Devizes & District Opportunity Centre

Therapy, play and family support share the same purpose here: helping young children with additional needs take their next developmental steps. Devizes & District Opportunity Centre brings speech and language work, physical therapies and early education together in an accessible building, with support extending into the mainstream settings children also attend. Its specialist role defines the offer.

At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the centre Outstanding overall and found that its individualised teaching and support helped children with special educational needs and disabilities make progress from their own starting points. That is a dated judgement, but an important one for families weighing specialist provision. The centre welcomes children from birth to five years and has 30 places in total.

An independent voluntary organisation, it is governed by trustees drawn from parents and the wider community. Its catchment includes Devizes, Melksham, Marlborough, Pewsey and Tidworth. Term-time attendance includes accompanied stay-and-play, unaccompanied preschool and assessment sessions, each serving a different stage of a family's involvement.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the educational framework: children develop through play, building communication, physical skills, relationships and independence. Alongside that common framework, each child receives a targeted programme which can include speech and language activities, physiotherapy exercises, occupational therapy and advice about seating or positioning. The practical distinction is the connection between learning and a child's individual therapeutic needs.

Two playrooms sit alongside a speech and language room, a soft play room and a multi-sensory stimulation room. These give the centre separate spaces for different activities and therapeutic work. A consulting room also provides somewhere for discussions with professionals, while hoist accessible toilets and a changing room make personal care part of the building's design.

In March 2022, communication support included pictures, signing and spoken language, with individually targeted language sessions. During singing, children used pictures to select a song; during shared reading, staff combined speech and signs to help them understand the story. Those examples show how participation could be adapted for children who did not communicate through speech alone.

Sensory exploration also featured in March 2022. Children handled dough and investigated glitter in water, while adults brought shape names and counting into their play. Sand activities gave children opportunities to practise using scoops and filling buckets. Learning was embedded in things children could touch, manipulate and repeat, rather than confined to verbal instructions.

Outdoor and Community Life

An enclosed playground, playhouses and outdoor classroom extend play outside. Access to a playing field, play train and woodland sensory garden with outdoor musical instruments adds sensory exploration.

Community experiences formed part of the day in March 2022, including visits to a local nature centre and trips to shops to deliver thanks for fundraising support. These outings connected children with people and places beyond the centre. They also placed communication and social interaction in everyday situations.

Relationships and Communication

Support begins with understanding the child and family. Following a referral, the manager visits the family at home, and parents are invited to see the centre. The early weeks of a placement allow time for children to become familiar with staff while practitioners observe their interests and needs and develop relationships with parents. Assessment and settling run together.

Parent and Child Stay and Play Sessions combine shared play with practical guidance. A key person works on targeted activities during the session and helps parents continue that work at home. Meeting other parents is also part of the arrangement, giving families opportunities for mutual support alongside advice from staff and therapists.

Team Around the Child Meetings bring parents together with health, education and social care professionals to plan support around the child's strengths and needs. The centre also offers emotional support and practical help during family difficulties. For parents managing several professional relationships, the value lies in having discussion and planning connected to the child's early education.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The associated professional team includes an Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist, Consultant Paediatrician and Paediatric Speech and Language Therapists. They assess children at the centre and advise families. Staff have received additional training for complex health needs, including seizures, breathing difficulties and tube feeding; SENCO and designated safeguarding lead roles are also part of the team structure.

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the centre's work with other professionals to support children and their families. In March 2022, staff also helped children practise drinking from open cups and worked with parents on toilet training when children were ready. These were practical steps towards independence, tailored to individual development.

Support continues beyond attendance here. Most children also attend a mainstream preschool when the time is right, and the centre invites its practitioners and SENCOs to liaise with staff and therapists. The Outreach Service provides advice and visits to other settings, helping adults use consistent strategies across a child's placements.

Moving towards school, the centre works with families, receiving settings and the Wiltshire SEND service, including contributing to requests for an Education Health Care Plan where appropriate. A Transition Meeting shares information about the child's needs and plans an induction which may involve school staff visiting the centre and the child visiting school. This is preparation for a child's eventual placement, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

Attendance is during term time. Parent and Child Stay and Play Sessions cater for children from birth to two and a half years with a parent, on Mondays from 9.30am to 11am. Preschool sessions are for children aged two to five attending independently of their parents.

The preschool timetable has morning sessions from 9.15am to 11.45am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Mondays and Thursdays run from 11.30am to 2pm, with a further Wednesday session from noon to 2.30pm. Where a placement is mutually agreed to be beneficial, the allocation is two sessions, totalling five hours, each week; session allocation is agreed between parents and the manager.

Assessment Sessions are for children aged two to four attending with parents. They usually run over six weeks on Thursday mornings, with the timetable giving 9.30am to 10.45am. A designated key worker assesses the child and tries strategies, then a written report sets out recommendations. These may include preschool attendance alongside a mainstream setting, strategies for that setting or outreach support.

Getting There

The address is Opportunity Centre, Bellevue Road, Devizes, SN10 2AJ. Parents can refer their child themselves by telephone on 01380 726077 or through the referral form; health and early-years professionals can also refer, and each referral is considered individually against family needs and the centre's resources.

The centre closes for weekends, bank holidays and school holidays. Its term-time pattern therefore needs to fit alongside any care or support a family uses during holiday periods.

Funding and Paid Extras

Membership is free. Where a child is eligible, sessions are funded through Free Entitlement or 2 year old funding, within the centre's term-time attendance pattern. Eligibility remains a condition of that funding, rather than an assurance that every referral receives a funded placement.

• Specialist fit. Referrals are assessed individually, and the assessment programme can recommend support within a mainstream setting as well as attendance here. During a visit, discuss which route would best address your child's immediate needs.
• Short, term-time attendance. The agreed preschool allocation is two sessions each week, and the centre closes during school holidays. Consider how those sessions would work alongside your child's other placement and your family's weekly arrangements.
• Therapy across placements. The Outreach Service supports mainstream practitioners, while Team Around the Child Meetings coordinate professional input. Ask how your child's targets would be shared between the centre, home and any other setting.
• Food and personal care. How would meals, dietary requirements and personal care be managed during your child's sessions?

This centre suits families seeking therapy-linked early education through accompanied Stay & play, unaccompanied Preschool Session attendance or a parent-attended Assessment session. Specialist rooms, linked health professionals and outreach connect support across a child's placements.

The March 2022 Outstanding judgement adds weight, while the short, term-time pattern requires careful planning around other arrangements. For a family whose child needs targeted developmental support and whose parents want an active role in that work, this is a substantial specialist option.