Building confidence in a school-based OT placement
Mandy Gardiner – occupational therapy apprentice – reflects on her time on a school-based placement and the surprising professional skills she gained.
Mandy supported our work on writing the 'Successful school-based placements for occupational therapy learners: A ‘how to’ guide to setting up and managing school-based placements'.
Being in a non-traditional setting meant working more independently and thinking differently.
Setting up a role-emerging opportunity
Before becoming an occupational therapy apprentice, I’d worked as a Therapy Assistant in paediatrics. I really wanted to do a placement in a school, and when the idea of a role-emerging placement came up, I did a bit of research and contacted a high school I’d visited as part of my previous role. I thought I’d just have a chat to see what’s possible – and luckily the Deputy Headteacher got in touch and offered a meeting with him and the SENCo.
It was a bit nerve-wracking, but my previous experience as a Therapy Assistant meant I could answer their questions about how I felt an OT student could fit into the school environment. They came back very quickly and said they’d be happy to have me and a colleague, which was really nice! The university was happy to support us and dealt with all the paperwork.
Shaping the placement together
I was supervised by an occupational therapist who worked in the medical team in an acute setting. It was quite a different area of practice for her, but she did her own research, and we came up with loads of fantastic ideas. It was really a joint effort, putting our minds together about different approaches. She didn’t have all the answers, so we were able to bounce back and forth.
We met in person every week, we’d talk about what I was doing and I’d show her my evidence. The SENCo was like our placement supervisor. It wasn’t formal supervision, but we could go to her if we wanted to join other classes or go to PE. She was our link with other teaching staff as well, and if we had any concerns about safeguarding or other areas, we’d have gone to her. We were based in a room with support staff, so it was really nice to talk to them too.
Understanding pupils’ needs
We started in September and focused on the children who’d just transitioned from primary to secondary school. Their education had been quite disrupted by the pandemic, so there were lots of gaps OT could fill.
I looked at handwriting, as that’s a bit of a gap locally. Lots of children are struggling, but don’t meet the criteria for the community occupational therapists. I did some research before my placement, looking at strategies and approaches. When I arrived at the school, a lot of teachers asked if I could help with handwriting.
I did a lot of classroom observations in the first couple of weeks and created questionnaires for Year Seven form tutors, asking what they thought children needed support with. The children were also happy to talk about what they were struggling with.
Creating a sustainable handwriting intervention
I created a six-week handwriting course that Teaching Assistants could carry on after I left. One came into my sessions so they could see what I was doing and take over. We had to leave a legacy, so I wrote about the approach and made a handout for parents. I put in a lot of tips too, like positioning in the classroom, making tasks smaller and getting them to do activities like handing out the workbooks.
One of the children who joined my handwriting group gave me a lovely thank-you card, thanking me for the sessions and the sloping board I got her. She’d had one in primary school, but it hadn’t followed her through. She said it made a real difference, so it was lovely to see that I'd helped.
Leadership and communication
I think it was important to be open-minded before going into the placement. You might want to rush in and get started, but actually taking time to do those observations and have conversations with pupils and teachers is really beneficial because you might end up thinking there’s more of a need for something else. You need to pace yourself, find the gaps and understand where occupational therapy can fill those gaps.
The placement was a fantastic experience. You get so many skills from working in a different environment, like leadership skills. When I thought originally about leadership, I thought it was about mentoring somebody else, but it’s not just that. It’s looking at gaps in service and putting together a project. And you really get lots of communication skills. A lot of those skills you can take back to other environments.
Strengthening my practice
Reflecting on my experience overall, my role emerging placement as an occupational therapy apprentice in a high school has been a big step in my journey to becoming qualified.
Being in a non-traditional setting meant I had to work more independently, which pushed me to organise my own workload and learn how to prioritise my day to support both the people I was working with and the wider service. This came through in practice later on when I supported a patient with a learning disability on an acute medical ward. I was able to adapt my communication so they could fully engage in therapy, which felt like real progress in my development.
The placement also helped me build confidence in trying out different approaches, problem-solving on the spot and finding a balance between patient needs and service demands.
Looking back, it gave me skills and self-belief that I know will carry me forward as I work towards becoming a qualified occupational therapist.
I’d highly recommend school placements if you’re able to have one. They are such a wonderful opportunity.