Parent Partnership

At the Windmill School all our pedagogy and practice is underpinned by the SCERTS Model a family centred approach to prioritising needs that arise for autistic children and young people.  Together we work with parents to address core goals that enhance social emotional development and promote active engagement with learning.  

Emily Rubin one of the co-authors of the SCERTS Model has been a collaborator with The Windmill School since opening. Emily has run parent workshops here at Windmill and more recently hosted a webinar for the IOE_UCL Centre for Research in Autism and Education. 

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The Social Communication Emotional Regulation Transactional Support (SCERTS) Model helps families, teachers and therapists work cooperatively to support our students.

We firmly believe that when parents are partners in their child's school life they can play an active role in extending that support at home. Consistency of approach across home and school is essential for developing emotional self regulation. 

We have seen how pupils thrive at school when we focus on building family-centred partnerships that are built on trust. Barry Prizant author of SCERTS states firmly 'Parent professional relationships ' its a matter of trust" 

We run autism informed training both face to face and online for parents. 

SCERTS Parent/carer workshop materials

SCERTS Parent_carer_handout_2024 

SCERTS_Handout_Parents_June 2025 

SCERTS-Emotional Regulation-Focus_2025 

Emotional Dysregulation Workshop Materials_Parachutes and Ladders 

We encourage frequent contact to help parents, carers and staff ensure consistency in response to certain events or behaviours. This helps to make life seem more predictable and safe for many pupils and supports them to learn well and make good progress.

The Barnet Council's Local Offer is also available to support families and schools.

In addition to Parental Consultation Evenings and the more formal Annual Review meeting, contact may take the form of a home/school book, regular informal telephone conversations or regular email.

Parents are of course welcome to come into the school, by appointment, at any time.

Parent Counsellor 

Christine is a parent counsellor employed by the Barnet Special Education Trust. Christines work therefore extends to provide counselling to parents at The Windmill School. Referrals are made by Elham Seyadi-Yazdi Deputy Headteacher with a responsibility for Pastoral Mental Health and Well-Being and Therapeutic Support. Referrals may be made at parents request. Christine jointly runs a parent/ carer group with Elham, however her individual parent clients she sees separately, often at her office on the Oak Lodge school site. Christine may help with a range of parental requirements that fall under her remit as parent liaison, including completing forms for DLA and PIP claims. 

There are often other opportunities for parents to be involved in the life of the school: helping on your child's school trip, coffee mornings, workshops or other special events. Please check the Parent Noticeboard, or see our news posts for the latest information.