Physical Needs Team

Contact List

Children's Sensory and Physical Needs Service

Physical Needs Team
Britannia House, Floor 3
Bradford
BD1 1HX

About Us

 Physical Needs Team

The team consists of specialist teachers who provide a service for children and their parents in mainstream schools and settings, including the home.

We support children with a range of physical needs within the age range from birth to 25 years in accordance with the Matrix of Need for Bradford. 

Children are referred via the form below or through notification from health professionals via an EA1 Form.

Children/ Students may have difficulties in the following areas:

• Specific physical conditions.
• Accessing the curriculum because of constraints of physical disability.
• Movement around school.
• Fine motor skills (handwriting, pencil control, and scissor skills).
• Gross motor skills (P.E. and coordination).
• Self-help skills (continence issues, dressing, etc). 

Range of Service

We give advice on the following:

• Transition across school phases and between settings
• Range of facilities and accessibility of different schools.
• Specialist and adapted equipment.
• Making buildings and the curriculum accessible.
• Pupil-specific resources for IT.
• On meeting manual handling needs of pupils.

 Support given

• Loan of specialist equipment.
• Ensure appropriate facilities and/or programmes are in place to meet the physical needs of the child in conjunction with health professionals.
• Ensure a personal care policy/medical care plan is in place if necessary.
• Contribute to statutory assessment procedures.
• Attend and contribute to Annual Review.
• Advise on differentiation, teaching strategies and resources.
• Contribute to short-term targets.  
• Liaise with outside agencies, parents and school staff.
• Accompany parents on school visits. 
• Manual handling training for staff

Our Vision

“Our vision is to provide high-quality support for all Bradford children and young people using a collaborative approach through transformational learning experiences so that they can flourish and make excellent holistic progress and successfully transition to responsible citizens”

Referral form

The form for referring children can be found here: Referral Form. Our 30-minute Hub sessions are also available to book via the Skills4bradford Website.

Before submitting a referral, please take a look at our advice sheets and information below.

Would you like to find out how your school or early years setting could work towards achieving Bradford's Physical Friendly Setting Award? See the information below and contact the team to express your interest.

Becoming a Physical Friendly Setting

How to use the pdnet Self-Evaluation Tool

Physical Friendly Setting Accreditation

Clicker and Docs Plus Webinars

Follow the link here to view details and book your place on our FREE Clicker and Docs Plus support webinars run in conjunction with Crick Software, running throughout 2025.  See below for our advice sheet 'Clicker in the Classroom'.

School Advice Sheets

Transition

Transition to Secondary School Advice Sheet 

Recording work

Clicker in the Classroom

Supporting Fine and Gross Motor Skills to develop Handwriting

Supporting Students who have Difficulties Recording their own Work- SENDCO Advice

What can I do if it is Difficult to Record My Work?- Student Advice

Touch Typing Tips

Self-help and independence skills

Wheelchair Handling Guidance 

Daily Living Skills Advice Sheet

Daily Living Skills Checklist

Pre-dressing Skills

Intimate Care Guidance

Guidance for nappy or pad changing

Learning to drive

Fine motor skills in school- videos may take a moment to load

P.E. and gross motor

Sendco pathway for gross motor difficulties support

Gross motor skills at school

Have you thought about adapted P.E.?

Funmoves - a research-based coordination assessment tool with free training for schools

Inclusive P.E. Webinar Spring 2025. If you missed this webinar and would like to view the slides, please contact the team!

Risk assessments and P.E.E.Ps

Risk Assessments for students with Physical & Medical Needs

Writing a PEEP: Toolkit for mainstream settings

Top Tips for Writing a PEEP

Medical Needs

 Epilepsy information

Gastrostomy information

Stoma information

Oxygen information

Catheter information

Information about conditions

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

What is Hemiplegia?

Parent Advice

Transition for children with physical needs- PowerPoint Presentation

Apps for Handwriting and Fine Motor at home

Helping handwriting at home - document

Helping handwriting at home - PowerPoint Presentation

Fine motor activities to help handwriting at home

Videos for fine motor activities at home (Large file may take a short time to open)

Videos for hand warm-up exercises (Large file may take a short time to open)

Touch Typing at home

Clicker at home

Gross motor activities to help handwriting at home

Youth Sports Trust P.E. at Home ideas

Parent Pathway for gross motor support

Links to more Resources and Information  

Bradford Children's Therapy website has a whole range of information relating to physiotherapy and occupational therapy, including practical advice. 

Pdnet: a network for those supporting learners with physical difficulties, containing a wealth of resources, forums covering a wide range of topics and online training.  http://pdnet.org.uk 

Changing places- accessible toileting facilities across the U.K.: http://www.changing-places.org/ 

Epilepsy Action Charity: fact sheets and online training https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/ 

Muscular Dystrophy UK Charity: http://www.muscular-dystrophy.org/

Spinal Muscular Atrophy Support http://www.smasupportuk.org.uk/ 

Backup Trust: Spinal Cord Injury Information http://www.backuptrust.org.uk/home

Headway The Brain Injury Association https://www.headway.org.uk/

Levi Star Supporting Children with Brain Tumours http://www.levisstar.co.uk/

SCOPE Disability Equality Charity https://www.scope.org.uk/

Cerebral Palsy Sport- information about frame football, boccia, cricket and wheelchair basketball http://www.cpsport.org/

N.Q.T. Condition-specific videos https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/whole-school-send/find-wss-resources/nqt-videos.html

Shine Charity Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus information for schools: https://www.shinecharity.org.uk/for-professionals/for-professionals 

Mixed Ability Sport in Bradford 

Brittle Bones Society Charity information for schools  http://www.brittlebone.org

Dyspraxia Foundation information for schools  http://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk

Nerve Tumours UK Charity  https://nervetumours.org.uk

Reach Charity:  Supporting children affected by upper limb difference 

https://reach.org.uk/

Restricted Growth Association UK: https://rgauk.org

Useful links 

Local Offer Bradford

Skills4bradford Website