Our Forum Presentation - Curriculum survey results

On Friday 3rd March Hannah and I presented at the Best of British Special Educational Need Forum. Flo asked us to present on the influence Penny Lacey had on the development of our own curriculum model.

Hannah and I were currently following the National Curriculum and trying to make it relevant to our pupils. Yes it can be done, and yes it can be made sensory but it takes a ridiculous amount of hours sitting and racking your brain to make tenuous links and ‘think outside the box’. We approached our SLT about it and were met with concern about such a dramatic change. There were of course concerns about Ofsted, and we completely understood the pressure and importance to do well. There was uncertainty about the moral/ inclusion perspective. Is it right to change the children’s curriculum or do they have an entitlement to receive the same curriculum as their mainstream peers? Another concern was that an informal curriculum model provides less support and structure for teachers as the National Curriculum is a successful model that drives teaching. Hannah and I began to extensively research studies on the impact of the National Curriculum for pupils with PMLD, the meaning and morals of inclusion and other curriculum models used in outstanding schools across the UK.

The first step in our research journey was a quick google search of other curriculum models. The first we found was Castlewood School who devised their curriculum with Penny Lacey. They divide their curriculum into four key areas. These areas link well to EHCPs; cognition, communication, physical and self-help and independence. We loved this model and read through their online documents to further understand how such a model could work in our school. Another school that inspired me was The Children’s Trust school in Surrey, their resources are phenomenal. They now use the IMPACTs model. The IMPACTs model is very similar with the addition of environmental control technology.

We then read wider to find research that evaluated the impact of such models or to find evidence to support a move away from the National Curriculum. We found a journal entry by Imray and Hinchcliffe that highlighted the negative impact the National Curriculum can have for pupils with PMLD and how we should move towards personalised provision.

'Even to this day, there may be a large element of tokenism, with schools ‘pretending’ to teach what they do not actually teach in order to fit the model, and at worst not making a very good job of delivering a watered-down mainstream primary Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) National Curriculum' Imray and Hinchcliffe (2011)

Imray also quotes Ware (1994) 'There is however, a difference in emphasis between the SLD school curricula and the National Curriculum, with the National Curriculum concentrating on what society is thought to need from the individual rather than what the individual needs to cope with society. This emphasis is [a major] source of conflict with good practice in SLD schools where the needs of the individual are seen as paramount. It is important to realise that this is a problem for all special needs education and, indeed, all of education and not just concerned with pupils with PMLD'

' For those working consistently and over a number of years at P8 and below, the National Curriculum does not and cannot offer the level of personalisation of curriculum content that is required to meet individual needs' (Imray and Hinchcliffe, 2011).

When we were given this topic by Flo we decided to put together three surveys. We wanted to have a better understanding of head teacher’s opinions on curriculum models, the opinions of teachers and parents and see how they compare. We shared some of these results during our presentation and discussed the informal curriculum model for PMLD pupils, what it could look like and the positive impact on pupils.



Parents results – 250 responses. The parents who responded to this survey had children with SLD/ PMLD and ASD.        

Teacher survey - 112 responses. Responses are from teachers who work in an SLD/ PMLD setting.

If you teach the National Curriculum what is your experience of its impact? 

(a selection of the responses)


· Needs to be heavily amended to engage our learners - does have a positive impact but only in highly tailored areas.

· Not appropriate or geared towards SEN in anyway. Very rigid doesn't allow for creativity or learning at students own pace.

· It can be a bit hit and miss with regards to the topics we teach. Some are very easy to resource and plan for PMLD and SLD pupils, and some are very difficult. Thinking of activities that are appropriate for each pupil is tricky

· It has a great impact on the children's learning. We use the national curriculum to help us deliver a breadth of experiences and topics.

· I feel it is important to allow students access to a wide range of subjects, rather than limiting their experience just because they have SEND. Has to be adapted for our complex and PMLD. Based on mainstream levels of development keeps pupils engaged know what they need to do next.

· Sometimes doesn't focus on what we actually want (and students and parents) to teach- comes from a model of making the students 'like their mainstream peers' and doesn't always allow to focus on important aspects of the curriculum

· Sometimes vvvvvv tenuous, depends on the concepts etc. and how you make them accessible Nurses for Florence Nightingale Animals for Africa. However what do Tudors or Jesus 'the miracle worker' really have to do with their worlds, needs and next steps, for each individuals learning/communication etc I feel absolutely none.

· Transferring some subjects to our level is difficult at times Negative! I teach in an SLD school and some of the subjects e.g. MFL, History, Geography have little meaning for the children.

· It leads to a very limited timetable and offers no opportunity for the development of communication, physical development and self-help and independence skills. I feel that the children I teach deserve a curriculum designed for them and not be forced to fit one.

· It helps us ensure the students are not repeating the same thing / topic / book / ideas over and over for the whole school career ((hungry caterpillar anyone?) whilst still covering and generalising the actual learning that need to be developed. It is seen to be of second importance to social skills, which I don't believe is the right attitude.

· The National Curriculum does not work for lots of our pupils; it moves far faster than the pupils can manage and is lacking in engaging and interesting topics/skills.

· I feel that we are constantly trying to make tenuous links to prove we are teaching the National Curriculum rather than focusing on what our pupils should really be working on. Yes we can make sensory experiences out of Anglo Saxons as my headteacher repeatedly tells me but this isn't focusing on developing crucial communication, physical or independence skills.

· Does not cover vital skills our children need to learn, the curriculum is not accessible for all pupils, isn't tailored enough for SEN pupils, curriculum is restricting in some areas. For less able students the impact is minimal. I find myself trying to teach the skills that they need loosely tied to an area of the national curriculum. Recently my school has stipulated that we must follow medium term plans and long term plans that are published on our website for the sole purpose of Ofsted. This means that where a few years ago we had the freedom to teach a more topic based approach we now have to deliver lessons on for example, medieval times, parliament and elections and french pets with our most complex of students. Although we can make some lovely experiences - the opportunities for students to develop their specific and individual skills are minimal.

Head teacher – 48 responses. All head teachers of SLD/ PMLD schools

If your school follows an informal/ semi-formal curriculum what do you feel are the main benefits?

• Tailored to meet pupil needs
• Personalisation
• Relevance
• Flexibility
• Focus on communication and individual development
• Bespoke learning opportunities

These are just a selection of the results. If you would like the complete results please let us know.



After discussing curriculum models and our research we discussed 'WHY' we should move towards a more sensory needs based curriculum. We discussed sensory play. As a new teacher of pupils with PMLD we are often told they like sensory play. By searching the internet for ideas you come up with a lot of sensory play ideas. Hannah and I questioned why. We need to make sure there is a reason for everything we do, that we understand it so our TAs can. We will discuss the benefits of sensory play in a future post. 

We also shared this video with the delegates. I received this on the Thursday evening of the Forum. This is our amazing site manager who decided to have a go at being me doing tricky words with my SLD class. He’s not quite got call and response but he’s getting there. I think Keith Park needs to give us a visit!

He was just missing my new wig and glasses! I have also since added dollar rings! My class couldn't wait for our tricky words session because the loudest pupil got to be the rapper! 

Imray, P., & Hinchcliffe, V. (2012). Not fit for purpose: a call for separate and distinct pedagogies as part of a national framework for those with severe and profound learning difficulties. Support for Learning , 150-157.

Best of British Special Educational Needs Forum

In March of this year we were EXTREMELY lucky to have been invited by Flo Longhorn to present at the Best of British Special Educational Needs Forum in memory of the late, great Penny Lacey. By 'Best of British', it truly was, the names of presenters were authors of books we have read and creators of programmes we know of and then there was us… Hannah Underwood and Lucy Allen, practitioners really new to the world of PMLD. It was beyond an honour, it is something I’m not sure we will ever top!

This blog post will be a journey through our experience, briefly talking about the other presenters we had the pleasure of listening to but it will more be about the learning curve for us. We will write further blog posts next month to share what we learnt in more detail. There were many wonderful speakers who we will be writing about including Dr Jean Ware, Andrew Colley, Peter Imray, Chailey Heritage School, Castlewood School, Hilary Wainer (founder of TACPAC), Carol Allen, and the amazing Professor Barry Carpenter CBE who took us under his wing.

On Wednesday evening Hannah and I rushed to leave school hoping we had organised everything for our teams whilst we were away. We frantically got ourselves to Peterborough train station for the journey down to London. However, nothing is ever that simple for Hannah and I. We walked for a good half an hour to our hotel, dragging along our suitcases, and me not wearing sensible shoes, to find that our hotel had changed its name and was in fact another half an hours walk. Well it was time to call an Uber! We eventually arrived at our hotel just gone 11 o’clock at night and were hungry. We contemplated ordering take away to the hotel room but weren’t sure if we’d get away with that, so we ventured down the road. But nowhere was open. We hopped back in an Uber to kings cross to eat at Prezzo’s – familiar territory.

The morning of the forum came and we couldn’t contain our excitement. We wanted to get there early to see if we could help out in anyway. On arrival we were asked to sign in and told the lady we were presenting so we collected our presenter badges. We sat at the back of the room extremely overwhelmed by all of these faces and names we recognised, too nervous to speak to anybody. We were relieved to find Jo Grace, a familiar face who managed to reassure us! Then Flo who greeted us with a great big hug.

The first day was incredible, Hannah’s hands ached from the notes she was writing and my fingers ached from all of my tweeting. Jo Grace and I were tweeting using the hashtag BOBSEN to keep those who couldn’t be there up to date. The first presenter was Yvonne McCall, the head teacher of Castlewood school in Coventry, the school Penny worked with. Hannah and I had extensively read through the curriculum models on Castlewood’s website as they were our original inspiration for our curriculum model. It was a real privilege to listen to Yvonne speak of her schools journey with such passion. Yvonne invited Hannah and I to Castlewood. During the Easter holidays this year, Hannah and I went on a road trip to visit schools across the country and were overwhelmed by the hospitality and support we received by the staff at Castlewood, it truly is a fantastic school. But importantly we felt it was a school with a heart which is sometimes rare to find in a current climate with increasing pressure on school outcomes and performance. Casltewood is also a teaching school, delivering courses and offering bespoke packages. You can find more information on their website. 

Up next was Peter Imray who discussed the recent Rochford review. He discussed the opportunity for schools to look beyond the National Curriculum’s subject specific learning and think more about having a clear pedagogy that meets the needs of their pupils. It was great to listen to Peter having read his book on 'Curricula for Teaching Children and Young People with Severe or Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties' which we filled with post it notes. We were going through the process of proposing a new curriculum model to our management at the time which wasn't being well received. He gave us hope and reassurance that we were on the right path. Peter has written a book with Andrew Colley from the University of East London. Colley presented on the second day and posed many thought provoking questions about the true meaning of inclusion. He debated the impact of 'full inclusion', why we strive for it and how it is often not full inclusion at all. Their book is called 'Inclusion is dead: Long live inclusion' and is available from amazon. We have it here waiting for a chance to read it. We will post our thoughts on the book hopefully by October half term. It's bound to be a good read as another of Colley's books is full of our post it notes too. 

Jo Grace explored the area of sensory stories in her earlier session. It was interesting to hear her discuss personal stories we are told and how they can form our identity. We have the opportunity to share such stories with our pupils and sensory stories are a great way to make them accessible. She also explored the 7 senses (though she did add that some suggest there are as many as 33 senses!) and how to incorporate them into stories. Jo’s later workshop session was focused on the particularly pertinent topic of mental health and wellbeing. This is often overlooked for those with learning disabilities but is no less applicable, in fact recent research into this put prevalence rates as higher in those with learning disabilities than those from the wider population. 

Jo spoke very movingly about how an individual with profound and multiple learning disabilities (Jo uses the term Sensory beings) may not have the ability to lift one’s head to look at the world around them or the words to interact with it and those in it despite being able to hear the melee of its goings on. She explained how this may lead an individual to become disconnected from the world around them and begin to feel that it is not something for them to experience; their world is reduced to the area from the small space between their face and the grey tray attached to their wheelchair. 

Jo had a wealth of resources to share with us that would show those special ‘Sensory beings’ that we work with that, “this world is for you- you may not be able to get to it but I will bring it to you” (Jo Grace’s own words at the BoB SEN forum 2nd March 2017). These included existing affordable resources that are easily attainable such as wrist bells together with some creative original ideas such as smell tubes (created by using a Pringles tube with holes in the lid, tumbles dried ball and dried herbs). Resources such as these allow independent exploration and allow the sensory beings we work with to begin to understand that they can effect change and something is different because they are there. 

If you would like to learn more about this I highly recommend that you attend one of Jo’s training sessions where she speaks in much greater detail and offers numerous resource ideas. I am also currently reading Jo’s new book ‘Sensory-Being for Sensory Beings: Creating Entrancing Sensory Experiences’ which offers greater detail about these topics together with resource ideas and is a great read for parents and practitioners alike.

At lunch time, as well as the very enjoyable lunch provided, we were fortunate to be presented with an array of chocolate sensory experiences by the Willows Sensory Service. Of course being PMLD teaches we got stuck in playing with the chocolate squirty cream (we were really disappointed when Sainsbury’s didn’t sell it when we looked that evening), chocolate playdough and even chocolate smash. Sarah was lovely and runs sessions with people with PMLD such as sensory drama, aromatherapy, reflexology and has her own sensory room. She also delivers training. You can find her on Facebook or email her at sarah.hall73@virgin.net for more information.

Another incredible speaker on day 1 was Dr Jean Ware the creator of routes for learning. Jean discussed how routes for learning came about and the purpose of it. She had some great videos for us to analyse and assess to highlight the true meaning of some of the more ambiguous milestones. We found this presentation really helpful as we have only ever explored the route-map for ourselves and it is often quite difficult to decipher without direction.

Flo came to talk to us at the end of the day and asked us if we’d brought any of our sensory goodies along that she’d seen us use in our training at school. A bit flummoxed, Hannah and I looked at each other and replied yes. Our topic for the forum was ‘Planning a PMLD Curriculum’. When Hannah and I received it, we thought, well this is a serious topic, we will need case studies and facts and figures.

That evening after the forum Hannah and I dashed out into Camden, not a clue where we were going to redesign our whole presentation. First, of course we went to Tiger and bought half of the shop. We then used our google maps to find a supermarket! We found Sainsbury’s to our relief. We filled our baskets with shaving foam, smash instant mash, corn flour, food colouring and mouldable soap foam.

(a couple of my purchases from Tiger, not for the training but because I got a little over excited filling my basket. I have since used them a lot with my SLD group doing my version of tricky words rapping based on Shonette Bason-Wood)

The time ran away with us and it was time to meet some lovely amazing people for dinner. 

Unfortunately, we hadn’t had time to go back to our hotel to change or leave our shopping. We went to meet up with Flo, Roger, Jo, Carol Allen, Sarah Hall and Professor Barry Carpenter CBE OBE looking very hot and flustered with 3 huge bags of shopping and 2 giant umbrellas! Well we were rather embarrassed. But I can say we had a truly amazing evening. The food was great but the conversation was even better. We had the chance to discuss the engagement scales we had read about with the man who created them. There were many great debates that evening and Hannah and I felt like we had an incredibly special, probably once in a life time evening sat amongst our heroes.

We had to excuse ourselves early to get back to our hotel, after all we had a presentation to re-write! There we were at 1 in the morning making pink instant smash in the kettle covering the  bathroom in cornflour (we realised how suspicious that could have looked after we checked out that morning!) and re-writing our PowerPoint.

Morning quickly came. We ventured down stairs for breakfast, neither of us hungry (not at all like us), contemplating why on earth we signed ourselves up to stand up and speak in front of so many people! 

We will discuss our presentation in our next blog post.

We will leave you with our favourite quotes from the Forum:

Children look into your eyes and search for empathetic connection. Teaching is a relationship based profession - Carpenter

The world is for you, you may not be able to get to it but i will bring it to you - Jo Grace

We need dynamic curriculum models and flexible teaching that goes where the child needs you to go - Carpenter

Initiatives to include all have largely failed to include those with complex needs - Carpenter

Many people who favour full inclusion have exclusion clauses - Andrew Colley

We're talking about 50,000 young people, working with them is a very significant job - Andrew Colley

All children should experience the outdoors - Yvonne McCall

We need to enable children to realise they are effecting change - Jo Grace

If somebody touches you then can send you a whole host of emotions - Dr Maria Robinson

Penny wasn't in it to make a name for herself she did it for you the teachers and the learners - Dr Jean ware

Insisting that all children must follow the steps in the same order is a barrier to learners with PMLD - Ware

Waiting for communication initiation is a good thing not a waste of time - Dr Lila Kossyvaki

I worry about how much time you spend on assessment and how much time you spend being a great teacher - Imray

We're all performers at the end of the day to engage our learners, we need to have energy - Imray about the time we spend on assessment

Assessment is not just to pass Ofsted, it needs to give useful information - Imray

It is not possible to say what is acceptable progress. If Rochford can't work it out how the hell can we? - Imray

I've not met a child with SLD or PMLD in 20 years that succeeded with the National Curriculum - Imray

Does learning have to take place around a table? - Yvonne McCall

I want my students to have fun. I want my staff to have fun - Yvonne McCall

Our focus is putting life in the days of pupils with PMLD - Jo Grace 

http://www.peterimray.co.uk/ - Peter Imray 

http://flopublications.com/index.php - Flo Longhorn 

https://www.bangor.ac.uk/addysg/Staffpages/Jeanware.php.en - Dr Jean Ware

https://barrycarpentereducation.com/ - Professor Barry Carpenter OBE CBE

http://www.castlewood.coventry.sch.uk/ - Castlewood School

https://www.facebook.com/WillowsSensory/ - Willows Sensory Service

http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/home - Joanna Grace. There is currently a sale on Jo's sensory stories 

Sensory umbrellas

It's been a busy day today. I've been in to school again to continue sorting through my cupboards and getting organised for September as it is fast approaching!

I've been in a very productive mood though as I've come home wanting to make some sensory umbrellas. I thought I would give you a quick extra post this week to share what I've made tonight.

I went through the cupboard and dug out some odd bits and bobs. It's often the things you keep forever thinking you will at some point find a use for them!

I know they look the same but these are not the bows from yesterdays blog, we were not spending £10 for a bow!! Hannah went into town today to find large storage boxes (she came back empty handed - why on earth are plastic boxes so expensive?!) but found these at £1.99 each instead and she couldn't resist. It needs another set of fairy light on it though. I've added some other bows using the neon ribbon that I bought in Tiger yesterday too. 

I love this rainbow brolly! I often put a status on Facebook asking my lovely friends for donations but also on the buy it sell it pages. A lovely retired teacher donated 20 wonderful umbrellas which are amazing! Don't feel ashamed of asking for freebies, people often have things lying around they would like to go to a better home. I managed to get a chest of drawers and a four man tent this summer!

I found these wiggly snakes and some bird finger puppets and thought I'd add them. I thought the snakes would be great to encourage children to reach up as the umbrella has a lot of movement. 

I adore this giant umbrella from Tiger. We've had this one for a while but it's the first time I've opened it. I originally planned to use it for the bows as I thought it was black but in fact the inside is this great shiny silver. I automatically thought spacey/ metallic. I love these fairy lights I've got that are bronze and like planets. Hannah bought the glow in the dark stars today and we've had these hanging mirror bells lying around in the cupboard for a while. It's multi-sensory. It makes a great jingle!

If you make any sensory umbrellas we would love to see them! If you try any of our ideas such as our sensory story we would love to hear how you've got on. We do have an email sensorydispensary@gmail.co.uk

A Sensory Shopping Trip

Hannah and I have had a very busy day shopping in Norwich. Firstly we got off to  a bad start going to the wrong park and ride but we didn't let it faze us as we'd already had our McDonald's breakfast fix! 

We weren't looking for anything particular today as we have already done a big Ebay/ Amazon shop for next term but can't help picking up extra bits and bobs. I am on strict orders not to buy myself any more shoes as I've gone a bit crazy for my birthday this year. We went into Office but Hannah made sure I left empty handed this time!

Our first port of call was Smiggle. Smiggle is one of our favourite shops however it can be really expensive. It is great for ideas to sometimes shop around for cheaper online. They do some great key rings that are tactile, visual and smelly! Hannah used them last year as staff signifiers but they didn't work for the class but she has said she would always try again with a different group in the future. 

Here are a few bits we found and some ideas for how to use them. I apologise if we didn't take a note of the prices of things throughout this post, it was sometimes unclear to see and other times we simply forgot! Hopefully if you like something there will be prices on their website. 

Smiggle

I had a great time playing with the twirly ribbon and the glitter tube. I bought one of the glitter tubes last year! There are so many great textures in Smiggle, I love the range of phone cases. This one was bright, tactile and also smelled good too! It gave us an idea to see what other textured phone cases we could find cheap to put on a tactile board. I loved the reversible sequin pencil case, this was very expensive though. An alternative is buying the reversible sequin cushion covers and mounting them onto something more sturdy. We have used reversible sequins to represent a mermaid in one of our sensory stories. I absolutely love snap round bracelets. I have previously used them as part of an African sensory story to represent the giraffe's long neck. The children unpeeled it and loved the
feedback from the clicks as they unwound it. It is also great for anticipation... ready, steady... it always gets a laugh snapping it around their wrist. And might I add this one was also smelly!
We love the ball game but have always found it expensive however, it is on offer at the minute for £10. Again I think it would be great for anticipation games but also for developing grip and mobility in the hand.

Tiger

Theses are great for developing body awareness, making the children aware they have fingers! The first ones might even glow under a UV light. Hannah bought the octopus fingers last year and the children's fingers come alive wiggling! It's also problem solving - how to get them on and off. They give a great feedback through your fingers as you wobble them almost a tingling vibrating sensation.

Hannah and I have the topic of 'Ourselves' next term, particularly looking at people who interact with us in our community. For a two week period we will be focusing on a beauty therapist- an opportunity for massage and getting out the foot spas. These are some great resources for us. I love the foot file as there are 4 different textures to provide the children with opportunity to show preference. I used a yellow version of the fluffy hand mop a couple of years ago to represent a lion in one of my sensory stories. The 'Fod Creme' foot lotion is also great as it is perfume free so you could add your own scent to it. We love the massage roller balls too, they can work well as part of TAC PAC. 

Other finds

These mini whisks are great for making little sensory whisks. I made a black and white whisk for my friends baby with black and white ribbons, giant buttons (very tightly secured) and fairly lights She loved it! Flo often uses sensory whisks as objects of reference or themed for topics. We love her butterfly whisk!

These are actually quite good value. We love water lights!

I loved this for a bit of cause and effect, there is a button on top. Could be great to use as part of a Sensology session (see our earlier blog post to find out more about Sensology). 

I bought all three of these! I want to make some UV whisks for a dark den. Would also be fab under a black umbrella with UV lights. 

 We had never seen cinnamon sticks so big! We are going to put them in our naturals box. 

We loved these as giant clips to attach things to wheelchairs. Hannah bought one for a child to hold her drink bottle to her chair to provide her with more independence. Could also be great for a child who seeks smells. They are a perfect size for a Pringles tube. Jo Grace puts a fresh smell such as lavender and a tumble drier ball in a Pringles tube with holes in the top. As the child shakes it, it releases the smell offering them the control over the strength of the scent. You can find out more about this activity and more by attending one of Jo Grace's fantastic courses. Click here to find out more about Jo's upcoming conferences and training opportunities.

We have loads of these, they make me cringe but most of the children love them. I used it as part of a sensory story about being at the hairdressers. 

A staple in many classrooms!

Another staple - we love a water spray! So much anticipation, plus great to add a scent to. 

I love these due to the turn handle! I have bought a set for a new TAC PAC we have made. 

I bought loads of these and various different cups from tiger last year to put on my hand made light box. They looked great. They also look fab on a handmade UV light box with glow in the dark water (dissolve a B50 tablet). I used it as part of a picnic topic. We had a great time pouring. 

 We have some of these too! We love water toys and they are so squidgy and bright!

I adored this and played with it for a while so it also ended up in my basket. I wondered whether this would also glow under a UV light. I have one child who absolutely loves these. It's such a great tactile experience and also helps develop body awareness. 

 We bought a couple of these for ice exploration. They will be great for rolling (add paint to leave a mark). Once made, another great thing to do is put salt on ice as it crackles. If you have more able pupils you can hide things inside them and use the large pipettes of warm water to melt them. Putting items such as tinsel inside the frozen sphere make a lovely visual experience. 

They would also make great bath bomb moulds. The children made bath bombs for their mums for mothers day this year. They are so easy to make, tipping ingredients in and getting their hands in to mix and squeeze together. The more able were able to choose a smell from a choice of 2 (great to use the smells they are familiar with from Sensology). 

Everyone loved water bombs! Hannah did a great session last year anticipating them bursting! It was amazing how determined the children became in trying to pop them. One little boy soon put his problem solving skills into action using his hand proved ineffective and used his teeth making a tiny hole which squirted the water out to his surprise and delight! Everyone got soaked, it was fab!

I want a white set like this having seen Hannah use squeezy bottles. Hannah has a set with rapeseed oil in for massage- a quick and easy way to dispense the oil during a session. It's also great for vinegar over bicarb as they are a lot easier for the children to use instead of pipettes.  You could even fill them with lemon juice to show under UV light. 

 We bought this for one of Hannah's class for their Sensology boxes. He is working on developing the strength in his hand. 

 Great for TAC PAC. 

Alternative to using sand if your children tend to eat sand, if you want something that flows through a spinney wheel use polenta. 

 We thought these might also glow under UV light, could be great for tracking. 

My class are working on independent living skills so I thought powder milkshake was really great as fairly simple to spoon and shake. 

These are great for a UV den! These giant UV rods are so expensive from a sensory shop but only £3 in tiger!! 

Our favourite find from Tiger was the 'Slimy Starfish'. It has a very sticky rather than slimy texture. If you check out the video below (please excuse the state of our garden!) you'll see how this could make a great visual stimulus for those working on visual tracking. We're sure this could be made even better with a UV torch shining over it to make it really stand out!

The Works

We found some great bargains in The Works today. Too many as we struggled to carry them all around with us!

 This was an amazing deal £3- I love all things water play!

We bought a couple of these as it's a way for the children to control their own bubbles!

This was creepy but amazing at the same time. It was actually really heavy the the glitter was really clear to see. 

So many windmills!

Bargain! Hannah bought 3 bottles. We love bubbles! There appears to be a sale on at the moment in The Works for all kinds of bubbles including scented and giant ones.

We got very excited seeing a fabulous display of giant and sensory bows in Claire's accessories today, until we looked at the price and gasped (£10 each)! Even buy 3 get 3 free couldn't convince us to buy. However we will be looking for funky material to make our own bows. We already have plans for a funky bow umbrella! 

And finally it's not just children who love sensory. I bought myself a pair of sensory shoes at the weekend! My mother was not very impressed but I love them! 

https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/at-end-of-best-of-british-sen.html