- We operate a specialist preschool (children aged 2-5) offering care and education for children with additional needs. Our staff ratios are higher than a typical preschool. Springboard staff usually have the responsibility of two key children (1:2 ratio), however sometimes staff are allocated on a 1:1 ratio when needed.
- Staff are specifically trained to deal with any specialist medical needs our children might have.
- We run a stay and play ‘Rabbits’ session for children (aged 2 and under) their carers and siblings.
- We deliver and embed specialist approaches across all our playroom sessions (such as Makaton, Attention Autism, and Visual Communication Systems) These programmes target the teaching of attention, communication and social interaction skills.
- We run communication workshops that are open to parents and professionals. These support the techniques and methods we use with the children at Springboard and help the attendees support the children in the home or mainstream environments.
- We provide information, support and training to families and other pre-school settings either in our Chippenham centre or as part of an outreach program via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
- We are a ‘hub’ for external professionals e.g. speech and language, physiotherapy, community paediatrician etc. Children can be seen by these professionals at Springboard in an environment that they are familiar with, reducing the need for lots of separate hospital and clinic visits.
- We work closely with the other professionals working with our children and implement any recommendations these professionals suggest.
- In the school holidays & some weekends we run stay and play sessions for the whole family called ‘Playdates’. Having the group open to siblings enables families to go out together and have fun in a safe non-judgemental environment.
- Once every half term we run Cuppa and Chat sessions. These are a great chance for parents and carers to meet other Springboard parents & carers and to chat with members of the Springboard team.