When Delphine worked as an Occupational Therapist at Springhallow School in London, I observed how she continuously implemented her wealth of knowledge and experience to build and establish a strong and positive rapport with all pupils.
Working with Delphine over the past three years has been an exceptional experience. I feel genuinely grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with someone so skilled, insightful, and deeply committed to improving outcomes for Neurodivergent pupils. As the SENCO in a busy mainstream setting, I have witnessed first-hand the difference that truly thoughtful, pupil‑centred therapeutic support can make. Delphine has exemplified this consistently throughout our time working together.
From the outset, what set Delphine apart was her ability to think creatively and move beyond generic recommendations. Rather than offering off‑the‑shelf strategies, she took the time to unpick the unique profile of each pupil, recognising the complexity and individuality of conditions such as DCD, Dyslexia, and a range of co‑occurring needs. Her assessments were thorough and nuanced, reflecting a genuine understanding of how these challenges can interact and how they present differently in each young person. Every piece of advice she provided was purposeful, tailored, and grounded in a deep respect for each child’s lived experience.
Her collaborative approach has been equally impressive over the three years we’ve worked together. Delphine worked closely with me, as SENCO, and with our dedicated teaching assistants to ensure that strategies were not just suggested but embedded meaningfully into the day‑to‑day life of the classroom. She had a natural ability to translate specialist knowledge into practical, achievable techniques that staff could apply confidently. This hands‑on, team‑based way of working meant that pupils were supported consistently, enabling them to develop greater independence and feel genuinely empowered in their learning environment.
Parents frequently spoke highly of Delphine, often commenting on her warmth, clarity, and genuine care for their children. She approached every conversation with empathy and professionalism, ensuring families felt heard, understood, and involved in the process. She offered guidance in a way that was reassuring yet honest, creating space for parents to share their concerns while providing constructive insights that helped them better support their children at home. The trust she built with families became a cornerstone of the positive progress so many pupils made.
Above all, Delphine brought a level of passion, creativity, and commitment that is truly rare. Whether she was modelling strategies, adapting resources, troubleshooting classroom challenges, or celebrating small wins, she approached her work with a deep sense of purpose. Her presence over these three years elevated not only the pupils’ experience but also the confidence and skill set of the adults working with them. It is no exaggeration to say that her involvement made a transformative difference within our setting.
I wholeheartedly recommend Delphine to any school or organisation seeking an Occupational Therapist who is not only exceptionally knowledgeable but also compassionate, collaborative, and deeply invested in helping children thrive. Her contribution to our community has been invaluable, and her impact will continue to be felt long after her direct work with us has ended.
Tanya Gallagher, Deputy Head Teacher, Castlebar Primary School, London
From Delphine’s first session of Floortime with my son, we saw an improvement in his focus and connection. Delphine worked very hard and effectively in finding ways to engage with our son, something we ourselves find quite a challenge at times. She was also excellent at adapting her ideas quickly during the sessions to get the best possible engagement.
The most important thing to us was that our son was obviously really enjoying the sessions and the fact that Delphine talked to us through everything she had done meant we could easily carry on with the Floortime ourselves.
We felt that Floortime and Delphine unlocked some of our son’s play and engagement skills and it was wonderfull to enjoy these with him again.”
Katy Gould, mother of Joe, Brighton
When Delphine worked as an Occupational Therapist at Springhallow School in London, I observed how she continuously implemented her wealth of knowledge and experience to build and establish a strong and positive rapport with all pupils.
Delphine’s charismatic approaches motivated pupils between the ages of 4 and 16 to engage with appropriately challenging and fun activities. Her gentle guidance supported them to persevere and ultimately make progress.
Delphine’s innate sense of empathy and professionalism also allowed her to build positive relationships with parents, schools staff and other professionals.
We commissioned Delphine’s services to devise an assessment programme for tracking and developing pupils’ handwriting, feeding, dressing, washing and toileting skills. During the process she showed tremendous dedication by implementing her depth of knowledge and versatile research skills.
When we designed our new school building, Delphine contributed to shaping the plans for our OT spaces and resources, thus ensuring a continued legacy for the future.
Delphine has that rare combination of proficiency and passion. She has real solutions for real people. I cannot recommend her strongly enough.
Maria Heyns, Assistant Headteacher, Springhallow, A school for children with Autism, London
Dear Delphine,
I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks and appreciation for your work as an Occupational and Floortime therapist with our daughter.
You showed incredible enthusiasm, professionalism and dedication. Our daughter is normally quite shy with new people, but when she saw you for the first time she was full of smiles and giggles. You have a special gift to work with children, you are always so friendly and positive.
You gave me so many new ideas and advice on how to play and interact with my daughter to increase her language, social and fine motor skills. You took the time to provide me with the answers, support as well as any information I needed.
Thank you once again again from the bottom of my heart for your help and best of luck for the future.
Best regards,
Viktorija, mother
Delphine brings a wealth of knowledge and experience for her work and shares this with generosity, goodwill and humour. She is perceptive and intuitive, combining a sense and feeler her work with intellectual rigour and sound rational argument.
She has made a profound and enduring difference to practice at Chatsworth Futures. She has provided pragmatic expertise which has underpinned the progress learners have made. She works directly with learners and supports their learning in a structured and consistent manner that enables them to achieve. Crucially, the skills she has taught our learners have endured over time, indicating powerfully how deeply embedded these skills are.
Alongside her work with our learners, Delphine has enabled our staff team to acquire skills and knowledge which they now implement with our learners. She works in a collaborative, hands-on manner sharing her skills in a practical and accessible way. Consequently, staff have developed confidence and are prepared to continue exercising their skills even when not working directly with her .
Delphine has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and is constantly challenging herself to learn more, know new things and understand better. This drive to innovate and improve benefits all of those around her and is force for improvement in every setting.
Dr. Martin Hanbury, Executive Headteacher, Chatworth Multi-Academy Trust, Salford, Manchester
Delphine has been a source of inspiration to people who have worked with her. Her energy and enthusiasm for her work is infectious and she shows true passion for the Occupational Therapy profession.
Delphine loves to learn and develop her skills and is constantly searching for new innovations and opportunities to develop. She shows true compassion for the families she supports.
Delphine has an adventurous spirit which influences the nature of her work. She will seek out new approaches, but at the same time ensures that there is sound clinical reasoning and robust evidence to support the intervention she uses.
Helen Watson, NHS OT Team Lead and supervisor
Delphine worked closely in partnership with us to create an extensive set of training materials and resources to support early years practitioners. Her knowledge, expertise, creativity, passion and energy was just what we needed.
Delphine’s work has enabled us to develop practitioners’ awareness, knowledge and skills in relation to executive function, self-regulation and how to support children’s emotional and sensory development. It has also provided many practitioners with a range of effective and practical strategies to support children with SEND and developmental delays.
We are so grateful for Delphine’s ongoing inspirational consultancy support and advice. We look forward to many more years of collaborative projects with her.
We highly recommend Delphine and know her input is always exceptionally valuable and as a result has a significant impact on children’s well-being and progress.
Ruth Korbel, Early Years 2 Primary (EY2P)
As a family we really benefited from the Floortime sessions with Delphine. The sessions encouraged us to follow our son’s lead; focusing on what he found interesting and enjoying the time together. It was fun, and the interactions we shared- with Delphine’s support and guidance- were were very positive. We gained some new strategies which we have found very useful.
Fiona, mother of David
I worked with Delphine in 2021-2022 when we opened our specialist resource provision for children with Autism in Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Delphine was part of our therapy team and played a key role in shaping our OT offer. Her particular input around play skills and food sensitivities was invaluable, and she created engaging activities that supported our children to make excellent progress.
She also trained our staff in movement-based strategies to support regulation, focus, and engagement, while helping us build strong relationships with parents through excellent workshops. These workshops were especially supportive for families at the beginning of their school journey and diagnostic process.
Delphine’s ideas, commitment to achieving the very best outcomes for children, and her enthusiasm are qualities I will always remember.
Gina Frascogna Assistant head for Inclusion, Hallfield Primary School, London
Delphine worked with me in South Africa at my paediatric private practice for a few months. What a pleasure it was to work with a colleague like her! I subsequently mentored her, problem solving challenging cases.
She has a gift with children, and is exceptionally engaging with them. She gets onto their level, wherever it may be, and pulls them into her vibrant and positive energy in the most incredible way. I watched time and time again, as she engaged even the most severely affected children, who didn’t want to engage (those with no language, and complete avoidance). Her enthusiasm, willingness to learn, be real, and be creative, not to mention absolute respect, confidentiality and integrity within her work are all amazing assets she has. She is so passionate about what her work, and her willingness to help others on all levels.
If I could choose any therapist in the world to work with my own children, it would be Delphine.
Sally MacKenzie, Occupational Therapist, Knysna, South Africa
I worked alongside Delphine from August 2018 to December 2018 when working for Children’s Therapy team for Salford NHS. I worked with Delphine in one of the Special education primary schools in Salford. I was straight away drawn towards the way Delphine interacted with children needing Occupational Therapy, delivering detailed assessment and treatment programs, whilst providing the upmost empathy and professionalism. It was very quick to see how passionate she is about delivering Occupational therapy to children. Following this, we quickly developed a unique style of joint working, which puts the child’s needs first, whilst being able to combine our therapy expertise in a very streamlined manner and more importantly making sure that we developed fun sessions for not only our children, their families but also each other.
Following my time in Salford, I later moved to a private charity setting in January 2019, where we treated children aged 0-12 with neurological and developmental conditions. It was in this role that I then asked Delphine to join me for a short-term contract. There was a high need for us to bring in an experienced Occupational therapist that would be able to work in our Multidisciplinary setting and Delphine fitted this role perfectly. All families that she treated in the 4month spell have had nothing but praise for how she has dealt with not only children with complex needs but also how parents were treated. Delphine is amazing at this aspect of therapy, making families feel at ease and giving knowledge and understanding into what their role is in helping their children. One area that Delphine has been excellent is helping families with interaction with their child and also setting clear boundaries that helps the family unit. We have seen a real difference with families returning for reassessments and outpatient sessions. This was particularly evident with our families with children who had diagnosis of Down syndrome and Cerebal Palsy. This is the bulk of the children we see and families have reported to us how at ease they felt with Delphine (even after a very short spell with us) and the input given was truly excellent. Delphine has been excellent at helping to treat some of our more physically demanding children and bringing new ideas of how to stimulate children, in order that their more difficult physical goals can be achieved. One area that has been excellent with this group of children has been how Delphine delivers play and creativity in achieving the child’s gross motor and fine motor goals. Delphine’s clinical reasoning and to strive for better is truly excellent and is someone that is constantly wanting to learn and better herself.
As a physiotherapist who has worked very closely with Delphine, I have gained so much knowledge and experience from seeing the way that Delphine works with families. Delphine has an amazing passion for delivering unique sessions and thinking outside the box, making sure that no treatment session is the same and as such keeps children constantly engaged. I have taken these experiences and have since adapted the way I deliver treatment sessions and I am eternally grateful for my joint sessions. I truly feel that this has made me a better and more rounded physiotherapist. I will now take on board sensory and behavioural needs of any child, and understand the importance of trying to deliver those goals within the family unit by coming up with realistic child and family strategies, I have Delphine to thank for this.
Nadia Slaouti, Lead Pediatric Physiotherapist and Centre Manager, Brainwave Children’s Charity, UK