RISE NI

RISE NI (Regional Integrated Support for Education in N. Ireland)

RISE NI is a regional early intervention service which supports children in pre-school educational and mainstream primary school settings by working closely with parents and education staff to help children develop the foundation skills for learning i.e. speech, language, communication, sensory-motor, visual perception, social, emotional and behaviour skills.

Our RISE NI team consists of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, social emotional and behavioural practitioners, and support workers.

Our Aim

‘to reduce underachievement and improve life chances of children and young people by enhancing their educational development and fostering their health, wellbeing and social inclusion through the integrated delivery of the support and services necessary to ensure that every child has the best start in life’ (Hain, 2006)

RISE (NI) aims to work with mainstream schools and nurseries in meeting the needs of children presenting with difficulties in the following areas:

Social and emotional development and behaviour
Speech, language and communication
Gross Motor
Sensory processing, Fine Motor and visual perceptual

The team works with schools and families where these difficulties are impacting on the child’s ability to access the curriculum through a tiered approach

What do we do?

Consultation and liaison with education staff
Training to education staff, parents and carers
Targeted whole class and group programmes
Multidisciplinary assessment
Advice and modelling sessions
Short-term individual or group support
Signposting and onward referral when appropriate

Accessing the service

For children who require RISE NI support in at least 2 out of the 4 broad areas of need, referrals can be made by

Playgroups and nursery schools, for children age 3,
Primary school, for children in Year 1 through Year 4

Closing Date for Referrals:

Children in year 4: Halloween
Children in nursery through the end of Year 3: Good Friday

Referrers are encouraged to contact the team to discuss potential referrals, training requests, queries, or programmes.

We encourage any other professionals to contact us to discuss options for accessing the service, or to share RISE NI contact details with the child’s playgroup, nursery, or primary school.

If there is only one area of need, RISE NI may be able to offer Universal and Targeted Support where appropriate.