Our Team
Meet Hayley
Hi, I’m Hayley, the Speech and Language Therapy Assistant at Seaside SaLT. I have over 30 years of experience supporting children with a wide range of speech, language and communication needs.
I began my career as a Teaching Assistant in a hearing-impaired unit at a school in Scarborough before moving into the NHS Children’s Therapy Department, also in Scarborough. There, I gained extensive experience working closely with children and their families. I later chose to leave the NHS to join Seaside SaLT, allowing me to spend more face-to-face time with children and deliver therapy in a timely, effective and child-centred way.
Alongside my role as a speech and language therapy assistant, I have a special interest in hearing impairment. I am a qualified Sign Language tutor through the Open College of Sign Language (OCSL) and also hold qualifications in Makaton.
What I enjoy most about my job is creating personalised resources for each child and problem-solving to make sessions fun, motivating and effective. I am passionate about helping children build their communication skills and confidence, and I really enjoy working closely with families to support progress in a positive and supportive environment.
Meet Helen
I was brought up in Scarborough attending Overdale, Northstead and Scalby Schools. I qualified as a speech and language therapist from De Montfort University in 1993. Since then I worked in the NHS for over 20 years mainly with children in mainstream schools and nurseries. I have worked with children aged 0-16 with the full range of speech, language and communication disorders. I have a particular interets in working with children with complex speech sound difficulties.
In 2016 I left the NHS and did a Master’s degree looking particularly at supporting teenagers with communication difficulties in secondary school. In 2020 I founded Seaside SaLT with my colleague Kate Hemingway because I wanted to be able to provide effective speech and language therapy to children in my home town wherever and whenever it was needed. We are now proud to be working with many Scarborough schools and also with a large number of children referred by their parents. As a director of Seaside SaLT I love researching and developing new services and figuring out ways to make our services even more accessible.
As a speech and language therapist I enjoy working with children and making a connection with them. I love to see and celebrate their achievements and watch their confidence grow through their sessions. Sharing the joy of a smile, a new word or a correctly pronounced sound with parents is all the more special!
Meet Maria
I graduated with a degree in Psychology in 2019 and am now starting my journey with Seaside SaLT as a Speech and Language Therapy Assistant. Alongside this role, I work as a nanny, which I thoroughly enjoy, especially helping the children learn, grow, and build confidence. I also lead a Girlguiding group, where I love creating fun, supportive environments for young people to be themselves. We earn plenty of badges too! In my spare time, I enjoy being with my family and friends, especially anyone who has dogs. I look forward to working at Seaside SaLT and supporting all the amazing children we work with.
