Introduction


Drumbeat Outreach

Drumbeat Outreach is a team of teachers and specialist advisers offering support, advice and training to children, families and professionals in Lewisham. We work across all mainstream educational settings, including Early Years, Primary and Secondary schools, and Post Sixteen provisions. Schools and Colleges can buy in support from the Outreach Team through a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

The Team is made up of 16 members:

Sonia Gannon (Lead Outreach Teacher)
Kremena Lee
Julie Traquair
Donna Hazeldene
Tracey Chamberlain
Karan Hazel
Pete Black
Corinne Coote
Charlie Pinel
Jenny Yeeles
Rachel Brophy
Sonia Arscott
Elise Anderson
Madelaine Hardy
Jodi Charman
Stephanie Roberts
 

Within Drumbeat Outreach we run three licensed courses for the parents of children newly diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These courses run over a number of weeks and are facilitated by multi-disciplinary teams within Drumbeat and in collaboration with our partners in health.

Early Bird and Early Bird Plus are courses devised by the National Autistic Society (NAS). They aim to help you understand your child's autism; enter into your child's world, make contact, and find ways to develop interaction and communication; and learn how to analyse and understand your child's behaviours and how to use structure, so you can pre-empt and cope with problem behaviours.

In Early Bird two places are allocated to each family with a child aged between 2 and 5 years. The programme lasts for three months and combines group training sessions with individual home visits, where video feedback is used to help parents apply what they've learnt. Parents will have a weekly commitment of a two-and-a-half hour training session or home visit and also ongoing work with their child at home.

In Early Bird Plus two places are allocated to each family with a child aged between 4 and 8 years. The programme addresses the needs of both home and school settings by training parents/carers together with a professional who is working regularly with their child, the aim being that a child will be given consistent support. We work to build both parents' and professionals' confidence and encourage them to problem solve together. Parents and professionals will have a weekly commitment of eight two-and-a-half hour training sessions plus parents will have two home visits.

The Cygnet Programme from Barnardos is a parenting support programme for the parents and carers of children and young people aged 7-18 with ASD. Parents will have a weekly commitment of a three hour training session for six sessions and courses are usually run in the evenings to accommodate working parents.

We also run parent workshops and drop in groups across the school year in schools, children’s centres and at Drumbeat. If you would like to be on our mailing list to receive information about courses and workshops please send your email address to the address below.

If you would like any further information about any of these courses please contact me at the email address or phone number below.


Sonia Gannon
Lead teacher
Drumbeat Outreach
email: s.gannon@drumbeat.lewisham.sch.uk
Outreach Team
Drumbeat Turnham
Turnham Road
Brockley
SE4 2HH