BASIS - Brunel Access support and improvement service

 ABOUT BASIS

BASIS is our umbrella term to describe a range of services and specialist staff available to support schools, professionals, parents and families to meet the needs of children and young people with additional needs including those that can be considered as Special Education Needs and Disabilities- SEND.

Currently our BASIS offer includes:

• Education Advisory Teachers for Assistive Technology including AAC, Visual Impairment (VI) and Autism/Social Communication and Interaction Difficulty (ASC/SCID) known as Swindon Autism Support Service (SASS)
• School Improvement Consultancy
• Wide range of training and support including for VI, ASC, ADHD and AAC
• Autism Resource Centres (ARC) Traded Services including ARC INREACH, ARC Bespoke Packages and ARC Forest School
• ARC All Aboard Nursery 

For more information contact the following as helpful:

Director of Education and BASIS Lead Noel Gibb:  ngibb@brunelsenmat.org.uk

VI Advisory Teacher Katie Hewlett: khewlett@swindon.gov.uk

 Assistive Technology/AAC advisory teacher Jo Clarke:  jclarke@swindon.gov.uk

 ASC/SCID Advisory Teacher Jenny Muirhead:  JMuirhead@swindon.gov.uk

ARC SERVICES

Swindon ARC bases offer an enhanced education programme of social communication and therapeutic learning activity led by an ASC teacher or Senior ASC Worker and experienced ASC support staff for mainstream pupils and students between the ages of 4 and 19. These are pupils/students with a core difficulty around social communication and interaction who may or may not have a diagnosis of autism. They may be on a reduced timetable, undergoing gradual integration/re-integration to school, struggling to function in school and access lessons in school or perhaps at risk of exclusion where school/setting staff and parents are looking to be proactive in managing difficult times. Our aim is to support schools to target some of their SEN focussed delegated funding and/or pupil premium where appropriate, to meet CYP need and positively work towards maintaining a successful mainstream learning placement.

Currently there are 4 Core ARC Activity Types/Bases in operation:

Referrals are usually made directly from schools or where a CYP is not attending school for whatever reason, referrals can be made by Swindon LA.

For more information please contact:

SASS Professional Lead Jenny Muirhead:  JMuirhead@swindon.gov.uk 07772 441559

ARC Manager Bill Rigg:  WRigg@swindon.gov.uk  07580 877466

ARC Information and Referral Form

ARCINREACH

The ARCINREACH strand of ARC Traded Services gives any Swindon school or setting the opportunity to buy in additional services as and when needed through the academic year to support staff and pupils and improve provision and outcomes for ASC/SCID affected CYP.

ARCINREACH programmes of support are delivered by ARC specialist workers and include a diverse range of  themed activities and services; for example how to structure, set up and run a social skills/girls group ,  how to organise and set up an ASD friendly learning environment, training for staff, mentoring of pupils to help them understand their autism and much more. 

 Schools and organisations will be able to target part of their training, SEN and other budgets to promote INHOUSE ASC initiatives and deliver INHOUSE ASC activities that are crafted and bespoke to meet specific and local school/setting needs.

For more information please contact: 

SASS Professional Lead
Jenny Muirhead:  JMuirhead@swindon.gov.uk   
07772 441559

ASC Early year Advisory Teacher
Penny Seymour: PSeymour@swindon.gov.uk 
07772 439912

SASS Administrator
Gaby Smith:  ASCadmin@swindon.gov.uk

All Aboard Nursery

ALL ABOARD NURSERY

ARC All Aboard Nursery offers parents and carers the opportunity to access specialist day time care for their children aged 3 and 4 who may already have a diagnosis of autism (ASD) or who are affected by difficulties around social communication and interaction (SCID). Children may also have other needs and disabilities but will benefit in particular from ongoing assessment and work to understand better their ASD/SCID needs to inform and assist an eventual successful transition into school.

ARC All Aboard Nursery offer up to a maximum of 15 hours a week of week of care and will be pleased to work in partnership with other pre-school provision on a shared care basis where helpful and appropriate. If they have a child who meets the admissions criteria, all parents/carers entitled to the universal 15 hours as well as those eligible for the 30 hours who are interested in a shared care arrangement are welcome to apply for a place. Please follow the links below for more information:

Admissions Policy

Waiting List Application Form

The nursery will operate from Unit 16 Headlands Trading Estate, Off Headlands Grove, Swindon SN2 7JQ and will be open from 8.00am to 6.00pm for 48 weeks per year. It will be closed for one week at Christmas, one week in the spring, two weeks in the summer and all UK bank holidays.

For more information please email: All Aboard Nursery Email or contact the Nursery Manager on 07580 877584