SPEAC and TreeHouse
The TreeHouse Trust (TreeHouse) is a UK charity, based in north London whose aim is to transform through education the lives of children with autism and the lives of their families.
Founded in 1997, by a group of parents whose children had recently been diagnosed with severe autism. TreeHouse was established in response to the huge unmet national need for specialist education for children with autism.
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Parent groups regularly contact TreeHouse to ask for information about setting up ABA schools, and many have visited TreeHouse to see its model at work. The partnership with SPEAC is the first and only one established in Northern Ireland. The SPEAC Centre at Torbank is a member of a UK network of schools: the ABA Schools Forum.
Setting up a school can be a daunting, time-consuming and frustrating process. TreeHouse recognises that it can offer support to these groups, and is beginning to further develop its support and information services in this area.
TreeHouse’s partnership with SPEAC at Tor Bank currently involves weekly consultancy, training and support as well as visits by experts, monitoring of the curriculum and staff performance. Training started in the Summer, ahead of the school's first pupil in take in September 2005, with an intensive 7 week programme at TreeHouse for the Class Teacher and Classroom Leaders and two week’s initial training for Classroom Assistants. A continuous professional development programme will ensure excellent quality throughout the pilot.