Children's Therapy News

Welcome to the first edition of our Children’s Therapy Services newsletter. This quarterly newsletter will share updates from Community Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Specialist Play Services across Worcestershire.

Throughout this year, we’ve been focusing on how we can better support children and families and improve your experiences when accessing support from our teams. Our aim is to reduce waiting times and offer help earlier in a child’s life.

We're now working in line with something called The Balanced System®, which families, carers, schools, and early years settings can read more about in this newsletter. This new approach ensures we work closely with schools and early years settings, offering a range of different approaches to support children and young people.

This newsletter will help keep you up to date with what’s happening as we develop and grow our services. We hope you find it useful, and we’d love to hear your feedback so we can improve for future editions.

— Natalie Langdown, Clinical Services Manager and Madeleine Paul, Divisional Director of Nursing and Therapies for Children Young People and Families, and Specialist Primary Care

The Balanced System®

You may hear some of our team members talk about The Balanced System. This simply means a way of working that brings different services together so your child can get the right support, in the right place, at the right time. 

Our children's Speech and Language Therapy services (SALT) have been successfully implementing The Balanced System for the last year 10 years, and now we’re adopting it within physiotherapy, occupational therapy and specialist play services too. Rather than offering the same help to everyone, The Balanced System looks carefully at what your child actually needs – so they receive the right level of care. 

For many children, this support might be offered in familiar settings such as their school, a Family Hub, or an early years setting. 

What does this mean to the young people we support?

• Earlier identification of needs – By working within early years settings and schools, we can help develop environments and training that support the development of children and young people.
• Stronger local support – When we notice similar concerns across a school or community, we can provide training and advice to staff, improving the environment and preventing problems from escalating.
• Timely, appropriate and accessible support – This results in children getting the right support, at the right time.
• Convenient, family‑friendly care – Offering support in schools and Family Hubs means fewer trips out of school, less disruption to learning, and less strain on busy family routines.

The Balanced System® Five Strands

 

Advice and guidance

When you have concerns about your child’s movement and physical development, we understand the importance of receiving timely advice and support. We’ve expanded the support we offer – from physiotherapy drop‑in sessions to new groups designed to give more targeted help.

We’re here to help you access the right support when you need it. 

Physio drop-in sessions - For children aged 0-5 

We are delighted to share that our physiotherapy drop-in sessions are expanding to more locations. The sessions give parents and carers the chance to get advice about their child’s gross motor skills, such as moving, sitting, or walking without the need for a referral.

Our team will offer practical ideas to support your child’s development at home. If more help is needed, we may invite you back to another session or use the information gathered to support a referral. 

We’re really excited about this new service, making it easier for children, young people, and families across the county to access physiotherapy support. 

• Kidderminster — First Monday of the month, 9:30am-11:00am.

Brookside Family Hub, DY10 3ED

• Redditch — First Wednesday of the month, 1:00pm-2:30pm 

Holly Trees Family Hub, B98 8HW

Occupational Therapy (OT) Advice line

Do you need help with your child’s everyday skills? We’re here for you!

If your child is having challenges with self-care, school skills, play, or leisure activities, our Occupational Therapy team is ready to support you with practical advice. 

• Wednesdays: 9:00am – 12:00pm and Thursdays: 1:00pm – 4:00pm
• Phone: 0300 247 0017

Webinars and workshops

We are developing a series of workshops and webinars which will address a range of areas of need or concerns. They are designed to give you easy access to trusted advice and information, without the need for a formal referral. 

We’ve also introduced webinars to help with sensory motor difficulties and provide strategies to trial at home. If your child has been referred to Occupational Therapy with these difficulties but hasn’t yet been seen, you will receive an invitation to join the next series of webinars, look out for this in the post!

Video tutorials and exercises

Our YouTube channel hosts over 50 short, practical videos, covering everything from helping your child develop motor skills, sensory processing, to accessible yoga sessions, and creative play ideas.

You can watch them anytime, at your own pace, and use them alongside the guidance shared on our Facebook page, and through our telephone advice line and drop-in sessions.

Explore the full playlist on our YouTube channel.

The Early Years Movement Hub

The virtual hub brings together trusted information to support movement for all babies, children and young people. It covers practical tips and offers advice about common movement concerns, including:

• Flat feet
• Intoeing
• Head turning
• Bone, joint and muscle health

Visit the Early Years Movement Hub

Therapy and ongoing support

If your child needs more specialist support, we will work with you and your child to help maximise their ability to undertake and enjoy everyday tasks and activities such as self care, school and play. 

We work in collaboration with children and young people, their parents and carers, and other professionals from health, social care and education.

Early years specialist support group

For children under 5 with more complex needs, we have launched a new group that offers specialist, focused support. These sessions bring together expertise in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and specialist play approaches. 

We are also working to include input from our Speech and Language Therapy team, maximising the range of support each child can receive within a single session. Each group is kept small, with no more than six children attending at a time.

Support for EHCPs

You may already have an EHCP in place, or be waiting for one to be waiting for an assessment. An Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) is a legally binding document in England that outlines the special educational, health, and care needs of a child or young person aged 0-25 with SEND, and the support required to meet those needs and achieve desired outcomes.

Our teams are involved in EHCP Needs Assessments and can provide further information as part of this process. 

Equipment passports

We’re developing Equipment Passports for use in schools and education settings. These handy booklets include information about the equipment your child requires and details to ensure it is being used correctly. 

We look forward to sharing these with you soon!

BBC Bitesize - SEND

Activities, advice and personal stories about parenting and SEND to help you support your family.

Visit the BBC Bitesize website today to access tools and resources for you and your family.