Lucy Bates Children's Occupational Therapist

09/03/2026

Over the last few weeks Lucy has been working with both Pens Meadow and Sutton specialist schools in Dudley to provide sensory boxes in each of the classrooms. The boxes are made up of a range of sensory supports, visuals, choice boards and how to use guides to support the regulation and engagement of pupils in the classrooms. If you’re interested in sourcing specialist OT support in your school or setting get in touch…

25/02/2026

We are still digesting the new white paper on education that came out on Monday. This response from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists is a good place to start..

The UK Government’s schools White Paper marks progress in recognising what occupational therapists have long said: children achieve and thrive when they get the right support at the right time.

Having occupational therapists embedded in schools and neighbourhood teams can reduce the fight families face just to access basic support. From handwriting to adapting environments, occupational therapists help children participate, learn and succeed.

The key question now is whether funding and workforce planning will match the ambition.

Read our full response below 👉 https://bit.ly/4aWXjce

23/01/2026

Lucy is off today refreshing skills and gaining certification with Rebound therapy. Rebound is a great therapeutic tool to use with a range of children. If you’re interested in supporting your children in this way get in touch for more details of how we could help deliver this in your setting!

18/01/2026

Last year Lucy recorded a podcast with the lovely Jordan from Sensory Class. Go over to https://sensoryclassroom.org/pages/podcast
To listen and get more information on how you can implement sensory circuits into your school or home…

07/01/2026

Anyone interested in feeding come along and book your space on this 3 hour course…

25/11/2025

Any health or education professionals wanting to learn more about feeding this is the course for you…

24/11/2025

I will be joining in with this challenge as part of the The Feeding Trust team… please make a donation so we can support more children with feeding differences…

18/11/2025

I will be getting involved in this challenge as part of The Feeding Trust 12 days of Christmas challenge… follow me and make a donation!

06/11/2025

As part of team our article about PFD has been published today in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Nutrition… 🧐🥳 take a look at the feeding trust website for the poster and link to full article…

18/10/2025

Love this explanation of our upstairs and downstairs brain….

When a child’s upstairs brain (the thinking, reasoning part) is online, they can plan, problem-solve and make good choices.
When they’re in their downstairs brain (the survival part), logic goes out the window — they act on impulse, not intention.

Understanding this helps us respond with calm and connection, not punishment.

Visual taken from Emotions and My Brain activity pack. Link in comments or via Linktree in Bio.

10/10/2025

A great day in London chatting all things feeding and SEND…

Lucy Lucy Bates Children's Occupational Therapist and Charlotte Charlotte Sireshuk Children's Speech and Language Therapy went down to the TES SEND show in London today to chat all things Eating as Learning Curriculum. They met so many people who were really interested in training opportunities and implementing the curriculum into their schools. Watch this space for the next dates for our courses in 2026!

07/10/2025

Wow what a day!! Spent the day filming a new parent webinar programme with the The Feeding Trust team. Can’t wait to see the final edit and get this out to parents The Children's Dietitian