Atelier Shadow Teacher
Our
Service
A shadow teacher should do more than help a child get through the school day.
Atelier Shadow Support provides individualised, in-school support for children who need additional help with learning, emotional regulation, social interaction, executive functioning, sensory needs, or everyday classroom participation.
Our shadow teachers work as part of a psychology-led, Occupational Therapy-supported team, connecting the child, family, school, and Atelier of Minds around shared goals.
The aim is not to make a child dependent on a shadow teacher. The aim is to help the child participate, build skills, and become increasingly independent.
Psychology-Led, Individualised Support
A shadow teacher should understand the child behind the behaviour.
Atelier Shadow Support is guided by our psychology team, with strategies tailored to the child's emotional, social, behavioural, and learning needs.
Instead of simply correcting behaviour or repeatedly prompting a child to comply, our approach considers questions such as:
What is the child communicating?
What is making this task difficult?
What support would help now?
What skill can we build so less support is needed later?
Our wider framework treats behaviour as communication and prioritises regulation, connection, and individualised scaffolding rather than punitive responses.
Supported by Occupational Therapy
Sometimes what looks like an attention or behaviour problem is connected to sensory processing, motor demands, regulation, or the way the classroom environment is experienced.
Our Occupational Therapist can support the team in understanding:
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Sensory processing needs
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Regulation strategies
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Fine and gross motor demands
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Classroom positioning
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Environmental adaptations
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Functional independence
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Appropriate sensory tools and routines
Within Atelier's wider framework, sensory regulation is not treated as a separate activity—it is considered throughout learning, transitions, and everyday participation.
Support That Builds Independence
A good shadow teacher knows when to help. A great shadow teacher also knows when to step back.
Our goal is not for the shadow teacher to:
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Complete work for the child
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Answer every question
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Speak for the child
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Prevent every difficult moment
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Stay permanently beside the child
Instead, support is gradually adjusted as skills develop.
Success means the child needs us less—not more.