creation of a new \u201cexperts at hand\u201d service<\/a>, backed with \u00a31.8 billion in funding over three years.<\/p>\nCouncils must use the funding to develop teams of education and health professionals including OTs, which schools can access for external support.<\/p>\n
General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Pepe Di’Iasio said the survey showed “more evidence of the gulf between the planned experts at hand service and the resources that currently exist in the system”.<\/p>\n
Benefits of OTs<\/h2>\n The survey polled 527 of around 4,000 OTs working within schools. Fifty-six per cent\u00a0said they are unable to provide the level or type of support children in their area need.<\/p>\n
And just 39 per cent of respondents said their OT teams were fully staffed.<\/p>\n
Those surveyed said children facing delays in accessing OT experienced more emotional distress and anxiety, reduced participation in learning activities, delayed development of essential skills and increased pressure on teachers and other school staff.<\/p>\n
Nearly nine in 10 respondents said earlier occupational therapy could prevent the need for an education, health and care plan (EHCP) almost always, or sometimes.<\/p>\n
Dr Sally Payne, of the RCOT, said: \u2018The schools white paper has been an excellent opportunity to recognise the importance of having occupational therapists in schools and across neighbourhood teams so children can get the right support at the right time. Now we need to turn those ambitions into a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n“Without <\/span>the righ<\/span>t workforce capacity<\/span> across the UK<\/span>, children face avoidable barriers that can follow them into adolescence and adulthood.”<\/span><\/p>\n‘More evidence of the gulf’<\/h2>\n \u201cThe concern for school and college leaders is that they could be left with additional expectations around SEND provision, but without being able to reliably access expert help,” Di’Iasio added.<\/p>\n
And Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT leaders’ union,\u00a0\u00a0said shortages were a “real issue” as they put “added pressure onto stretched teachers and staff”.<\/p>\n
The proposed experts at hand service “could help to address this, but only if they are supported by sufficient funding and robust plans to recruit and retain the increased numbers of specialists needed”.<\/p>\n
The Department for Education was approached for comment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Polling comes as the government plans to launch its &#039;experts at hand&#039; service as part of SEND reforms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315335,"featured_media":244894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"post-theme":[2354],"class_list":["post-245519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","post-theme-inclusion"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t