Occupational therapy

Taking part at kindy and school

A child can have the skills and still not be able to use them in a classroom. Twenty-five other children, a bell, a mat session, a shared table, a noisy hall and a teacher who cannot stop for one child — that is a very different environment from a clinic room or a lounge room.

Our occupational therapists work in kindies, preschools and schools across Springfield and Ipswich on participation itself: being able to join in, keep up and belong in the room your child is actually in.

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What participation actually requires

When a child is struggling at kindy or school, it is rarely one thing. We look at the demands of the room and work out which of them your child cannot yet meet:

  • Sitting and attending in a group — mat time, assembly, a shared table
  • Following group instructions — instructions given to everyone, not to them
  • Transitions — stopping one thing and starting the next, often the hardest part of the day
  • Managing the sensory environment — noise, movement, lighting, other people’s proximity
  • Self-care in that setting — the school toilet, the lunchbox, shoes, the jumper, the hat
  • Table-top work — cutting, writing, keeping up with the pace of the task
  • The playground — unstructured, loud, fast, and where most social difficulty shows up
  • Organisation — bag, desk, books, the sequence of a morning

Signs you might notice

  • An educator raising concerns about sitting, listening or joining in
  • Your child being removed from the group, or sitting apart, more often than others
  • Refusing to go, tummy aches on school mornings, or distress at drop-off
  • Holding it together all day and falling apart the moment they get in the car
  • Not using the toilet all day, or not eating their lunch
  • Work left unfinished, or your child consistently the last one done
  • No one to play with, or the same difficulties at lunchtime every day
  • A big gap between what your child can do at home and what happens at school

How our occupational therapists help

The most useful thing we do here is go and look. A school or kindy visit tells us in one session what would take months to work out from description — where your child sits, what the noise is like, how instructions are given, what happens at the transitions, and what the educators are already doing that works.

From there we work on both sides. We build the specific skills your child is missing, and we work with educators on adjustments that are realistic for a busy classroom — seating, visual schedules, a movement break, a modified task, a clear plan for transitions, or a job to do during mat time. Adjustments that take a teacher thirty seconds get used; ones that take ten minutes do not, and we design accordingly.

We work with educators as partners rather than handing over a report. Where an early childhood teacher is involved, our ECI teaching team is part of the same conversation.

Working with your child’s service or school

With your permission we speak to educators directly, observe in the room, and keep what we ask for short and specific. We can contribute to planning meetings, help with the documentation a school needs, and support the handover between kindy and Prep — which is where good strategies most often get lost.

We also check back. A strategy that worked in March often needs adjusting by August, and the easiest way to find that out is to go and see.

What an assessment involves

An assessment here is about the fit between your child and the room, so it needs to happen in the room wherever possible.

  1. Your history and concerns. What you are hearing from the service, what your child says, and what the mornings and afternoons look like.
  2. Educator input. With your permission, what the day actually looks like from their side — usually the most important source.
  3. Observation in the setting. Watching mat time, a table task, a transition and the playground, which is where the real information is.
  4. Environmental demands. Noise, seating, layout, routine and how instructions are given.
  5. Underlying skills. Motor, sensory, attention and regulation factors, assessed in relation to those specific demands.
  6. Self-care in that setting. Toileting, eating and clothing at kindy or school, which are often the quiet problems nobody mentions.
  7. A short, specific plan. Agreed with you and the educators, with a review date.

We will talk you through what we found in plain language, show you what it means day to day, and agree the first goals with you before any therapy starts.

Where we see children

  • In our Springfield clinic
  • At home
  • At daycare, kindy or school
  • In the community

Related pages

Frequently asked questions

Will you come to my child’s kindy or school?

Yes, with your permission and the service’s agreement. For participation difficulties this is usually the most valuable thing we can do, because the problem lives in that environment rather than in a clinic room.

The school says my child is fine. I do not think they are.

This is common, and both things are often true. A child who masks all day genuinely does look fine in class, and the cost shows up at home. We would want to hear both accounts, see the setting for ourselves, and ask about the specific moments rather than the general impression.

Is this the same as getting a teacher aide?

No. Funding and staffing decisions sit with the school or the service, not with us. What we can do is identify what your child needs to participate and describe it clearly, which is often useful evidence for those conversations — and in many cases the right adjustments reduce how much adult support is needed.

Ready to help your child take part?

We’ll partner with you to create a plan that works for your family — with access, empathy and hope.

Request an appointment Occupational therapy

Or call 0480 841 300 · hello@accesstotherapy.com.au