Ashleigh Johnson [MA in Inclusive and Special Education, BA in Elementary Education] is a SEND teacher and Head of The Bridge Outreach.

She trained as a teacher in the USA and has worked in both mainstream and special school settings, including teaching pupils with autism and SLD/PMLD at The Bridge. Most recently, she was head of an autism resource base in Camden and led on the expansion of this provision.

Ashleigh is passionate about making school a happy and inclusive place for every autistic child and young person. She believes in listening to and incorporating the views of autistic people in decisions involving them, from a young age. Her other special interests include teaching reading to pupils with learning differences and empowering educators to be confident in SEND.

She is a member of the Autism Professional Learning Network at UCL, the Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools Focus Group and keeps up-to-date with current autism and education research.

Menita Sekhon (BA History and Geography, BEd, QTS) is a SEND Teacher and part-time team member for The Bridge Outreach Service.

Menita has been teaching since 2003 when she qualified as a Secondary History and Geography teacher in Vancouver, Canada.  After teaching in a variety of settings (Secondary, Primary and SEN) she joined The Bridge School in 2005 as a class teacher working with children aged 5-11 with Autism, SLD and MLD. 

With support from The Bridge Outreach Service, she helped set up the first inclusion class in Islington which was based at Hungerford School.  This class enabled pupils to access the social and learning opportunities available at a mainstream school whilst still being linked to an SEN school.

Her particular interest is within inclusion class settings and supporting the transition of children from special needs settings into mainstream schools. 

Laura Heduan (FdA Working with Children: Education and Wellbeing, BA Hons Education, MA Special and Inclusive Education, Post Grad Cert Psychology and MSc Psychology of Education) is the newest member of the Bridge Outreach Service.

Laura has 12 years experience working within mainstream secondary schools in London, she has supported many young people with challenging and complex SEND, especially those with ASC and ADHD.

Laura’s particular interests lie within inclusion, and she has successfully developed alternative provisions and programmes within mainstream schools to support some of the most at risk, disengaged and vulnerable students to better meet their needs and engage them with education. Laura is passionate about working with young people and supporting school staff to help students reach their full potential.

Sarah Tyce is a Lead Special Needs Professional and has worked at The Bridge School for 22 years. She has worked with a wide spectrum of pupils with Autism from ages 2-19. Sarah has been a member of the Outreach team since the service was set up in 2003.

Sarah is a friendly member of the team who prides herself on her ability to work with all members of school staff and pupils across the borough.

Sarah has a particular interests in behaviour that challenges, and functional life skills for pupils on the spectrum.