Rycroft is the base of RSDCD’s support team. It has 13 members of staff, offering expertise in audiology, educational psychology, mental health, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech and language therapy. The team members work closely with each other and with staff around RSDCD, enabling multidisciplinary work of exceptionally high quality. The primary task of the team is to support the learning and well-being of RSDCD’s students. It does this through a consultative approach (advising other staff members), and through direct therapy and other direct interventions with the students themselves. The Rycroft staff carry out assessments of prospective students when they are being considered for placement at RSDCD. Subsequently, after a student is admitted, the team members assess students to help plan and deliver programmes.
The team also monitors students’ progress, submitting reports when required to meetings both within RSDCD itself and to statutory bodies, such as local authorities and the Learning and Skills Council.
The Rycroft staff work closely with parents, often visiting family homes (usually with RSDCD’s Link Worker). The Rycroft Centre also has a training role, with its staff often leading in-service training at RSDCD. Team members sometimes speak to parents’ groups and at meetings and conferences for professionals. Because of RSDCD’s very special population, the Rycroft staff are sometimes at the forefront of developing new approaches to learning and assessment.
The Rycroft Centre frequently receives requests to assess pupils and young people who do not attend RSDCD. While team members help when they are able, their first commitment must always be to RSDCD’s own students.