Philippa Greasley Speech and Language Therapist

01/06/2024

17/05/2024

❤️
Credit NeuroWild

21/12/2023

I'm now away from my desk for the next two weeks and will be replying to enquiries and emails less frequently. I'll be back on Tuesday 9 January 2024 for the new term. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas break. See you all soon!

03/10/2023

The government wastes £60 million a year taking families to EHCP tribunals. In around 97% of cases, the tribunal rules in favour of the family, not the local authority. This is because local authorities so frequently act unlawfully during the EHCP process and deny children the full support they are entitled to.

A short post emphasising that the purpose of the SEND Tribunal is always to apply the law: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/blog/the-send-tribunal-where-the-law-is-applied-and-rights-are-upheld

02/10/2023

It's October! My favourite month of the year and, more importantly, the world marks Downs Syndrome Awareness Month. This 31-day event celebrates each unique and individual person with Downs Syndrome. I'm incredibly lucky that the majority of children I now see for Speech Therapy are children with Downs Syndrome.

22/09/2023

☀️. Why I love Yakka Dee ☀️

Have you come across Yakka Dee on CBeebies yet? Made in consultation with a Speech Therapist, there are six series supporting early vocab development, and now a seventh series has been released all about sounds. It's fab!

Yakka Dee! is an animated TV series that encourages pre-school children to talk!Each episode focuses on one word. It shows various visualisations of that word in a rhythmical, bouncy, humorous way! A brand new series begins on CBeebies in the UK on Monday 6th March at 9.10am - and on iPlayer!We’re...

13/09/2023

Despite repeatedly denying they wouldn't reduce EHCPs, our dismal excuse for a government have recently admitted that they are targeting a 20% reduction in new EHCPs. There is no evidence that EHCPs are being issued unnecessarily, so in effect children and families are being made to foot the bill for the government's current financial mess. They are intending to reduce support for children with SEND, to save money, without being bothered about the implications. The important thing, though, is that the law remains unchanged. Children with SEND are legally entitled to provision to meet their needs. Coming soon after the RAAC debacle, I wonder if another crumbling, collapsing, failing structure needs to be shut down with immediate effect - the Tory government.

Government contract aims to reduce the number of specialist care plans by a fifth

22/08/2023

I'm now away from my desk for the next two weeks and will be replying to enquiries and emails less frequently. I'll be back on Monday 4 September. Looking forward to an exciting Autumn Term with my regular families and a new group of children with Downs Syndrome as part of Archie's Smile. See you all soon!

01/08/2023

Credit: https://www.instagram.com/neurowild_/

27/07/2023

Many of the families I work with have children with an EHCP, or are in the process of trying to get one. Every family I know in this situation are amazing advocates for their children; often becoming experts on the EHCP process and fighting to get their child the right support they need - not just to survive at school, but thrive.

If this is new to you, an EHCP (Education, Health, and Social Care Plan) is a document created for children who have special educational needs, or SEN. This might be because they have, or are suspected to have, things that make it more challenging to access education without help, such as Autism, Developmental Language Disorder, Learning Difficulties, Downs Syndrome, or a vast variety of other needs - anything, really, that means they might benefit from extra support at nursery or school. Your child doesn't need a formal diagnosis - they just have to be experiencing more difficulties with their education than other children the same age. Your nursery or school will often be the first people to contact to get the EHCP process up and running.

EHCPs are provided ultimately by your Local Authority (LA) - your local county council. The LA has a legal duty to identify, assess, and support children with SEN. This is where Speech Therapy often comes in. NHS or independent Speech Therapists assess children who have speech and language needs, as part of the EHCP application process. We write a detailed report outlining what outcomes the child should be working towards, and what provision they need to achieve these outcomes. This may include recommending a certain number of Speech Therapy hours per year. When a child's EHCP is finalised, the Local Authority then have a legal duty to ensure this is funded and delivered.

For any families who think an EHCP might be useful for their child, or for families who are already in the system, I wanted to highlight the amazing and completely FREE support you can access from IPSEA: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/pages/category/education-health-and-care-plans

Its a brilliant website with a free helpline and masses of letters you can download and tweak to help you negotiate with the Local Authority while on your EHCP journey.

I am experienced in assessing children and young people for the purposes of contributing to their EHCP applications, annual reviews, or even mediations and tribunals. Get in touch if you would like to know more: philippa@pgspeechtherapy.co.uk.

An Education, Health and Care plan (“EHC plan”) is a legal document which describes a child or young person’s special educational needs, the support they need, and the outcomes they would like to achieve. The special educational provision described in an EHC plan must be provided b...

25/06/2023

I'm excited to announce the opening of a new Speech Therapy clinic near Banbury. I'll be offering discounted assessments during July and August for new families. Follow the link for more information:

https://pgspeechtherapy.co.uk/clinic/

08/03/2023

May we know them, raise them, and be them 💪