About us

Our aim is to tailor an effective and bespoke service to vulnerable learners, their families and schools.

We share over 40 years of Special Educational Needs teaching and leadership experience across a wide range of educational settings. As qualified and experienced SENDCo's, we maintain our understanding and knowledge of SEND legislation and working with local authorities and key external agencies. We also understand the challenging circumstances that schools continue to face and how this often impacts on the provision of a personalised learning and development experience where both young people and parents feel heard, nurtured and supported.

We value and celebrate neurodiversity and see every young person as unique. We believe that, once a young person is equipped with the appropriate support, the tools to succeed and the power of self-belief, they are in a strong position to thrive and reach their potential.

As a consultancy, we can provide the time and expertise to identify barriers to learning and work with the young person to support them to flourish socially, emotionally and academically. We have a flexible, nurturing and non-judgemental approach where the young person remains at the heart of everything that we do.

Rachel Parsons

Rachel has over 20 years of experience teaching and leading in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) across a variety of schools including, Primary, Secondary, Post 16, Independent and Special schools. She has a wealth of experience working with all ages and needs, including Autism, Severe Learning Difficulties, Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities, Moderate Learning Difficulties, Specific Learning Difficulties and Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties.

Autism is her passion and an area that she continues to study with over 25 years supporting young people to understand each other, remain safe and participate positively in their communities.

Throughout her career Rachel has continued her professional development, focusing on reaching and supporting the most vulnerable children in our society. She understands what effective SEND provision look like.

Rachel has been a volunteer board member on a Local Authority's Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) panel, with an integral role in the decision making process.

Rachel understands the pressures that parents face when trying to gain the correct support and provision for their young person. She is passionate about meeting the needs of all young people to ensure that they can progress and achieve holistically, always with a strong focus on building self- confidence and improving communication with others.

"My work with young people is enhanced by my training in Child and Adolescent psychotherapy. I have studied Integrative Psychotherapy and from January 2023, I will be offering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This is the NHS choice therapy to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other mental and physical health problems. It is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave."

Therapy is delivered according to the needs of the child/adult.

This can be thorough walk and talks, art, play or simply over a coffee.

Over my career I have:

Designed, planned and launched a Designated Specialist Provision (DSP) for autism.
Written whole school curricula and assessment programmes for pupils with additional needs.
Developed personalised curricula to enable young people to achieve their very best for their individual needs and future plans.
Built and redeveloped special educational needs departments over many educational establishments
Trained whole schools in Restorative Approaches

My qualifications/Accreditations

BA (hons) French and Spanish

Qualified Teacher Status

Diploma Psychology

Master of Education (MEd) in Educational Psychology. This qualification is endorsed by the British Psychological Society and is a nationally recognised qualification for administering psychometric testing, accepted throughout the UK.

British Psychological Society Membership number 481236

Post Graduate National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCo)

National Professional Qualification in Senior Leadership (NPQSL)

Specialist Leader of Education (SLE)

Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy

Child and adolescent Psychotherapy

Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy

Relevant courses

Restorative Approaches Trainer

(Positive behaviour management)

Makaton level 3

Attachment and Trauma

TEAM Teach

Intensive Interaction

Rebound Therapy

Sex and Relations with young people with Learning Difficulties

Safeguarding Adults and Children Level 3

Rachael Edwards

Rachael has over 20 years of experience teaching and leading in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in primary school settings.

Her interests in neurodiversity developed following the birth of her daughter in 2006, who is severely sensory impaired with learning difficulties, including autism. Her parental experience spans mainstream and special educational settings, navigating the SEND legal framework, identifying and employing the skills of a wide range of professionals and working closely with schools to secure the best educational provision. It is the combination of her vocation and this personal journey that fuels her professional passion for special educational needs.

"The holistic development of a child or young person is my passion, working towards shared goals and aspirational lifelong outcomes."

Rachael has a Level 7 Post Graduate Certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD, Dyslexia). She carries out child centred diagnostic assessment for Dyslexia a process that not only identifies an individuals areas of challenge but also their key areas of strength. This really helps them understand why they struggle in the way they do and the best way they can support themselves with their future studies.

Working in a range of schools as a SENDCo she lead the strategic development of SEND policy and provision. Her two key areas of focus were providing a process where the 'voice' of the pupil and their familiy is central to the success of the provision and achieving truly inclusive Quality First Teaching that realises ambitious outcomes for vulnerable learners. As a team leader she implemented training programmes to equip staff with the skills to support pupils with a wide range of complex learning needs. She developed systems for planning and monitoring delivery of learning strategies and evidence-based interventions.

Rachael has received a wide range of training, including National Award for SENDCO, Ruth Miskin Literacy, White Rose maths, Multi-Sensory Literacy, Talk 4 Writing, Zones of Regulation, SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional Support), Precision Teaching and attachment and trauma.

Qualifications/Accreditations

BA (Hons) 2:1
PGCE/Qualified Teacher Status

Post Graduate National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCo)
Post Grad Certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)
AMBDA - Asssociate Member of the British Dyslexia Association
BDA Assessment Practising Certificate (APC)