically abuses SENtre staff consistently you may be asked to collect them early. We will offer parents strategies which we can work on as a behaviour program to reduce the behaviours. Children will not be able to attend play sessions or holiday club until this has been completed and reduces the behaviours. We will slowly reintegrate them into larger groups of children.

The SENtre building is safe and secure, so your child will be unable to run off if they become distressed. We have an area suitable to help them self-regulate, and trained staff to support them. We’re Ofsted registered so you can be assured of high-quality care. The team are first aid trained so will be able to help in the event of any medical incident. Risk assessments are carried out individually to ensure your child is safe.

SENtre offers a variety of services at different price points. We try to make our services affordable because it’s our mission to give support to the people who need it the most. We also accept childcare vouchers. To find out exact costs, please see the specific service page, or contact us.

Every child we support has different needs, but things we can help with include: toilet training, speaking and communication, trying new foods, interaction with their peers, and how to enjoy learning new things and trying activities.

SENtre can support children with more or fewer needs. Some of our children are non-speaking, and some need support with personal skills. Some have Autism, some have ADHD. Some have global developmental delays, and some have Down’s Syndrome. We can help your child if they have PDA or other social, communication, and behavioural challenges. Our therapy sessions are helpful for children with more needs, and our play sessions are open to everyone.

Our team of experts have over 30 years of experience in care and education for children with autism spectrum conditions. The centre is Ofsted registered, meaning we maintain standards at all times and are audited. The staff are trained various skills. Some are trained in in Makaton, a language programme that helps support visual communication. Some are Team Teach trained to enable them to manage conflict or distressed behaviour. There’ a First Aider on site to look after your child in case of accident or injury. Some staff members are also trained inn TalkTools, which helps children with speech, oral placement and feeding difficulties to develop oral motor skills. Your child is in safe hands, within a safe building, and we’re happy to show you around (after hours or online) to meet the staff for yourself.

We think it’s important to have open lines of communication about your child. We’ll contact you by email, phone, and also via phone notes if your child attends SENtre. We host parent workshops which are like practical parents’ evenings, so you can learn new skills and support your relationship with your child.

Team members are selected because of their love of working with children, and their enthusiasm for offering support to families. They will be working towards or have achieved their RBT qualification to become behavioural therapists. They’ve competed safeguarding training and all staff will have a mixture of Talk Tools training, first aid, food hygiene, Team Teach and Makaton training. If you have any specific questions about this please let us know.

Quite simply, because we care. Everyone deserves to have positive opportunities to learn, and SEN parents deserved to feel empowered and supported. We adore quirky kids, and we know we can help them!