Lorraine thoroughly enjoys teaching and has brought a broad wealth of experience to compliment our Senior Leadership team. Prior to working in the special education sector, she spent 5 years in a mainstream school as the SENCO.

Lorraine has worked in special education for the last 8 years, specifically with non-verbal students with complex needs as well as autism spectrum disorders, ADHD and oppositional defiance disorder.

Lorraine has a good knowledge of PODD, PECS symbols and Makaton signing. “I have always enjoyed my time in the classroom and am enjoying working with the great Leadership team, teachers, therapists and support staff at Eagle House School”.

Yvonne has been working at Eagle House Group since 2009; starting as deputy head teacher at our primary school in Mitcham and then subsequently at our secondary school in Sutton.

“I started working with children with autism over 25 years ago when I was a welfare assistant in a specialist school in West London. From there, my interest and passion for working with this intriguing group of children blossomed”.

After qualifying as a teacher, Yvonne started her career working in mainstream primary schools. During this time she recognised that she was drawn to children with autism, but within the mainstream environment, she felt that her ability to make a difference was limited so joined us at Eagle House Group.

“I am proud to be a member of a dedicated team that values the uniqueness of each pupil and is committed in striving towards all children and young people being able to meet their full potential during their time with us”.

Preethy comes to us with many years’ experience as a Clinical Psychologist and works with Eagle House School (Mitcham), Eagle House School (Sutton) and Eagle House 6^th Form (Strawberry Lodge). She has in-depth clinical experience spanning the spectrum of childhood disorders from primary to tertiary care levels and has a specialist interest in mental health in children and adolescents with autism and special needs.

Preethy’s role within schools is to work with pupils and staff to promote mental and emotional well-being. She does this through assessment and evidence-based interventions and also whilst working closely with our clinical team. This includes a wide range of Eagle House Group professionals including Behaviour Support, Occupational Therapists, Speech & Language therapists and teaching staff.

Through consultation and use of a multidisciplinary approach, we collaboratively work together to proactively problem solve with a view to developing effective ways of supporting our pupils and learners, who may present with difficult issues.

Preethy also offers advice on mental health difficulties and provides links with child mental health services as well as supporting positive change to actively support learning, raise standards and promote successful inclusion.

Amina is sharing the senior speech & language therapist role and has been at Eagle HouseSchool (Mitcham) for a significant period of time now. Amina graduated in 2010 from City

University then spent 6 years working in Early Childhood Intervention, in regional Australia and Melbourne, developing her skills working with children aged 0-6 with complex needs, Down Syndrome, autism and global developmental delay. Amina has experience in working with the NHS but has a special interest in autism and social communication difficulties. She enjoys the parent workshops and working with children to develop functional language and communication skills, building on the strengths of the children be it through visual support, alternative augmentative communication (AAC) and/or verbal language.

Sophie has over 10 years’ experience working with children with autism in schools and homes; supporting pupils, teachers and parents. Her focus has been on developing communication and social skills, as well as prerequisite skills to learning in learners of varying abilities.  She has also supported teachers and parents in managing challenging behaviour. She completed her Masters in Autism and qualified as a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst in 2017. In her role, she supports class teams, along with the Assistant Psychologists, in implementing the school’s Positive Behaviour Support policy and in addressing the causes of challenging behaviour in pupils.  The multidisciplinary approach at Eagle House School, as well as the joint curriculum planning between the CA Team and teachers, are vital in supporting this process.

Sarah is the Senior Occupational Therapist working across Eagle House School (Mitcham) and Eagle House 6^th Form (Strawberry Lodge). Occupation is defined as “activities that are meaningful to the individual” and the role of every occupational therapist at Eagle House Group is to support our pupils and learners to engage in their daily activities and learning environment to the greatest extent possible.

Sarah graduated with an MSc in Occupational Therapy in 2015, writing her dissertation on the use of iPads as Augmented and Alternative Communication devices for non-verbal autistic adults. She has spent most of her career in the NHS with experience across a range of acute mental health and community settings.

Working with autistic people was Sarah’s motivation for becoming an occupational therapist, where she has sought to raise the profile of autistic service users in every role she has held. In 2018 she was supported by the Star Institute in the United States to conduct research on sensory processing differences in autistic populations. 

Sarah cares passionately about the independence of autistic people and providing evidence-based solutions to the issues that autistic people face in their day-to-day living.

After studying at Oxford University, Adele pursued a career in the fashion industry. After leaving work to have a family, she became involved in autism when her daughter was diagnosed as having ASD at the age of four.

“We were very lucky that Nell started at Eagle House aged five and we benefited from the expertise and support of the school. Nell’s twin brother and older brother really appreciated the sibling support offered and the regular workshops and coffee mornings allowed me to learn about different approaches and techniques for dealing with an autistic child, as well as meeting other parents in the same situation.”

When returning to work, Adele was keen to take on a role that would involve giving other families like her own, the support and information needed to help them make the best decisions for their child with autism. “I was delighted to be given the opportunity to work at Eagle House Group and feel that the experiences I have been through as the parent of a severely autistic child really inform my approach to the role of Parent Liaison Officer – whether offering practical advice or giving parents information on where to find further support.”

The health and education systems can seem really daunting for the family of a child with autism. By offering advice to families in selecting a school and helping them through the SEN process, Adele wants to make them feel supported and well informed when making important choices for their children.

Amanda has spent the past 18 years in a mainstream primary school supporting children with various special needs including those with an autism spectrum disorder.

In the last 6 years, she moved to the role of Family Support Worker, where her work involved supporting the children and families in various areas including medical, educational, financial, housing and parenting.

Amanda’s previous experience has equipped her well for her role and is she is very much enjoying working with the children and families at Eagle House School (Mitcham).