tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84825206517179647362024-03-25T04:10:49.734-07:00Sensory DispensaryBlogging about all things sensory for those with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD)Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-54253786710643949652019-04-15T06:58:00.002-07:002019-04-15T06:58:26.039-07:00Meeting a wonderful new sensory challenge<br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">By Joanna Grace</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In recent years the
number of children with profound and multiple learning disabilities in
education in the UK has risen by over 40%<a href="file://ad.citacademies.co.uk/dfs/JohnFielding/Staff/lucy.allen/Downloads/G-Meeting-a-wonderful-new-sensory-challenge-600.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
which means that all over the country new teachers and teaching assistants are
getting to work with these extraordinary people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Often times these
children are the recipients of pity, and whilst it is true that they lead very
challenged lives and often face extraordinary medical challenges it is not true
to think that rounding all of that off with the insult of pity is the right
response. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Those who work with
these children will tell you that they inspire anything but pity, these
children teach us to meet life head on, the child whose body fails them but who
still laughs reminds us all that our own lives are not so tough. The child who,
in spite of significant neurological challenges still pushes their limbs to
move and to do as they command them doesn’t ask for pity, they teach us that
our own mountains are surmountable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The most common thing
I hear from people who support the education of children with complex learning
and developmental disabilities or profound and multiple learning disabilities
is that they have been taught by those children more than they have taught
those children. We learn an enormous amount from those who are different to
ourselves. And those differences need recognising, celebrating and providing
for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To work with these
children is to be inspired every day. But how do we go about teaching a child
whose body and brain present them with so many barriers to learning? How do we
even begin to attempt to repay that debt of education we owe to them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The answer is we start
with the sensory. Sensory engagement simply means engaging someone’s sensory
systems. Our sensory systems are the start point for learning. And whilst for
most of us engaging the senses is quite simple, it requires a sound, or a
sight, or a smell, for these children it can be a far more nuanced art form.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When I hold a toy car
out to you, you recognise it as a toy car and you know the types of games you
might be able to play with it. Your brain uses an extraordinarily large amount
of information to identify it as a toy car. Scientists working on the
development of artificial intelligence will tell you how hard it is to do the
programming that enables a machine to identify ‘car’ when shown a car in real
life, a car in a picture and a toy car. Yet our brains do it with little hesitation.
If you are the owner of a brain that is not neurologically typical identifying
an object, let alone naming it, becomes rapidly much harder. When I hold a red
toy car out to you one day you respond to the shape and colour and explore it.
Tomorrow when I hold a blue toy car out to you, perhaps you recognise it as the
same and begin to apply your learning from yesterday but more likely you see
something different and begin your learning again, placing the information you
learn from this exchange into a new repository in your mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Understanding how to
present sensory experience in an accessible way and sequence it into more
complex learning is key to engaging learners accessing the curriculum at a
sensory level. My course </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-sensory-projects-9788075245"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Sensory Engagement for Sensory
Beings: A Beginners Guide</span></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">
is aimed at people who are in their first few years of supporting the education
of learners with profound and multiple learning disabilities or complex learning
and developmental disabilities. On it delegates explore a variety of sensory
teaching tools they can use as soon as they get back to the classroom and get
to ask all the question they might have without fear of sounding silly in front
of more experienced practitioners. Parents are very welcome on the course as we
know learning goes on around the clock, homework can be just as important to a
child with complex needs as it is to a child who is typically developing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-sensory-projects-9788075245"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Sensory Engagement for Sensory
Beings: A Beginners Guide</span></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/">www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://twitter.com/jo3grace">Twitter</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009285343907">Facebook- Me </a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSensoryProjects/">Facebook – Page </a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-grace-a9248042/">Linkedin</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="file://ad.citacademies.co.uk/dfs/JohnFielding/Staff/lucy.allen/Downloads/G-Meeting-a-wonderful-new-sensory-challenge-600.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pinney (2017)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-23182596224659904812018-01-21T10:35:00.000-08:002018-01-21T10:35:07.309-08:00Finding Fiona- a sensory story<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">Happy New year everyone! In this post I thought I’d share with you the sensory story I’ve made this term which has turned out to be a greater success than I originally thought it might be...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: medium;">During a twilight meeting last term we were given time to consider what topics we may like to cover next and to begin planning within our class teams before sharing our ideas with our colleagues and seeking out any assistance we may need with resources. I don’t know if anyone else finds this, but planning alone can often leave me stumped for inspiration so it’s lovely to have this time for discussion and to come up with ideas as a team before I begin planning. Having said that, sometimes you can find that everyone has very different ideas and it can be difficult to bring them together. We had a lot of suggestions and narrowed it down to books or Disney finally settling on stories to cover both. Everyone has their favourite stories/films so I thought we could have a week exploring each of the different stories or films these included: Shrek, Finding Nemo, Harry Potter, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and The BFG. Quite an eclectic selection! My team were fab at coming up with super sensory ideas for our afternoon sessions; we put together a TACPAC session and had a think about possible ideas for a class trip. The only part I had left to do solo was to write a sensory story.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYCGgsKrsCYq3rjMQS_pq7oQMwPX5epBXdUpbCZznhrTs0bqoS5WdJlwkzKXwNjBNcZsbFcI3bjjYqRn-ts0BoPw7_3Ip_7EIft_uEjFAZzPFPD1mpX0nCOCDWVGpCMXR4TVAeTOdHsoZP/s1600/finding+fiona+pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="621" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYCGgsKrsCYq3rjMQS_pq7oQMwPX5epBXdUpbCZznhrTs0bqoS5WdJlwkzKXwNjBNcZsbFcI3bjjYqRn-ts0BoPw7_3Ip_7EIft_uEjFAZzPFPD1mpX0nCOCDWVGpCMXR4TVAeTOdHsoZP/s320/finding+fiona+pic.png" width="277" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: medium;">As you know, Lucy and I are always talking about <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/an-old-sensory-story-need-for-repetition.html">the importance of repetition</a>, so having a new sensory story each week didn’t seem like the best plan to me. However, writing a sensory story that somehow encompassed Shrek, Finding Nemo, Harry Potter, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and The BFG seemed like a bit of a challenge! I gave it my best shot at writing a story and came up with ‘Finding Fiona’. Dismayed at his swamp being too full of fairy tale creatures, Shrek goes to complain to Lord Farquaad who then orders him to search Princess Fiona. Shrek searches everywhere for Fiona: in the sea, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, Wonka’s factory and meets the BFG before escaping a fire breathing dragon and finally finding Fiona! Yes, it is quite far-fetched and I wasn’t too sure how well it would be received by my class.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: medium;">It may surprise you (it certainly surprised me!) to learn that this appears to be my class’ favourite sensory story so far! I have had really clear and strong reactions from the majority of my pupils. I use a piece of stretchy Lycra and wrap and pull it tightly around each child for the part of the story where Shrek’s swamp becomes too full of fairy tale creatures. This has been met with smiles and giggles. One of my pupil’s now will now vocalise ‘oo,oo’ upon hearing the train whistle of the Hogwarts express and when smelling the chocolate of a Wonka bar, will open his mouth and stick out his tongue. My more able pupils are remembering what comes next and signing along with me to the repeated rhyming verse. However, the absolute favourite part of the story for the majority of the class seems to be the fire breathing dragon. For this part I made a ‘fire’ sensory umbrella which I have to confess took me only a matter of minutes to make using fabric from my materials box, a little red tinsel and fairy lights. It is clear to see the excitement and anticipation through the shrieks and giggles as I stomp closer towards each child and say ‘oh no it’s a…’ I then open up the umbrella and give it a spin so the fabric spins outwards, blurring and creating a fiery glow as I say ‘fire breathing dragon!’. I have one pupil in my class who shows little visual awareness (except towards faces) but during our story he has visually tracked this sensory umbrella all the way across the classroom, his face lights up on his turn and he is clearly watching it. We’ve never seen such a strong new response from this pupil. Recent reading of <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/">Joanna Grace’s latest book</a> has led to me thinking that this may be linked to the fact that the umbrella is largely red in colour which is the first colour tone we respond to. I’ll be testing out this theory by offering more red visual stimuli over the next few weeks to see if this pupil’s responds in a similar way.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: medium;">You can download this sensory story <a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/finding-fiona-sensory-story-11817338">here</a>. Please check out our other sensory stories and resources on TES by searching for <a href="https://www.tes.com/member/Sensory_Dispensary">sensory_dispensary</a>.</span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-21639918337839118352017-12-11T12:46:00.000-08:002018-01-14T09:41:34.839-08:00An Autumn/ Winter sensory story <span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2 posts in 2 days we are doing well...in fairness this is one I've been meaning to post for a while now! It's just a quick one.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I just thought I'd share with you all this term's sensory story in my class of secondary pupils with CLDD. They are absolutely loving it, even more than my previous sensory stories, an example of which can be found <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/an-old-sensory-story-need-for-repetition.html" target="_blank">here</a> or on <a href="https://www.tes.com/resources/search/?&q=sensory_dispensary" target="_blank">TES: sensory_dispensary</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I have typed it up with all the senses and what I am looking for which really helps my team make good observations and understand the 'why imperative' which underpins everything we do in class and highlights the real benefits of sensory stories.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This term's topic has been 'Seasons'. I started writing this story beginning with the sensory experiences and then adding the language. The structure isn't amazing and it doesn't flow quite how I wanted it to but my children absolutely love the sensory experiences and have responded really well which is the main thing! I have seen great progress in signing, one child is generalising the signing of more from just food to sensory experiences too, increased visual awareness which many of my pupils with complex ASD struggle with. Overall I'm just so pleased with this story and wanted to share it with you all. If anyone is doing seasons in the future and uses it, please let me know how you get on! You can find the story on <a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/autumn-winter-sensory-story-11793497" target="_blank">TES here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We have been busy the last couple of weeks designing, resourcing and making our Christmas Sensory stories. We are really proud of how they have turned out. They feature 9 different sensory items across 6 of the senses. The packs come ready to go with the items, a laminated story for future use, a recipe card and an information card about the 'why and how imperative' behind sensory stories. We have sold quite a few packs to teachers and parents across the county and we hope many special and wonderful children are enjoying them. We are taking two packs into school for our classes tomorrow! One lady sent us a lovely and excited message this morning after receiving hers and another photo this evening and even her cat was enjoying exploring the sensory items!. We still have a few available if you would like to purchase one, just drop us a message. They are £25 plus £2.90 postage and packaging.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Have a great week everyone and thank you for the lovely feedback regarding Hannah's post on happiness. I join you all, it is so beautifully written and really highlights the importance of mental health and well being and how it should be a more widely discussed topic. You can read her blog post <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/happiness-is-key.html">here.</a></span>Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-1619996774985175012017-12-10T12:58:00.001-08:002017-12-12T09:59:38.815-08:00Happiness is the key! <span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">This is the first blog of many that we will be writing inspired by Flo Longhorn’s ‘No Ticks, no boxes’ conference which took place last week. One of the key themes of the conference this time was promoting happiness and positive mental health and well-being for all Sensory Beings. We garnered lots of ideas and inspiration from the conference and have already set about putting some of these into action with our pupils.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Ellen Croft, PMLD Curriculum Leader and Specialist Leader of Education at Ash Field Academy, shared with us some startling figures with us regarding mental health:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><i>“Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. In England, 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week. Children and adults with learning disabilities and other forms of disabilities are not exempt from this. (Source: People with Learning Disabilities in England 2011).</i></span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><i>Children with SEN are up to 6 times more likely to experience mental health problems than their peers. Children and young people with learning disabilities are much more likely than others to live in poverty, to have few friends and to have additional long term health problems and disabilities such as epilepsy and sensory impairments.”</i> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">With these alarming figures in mind it is more important than ever that we carefully consider the happiness and well-being of those Sensory Beings we support. In my experience this is an area that can tend to be overlooked in education as the focus is too often placed disproportionately on a drive for academic progress, data and achieving a positive grading from Ofsted! As front-line practitioners we need to be carrying the banner for these issues and ensuring we are promoting these issues within our settings. So… what can we do to achieve this? </span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">During the conference many different strategies and resources were shared many of which are quick and easy to put into practice. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Lucy and I first came across the Happiness Audit at a Saturday pop-up workshop in Cambridge with Flo Longhorn and Les Staves a couple of years ago (you can read more about this in a previous blog post <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/hi-everyone-welcome-to-our-blog-we.html" target="_blank">here</a>). The Happiness audit was created by Flo Longhorn and is a way of assessing the preferences of the Sensory Beings you support including: sensory stimuli, communication and the environment. This tool will assist you to support your learner’s emotional happiness and enable you to provide engaging and personalised learning opportunities. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">This would be a great activity to discuss together with parents and those who have worked closely with the Sensory Being(s) you are going to be supporting in your setting. Why not hold a meet and greet or ‘getting to know you’ meeting. Your own observations will then add to and enrich this working document. The Happiness Audit would also be informative for new members of staff, volunteers and anyone who will be working with the Sensory Being. Flo explained that Sensory Beings ‘may sometimes portray the opposite of what they actually feel emotionally’. This makes it all the more important to record and share not only the preferences of our learners but what it looks like when a learner likes or dislikes a particular stimuli. For example, in a recent conversation I had with a parent they relayed to me how their child’s new taxi escort had been following her advice to play music on the journey which the child hugely enjoys. However, the taxi escort had in fact struggled to find any songs or music that the child enjoyed- every song played would result in the child pressing her fingers in her ears and vocalising. The taxi escort had interpreted this behaviour as showing dislike towards the music and would change the music at which point the child would often became upset. When the taxi escort relayed this information to the child’s mother, she explained that her daughter presses her fingers in her ears only when she is enjoying the music! As Flo explains, ‘observations need to be ongoing and open to unexpected interpretations of happiness’.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">At the conference Ellen Croft explained how she used the Happiness Audit tool and also created an additional ‘unhappiness audit’ to highlight those areas which individuals may dislike so that stimuli the individual finds unpleasant can be avoided. Regularly update these audits and, as mentioned in a <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/when-my-classroom-became-salon.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, don’t be afraid to offer certain experiences a learner may have shown dislike to in the past where appropriate as preferences may change over time. </span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">You can find a copy of the Happiness Audit </span><a href="http://www.sensorylearningnz.com/engage" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"> along with a completed example and further information.</span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><b><u>Mindfulness- Take five!</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">In last week’s </span><a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;" target="_blank">post </a><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Lucy discussed how Ellen Croft had stuck to her guns with her usual practice of 5 minutes of silence at the end of an (Ofsted observed) TACPAC session with great success! I immediately implemented this strategy at the end of my story massage session on Monday morning. The impact was immediately visible… and audible! The children soon noticed the silence and began vocalising and moving about, they began interacting with each other’s vocalisations, there were frequent giggles from one pupil and two children took it in turns blowing raspberries. It really was a joy to observe. This can then lead into a great opportunity to engage in intensive interaction.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The benefits of this session were not only limited to the pupils in my class either. Members of my staff team commented on how they themselves found it to be calming to be able take just 5 minutes of quiet time in what is typically a very busy and active day. Positive mental health and well-being is important for us too! Joanna Grace comments on this very issue in her book <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/book-review-sensory-being-for-sensory.html" target="_blank">‘Sensory-being for Sensory Beings’</a> (2017) explaining how those we support are affected by our own anxiety levels. By taking time in this way, we put ourselves in a better position to support our pupils. I highly recommend you give this simple activity a go in your own setting whether it is at home, in a school or care setting. Be sure to let us know how you get on! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><b><u>Empowerment </u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Empower your pupils to access and be part of the world around them. Many of our pupils have a multiplicity of impairments: visual, auditory, limited mobility... each of these have the potential to isolate and alienate our pupils from the world around them. Provide resources that can bring the world to them in a way that is meaningful and motivating. These resources need not cost the earth. You can find a variety of different ideas in previous posts and in our recommended books including Sensory umbrellas, whisks and shoe boxes (ideas from Flo Longhorn), Smell noodles and scent shakers (ideas from Joanna Grace)*. Put your newly made Happiness Audits into action and get busy crafting!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">*Links to relevant previous posts: <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/shopping-trip.html" target="_blank">https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/shopping-trip.html </a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/its-been-busy-day-today.html">https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/its-been-busy-day-today.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/">https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/">https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><b><u>Exciting news… Core and Essential Service Standards</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">We were really excited to hear from Joanna Grace about the new ‘Supporting people with profound and multiple learning disabilities Core & Essential Service Standards’ published at the end of last month. You can download a copy <a href="http://www.pmldlink.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Standards-PMLD-h-web.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Joanna co-authored the standards with Dr Thomas Doukas (Head of Inclusive Research & Involvement, Choice Support), Annie Fergusson (Senior Lecturer SEN and Inclusion, University Of Northampton PMLD Link Journal And Family Carer) And Michael Fullerton (Director of Quality and Clinical Care, Care Management Group). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><i>“The Core and Essential Service Standards are designed to create a means for Commissioners of education, health and social care to work closely in partnership with service providers to ensure the best possible outcomes for people being supported. Through Commissioners and providers having shared expectations and standards of service delivery I can ensure that wherever a person lives, they can expect similarly high standards.” </i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">(Supporting people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Core & Essential Service Standards 1st Edition, November 2017)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The standards cover 7 areas of Leadership, Quality, Staff Development, Physical Environment, Communication, Health and Wellbeing, Social, Community and Family Life and are designed to be used to evaluate and evidence the practice of settings supporting people with PMLD, highlighting both areas of strength and those areas which need development. These standards will help to ensure that we strive for and more consistently achieve the best practice in all settings supporting those with PMLD. Make sure you download your copy; share it with your SLT Monday morning and pop a copy in the staff room!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><b><u>And finally…</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">It will be of no surprise that the majority of parent responses to <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/our-forum-presentation-curriculum.html" target="_blank">our survey</a> on ‘Educational outcomes for pupils with special educational needs’ indicated that they felt the greatest need to their child's education was happiness. We must take time to nurture and develop happiness opportunities for both our pupils <i>and </i>ourselves ensuring that we allow moments of time for quiet mindfulness and recuperation alongside active, exciting, sensory stimulating activities. </span></div>
Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-78147577701812232742017-12-04T11:47:00.000-08:002017-12-10T13:03:55.117-08:00An Autumn TACPAC<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Hi everyone, sorry this blog post is so delayed, it has been an incredibly busy three weeks. I (Lucy) was performing as Lily St Regis in Annie for a two week run and last week we were at Flo Longhorn's latest conference No Ticks No boxes providing Winter Wonderland sensory play experiences as well as telling everyone all about Sensory Dispensary and the projects we have on the go. We will discuss the conference in more detail in future posts, if you want a quick overview find us on twitter @sensorydispense I tried to keep everyone as up to date as I could.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Today, I am going to share this terms TACPAC with you. My class are a group of 8 pupils with CLDD most of whom have complex autism, are non verbal and have many sensory processing difficulties. They are ages between year 7 and 9 so are at a difficult stage in their teenage lives.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I have a group of 3 pupils who get a lot from my TACPAC sessions, they are highly sensory children who often seek tactile and proprioceptive activities. They all have very delayed interaction with adults, they are introverted and we are working towards gesturing wants, needs and preferences to adults.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Our topic this term is seasons so I have put together an Autumn TACPAC. It has been going really well so far. My children are developing favourite resources and are communicating on which part of the body they would like it. I use a lot of burst pause throughout my TACPAC sessions to encourage them to initiate communication and interaction with me. There is a lot of debate and questioning at the minute about what 'lessons' and 'learning' for children and young people with PMLD/ CLDD should like like in terms of formality and objective learning. I think TACPAC is a lovely session for the children to develop communication in their own way and lead their own learning in a calming and encouraging environment. I find the repetitive and trusting environment created with a child and adult promoted communication development. There may be no symbols or pictures or instructions as to what you want the pupil to do but you are providing the child an opportunity to learn they can control something and develop their own preferences which I think is vital.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The fabulous Ellen Croft from Ash Field School in Leicester spoke about their recent Ofsted visit. Ellen was worried when the Ofsted inspector came to observe a TACPAC session but decided to go ahead with it anyway. I think as PMLD teachers we often worry about what observers think, especially if they are not familiar with what PMLD 'teaching' looks like and what our children's learning and progress looks like. Often the huge steps of progress, sometimes a child smiling consistently at their favourite part and smiling in anticipation are missed. However add a switch or a PECS symbol and it looks more like a familiar and traditional special needs lesson. Ellen did a TACPAC session for the Ofsted inspector and maybe for the first time ever the inspector said that he was moved by the session. Not only did Ellen complete her TACPAC session but she also added 5 minutes of silence. Silence is brilliant for a child's mental health and wellbeing. Classrooms can be incredibly busy and children with PMLD spend much of their time being cared for and supported. They aren't very often left to their own devices to explore and learn about themselves. She finds that during these silent periods, the children explore their own sounds and interact with each other which is great. Hannah tried this in her class today and it worked amazingly. I tried it too but it wasn't so successful, but we will definitely try again tomorrow! It is a lesson that there is no such thing as downtime (in the words of Peter Imray) but opportunity for developing self awareness. We are often told that every minute matters and that the children should be learning and busy during every minute of the day but we must not forget the value of quiet.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, this is my TACPAC this term. I didn't make the tracks this time, they are from Youtube so I will also share the links below. Sorry there are no photos, I will try and remember to take some tomorrow!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the garden on an autumn afternoon.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Track 1: The conkers are falling to the ground marbles in sock tied up (feet)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Do they children seek to explore using their hands? Do they
anticipate the feeling of the marbles dropping on them gently? Do they have a
preference to heavy/ gentle, fast/ slow? Do they communicate they want the
feeling on a different part of their bodies?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Track 2: I can hear the hedgehogs rustling through the leaves –
spikey ring (legs)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Do they react? Do they have a preference of where they would
like the feeling? Do they prefer gentle or firm? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Track 3: Pull your woolly jumper on it’s getting cold out
here – soft wool (neck)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Do they anticipate? Do they react if it tickles or feels
nice? Do they communicate where they want it? Do they seek to explore the wool
in different ways?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Track 4: Dad is sweeping up the leaves – massage scraper
tool (arms)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Do they anticipate and hold their arm out? Do they have a
favourite arm or place? Do they prefer gentle or firm?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Track 5: Quick, did you see that squirrel run up the tree –
feather duster (all over)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Do they anticipate? Do they react and make communication if
it tickles? Do they have a preferred place?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Track 6: I am busy collecting the pine cones that have
fallen to the ground - pine cone (hands)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Do they hold their hands out ready? Do they like to explore
independently? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Track 7: It’s time to go inside now it’s starting to rain –
wet sponge (face and hair)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Do they anticipate? Do they explore in alternative ways? Do
they communicate if they don’t like it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The tracks are not in order as I renamed them on my computer! Match them up to the items you think fit. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEegHOnuPJM"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEegHOnuPJM</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey_V4kx7sb4"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey_V4kx7sb4</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RMfEPb2fQ0"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RMfEPb2fQ0</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U2zApIeWdY"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U2zApIeWdY</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv2Dko2EB9A"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv2Dko2EB9A</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDikrHjHJjM"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDikrHjHJjM</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHGgi9eXQ7g"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHGgi9eXQ7g</span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For more information about the theory behind TACPAC or to purchase any of the official packs/ the assessment tools visit their <a href="http://tacpac.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>. TACPAC also deliver training courses and in house training. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Today we have uploaded our new sensory story sack 'One Christmas' to our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheSensoryDispensary/shop/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank">Facebook shop</a>. We have written this story and have made 40 story sacks complete with all of the resources including the laminated story, information about the how and whys of sensory stories and a recipe card. We are really proud of these and will be using them in class with our children. They are £25 plus postage and packaging. All handmade with love, we feel they would make lovely Christmas activities/ gifts for any sensory being. For more details message us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSensoryDispensary/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/SensoryDispense" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We have also made a new dispense the sense card pack featuring activities for holidays throughout the year. This pack is £4.50 including postage and packaging. Again handmade with love. </span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-67356484501102983132017-11-12T10:58:00.001-08:002017-11-12T10:58:31.925-08:00Book review: Sensory-Being for Sensory Beings: Creating Entrancing Sensory Experiences by Joanna Grace<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">In this post I’ll be reviewing a book I bought over the summer by Joanna Grace. If you read the blog regularly you’ll know it’s not the first time we have referenced Joanna Grace. I promise we are not paid to advertise or say nice things about Jo or her work! The fact that we do, is simply a testament to her exceptional knowledge and understanding of this area and the tremendous support she offers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> I first came by the author of this book, Joanna Grace, in the special needs section of the TES forum a few years ago. I was at the very start of my career in special needs teaching and looking for support and guidance. Lucy and I began working at our current school at the same time in the same class. Lucy had already been working in SEN in a school for children with Autism and within her role in a mainstream school and I had limited experience having worked in a mainstream school for two years. Faced with a new challenge of teaching a class of children with SLD and PMLD in year 3 and 4, I had been busy planning over the summer following the advice of one of my new colleagues to plan for low ability. Well, after day one it was immediately clear that I had pitched my planning entirely wrong and was in need of help! Particularly stumped on how best to meet the need of my pupils with PMLD, I logged on to TES and looked in the SEN forum seeking some advice on planning and teaching my new class. The user ‘Jo3Grace’ regularly popped up offering a great deal of insight as well as materials and resources available from Jo herself and others. The advice gained enabled Lucy and me a starting point and some direction of where to find out more. The more we researched and discovered the deeper our interest grew and more passionate we became.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">Joanna Grace is the founder of the Sensory Projects, International Inclusion & Sensory Engagement Specialist, Trainer and author. You can find out more and find lots of useful information and resources on her </span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/" style="text-decoration-line: underline;" target="_blank">website</a> </span><span style="color: #674ea7;">many of which are free. You can also reach her directly on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009285343907" target="_blank">Facebook </a>and <a href="https://twitter.com/jo3grace" target="_blank">Twitter</a><i> </i></span></span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">which I have always found helpful when searching for more specific advice. I would also highly recommend attending one of Joanna’s courses. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sensory-being for Sensory Beings is the second of Joanna’s books and is a real hands-on guide for anyone who supports a ‘Sensory Being’. Joanna’s term of ‘Sensory Beings’ includes not only those individuals with PMLD, but also infants, those with later stage dementia as Jo explains anyone who ‘understands the world in a primarily sensory way’. Informed by a team of Sensory Being Consultants, the book explores the sensory world and the natural mastery that these individuals have of being truly present in the moment a type of mindfulness or, the term used by Joanna: ‘sensory-being’. This is a skill that many of us struggle with in our busy lives. Throughout the book there are comments from parents and practitioners which are useful and provide extra insight to the material being explored. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Early on in the book Joanna explores the concept of ‘parked time’. This happens all too often with individuals with PMLD. There are a whole host of reasons for this: limited staffing with individuals who often need 1:1 support to be able to access experiences, mixed ability classes where the learning and behaviour needs of their more able peers are often given priority, waiting in corridors etc. This is something that is always of concern to me, as I’m sure it is to everyone who supports Sensory Beings, but sometimes it can be bewildering as to how to go about eradicating this parked time which Joanna explains is potentially damaging to the mental health and well-being of these individuals. The solution? Careful planning and resourcing which meets the unique needs of the individuals you support. This raised the second issue that resonated with me in the book- the great expense of any resources designed for Sensory Beings. While many of these resources are engaging and offer great sensory delight to the Sensory Beings I support, the high price tag simply makes them unaffordable.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Joanna Grace sheds some light on this predicament. She explores each the 7 senses in a detailed yet easy to understand manner and touches on other senses too (it turns out there are a lot more than the 7 senses I previously thought there were!). Together with each sense explored are practical ideas for stimuli that can be used to engage the particular sense. There is a practitioner tip at the opening of this section of the book to have a pen and paper to hand and a particular Sensory Being in mind to create your sensory shopping list! I would highly recommend doing this- it helps to keep you focused and, if you’re anything like Lucy and I, prevents you from breaking the bank buying every sensory goody you come across when out and about! All the resources suggested are tried and tested, backed by theory and yes… low-cost! While some of the resources require a little time to put together something special, Joanna explains that the process of crafting these items can in itself be a great opportunity for sensory-being/mindfulness. I know that we always enjoy the process of making our sensory resources- the creating process is quite satisfying! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">I found this book to be a really effective guide to supporting individuals with PMLD, providing both the practical and the underpinning theory necessary to truly understand the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of what we offer these individuals. This closely relates to our own values at Sensory Dispensary- we often discuss why we do activities such as sensory play. It is important to have this understanding in order to best select the experiences, activities and resources suited to each unique individual. Having ready to use and affordable ideas for resources and activities is always going to be a winner. My copy of this book has been on holiday with me, car journeys and out and about and I often find myself referring back to it! If you support a Sensory Being I would highly recommend you give ‘Sensory-being for Sensory Beings’ a read. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">You can purchase the book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sensory-Being-Sensory-Beings-Entrancing-Experiences/dp/1911186116/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">here</a> (add it to your Christmas wishlist!)</span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-30202246495632365652017-11-07T15:15:00.001-08:002017-11-07T15:26:55.209-08:00Halloween <span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Last week both mine and Lucy's classrooms had a spooky makeover! A combination of cobwebs, lights and pumpkins helped to set the scene for our Halloween themed week of Explore and Discover sessions. Many thanks to my team for staying late to achieve this transformation! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Lots of time spent by a TA here weaving lights through these pumpkins to create our pumpkin chandelier)</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">(Sorry the pictures don't really do their work justice)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There are lots of different recipes out there for slime but consider the needs of your class when selecting which one to use. If you have pupils who like to eat the materials they explore I wouldn't advise using this one as whilst the ingredients aren't harmful to ingest, they are not edible. We used 2 variations of a recipe for these slimes. You can find the original recipe in Pack 1 of our Dispense the Sense cards available to buy <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/553472292/dispense-the-sense-activity-cards?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=sensory%20dispensary%20dispense%20the%20sense%20cards&ref=sr_gallery_1" target="_blank">here</a> or by contacting us on our Facebook page. To make the putty version simply add shaving foam to the recipe.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This slime was more stiff and reminded me of a putty-like texture. It had less stretch but the children really enjoyed squashing, squeezing and mark making. Turning the slime containers upside down to get the slime out was fun too as it temporarily kept the containers shape before melting back into it's putty puddle. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Tapping fingers into the slime also left marks that lasted a minute before vanishing, making a fun mark making activity.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For my more dex</span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">terous pupils I bought these lovely Halloween cutters from ASDA for just £1.00. </span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This putty slime was thick enough to use with the cutters and you could pull the excess away with ease- no sticking at all! We had some sieves for a different element of this session but one of my pupil was quick to put them to work on the slime and enjoyed watching the slime bulge through the holes and leave a lovely bumpy pattern.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Lots of opportunities for exploration and discovery here at different levels to suit differing needs: tactile and proprioceptive stimulation, mark making, exploring shape and developing fine motor skills to name just a few!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><u>Stretchy slime</u></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The second slime was far more stretchy than the first and even my support staff had a hard time putting it down! This particular slime would stretch and dribble down but remain in long (non-sticky!) strings. It was a really interesting texture that all pupils were keen to explore the properties of. We plopped the slime into a sieve and sure enough long ribbons of slime stretched down to the floor without snapping. This was visually mesmerising as it oozed down and gathered in a noodle-like bunch in the tray below. Letting the cool slime fall in this way onto hands was a strange sensation. As an extension for those who may be working on fine motor skills, you can add in your 'squeeze' easy grip scissors to snip these slime ribbons. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="color: #674ea7;">Pumpkin mash</span></u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">This was the creation of one of the TAs in my team who was tasked with making a pumpkin slime. The whole pumpkin was chopped up and boiled, mashed, cornflour added and mixed spice stirred in creating a wonderful aroma. A few people did comment on how delicious it smelled but it viusally reminded them of something less pleasant! On the training day, when it was made, it was a slime but by the following day when we uncovered it was much more of a solid lump. We dubbed the mix 'pumpkin mash' and offered an array of tools with it for our sensory beings to explore. This is a fab one to try for those who cannot resist having a taste- I did try it myself... lovely flavour but with the texture of glue. As with the other activities this is a great tactile experience but also great for the olfactory and gustatory senses. Where relevant, there are opportunities to practice those fine motor skills, scooping, mashing and stirring it in the cauldron. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Apple bobbing...ish</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We created our own version of apple bobbing. We added black food dye and glitter to the water to make our bubbling brew before adding red and green apples in and a few other scary surprises (spooky toy spiders etc) . The water was warm for those who wanted to reach in with their hands. We also had sieves to scoop and drain the apples out. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We had a linked activity to this one- tasting the sweet red apples and sour green ones as well as trying some toffee sauce and pumpkin seeds. Some of my pupils are not able to eat solids so we had apple and toffee sauce to try for these pupils which went down a treat!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Spashing in the warm water, scooping and dropping apples, observing them bobbing up and down was an experience in itself. You could also add in 'Crackle Baff' to create a crackling auditory experience (popping candy would also work but is short-lived). There was the option to extend this task into shape exploration and colour sorting. I left the red and green sieves, as well as a red and green tray next to the tub to allow them to sort in this way. It's quite easy to make this into a fun game for SLD pupils who need further challenging and enjoy imaginative play- become a wicked witch with a shopping list! Can they match your picture shopping list? Perhaps your recipe only calls for the green apples or only items that float at the top- can they scoop/sort accordingly? It maybe you need exact quantities- cant they count out the right amount of each item. Plenty of scope for simplifying or extending this activity according to your pupils needs and liking!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>My class had an absolute hoot in our Halloween Explore & Discover sessions and they weren't the only ones. Lucy's class were getting stuck in with their sensory delights. Some of our readers have also kindly sent in their own pictures and videos of the sensory treats they had on offer for the sensory beings they support. Check out the pictures and videos below!</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Lucy's Hallo-scream of a sensory umbrella!</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>A spook-tacular selection above from Lucy's classroom!</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>This sensory cauldron from Sarah Alderman </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>What a fang-tastic sensory umbrella from Leigh Downs!</i></span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-59453725691777959552017-10-29T09:24:00.000-07:002017-10-29T09:24:54.879-07:00TES SEN Show part 2 - Soundbeam and Evidence for Learning <span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I hope those of you on half term have had a lovely relaxing week. I would like to say mine has been relaxing but far from it. We've been busy making Dispense the Sense activity cards which we have for sale and also ready for upcoming events as well as planning for Christmas sensory stories and 12 days of Christmas activity boxes. Then we've been preparing for Flo's conference at the end of November. As well as general school work, rehearsing for Annie which I am performing in November and general life... well it's been busy and has flown by. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I have planned a new autumn themed TACPAC and sensory story so will share those with you over the up and coming weeks (don't forget we have TACPAC and story massage resources free to download from our TES page - <a href="https://www.tes.com/resources/search/?&q=sensory_dispensary" target="_blank">sensory_dispensary</a>). We also have a few people interested in writing guest blogs which will be very exciting. If you have anything you would like to share or write about on our blog, please get in touch with us. Or if you have any topics you would like us to write about, please let us know. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, the topic of today's post is the 2nd half of the TES SEN Show, I know it feels like forever ago now. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Firstly, I wanted to talk about <a href="http://www.soundbeam.co.uk/" target="_blank">Soundbeam</a>. Many of you will have probably heard of soundbeam and I hope it is in every school around the country, although I know it's not as we don't have one. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">'Soundbeam is an award-winning 'touch free' device which uses sensor technology to translate body movement into music and sound. It gives children and adults the opportunity, regardless of their impairments or disability, to play music.' </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Welch et al (2001) undertook a nation-wide research project known as PROMISE (Provision of Music in Special Education) which was funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Trust and supported by the Royal Institute for the Blind. 53 special schools across the country took part. The findings were mixed. They found that only 5% of participating children received music therapy. We all hear how beneficial it is however it's not so easy to gain funding for this and also very difficult to find a qualified music therapist. One of our partner schools employs an amazing music therapist for one or two days a week but he works all over and says himself that he is in such high demand as there is a lack of trained music therapists in our area and I'm sure many others. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The results highlighted that headteachers placed a high value on music as part of their curriculum however there were no specific models of music curriculum as such designed for pupils with SLD or PMLD. The resources and types of music delivered in the participating schools were mainly percussion. The majority of music coordinators had no qualifications in music and music CPD was seen as 'adhoc' and depended mainly on local provision. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It was also noted that music is a significant component in the daily lives of many of our pupils; radio in the morning at home, music played on the taxi, signify songs throughout the day, their favourite music incorporated into the day. I know we use music all the time. I'm sure Jo Grace would also add that music is a great way to support mental health and wellbeing. I'm going to bring out my inner teenager here and embarrassingly refer to One Tree Hill. One Tree Hill as a TV programme that related to me during my teenage years and had an inner theme of music. They portrayed the effect music has on people including young people growing up and learning to deal with the problems life throws at them. Music was seen as a healing power due to its relatable song lyrics and its power to set or change a mood. Music can set the 'feel' of an environment, as teachers, Hannah and I often use music for this reason. We are aware of how powerful our sense of smell is as it is linked to the emotional part of our brain and can transport us back to a memory. I think music can do the same for a lot of people, it definitely does for me. I have seen the power of music for my pupils, by the end of this term some of my class were responding to my signify songs for the start and end of a session. One of Hannah's pupils loves music, the music played or sung to her can often determine her mood. She knows what she likes and more importantly what she doesn't like!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So how can we incorporate effective music provision into the curriculum for our learners with SLD and PMLD? I think Soundbeam is a wonderful example of this. Soundbeam equipment allows our pupils with learning and physical disabilities to make music. It is a control box and sensor beams that track any movement the pupil makes to create sound. The 'beams' are incredibly clever, as demonstrated to us at the TES SEN Show. They are adjustable in order to be personal to every pupil. The length of the beam sensors can be altered for each child for those who whizz around the room to motivate them to control their movement within a smaller area or the sensitivity can be adapted such as for a child with very limited movement. There are so many learning opportunities to be gained by exploring this equipment, the first and most important I think is that the child can have completely independent control. In a world where they rely on others for so much, it is lovely to watch someone with PMLD, perhaps after hundreds of attempts, learn that they are controlling something. How about have them in charge of music in assemblies or the school nativity, record their own CD. I just think it's lovely. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I have no training in music, and being honest I have always found music sessions for my SLD classes difficult beyond the drumming call and response rhythm type activities. But the lovely lady on the stall gave me the confidence and that's what is brilliant about Soundbeam, that you don't have to be an expert and you need no training. It is so simple to use and is led by the child! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We are currently fundraising for a Soundbeam, hopefully by the end of the year we will have it and can share with you the impact it has for our pupils. If you have any stories of using Soundbeam, please share them, we would love to hear them. You can also view many lovely videos on their <a href="http://www.soundbeam.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>. Make sure also take a look at their autumn newsletter <a href="http://www.soundbeam.co.uk/autumn-2017-newsletter" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Cheng et al (2009) Researching and developing
music provision in Special Schools in
England for children and young people
with complex needs, Australian Journal of Music Education 2(22) </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Another topic I would like to talk about is recording of evidence. We currently use tapestry, however we feel it has many limitations. Hannah had read up a little on <a href="http://www.evidenceforlearning.net/" target="_blank">Evidence for Learning</a> and when we spotted them at TES SEN Show, we were quick to head over and pick their brains. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Evidence for learning is an IPAD app assessment record tool similar to Tapestry. However, there are notable differences. Firstly, <a href="http://www.evidenceforlearning.net/" target="_blank">Evidence for Learning</a> is a system which can be personalised to each child, where as Tapestry was designed for the EYFS framework although I know it also includes the p-scales. Well we all know they are on their way out anyway and many schools use other assessment systems such as PIVATS, MAPP, Routes for Learning, B Squared, Individual Learning Plans and many more which don't fit with the Tapestry framework. We end up uploading evidence to tapestry as learning journals for parents but also filing evidence in assessment folders and highlighting PIVATS lozenges to link to pupil outcomes as well as annotating ILPs. It is very time consuming. Evidence for learning can be designed for each pupil's personal targets and even further than this can include steps of progress towards a target for example the 4 learning areas of MAPP; fluency, prompting, maintenance and generalisation. Other benefits are that it can be used offline, it can be shared with parents who can comment and upload their own evidence, it can produce printable learning journeys and assessment document evidence. <a href="http://www.evidenceforlearning.net/" target="_blank">Evidence for Learning</a> could be used to record ALL progress in ALL areas such as ILP targets and progress towards EHCP targets, PIVATS or other assessment framework targets, physio or MOVE targets, pretty much anything and any other wow moments you want to record. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This is in no way endorsed and we do not currently use this product, however on returning to school we passed it on to our leadership as we felt that as teachers, this was a tool which could be an effective way of capturing evidence as well as being practical. Swiss Cottage School also use <a href="http://www.evidenceforlearning.net/" target="_blank">Evidence for Learning</a> and are big advocates for it. You can give it a go with a 14 day free trial. Contact them for more details. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If you are back at school tomorrow we hope you have a great start back. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Here is a link to <a href="http://flopublications.com/events" target="_blank">Flo's forum</a> in November where Hannah and I will be attending. It's an opportunity not to miss if you can convince your school to let you go! </span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-5181020947369907062017-10-22T13:04:00.000-07:002017-10-22T13:04:14.882-07:00A huge thank you <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Well half term is finally here, this term has been a long
one. I was going to write this blog post about the TES SEN Show, however I
really wanted to dedicate this one to the incredible TAs I am fortunate enough
to work with. I dashed to a meeting after school on Friday and when I returned
to my classroom I found it magically transformed. There are now amazing sensory
Halloween decorations hung up in the classroom from the ceiling and on the
windows and doors. I could not believe (well I actually can) that my fabulous
team would stay behind on the last day of term, without me even mentioning
anything to them and them thinking I’d disappeared somewhere, and transform the
room all so that our lovely group of children would come back to an engaging
sensory environment. That is why I want to dedicate this blog to them, because
that is just the kind of people they are and I am grateful for them every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This term hasn’t gone without its challenges. Firstly four
days into the term I got shingles which meant I was signed off work for ten
days. As a teacher with a brand new class and team, this is incredibly
frustrating beyond this discomfort of the shingles. I didn’t feel like we’d got
into a routine yet and I felt really lost not being there. But my team stepped
up to the mark of course and did an amazing job. Shout out to Becky who led the
class for me which is difficult in itself without brand new apprentices and
also supply staff. I got regular updates and was thrilled to know that one
child was sitting at the breakfast table for 5 minutes and that another had
tried popping candy. I came back to annotated planning and assessment notes on
my wall, I literally couldn’t have asked for any more from them. As well as me
being off we have had a few staff changes this term and a new pupil but we have
pulled together as a team. Our class are mostly boys aged 13/14 so they are at
that age when hormones are running riot in their bodies which has given us
extra challenges this term too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We had an observation on Friday, the last day of term. The
last couple of weeks have been really tough, we have been battling to find
strategies that work to support our pupils very complex sensory needs and the
diversity of the group. We got a strong good and I was over the moon. Sometimes
it’s not about that outstanding but the journey. We did a TAC PAC session and
some of the pupils went to the shops to choose a new floor mat as our door
entrance gets slippery (we started with a walk to the end of the street at the
beginning of term and now we are able to go to a shop!!!). It is the same session
I have delivered every day. I don’t really believe in show lessons for
observations, although I understand why teachers do it. There is a lot of
pressure to get outstanding and prove you are good at what you do. With some
classes they respond really well to the amazing resources (which we can’t
afford every day) and activities of an observation lesson but I know my pupils probably
wouldn’t. I had faith that what we do every day is good. It might not be
outstanding but it is what our pupils need. I was cursing having an observation
on the last day of term but actually it was a nice round up of the journey we
have been on as a class this term and it highlighted that despite a lot of
turmoil the children have achieved lots. Some were signifying which area of the
body they preferred, another anticipated his favourite part. That’s what it’s
all about for me, the children discovering about themselves and that they have
the power to communicate what they want when we can facilitate it for them and
them being happy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We sometimes get to the end of the day and ask ourselves how
we got through it, well the answer is simple: by working together, with humour
and by focusing on the achievements however small and however clouded by chaos
they might be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My team are a crazy lot but they never fail to put a smile
on my face and bring me back down to earth with encouragement and support when
I am stressing. Any crazy idea I have they jump on board with – how about a
residential – yeh let’s do it. If I say we're making our own facemasks today, they get stuck in and try it out with the children or if it's crazy hairdressers week they all go home with brightly coloured UV hair too! If I forget to get breakfast, I can guarantee that
one of my team with have already thought about it and have nipped to Asda the
night before. And then there's fat Fridays. I'm giving away classroom secrets how. The girls always keep the cupboard stocked up with goodies on a Friday and it keeps us going. If they disappear out of our cupboard now school peeps, I'll be checking who has read this blog ;-) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">They all get on board with my fundraising efforts for the new
sensory room, planning events and emailing businesses in their spare time.
Another shout out to Becky who came with me yesterday on a SATURDAY to collect
a cheque kindly donated by Boston netball club and I know the others would have
come if they were not working (yes most of them have another job – I don’t know
how they do it). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But most of all, the thing I am grateful for is that they
understand the children, they are patient and wait for them to initiate
communication, when they are sometimes at the end of aggression, they never
take it personally and are empathetic to work out what is upsetting the child. They
care. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Teaching Assistants who work with special needs children are
supermen/women. I strongly feel that they should be entitled to the SEN
allowance that SEN teachers get. I have worked in both mainstream and special
schools and I see the work our SEN TAs do. They are teachers, nurses, carers, physios,
salts, behaviour management specialists and much more. They are superheroes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Shout out to all SEN TAs you are amazing, it was where my
career started as an apprentice TA in a primary school for children with Autism
and I couldn’t have asked for a better starting block. No teacher could do it
without you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">And here's Demi trying out Becky's pregnancy pillow which she brought in for one of our pupils - and it's proving a success! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I hope everyone has a lovely half term! </span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-72397252105143071812017-10-15T06:46:00.000-07:002017-10-15T06:55:22.126-07:00The Tes SEN Show <span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If you have read our last blog, you will know that Hannah and I traveled down to London last week for the <a href="http://www.tessenshow.co.uk/" target="_blank">Tes SEN Show</a>. Although a lot of the show is aimed at supporting pupils with SEND in mainstream and for SLD learners we did find a few great stands for PMLD. This is a completely free event to attend which is incredible really as nothing seems to come free anymore. The event seemed very well organised from the badge entry, bag checks on the door, your free bag including a very informative guide, the many seminars and CPD sessions and the free parent and practitioner talks going on throughout the day. TES do a wonderful thing for the SEND community by organising this event, I would just love to see more of a representation for our PMLD learners next year as whoever we spoke to, people mentioned the rise in pupils with PMLD. I wanted this blog post to highlight some of the companies we spoke to throughout the day that were relevant to our work with people with PMLD.<br /></span><br />
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<br /><br />One of the first stands we came across was <a href="http://cpotential.org.uk/" target="_blank">C Potential</a>. C Potential, based in London, are a charity for people with cerebral palsy and complex needs. They offer many services including speech and language therapy, music therapy and also run their own school. One of the most exciting things we chatted to them about was Mollii Suits, something we didn't know much about. We saw this mannequin with a paneled 'suit' attached and it immediately caught our attention. The very knowledgeable team explained to us how the suit works. This explanation is taken from their website 'It has conductive elastic sewn into it with electrodes located at the major muscles. A completely painless electro-stimulation is conducted via silver wires to 58 electrodes on the inside of the garment. These target muscle groups and prompt natural reflexes which relieve muscle tension and help build control of low muscle tone.' The suit can improve range of movement, fine motor control, help learn new movement patterns and ease chronic pain and spasticity. C Potential offer free assessment for Mollii suits and are independent as they do not directly sell the suits. The suits are £4,100 exc VAT so are very pricey, however the ladies at C Potential explained that many parents apply for grants. The company that make them offer an additional service for growing children to reduce additional cost. <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />We then found our way to the Move stand. We have spent a lot of time researching the <a href="https://www.enhamtrust.org.uk/our-services/children-and-young-adult-services/move/about-move" target="_blank">Move Programme</a> as we are working towards introducing it at our school in the near future. Move is a physical programme that aims for each child to reach their full potential in sitting, standing, walking and transitioning. Move is a personalised approach, working collaboratively with parents, professionals and the child. When we visited <a href="http://www.castlewood.coventry.sch.uk/learning/move" target="_blank">Castlewood</a> school in Coventry, we spent a lot of time talking to Jodie Dunn about the Move programme, she also presented on Move at Flo Longhorn's Best of British Special Education Forum earlier this year. We saw the Move programme in action as we were shown around the school and looked through learning journals and videos to see amazing progress and the impact it as had on the families as well as the child. Move delivers training sessions around the country as well as coming into schools to deliver whole school training. From what I have seen of Move we would strongly recommend looking into it. To read some lovely success stories click here. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJlvQPQaEAaY8nY1YO_UFal8qA0AWkWlwc9yplk0qy4WkgCdzDF5YUQnbjJq6mV2uUhQ3IDD1BO_rKmHkhafReOlNvnug8yEojYNi4D2MPG2lQ01iewAjgayMeGmDkrGiFK_nza8xe3KV/s1600/move+home+page.jpg"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJlvQPQaEAaY8nY1YO_UFal8qA0AWkWlwc9yplk0qy4WkgCdzDF5YUQnbjJq6mV2uUhQ3IDD1BO_rKmHkhafReOlNvnug8yEojYNi4D2MPG2lQ01iewAjgayMeGmDkrGiFK_nza8xe3KV/s400/move+home+page.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><br />Also on their stand were <a href="https://mountindustries.enhamtrust.org.uk/about-us" target="_blank">Mount Industries Furniture</a> who are also an Enham Trust Social Enterprise. They are beginning to work closely with the Move Programme to design specialist furniture for classrooms for pupils with complex needs and disabilities. They had a couple of pieces on show including a round table with grip holes to support standing as well as a stepped storage unit. He discussed how personal the furniture could be. We gave the example of one of our pupils who loves music or another who is motivated by light and he said it would be great to put a music or light up panel at the top. It seemed like a great idea to us to be able to personalise furniture to fit the needs of your room practically but also as additional apparatus to support the physical development of your pupils. We expressed that if they ever wanted a tester for their products we would jump at the chance! We hope to hear more about their developments soon. Another lovely aspect of Mount Industries Furniture is that part of their work with Enham Trust is proving people with disabilities with employment opportunities. <br /><br />I have spent a lot of time this year researching sensory rooms (another topic I would like to write more about in the future). We have been putting all of our energy into fundraising for a new sensory room. Unfortunately our old sensory room is in a state of disrepair and wasn't always appropriately used. There are sadly a lot of articles out there that highlight the misuse of sensory rooms, the ;turn everything on and send your class in' approach. However, when I was designing our room I found lots of wonderful new products that I am very excited about. Firstly magic carpets or interactive floors are incredible. Our children loved the one at Alton Towers. I especially love the versions you can upload things to yourself such as your current topic, story or pupils in your class. I have spent months looking through the Spacekraft catalogue and I will share with you some of favourite products in a future post. <a href="http://www.spacekraft.co.uk/" target="_blank">Spacekraft</a> and <a href="http://www.sensoryguru.com/" target="_blank">Sensory Guru</a> were at the Tes Show providing people with technical sensory wonders all day. The interactive floor was a hit!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72QxMRHKYfmGhwVkUUNN15JynmI3EmqYrAJ6CSkFPQS60r-xi42D1hx0JaRSFu40BxFYj5wE3W2m36jzv_IZlOP5SbVHYtiVn1X_fesQ7lxr44ivsRCFs-ZA85HOXlxvOox-F1QQYKEqb/s1600/logo+%25281%2529.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72QxMRHKYfmGhwVkUUNN15JynmI3EmqYrAJ6CSkFPQS60r-xi42D1hx0JaRSFu40BxFYj5wE3W2m36jzv_IZlOP5SbVHYtiVn1X_fesQ7lxr44ivsRCFs-ZA85HOXlxvOox-F1QQYKEqb/s1600/logo+%25281%2529.png" /></a></div>
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<br /><br />In the next post I will write about Soundbeam, Evidence for Learning, Calvert Trust and Smart Box. <br /><br />Don't forget if you are enjoying our blog you can subscribe for email alerts or find us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSensoryDispensary/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/SensoryDispense" target="_blank">Twitter</a> for all of the latest updates. <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJo3WE7gNSw6JpNq9BM46Jgb2UnUO001ZNk5l7j4Gif7yHnick9U55WHAap4hB06kD8YcRH6Y7L78UryahQDRRVYDgXvNcOQc5Jcna_vi7FaQaoGO7ok33mvxFlY4XwXiWzmaHggG18lSs/s1600/DLh4qBhX0AAVNNi.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJo3WE7gNSw6JpNq9BM46Jgb2UnUO001ZNk5l7j4Gif7yHnick9U55WHAap4hB06kD8YcRH6Y7L78UryahQDRRVYDgXvNcOQc5Jcna_vi7FaQaoGO7ok33mvxFlY4XwXiWzmaHggG18lSs/s320/DLh4qBhX0AAVNNi.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Not the best photo of us, but just to show that we rocked our Sensory Dispensary t-shirts all day! <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-55956856647680658032017-10-08T09:18:00.000-07:002017-10-08T09:28:33.343-07:00Another trip to Tiger!<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday, Hannah and I went along to the Tes SEN Show in London. It was our first time at this free event. We had a great day, although there wasn't that many stands for PMLD we still managed to spend quite some time chatting to some fabulous people on the MOVE and Evidence for Learning stand.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We had a little time in the middle of the day to venture out before one of the exhibitor workshops later in the afternoon. I have spent a lot of time in London since I was little and know it quite well, however this was a new area of London but I loved it. We got off the tube at the station Angel, one stop on the Northern line from Kings Cross. I can only describe it as a great town within a city. It had everything on one street that you could possible want and the fabulous Business Design Centre which was a great exhibition space. Anyway, we ventured back a few meters towards the shopping centre and were surprised to pass a few stands giving away FREE innocent drinks - we get nothing free in Boston! Hannah needed a birthday card so we went for a browse in Paperchase.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Anyone who knows me will know that I am a list freak, I have lists of lists, it has become quite an obsession, so I am slighly like a child in a sweet shop looking at the various pretty post it notes and journals! I have decided I need a new note pad as I have already filled up the notes pages in this years diary. Being a PMLD teacher I had a feel of the different sequin and squidgy ones but then found this...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I spent my childhood dancing and idolosing Darcey Bussell so a pink, glittery, squidgy ballerina notepad was just perfect! I look forward to using it in the many parent meetings I have coming up this week.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Next we found ourselves in Tiger. Hannah and I had a planning meeting last week to come up with some initial ideas for our next topic 'seasons' and of course we will be doing a very sensory Halloween week. Well Tiger was just full of sensory Halloween goodies! I took lots of snaps to share with you all.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIY1K1DyO9ZqZEDJio_so-N3lfqwCq3gUOdYjl8Zgej9mzfbdaX1zmH4qCnCyk247HLVArMCswzeMXDtw7JzP7eE33aWY27Bq2KdZDCenByAZctFmua2QM7c-HGerXfyYzrlibG_oWhC1/s1600/IMG_2597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIY1K1DyO9ZqZEDJio_so-N3lfqwCq3gUOdYjl8Zgej9mzfbdaX1zmH4qCnCyk247HLVArMCswzeMXDtw7JzP7eE33aWY27Bq2KdZDCenByAZctFmua2QM7c-HGerXfyYzrlibG_oWhC1/s320/IMG_2597.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Whilst great for decoration, this skeleton would also be great for SLD group learning about the body and our bones. If teachers want to purchase a skeleton from a school resource shop as a science resource they can be ridiculously expensive!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNH7rv5rdz1j63ICekfb30XsNFwzxvhTGOFA9AMVi-VIhjXiJoidyka_blWqWChzIQ1HB_Y_U8_XcwotrzND5srZISbdJZLl_QirGJezqn2OO0a3VPpp4rbwyPmAp-yCPzvx-AmJoOvJZD/s1600/IMG_2596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNH7rv5rdz1j63ICekfb30XsNFwzxvhTGOFA9AMVi-VIhjXiJoidyka_blWqWChzIQ1HB_Y_U8_XcwotrzND5srZISbdJZLl_QirGJezqn2OO0a3VPpp4rbwyPmAp-yCPzvx-AmJoOvJZD/s320/IMG_2596.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Who doesn't love candy floss? It instantly makes you think of the fair. I love candy floss as it's a great taste experience for pupils who aren't able to swallow. This one from Tiger is apple flavour so very halloweeny! We purchased this to use in a future sensory story. We'll see how long it lasts and whether or not the staff can resist temptation.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We bought both of these to create a spooky sensory umbrella. I loved the glittery spiders! Glitter yes... real spiders not so much. Hannah is the designated spider remover!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMzIL1BfUPc8XIIE-l8TVU6l4gMggHiFO9u1oi_5PUv0RKZhvs7ZCQ4i9q12V-ioRtPe0sYROUkxhsOOKHETVuwxbJa0vKc148qtivphWpSYialUo8IMM6_9gGcs5MVpUBHklPRJq8HofI/s1600/IMG_2582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMzIL1BfUPc8XIIE-l8TVU6l4gMggHiFO9u1oi_5PUv0RKZhvs7ZCQ4i9q12V-ioRtPe0sYROUkxhsOOKHETVuwxbJa0vKc148qtivphWpSYialUo8IMM6_9gGcs5MVpUBHklPRJq8HofI/s320/IMG_2582.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Also great for decoration or on an umbrella. Poundland also have great value Halloween lights at the minute. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKP1JXC6buYXiG9dqoONXuAAxjvrDre-5BcueUTHZTzm1rgP2V3HW-WgFUkpmqryNmT2razN402bFvTJ217oxdBxOFNz2-KkWa0JjadaD_6yTI3zibtDgozb9_R1PTo0OYoW9PhR1SYTDV/s1600/IMG_2583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKP1JXC6buYXiG9dqoONXuAAxjvrDre-5BcueUTHZTzm1rgP2V3HW-WgFUkpmqryNmT2razN402bFvTJ217oxdBxOFNz2-KkWa0JjadaD_6yTI3zibtDgozb9_R1PTo0OYoW9PhR1SYTDV/s320/IMG_2583.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I had to get another of these. I bought one last time (different theme) for one of my children's sound item in the sensology box. They absolutely love it and quickly learned to press the button on the top. Another one of my children also loves it and tries to sneak it from their box so I had to buy another!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBCcyclbq-RRjagGZhoNWRc9kuQMMRIw8NSVpnBvVpPMjElQAiuH1Ei_NwmMNQIBmOFapV-WPmyrW38qzIyHVGmk2MG1C6UmVBgM0OJDS_3w7eAfWW8mW6dLZoaCaqzhMCQpqUE3EGg5b/s1600/IMG_2590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBCcyclbq-RRjagGZhoNWRc9kuQMMRIw8NSVpnBvVpPMjElQAiuH1Ei_NwmMNQIBmOFapV-WPmyrW38qzIyHVGmk2MG1C6UmVBgM0OJDS_3w7eAfWW8mW6dLZoaCaqzhMCQpqUE3EGg5b/s320/IMG_2590.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I love these they are so tactile. I bought a few hearts for a pupil last year whose favourite thing was that hearts pump. They also came in handy during doctor week this term. It would be nice to incorporate these into Halloween week some how. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR0lod_tV9OtuybWoJZckm2hhXKVyetaJtFX7HfBlP8M268uR2gTVAwjDNZxSMeq_HTisHXt6RoN48Zlrr3wsIUwYRqNgp4MJTdwPumK4aVIUcIMMBqEKfn4a5Im98GL22WGttZH8_JPpD/s1600/IMG_2580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR0lod_tV9OtuybWoJZckm2hhXKVyetaJtFX7HfBlP8M268uR2gTVAwjDNZxSMeq_HTisHXt6RoN48Zlrr3wsIUwYRqNgp4MJTdwPumK4aVIUcIMMBqEKfn4a5Im98GL22WGttZH8_JPpD/s320/IMG_2580.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">These are bowls but we thought they would be great to hang things off or act as large scoops as they are quite shallow. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsN8WMVfGin7yLxXVXEykq31kpQntULxUxJVUziDYXyW9x1-2Q7gGIgj1LbNxcEHOPjRqBak4m1lViW2iiL_v5tI1J2njETXdFp4bgtORfgSCLDH3WQZ_42rMplepLQF5vZt4xua1_bwL/s1600/IMG_2579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsN8WMVfGin7yLxXVXEykq31kpQntULxUxJVUziDYXyW9x1-2Q7gGIgj1LbNxcEHOPjRqBak4m1lViW2iiL_v5tI1J2njETXdFp4bgtORfgSCLDH3WQZ_42rMplepLQF5vZt4xua1_bwL/s320/IMG_2579.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Lovely lights. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLT3LGN8VQlwetm0ZZLz1p-UFdxrNC43-rT5c55n7UfKOypwaC4_0DUpVefVjxbKrBjbYstjXepiaAmwJJxIBTP5J2O6sfw_EjJh2MICPmnEqpUjJ6EIhlYD68_qUWajcWqtlBwdRJKMRS/s1600/IMG_2594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLT3LGN8VQlwetm0ZZLz1p-UFdxrNC43-rT5c55n7UfKOypwaC4_0DUpVefVjxbKrBjbYstjXepiaAmwJJxIBTP5J2O6sfw_EjJh2MICPmnEqpUjJ6EIhlYD68_qUWajcWqtlBwdRJKMRS/s320/IMG_2594.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">These are great for children who need something bigger to grip or for children who may be tactile defensive, a lot of people hate the texture of chalk. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXDLFcsbwmgSD71jCUJUzdVUtIcVcHGk8Z9RAPbcK_2TCt9v2iwUC59WDeOS426nMkY0TpAnrvDhG3tZwZLVO2CDevCOFDOYRv8oK9L176vYreSgKlV6pFoxaiEAi_mFhWMYHfkFx8tOt/s1600/IMG_2595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXDLFcsbwmgSD71jCUJUzdVUtIcVcHGk8Z9RAPbcK_2TCt9v2iwUC59WDeOS426nMkY0TpAnrvDhG3tZwZLVO2CDevCOFDOYRv8oK9L176vYreSgKlV6pFoxaiEAi_mFhWMYHfkFx8tOt/s320/IMG_2595.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I love a confetti cannon! We thought this would be a lovely sensory experience for the bonfire night fireworks sentence of our sensory story. The only trouble is with the repetition needed of a story this would soon get incredibly expensive, but they are lovely none the less. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRrPfc51zx6K54bVHSmCrKR5eys_RvclUWRweLt8yap-f305QmxrZJ1zvvN_Ni3HFAwWAHqpUT43kkYoG2_lNQd5hp0NMQUEI46EChXBB4uMtNF7-EUXHexnZ99DeHxuwTp1eQcYkkHIT/s1600/IMG_2593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRrPfc51zx6K54bVHSmCrKR5eys_RvclUWRweLt8yap-f305QmxrZJ1zvvN_Ni3HFAwWAHqpUT43kkYoG2_lNQd5hp0NMQUEI46EChXBB4uMtNF7-EUXHexnZ99DeHxuwTp1eQcYkkHIT/s320/IMG_2593.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A cause and effect activity, visual stimulation as well as translating to a practical life skill. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpSj1NljBdrzB4jGK33LG1mpa2XmL2jylDDXOdvX4ZxsfLCq3TK4tA0bSJIQAcqB44o9qhRPIc-avxU5lk1khpz4uQmGp-0Dqwxw9mq4xWIY0viK2KzjiE3KIJApjqJdl0SRzVUzdBK6D/s1600/IMG_2592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpSj1NljBdrzB4jGK33LG1mpa2XmL2jylDDXOdvX4ZxsfLCq3TK4tA0bSJIQAcqB44o9qhRPIc-avxU5lk1khpz4uQmGp-0Dqwxw9mq4xWIY0viK2KzjiE3KIJApjqJdl0SRzVUzdBK6D/s320/IMG_2592.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Musical instruments a plenty and fairly good value. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMcCcHEwci0rFRNG-FTibqoOOhKVNytlOkGi0ZrlC5YUWhQfxqMHjAO9eb4EIhaXezKTnX3fOiKpCPcJqBW_ugAM7sk1K21KulKe722csKgYYF6SZT2so02pJfG5NGgoymiISv4Nm29wM7/s1600/IMG_2591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMcCcHEwci0rFRNG-FTibqoOOhKVNytlOkGi0ZrlC5YUWhQfxqMHjAO9eb4EIhaXezKTnX3fOiKpCPcJqBW_ugAM7sk1K21KulKe722csKgYYF6SZT2so02pJfG5NGgoymiISv4Nm29wM7/s320/IMG_2591.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We loved playing with the slimy starfish last time but the floating UFO is new. It could be great for visual awareness and tracking. May also encourage releasing an item for some children. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP-ZkJ2z3dvoAEe5BV_1OeVXwRhp-CV9CTSuZJHFVh0f9N2H0skGOIxyc6KL10p6ohWSi-QCC9P_eNAkGzwayMapUspb8rFgEKFQwTRg6MBhpshH4un5Ml0-EAZerzLVdXJqdSRiZKQaz7/s1600/IMG_2589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP-ZkJ2z3dvoAEe5BV_1OeVXwRhp-CV9CTSuZJHFVh0f9N2H0skGOIxyc6KL10p6ohWSi-QCC9P_eNAkGzwayMapUspb8rFgEKFQwTRg6MBhpshH4un5Ml0-EAZerzLVdXJqdSRiZKQaz7/s320/IMG_2589.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A lovely resource for a role play area for SLD children or in an EYFS area. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjS_KB9lAkQUarfalbRPw4rVwz5ZTrjL1ka6JNk8pWDViYuuUeo7O1qAoP8fObEFkbwpnsHz87ED9_8J4MQg17mp4fFSb3kRl0Nh5s2zLfE-3cglsw1f0HLo3m_PxQw_Lafh_q9CQSOLI6/s1600/IMG_2588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjS_KB9lAkQUarfalbRPw4rVwz5ZTrjL1ka6JNk8pWDViYuuUeo7O1qAoP8fObEFkbwpnsHz87ED9_8J4MQg17mp4fFSb3kRl0Nh5s2zLfE-3cglsw1f0HLo3m_PxQw_Lafh_q9CQSOLI6/s320/IMG_2588.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Great for hand eye coordination. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwuZt_HLnZ3bnMaGooKjtto9p3Ktj8Q4WGkYJ6tbO0ghCTHM-tl2JT9obss8NiPwectWa2dEmxlZIF34JoSqhH8fP45_bktlv_s0lLggpcdPzvyqkq-bWIq9vRcQO_v-i7pSEFpMC_jOz/s1600/IMG_2587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwuZt_HLnZ3bnMaGooKjtto9p3Ktj8Q4WGkYJ6tbO0ghCTHM-tl2JT9obss8NiPwectWa2dEmxlZIF34JoSqhH8fP45_bktlv_s0lLggpcdPzvyqkq-bWIq9vRcQO_v-i7pSEFpMC_jOz/s320/IMG_2587.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I have one of these currently in my outside area for use during 5 minutes down time. One child loves pushing it back and forth between an adult. It is a great multi sensory activity - proprioceptive, auditory, visual. So much fun. Hopefully it'll last me a little while. It has managed a week so far. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8YCNkv5jlO3Vz16n8_zH_UKbdRx0neV8PShMSGeRZuYbxjKptT6GGHM7_lHHBp6DjpxzHgEYalEA-QsJLyqKttvP0VUjtbhRCXftGQm9i0yQGMwqRNalASyigSOCJ3rsERcKSd5RR5Ez/s1600/IMG_2586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8YCNkv5jlO3Vz16n8_zH_UKbdRx0neV8PShMSGeRZuYbxjKptT6GGHM7_lHHBp6DjpxzHgEYalEA-QsJLyqKttvP0VUjtbhRCXftGQm9i0yQGMwqRNalASyigSOCJ3rsERcKSd5RR5Ez/s320/IMG_2586.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Extendable fishing nets! More hand eye coordination development opportunities. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TKu7uYlnNNsbqtMa42zPP3DQL13KDB57YTHu4_MD9sX0Jn-b8UbDKXH2Cw6wNEc5eymDFY0hzRc9KVpeO-4ZDbJ0Q64K1B9EoQGOnXlNaIywaQ39Q0n78owQGr01t-cYjh6-Tpzk6BN8/s1600/IMG_2584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TKu7uYlnNNsbqtMa42zPP3DQL13KDB57YTHu4_MD9sX0Jn-b8UbDKXH2Cw6wNEc5eymDFY0hzRc9KVpeO-4ZDbJ0Q64K1B9EoQGOnXlNaIywaQ39Q0n78owQGr01t-cYjh6-Tpzk6BN8/s320/IMG_2584.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Another addition to next terms sensology boxes - an auditory experience but also cause and effect. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Ao_w9sgFbeY15UnhilvFUrZoptUEFKByhHrLsI6KNdMacf_Lbnka0YSg5Xnsx4wYUaQerlDUv78dh-CmRYNdjgOi3JLNwxmZ1DHcWDHA559eDDsEHZU_oKZ9Kl-pbfnkohqOBCXt27dY/s1600/IMG_2585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Ao_w9sgFbeY15UnhilvFUrZoptUEFKByhHrLsI6KNdMacf_Lbnka0YSg5Xnsx4wYUaQerlDUv78dh-CmRYNdjgOi3JLNwxmZ1DHcWDHA559eDDsEHZU_oKZ9Kl-pbfnkohqOBCXt27dY/s320/IMG_2585.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Lovely mark making pattern wheel. It's really chunky too. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">After this blog has been posted, I will be uploading a competition to our Facebook page to be in with a chance to win a set of our Dispense the Sense PMLD activity cards. All you need to do is like our page, share our competition post and tag a friend who you think may be interested in our blog. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Good luck and have a great week. </span></div>
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<br />Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-66818723331577224632017-10-01T05:49:00.000-07:002017-10-01T15:18:54.065-07:00The power of social media <br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Well what a busy week. We apologise that our social media accounts have been quite quiet and we have been rather slow replying to people. Getting back to work has been a juggling act and unfortunately I was off work ill last week meaning this week has felt like the beginning of term all over again. It feels like I have run a marathon this week. Those of you that follow my personal twitter account will also know that I’m rehearsing for Annie in November so it’s been a bit chaotic. <br /><br />Anyway, today’s blog post will be about the value of social media. Many schools are wary of Facebook and other networking sites due to unprofessionalism, pupils or parents finding you and I can totally understand that. When we became teachers or chose to work in a school we agreed to adopt a level of professionalim when we signed up. However, there is a breadth of knowledge that is being shared across social media if you haven’t yet have a look. <br /><br />Firstly, there’s Facebook. Facebook is slightly quieter in the world of SEN which is surprising as it’s a lot less annoying than being restricted to 140 characters on twitter. If you look wide enough to find the groups and pages there are a few great ones. I have recently joined a few of the SEN groups primarily as a way of networking to promote the blog, however I have found that people are sharing some great resources and support. Recently, a teacher posted about a child with proprioceptive difficulties and she must have had over 20 responses, including one from me which I think is great. People across the web do not know your child or have any pre-conceived ideas or the one we sadly hear a lot – but we’ve already tried that – they purely look at the behaviours, trigger points and other useful information and give ideas based from their own experience which is great. Obviously no names both child or school are ever mentioned! Here are a few groups I really like. </span><br />
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<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/sharingteachers/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Early Years KS1 and SEN teachers - ideas, resources and displays</span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/300929950082444/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Special Needs and Sensory Play Ideas </span></a></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/13657123715/" target="_blank">Intensive Interaction Users</a> - really great as it's world wide</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/SNEUK/" target="_blank">Special Needs Equipment - Buy Sell Swap UK ONLY</a> - This is great as you can get some fab 2nd hand and sometimes new items. Check your schools policy about 2nd hand items and whether or not you can claim back the cost. We often spend a lot of our own money, like many other teachers. However, this year we are making an effort not to. Well that is until we run out of class budget which we likely will if we keep happening upon a Tiger!</span></li>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=223452871046280&ref=br_rs"></a>On Facebook there are many support groups for particular diagnoses, many for ASD but also Rett, Global Development Delay, Cerebral Palsy and many more. In one of our previous posts which was guest written by a parent of a child with Cockayne Syndrome, she spoke about the support she had received from a Facebook page and how valuable it had been to speak to other parents going through the same situation. You can find that blog post <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/10-top-tips-for-special-school-teachers.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br /><br />Here are a few of my favourite pages with great information and ideas posted regularly. </span><br />
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<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ParallelLondon1/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Parallel London</span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pmldsensoryteaching/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">PMLD Sensory teaching </span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/InclusionforALL/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">2010 Inclusion for ALL</span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/thespecialparentshandbook/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The SEND Parent's Handbook</span></a></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/notanursebut/about/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank">Notanurse_but</a> is a group set up to raise awareness of parents of critically ill children and those with complex needs. </span></li>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There are so many more. <br /><br />If you work in the world of SEN or have a child with additional needs, add <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009285343907" target="_blank">Joanna Grace</a> to Facebook or find her photo albums as they are filled with so many wonderful ideas and she has a wealth of knowledge. She often says she has many long train journeys and she enjoys filling the time by replying to people, she will always offer advice where she can or at least point you in the right direction with her many SEND contacts. <br /><br /><br />Right, in my opinion if you are a SEND parent or teacher twitter is the place to be. I have been on twitter for quite a while, embarrassingly since my teenage years when I fell into the trap as many do, of tweeting embarrassing things that no one would ever be interested in such as what I was having for tea! Thankfully, I have over 12k tweets now so I don’t think anyone would have the tolerance to scroll back that far, phew! Over the last few years twitter has seen an influx in users, especially tweeting about SEND which is great. I can put a post up asking for advice or commenting on something and I will always get a reply from someone which is lovely. Twitter can be very confusing as Hannah is the first to say, I am slowly getting her up to speed! A simple retweet (sharing in Facebook terms) can really help get the word out there and help you make links with others. The SEND twitter world is a really friendly place to be, I would say I have lots of virtual colleagues now who have widened my knowledge and my perspectives. <br /><br />On Twitter there are many chats at various times during the week. My favourites are <a href="https://twitter.com/PMLDchat" target="_blank">PMLD chat </a>which takes place on the first Monday of every month and <a href="https://twitter.com/SENexchange" target="_blank">SENexchange</a> who host chats every Wednesday evening. Each chat has a theme and puts up questions during the session. Anyone can reply with their thoughts, experiences, ideas etc using the hashtag. Many of the hosts then create a story thread displaying all of the tweets during the chat. I was fortunate enough to be asked to host one of the PMLD chats by Jo Grace back in March. My topic I think was supporting people with PMLD to engage in their community or something like that, it was quite a while ago now. It definitely tested how quickly I could tweet as so many people got involved which was lovely. However, we could always do with more people getting involved. It acts as great CPD as well as networking. There is always something to be learned from others and I really think twitter is the place for that! <br /><br />You just have to get used to commenting using only 140 characters! <br /><br />I recently saw a display board someone had made for their staff room which was a ‘who to follow’ board which I thought was amazing. I loved that a school had recognised how much there is to networking via twitter. I really hope if you are not on twitter you consider setting up an account. In your Bio put that you are a SEN/ PMLD teacher or a parent then you can easily be identified and people will include you in their discussions and follow you. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />Here is my list of who to follow ( I am sure I have missed many off but I will say it is your challenge to search for yourselves and find many more wonderful people) <br /><br />Now of course, the first step is you should be following us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSensoryDispensary/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and twitter!<br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/SensoryDispense" target="_blank">@sensorydispense </a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/LittleVoiceLucy" target="_blank">@littlevoicelucy</a> – me<br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/HannahMarieU" target="_blank">@HannahMarieU</a> – Hannah<br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/douggs64" target="_blank">@douggs64 </a>– Founder of Parallel<br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/TheLaceys17" target="_blank">@TheLaceys17</a> – PMLD department at castlewood school<br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/Point5PMLD" target="_blank">@Point5PMLD</a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/SensorySp" target="_blank">@SensorySP</a> – Sensory Spectacle<br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/PatelVijita" target="_blank">@PatelVijita </a>– Principle of Swiss Cottage <br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/CP_Consortium" target="_blank">@CP_Consortium</a> – Chancing Places, if you can get involved with campaigning, please do!<br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/SENexchange" target="_blank">@SENexchange</a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/caroljallen" target="_blank">@caroljallen</a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/Keithpark1Park" target="_blank">@Keithpark1park</a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/lesstaves" target="_blank">@lesstaves</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/PMLDchat" target="_blank">@PMLDchat</a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/HirstwoodT" target="_blank">@HirstwoodT</a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/PMLDlink" target="_blank">@PMLDlink</a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/SoundTracks16" target="_blank">@SoundTracks16</a><br /><br />· <a href="https://twitter.com/jo3grace" target="_blank">@jo3grace</a><br /><br /><br />That’s just a very short list of who to follow first, from there you will be able to find many more!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If you have set up a twitter account as a result of this post, please let us know and we will definitely give you a follow and welcome you to the twittersphere! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I would also like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has shared our blog across social media. We are really grateful for everyone's support and lovely words of encouragement, it means a lot to us. It also shows you the power of social media! </span></div>
Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-77366880904773676602017-09-27T15:45:00.001-07:002017-09-27T15:45:45.367-07:00When My Classroom Became a Spa...<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For the past two weeks my classroom transformed from a salon to a spa! We
have had a very relaxed time exploring and discovering in our Spa themed topic
sessions.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Resourcing this
session</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">These sessions need not break the
bank! You can resource your spa on a shoestring budget with a little help. Try
emailing your local high street shops in advance to ask if they have any
samples or products they would be able to donate. Places like Lush and The Body
Shop have always been very generous with this and have offered old stock and
samples. My class really enjoyed using the various lotions and potions.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Note</span></u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">: Always ensure that you check the ingredients for
any potential allergens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcV_-WfhGmfj2NaghebIc5MYGwjwxehgceujBIgiHf3qpN4aYIEn-rcquBNbTFjDjEc8LZUE8vDUJB3jR0x6rxkjj5JNBWT8co221hZn8wrHLQmJObaqkuN8LG052HabwimyhFTpDTsIc/s1600/spa+resources.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcV_-WfhGmfj2NaghebIc5MYGwjwxehgceujBIgiHf3qpN4aYIEn-rcquBNbTFjDjEc8LZUE8vDUJB3jR0x6rxkjj5JNBWT8co221hZn8wrHLQmJObaqkuN8LG052HabwimyhFTpDTsIc/s320/spa+resources.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Observation records</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As with all sessions, it is important
to always be focusing on <i>why</i> we are doing them. Be observant
for indications of awareness of the experiences, engagement and reactions such
as stilling, vocalising and facial expressions; don’t forget to include any
negative reactions in your notes too! I always have my observation record sheet
printed on the reverse of my session plans so it is easy to see the context of
what was being observed when I look back at them. I also include a column
titled <i>‘Next actions-what will I do next time and why?’</i> It is
important to reflect on each session in order to make the next one meaningful.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The environment</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">To create an immersive environment I
turned off the main lights in the room and used a ripple light on the slow,
blue setting (you can buy these relatively cheaply from Amazon.co.uk). We also
played relaxing music in the background- just search <i>‘relaxing spa
music’</i> on YouTube to find suitable music. An incense stick was also
burning for part of the session (consider any medical needs in your own class
as to whether this is suitable to use in your environment).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The spa</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Foot spas</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I have yet to have a pupil in my
class that doesn’t enjoy using the foot spa. We have three different foot spas
in my class (kindly donated over time). Each of the foot spas have different
settings e.g. hot or cold, bubbles, vibration strength, jet stream … plenty of
variations to explore preferences! Try repeating the same one or two settings
over a few sessions and look out for consistent reactions and change the
settings accordingly.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Exfoliating scrubs</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We used exfoliating scrubs for feet
and hands. The grainy texture is unusual and provided stronger responses from
some children. For some it was a definite ‘<i>no’, </i>while for others it
was clearly an invigorating experience.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Massage</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We used different scented
moisturisers as part of our hand and feet massages. If you do Sensology
sessions or similar, it’s a great opportunity to use the preferences your
pupils have developed towards particularly scents. You can buy cheaply large
pots of plain aqueous cream and travel/make up bottles from places such as
Poundland. Add preferred scents to the moisturiser, mix it in and store it in a
labelled travel bottle for ease of use.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Consider whether you have pupils who
have difficulty with proprioceptive processing in deciding pressure i.e. gentle
or firm. Also consider where on the body (always follow the safe follow the
Safe Touch guidelines which you can find here at </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://www.choicesupport.org.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">www.choicesupport.org.uk</span></a></span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">). I have a little girl in my class who will always
take my hand and push it towards her feet to ask for a foot massage.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Face masks</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We went on a shopping trip with the
children to choose the facemasks. There were various textures, scents and types
such as peel off, thermal, cooling, tingling etc. to choose from.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Don’t forget that the facial area can
feel more intimate and some children may be particularly averse to having their
face touched. You can always apply the masks to a different, preferred area of
the body. There were a few children who really did not like the face masks.
However, others were quite relaxed having the mask applied and left on before
removing it with dampened warm cotton pads.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">You can also try making your very own
simple (and edible) face masks. Try using yogurt or oatmeal as the base and add
preferred ingredients in such as fruits or honey. Why not go on a sensory
shopping trip to the supermarket to decide which ingredients your pupils would
like to add. You may have pupils who would enjoy the pouring, mashing and
mixing process to create their mask too.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For the next two weeks we are
exploring <i>‘Doctors’ </i>through a doctor themed TacPac which we
have already made available on TES. You can find it <u><a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/doctor-tacpac-now-with-music-11712014" target="_blank">here</a></u>.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-29588866632084192662017-09-20T14:55:00.000-07:002017-09-20T14:55:39.241-07:00When My Classroom Became a Salon...<div class="Publishwithline" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">This term we have been exploring the topic of
our community. Both mine and Lucy's class each week (or 2 weeks for some) explore a different place-
the doctors, dentist, hairdressers, opticians and spa. For the first week of
term we explored the hairdressers. For each topic we have planned a carousel of
activities for the children. The children have had great fun exploring and
discovering in these sessions. </span></div>
<div class="Publishwithline" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Publishwithline" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">What
are the learning opportunities in these sessions?</span></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">There are so many opportunities on offer during
these sessions. Whilst they are great fun and the sessions should be enjoyable,
it is important to remember <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i> we
are doing the activities. These activities allow opportunities:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
show an awareness of sensory stimuli/experiences<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
develop a sense of anticipation<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
provide opportunity to communicate preferences<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">There are many other opportunities on offer and
each of my pupils have their own personal targets which may be covered within
the session. For more able pupils, these may include self-help and independence
skills such as learning to assist in washing and drying their own hair. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="Publishwithline" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Beginning the session</u></b></span></div>
<div class="Publishwithline" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">I begin all of my sessions with a song as a cue that we are about to start something. It’s a really simple song-</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"> ‘It’s time for learning here we go (clap hands),<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"> It’s time for learning here we go (clap hands),<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">It’s time for learning,<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">It’s time for learning,<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">It’s time for learning here we go!’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">(To the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">The
hairdressers<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">Washing
hair<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">For some pupils we were able to recline their wheelchairs
and remove the headrest (one person supported the child’s head while another
did the washing) and for others we used a waterproof bean bag with their head
resting over the end. We had a washing bowl of water in a tuff spot tray under
the wheelchair and gently poured the warm water over their hair. For some of
the children neither of these approaches were suitable so we used a water spray
bottle instead. We cued the children with ‘ready, steady...go’ to help develop
a sense of anticipation for the water being poured. There were mixed initial
reactions, some children stilled whereas others immediately giggled. Many more
children enjoyed having the shampoo massaged into their hair and there were one
or two who gave a helping hand rubbing it in. Over the course of the week it
was great to see that many of the children were showing anticipation of the
activities, giggling and vocalising happily as we said ‘ready, steady…go!’ Upon
having his chair reclined, one child began squealing excitedly, and then used
the word ‘go’ to indicate when he was ready for the water to be poured<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">Drying
hair<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">We both towel dried and used a hairdryer to dry
the hair, taking into account preferences observed and developed over the week.
Due to the loud sound made by the hair dryer, some of our children found this
to be an overwhelming experience. It is important to recognise there is as much
value in a child’s negative reaction to an experience as there is for a
positive one. I always remind my support staff of this when they are writing up
any observations, not to omit any negative reactions; these reactions communicate
preference. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would also, where
appropriate, not be averse to try repeating an activity that a pupil may have
indicated a dislike towards previously. As with all of us, the things we like may
change over time. Most young children may not like flavours such as olives, dark
chocolate or coffee but as adults we may delight in such things. Repeat
experiences to see if their responses are consistent, in enjoyment or dislike,
and whether there has been any change over time. During this week, I had one
child who startled and stilled at the sound of the hairdryer on the first occasion.
She loves windy weather, so I was fairly sure that it was the sound that she
was unsure of. I used the dryer on the lowest speed and on the cool setting, warning
her before I turned it on and initially blowing it on her hand before her hair.
I did this in short bursts, turning it off, giving a verbal cue, blowing on her
hand, blowing on her head for about 5-10 seconds before turning it off, pausing
and repeating the process. By the end of the week there were little smiles
during this activity where there had previously been a startle. Experiences
like this are particularly meaningful as they are relevant to day to day life
and can make a small but meaningful difference. In the future, with this
experience continued at home, it may be that this child will tolerate her hair
being blown dry at home or during a visit to the salon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">Dying
hair (or spaghetti hair!) & using hair accessories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">We used some UV hair gels and hair chalks in a
tuff spot tray which has UV LED lights taped around the inside. I put cooked
spaghetti inside the tray and squirted blobs of the dye into it. As the
children handled the spaghetti they could quickly see the effects of their actions
as it began to glow luminous yellow, pink and green. For my more able pupils I
also had some ‘squeeze’ scissors (used with close supervision) to cut the
spaghetti hair. It may be a nice idea to hang the spaghetti through the holes
in a basket (plastic toy one would do) or drape over an A-frame to practice
cutting. This is a great opportunity to work on those fine motor skills. Some
children enjoyed having their own hair styled using the gels and we had some
interesting reactions as they looked in the mirror- particularly when we held
the lights up behind them and their hair appeared to glow! I do have one pupil
who particularly dislikes getting messy; activities like finger painting would
normally be a no go. However, with the UV light she was happy to get her hands
in and spread the UV hair gel, showing interest in the marks she has made as
the colours immediately stood out and fluoresced. Some pupils also enjoyed
decorating the hair of the supporting adults choosing their preferred colours
of dye and adding in their choice of hair accessories including fibre optic
hair clips. We had some fantastic, weird and wonderful styles over the week!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Finishing the session</u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">As with the start of the session, I always cue the end of my sessions with a song. This song is sung to the tune of 'Mary had a Little Lamb'.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><i>It is time to finish now,</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Finish now,</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Finish now,</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><i>It is time to finish now,</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Put everything away.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">We also celebrate any achievements during the session by choosing something each child has done particularly well or enjoyed during the session and sing it to the tune of 'here we go round the Mulberry bush' e.g. <i>NAME did good ACTION today, good ACTION today, good ACTION today etc. </i>I must confess that I pinched this fab idea from Amy Perkins' class at the amazing Chailey Heritage School which myself and Lucy were thoroughly 'wowed' at when we visited last year. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><w:sdt contentlocked="t" id="89512093" sdtgroup="t"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr><w:sdt docpart="EAAC528EB0CB4ACCB5F4B9A4AF004B47" id="89512082" showingplchdr="t" storeitemid="X_044260EF-7681-4A9E-98F4-155E4FFF8062" text="t" title="Post Title" xpath="/ns0:BlogPostInfo/ns0:PostTitle"></w:sdt></span>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Last week and this week we have been feeling
very relaxed as we explored our topic of the Spa- we’ve been using face masks,
foot spas and enjoying hand and foot massages! We hope to have a professional
beauty therapist visit our classroom too. Blog post to follow shortly!</span></span></div>
Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-51064635514657399102017-09-17T09:01:00.001-07:002017-09-17T09:15:34.341-07:00Our review of the Rochford Review and the Government's response <div>
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All opinions shared in this blog are our own personal views and do not reflect the views of our school. <br /><br /><u>What is the Rochford Review?</u><br /><br />In 2015 a report was commissioned, chaired by Diane Rochford to review the statutory assessment frameworks for pupils working below the national curriculum standards. <br /><br /><br />The review was released in October 2016 with the following key recommendations:</span><br />
<ul><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">The removal of p-scales </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Interim pre-key stage standards to be used to assess pupils working below the National Curriculum standards but whom are engaged in subject specific learning </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Schools should assess pupils in 4 areas of need as outlined by EHCPs </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Schools should have a statutory duty to assess pupils not engaged in subject specific learning in the area of cognition and learning using the 7 aspects of the engagement scale. However there should be no requirement to submit data </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Schools should be free to decide their own approach to assessment in line with their chosen curriculum </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">The changes in assessment for pupils with SEND should be included in initial teacher training </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Schools should work to share their good practice and seek support from one another </span></li>
</span></ul>
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
Earlier this year there was a consultation period which received 594 responses. The Government analysed the initial report and the responses received and have this week published their response: Primary school pupil assessment: Rochford Review recommendations Equalities impact assessment<br /><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3QoFXfi7H4S7Xn7xMaKeLkS5TqG3RQfybeXY8pHFQb9gyJZVGo4ZVyrEmN7YINa00NGmnVT5E6k67U8XLqaa10mXbSGqy9-jbdzBFmr46xY2OYHbjIj3_aQSzQ57RLrZHQ36O-R2GujZ/s1600/images.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3QoFXfi7H4S7Xn7xMaKeLkS5TqG3RQfybeXY8pHFQb9gyJZVGo4ZVyrEmN7YINa00NGmnVT5E6k67U8XLqaa10mXbSGqy9-jbdzBFmr46xY2OYHbjIj3_aQSzQ57RLrZHQ36O-R2GujZ/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<br /><br /><u>What are the main points that have been outlined?</u><br /><br />Pupils who are engaged in subject specific learning but are working below national curriculum standards will be assessed using the interim pre-key stage standards as of the year 2018/19. <br /><br />Pupils not engaged in subject specific learning and working below the level of the interim pre-key stage standards will be assessed in the area of cognition and learning using the 7 areas of the engagement scale: In recognising the complexity of need of these pupils and the inadequacy of a linear assessment framework, the government expects pupils to be assessed tailored to their personal needs and unique profile using the 7 areas of engagement however the school feel best fits their curriculum model. <br /><br />The Rochford Review recommended that schools will not submit the data they collect for pupils not engaged in subject-specific learning when assessing them against the 7 areas of engagement. This is because the Rochford review placed a high value on schools having the freedom to assess pupils in a way that meets the needs of their pupils and in line with their curriculum model. Standardising an assessment model to submit results would not achieve this. <br /><br />‘One of the Rochford Review’s guiding principles was that equality is not always about inclusion. Sometimes equality is about altering the approach according to the needs of the pupils. While an inclusive approach to assessment is desirable where it is both feasible and valuable, it is equally true that the fairest and most positive way to provide for some children is to use a different approach.’ I believe this statement reflects what professionals working in the SEND sector have been waiting a long time to read. <br /><br /><br /><u>What is wrong with the p-scales?</u><br />Having used PIVATS to assess pupils with SLD and PMLD I have found limitations. Firstly, p-scales are a linear progression framework which outline what the children should be demonstrating and the next steps. A barrier of PIVATS is that the individual lozenges (targets or achievements) should be attained across one level before progressing to the next and at many levels there are lots of lozenges to achieve. I recognise that PIVATS has helped many teachers break down the often perceived as ambiguous statement jumps of the p-scales, however aren’t we just fitting our children into linear stacked boxes? Some children may also reach a peak with such an assessment system, they may be making progress in other areas however they don’t fit in any more of the boxes, or even worse teachers are seeking to find a very tenuous link to prove progress. Much research has been carried out that demonstrates that pupils with a range of severe, complex and profound needs have spiky profiles of attainment which doesn’t reflect accurately using a linear assessment framework. <br /><br />Another problem I found with PIVATS was the need to show progress on a tracker. My pupils often made progress in areas related to their social, physical, sensory processing or independence skills as these were important areas of development personalised to the pupil, however they are not reflected on a tracker. With the pressure to make progress teachers often find themselves teaching to PIVATS targets. By doing this we are not teaching in a creative or innovative way and teaching around the needs of the child. <br /><br />In an article written by TES they quoted Diane Rochford’s concerns that the p-scales are often used incorrectly to shape a curriculum which restricts schools in delivering a creative and innovative and pupil centred approach. <br /><br />It is important to recognise the changing face of SEND. Our profile of children is becoming more and more complex with the advances in the medical profession in relation to premature birth, an increase in drug and alcohol use throughout pregnancy and the increase in undiagnosed neurological disorders. In our setting the lower end of the school has an increasing ratio of pupils with PMLD and complex medical needs. To meet their needs we should be aiming towards a personalised curriculum approach that meets the needs of these pupils. Following a lot of personal research, school visits and trailing in practice we feel an informal/ semi-formal approach is successful. However after p4 the p-scales are divided by subject based learning. This can often present schools with a dilemma and the questions, what curriculum are we expected to follow? Do you pupils have an entitlement to the national curriculum? What will Ofsted expect to see? <br /><br />The fountain dale school highlights that pupils working at p5 are typically working at age 24 months, would you expect a 24 month old to be learning subjects. It’s even worse for KS2 and 3 pupils who are at this developmental level but expected to be learning complex subject topic. And this is not even the place for the argument ‘but you can make that topic sensory’ because I would have too much to say! <br /><br />The p-scales were also designed as a pre-national curriculum assessment tool and were not updated when the new national curriculum was put in place in 2014. The p-scales do not follow on to the National Curriculum leaving a big jump between p8 and NC levels. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><u><br />Alternative assessment approaches</u><br /><br />There are a range of other assessment frameworks used to assess the progress of pupils with PMLD/ CLDD/ SLD. Our survey results highlighted this in our previous blog post. <br /><br />An assessment system we have found to be successful is MAPP. MAPP is a system that allows you to input personal targets and look beyond subject areas. Targets can be mapped around any development area that would positively impact on the child. MAPP recognised that is it not accurate to simply tick a target as achieved or met, as is the case with many assessment tools based on p-scales. They break down the acquisition of a target into four stages of which each stage has a progression. The stages are prompting, fluency, maintenance and generalisation. It is recognised that maintaining a skill and generalising it is just as important to record as them demonstrating it. It is a system that slows the pace of learning down to meet the child, not expecting them to continuously move forward in their development path to meet their expected outcomes. <br /><br />Earlier in the year, we visited Chailey Heritage School. Simon Yates, the head teacher, accompanied by two members of his staff presented on their curriculum and assessment model at the Best of British Special Education Forum earlier this year. They left listeners with jaws on the floor at the concept of getting rid of data. Chailey strongly believe in their pupil case study assessment system. Their target setting, my next steps are designed around the needs of the children, similar to MAPP. They evidence progress using observation notes in a very thorough and effective system. There is no data to track, no pupils are compared but the journey of learning is still clear to see. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br /><u style="color: #674ea7;">What are the engagement scales?</u><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">The engagement profile and scale was devised by professor Barry Carpenter as part of his work on the Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities Project. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">The project outlined the importance of engagement. They explain that engagement is not just being on task but being immersed in the learning activity in relation to the activity itself, their learning environment and those around them. Many children with PMLD/ CLDD/ SLD have difficulties engaging in their learning due to a range of barriers. The project outlined that a child must be engaged before any learning can take place. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">The project highlights the 7 stages of engagement: awareness, curiosity, investigation, discovery, anticipation, persistence and initiation. The engagement scale is a tool to measure the progress towards engagement. It is a score based system that marks each area out of 4 and can measure progress over time. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">Engagement is clear to observe and assess when working wit pupils with PMLD however, I have previously questioned the impact of measuring engagement with some of our SLD. I have looked through the PowerPoint below and found useful examples to aid my understanding of its application to pupils with SLD. However, I have worked with a number of pupils with SLD who are well engaged with activities, eager to learn and fully immersed in an activity. We may not be able to track much progress with these pupils. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7V8acA8gxE_T7aRdEdE1sR5T7-HNP2GLsyS4QneWgNGLld3v3dWnbLg3kjVXCAsohSZU98LR3DYLwjs0Tao7rJ-hnhXYQzIM_J9Yp67ftS8l2ok8ayVBKur5sT1gXSroowHWAQ7Qa5z8/s1600/engagement+profile.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7V8acA8gxE_T7aRdEdE1sR5T7-HNP2GLsyS4QneWgNGLld3v3dWnbLg3kjVXCAsohSZU98LR3DYLwjs0Tao7rJ-hnhXYQzIM_J9Yp67ftS8l2ok8ayVBKur5sT1gXSroowHWAQ7Qa5z8/s640/engagement+profile.png" /></a></span></div>
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Powerpoint found on Barry Carpenters website: <a href="https://barrycarpentereducation.com/tag/engagement/">https://barrycarpentereducation.com/tag/engagement/</a></div>
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Click on the link in the post: <a href="https://barrycarpentereducation.com/2014/08/15/interpreting-engagement-pathways-for-children-with-complex-needs/">Interpreting Engagement ; pathways for children with Complex Needs</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwF_1RlMcPP8GXmksxTG6YU5rf0xcfTNWacP3hbT1C4aNzXf0tc1HHxqNjvSuTEN_hUdBuY-zowECFCAsVZB45fw-ia6t46aJTWAm_TpFDTknpfShTfYx8T6oUV2qnvDwaSzYk4VbK1rE/s1600/download+%25288%2529.jpg" style="color: #674ea7;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwF_1RlMcPP8GXmksxTG6YU5rf0xcfTNWacP3hbT1C4aNzXf0tc1HHxqNjvSuTEN_hUdBuY-zowECFCAsVZB45fw-ia6t46aJTWAm_TpFDTknpfShTfYx8T6oUV2qnvDwaSzYk4VbK1rE/s400/download+%25288%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Engaging-Learners-Learning-Difficulties-Disabilities/dp/0415812747/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505663272&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=barry+cerpenter">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Engaging-Learners-Learning-Difficulties-Disabilities/dp/0415812747/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505663272&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=barry+cerpenter</a></div>
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<br /><span style="color: #674ea7;"><u>How we have implemented them at school?</u></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">Hannah implemented the engagement scales last year with her PMLD class and used them alongside PIVATS and MAPP. Hannah found them effective to use to measure engagement within a session. Hannah’s class uses a lot of repetition to support the needs of her pupils, therefore the engagement scales provided a tool to assess the progress of the pupils engagement with an activity over time. This may prove more difficult for pupils with SLD who have a more diverse timetable. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">I have recently introduced them with my CLDD class. My team have been enthusiastic and committed to learning more about the engagement scales and are enjoying being able to observe the progress a child is making. By encouraging the whole team to use them, the team enjoy the responsibility and being included and can recognise the impact of the session and the support they are providing. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">I would not like to use the engagement scales as a stand-alone form of assessment. I recognise the value in assessing the development in engagement, however they do not record the specific achievements of the child. In practice, I think using MAPP and the engagement scales complement each other.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">We will attach two examples of the engagement scale progress sheets we have devised and have been using to our TES page: </span><a href="https://www.tes.com/resources/search/?&q=sensory_dispensary" style="color: #674ea7;">Sensory_dispensary</a><span style="color: #674ea7;"> or click </span><a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/engagement-scales-record-sheet-examples-11725106" style="color: #674ea7;">here</a><span style="color: #674ea7;">.</span><br /><br /><u><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">Things we like about the Government response to Rochford review:</span></u><br /><ul>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Supports that for pupils working below the interim pre-key stage standards a non-subject specific curriculum is supported </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Recognises the limitations of the p-scales </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">Is not expecting engagement scale data to be submitted </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">There is still a freedom for schools to adopt an assessment framework that works for their children and their curriculum </span></li>
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<br /><u><span style="color: #674ea7;">Things we are concerned about:</span></u><span style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span><ul>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">The use of the engagement scales were never designed to be a primary assessment tool. They do not measure overall progress, only progress in engagement </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">We feel the SLD pupils have not been recognised; engagement scales work well for PMLD pupils. The interim pre-key stage standards are still recognised as above p8 but below NC which leaves out pupils working between p4 and p8. We need to be able to measure progress not just engagement. We recognise engagement is the pre-factor to learning however once a child is engaged how do we measure the progress then? Are we lowering aspirations by only measuring against engagement? Should the engagement scales be an option instead of statutory? </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">It is a very long process. Pupils working below interim pre-key stage standards will continue to be using the p-scales for another two years. There is confusion around this as some schools such as Chailey Heritage have already moved away from the p-scales. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">The initial report highlighted the importance of assessing pupils with SEND in all 4 areas of need as outlined by the EHCP. The government report only touches on cognition as an area for assessment by use of the engagement scales but does not directly promote assessment in the 4 areas. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7;">This only outlines primary assessment, can we assume it reflects secondary pupils too as many special schools are 2-19. </span></li>
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Egerton, J., Cockbill, B., Bloom, T., Fotheringham, J., Rawson, H., et al.
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expectations, warns charity</i>. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from TES:
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-36460027150702091732017-09-13T06:20:00.001-07:002017-09-13T07:35:21.505-07:00Parallel London <br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">On Sunday 3rd September, Hannah and I were lucky enough to be invited to </span></span><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.parallellondon.com/" target="_blank">Parallel London</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> to be a part of Jo Grace's sensory tent. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> Parallel London is an inclusive sporting event held at the Olympic park. The aim of the event is to provide an opportunity for disabled people to participate alongside able bodied people in a fully inclusive, positive and inspiring environment. Their slogan is everybody running #sidebyside. Everyone starts together but finishes whenever. There was no pressure or competitiveness other than the enormous amount of self determination that was felt across the whole park and support sent from the crowd. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> There were runs of different distances as well as the sensory 1K devised by Jo Grace. The sensory 1k is a fun run. The participants make their way through many different sensory zones at their own pace. We intended on joining them in this race, however I was forgot to register until after it closed the day before the event. (We did find out you could register on the day but we were busy in the tent by that point). </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> When it was time for the race to begin we made our way to the start line. It was truly heart warming to see the diversity of the people ready to begin. People with profound and multiple learning difficulties, physical disabilities, autism, sensory impairment and so many more alongside able bodied people. All #sidebyside and included TOGETHER. The compare was highlighting some of the participants, why they were doing it and their personal goals and also helping the participants to get warmed up. </span></span><br />
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<br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Once the race was underway, Hannah and I rushed around the outside of the course to find as many sensory stations as we could from the sidelines. The first station we saw was the parachute area. The fabulous participants journeyed through a visual and proprioceptive experience as they watched the colourful parachutes float up and down sending gusts of wind around their bodies. We then got to the smell tunnel decorated with plants. We could not tell what the smell was from the outside, but there were lots of happy faces venturing through. Jo added a vestibular section this year, creatively using the markings on the ground to encourage people to weave and spin around. We also saw bubbles floating through the sky from the other side of the event. Other stations we could not get to included wind chimes, a light tunnel, and a ribbon canopy. </span></span><br />
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<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">The biggest highlight of the day for us was standing at the finishing line. We were so touched to see the proud faces passing over the finishing line and the amount of empty wheelchairs as lots of determined people battled against their barriers to step over the finishing line. We were quite emotional watching these special people with their families and friends achieving something so great and amongst one of the most supportive crowds we have ever been a part of. </span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3;">After the race, we had half an hour to wander around the free festival. The festival featured many information tents about clubs, equipment, holidays, inclusive events, charities and much more. There were also many workshop and activity stands including inclusive technology, sensory spectacle, yoga, music, story telling, burlexercise, sport, bikes and Jo's </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Sensory Project</a></span><span id="goog_1988381114"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1988381115"></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> tent. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4TZ7o6PC9teRRI5Yn5G83nhv2XU0kGb5Hokit75Xe8dMekIh-8boinn6O5LmyBnDbkytd9AM8GF7NfU5eqnEOcztvmUevM2ZtzekGxCV8gOA_b2aZqaMExhvbLLa4FMv2TL3iaFntstJE/s1600/21744302_10155553678908828_372204301_n.jpg" style="color: #8e7cc3;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4TZ7o6PC9teRRI5Yn5G83nhv2XU0kGb5Hokit75Xe8dMekIh-8boinn6O5LmyBnDbkytd9AM8GF7NfU5eqnEOcztvmUevM2ZtzekGxCV8gOA_b2aZqaMExhvbLLa4FMv2TL3iaFntstJE/s320/21744302_10155553678908828_372204301_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">The main stage was busy throughout the day offering entertainment and celebrating the talents of many people with disabilities. There were many highlights including </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://www.wildcatstheatreschool.co.uk/" target="_blank">Wildcats theatre school</a></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> from Stamford, Lincolnshire who are actually quite local to us, which is lovely. DM collaborate, a group of professional classically trained musicians. </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/IncludeChoir/" target="_blank">Include choir</a></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">, whose performance of let's go fly a kite really touched us and </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://electricumbrella.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">electric umbrella</a></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">. </span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">Sadly, after Parallel, electric umbrella, a fantastic inclusive theatre company had a road accident. They have set up a </span><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/electric-umbrella/littleyellowtheatre" target="_blank">Just Giving</a></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"> page to help them re-build their little yellow theatre and get their show back on the road. If you can help them, please do.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">We were trilled to be part of </span><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Sensory Project</a></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">'s tent with so many other wonderful people. Jo had planned for visitors to experience seven different sensory experiences with an additional challenge. Hannah and I rocked up with our brand new business cards, t-shirts and bunting, we have now decided we also need a pull up banner stand thing too! Our experience involved a piece of stretchy lyrca. Visitors stretched against or through the material, or even felt the wind as we waved it over them. We were overwhelmed when we were visited by a visually impaired gentleman and his carer. He got so much from the proprioceptive experience, he laughed at the feeling against his hands. His carer was patient and an incredible communicator signing on the gentleman's hand. They had the most incredible relationship to witness, full of trust, respect and laughter. It was definitely a highlight of our day. We met lots of other wonderful sensory beings too! </span></span><br />
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<br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">The inspirational gentleman with a visual impairment enjoying sound experiences with the Sound Tracks ladies. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">The other activities in the tent included lots of great sensory items from nature brought to the tent by Dr Nina Ockendon-Powell. Nina runs a blog, </span><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><a href="http://wildhappywell.com/" target="_blank">Wild Happy Well</a></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"> about the science behind why nature is good for us and how we can all benefit from nature. </span><br /><br /><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKlNHtHgkiH4GGQOaCj-2T4KHHHXB16e4_RjO7uJW0_JyB87u5GnK3mzBwNRs9eiKYyoqdvHrMD8GwLH4WiJUH4rAZUodOvuYpnOGMCR1bt9rycWaWNebDVxUYIrV9x2nu7WPJX800O2U/s1600/DIzfKjaXoAIvUNu.jpg" style="color: #8e7cc3;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKlNHtHgkiH4GGQOaCj-2T4KHHHXB16e4_RjO7uJW0_JyB87u5GnK3mzBwNRs9eiKYyoqdvHrMD8GwLH4WiJUH4rAZUodOvuYpnOGMCR1bt9rycWaWNebDVxUYIrV9x2nu7WPJX800O2U/s320/DIzfKjaXoAIvUNu.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /><a href="https://soundtracks2016.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Sound Tracks</span></a><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"> filled the tent with sound from their array of instruments and other inclusive sound making devices and their fabulous sensory song!</span><br /><br /><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUP739Byazk7_gVepz9E3xzLyLI7fq-IMRA_xAPtssnYliFxKUyl3W50LJhg8eC6BZ54n7tplpePkMNG71YpzHf-e2khXkxn7PHYl2zaao5n7SZak1k1Ko2I9MYhEHhLMCiOqc231vZvpB/s1600/21317496_1884790185173808_1434053193855452282_n.jpg" style="color: #8e7cc3;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUP739Byazk7_gVepz9E3xzLyLI7fq-IMRA_xAPtssnYliFxKUyl3W50LJhg8eC6BZ54n7tplpePkMNG71YpzHf-e2khXkxn7PHYl2zaao5n7SZak1k1Ko2I9MYhEHhLMCiOqc231vZvpB/s320/21317496_1884790185173808_1434053193855452282_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">Katie from </span><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thebestmedicine.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Best Medicine</a></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"> was also there letting everyone know about the benefits of laughter therapy. </span><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXflH73E0XlcT-guG6m7hyKE3QAaOMNTByGt19L6r77u8VEVTkftmIfQXoyqlTaXWPmNWUZJCOuU2A1OMXTcmNWxxpaVMbIUhcAIV6tVJFtcPIt5lCPjxKxpxVUfS0R4KpwxOOreyYaEu6/s1600/21231876_1884787318507428_4260471995500245251_n.jpg" style="color: #8e7cc3;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXflH73E0XlcT-guG6m7hyKE3QAaOMNTByGt19L6r77u8VEVTkftmIfQXoyqlTaXWPmNWUZJCOuU2A1OMXTcmNWxxpaVMbIUhcAIV6tVJFtcPIt5lCPjxKxpxVUfS0R4KpwxOOreyYaEu6/s320/21231876_1884787318507428_4260471995500245251_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">Holly Easton was also in the tent with 3 different playdoughs for us all to explore. Hannah and I of course couldn't resist. Holly has written a book with Becky Lyddon from </span><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><a href="http://sensoryspectacle.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sensory Spectacle</a></span><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"> full of sensory play ideas you can fine it </span><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.sensoryspectacle.co.uk/_p/prd12/4620075961/product/new-guide!-spectacular-play-ideas---children" target="_blank">here.</a> </span><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">In the tent, there was also a great dark den featuring many visual experiences which was brought along by a sensory designer from Falmouth University. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Hannah and I have made activity cards designed for people with profound and multiple learning difficulties. They could also be used with people with ASD, dementia, sensory processing disorder, toddlers. We have 2 packs filled with simple ideas to develop sensory awareness and communication. The packs come with an accompanying booklet to explain how the cards can be used to support development in a number of ways. They are available to order by messaging us on </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSensoryDispensary/" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">. £5 for 1 pack, £9 for 2 packs and £1 for postage. We were thrilled they were so popular at Parallel. There is limited availability as all packs are hand made when we get a chance between teaching and blogging! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif91k2aYv9AaD9bw4caWz4owHzvg28J7SxzIX8m7UnLzw3pg5a5L0XIV6vmX5Ci6aqoJLfpFNETMyRntzFYQUEx1inVVTThOMu-Wi0Wj8-QWJF9nqMcl_2p1ky9fGiDALKb1bI9S2kc3xH/s1600/21143521_1335225893269602_3150280394750820352_n.jpg" style="color: #8e7cc3;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif91k2aYv9AaD9bw4caWz4owHzvg28J7SxzIX8m7UnLzw3pg5a5L0XIV6vmX5Ci6aqoJLfpFNETMyRntzFYQUEx1inVVTThOMu-Wi0Wj8-QWJF9nqMcl_2p1ky9fGiDALKb1bI9S2kc3xH/s320/21143521_1335225893269602_3150280394750820352_n.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<br /><br /><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">We had the most amazing day and met some truly wonderful people and was topped off by finding ourselves at the Krisy Kreme stand in Westfields! We hope to be there again next year! </span><br /><br /><br /><br />Some of the photos featured in this blog post were taken by Jo Grace. You can view her full album and many others on her Facebook page <span style="color: cyan;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009285343907">https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009285343907</a> </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://www.parallellondon.com/">http://www.parallellondon.com/</a></span></span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-76436638919452530792017-09-10T10:14:00.000-07:002017-09-10T11:17:41.155-07:00Story Massage<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What is Story Massage?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Last year we tried a new session with the children- story massage. We
began by using the book <i>‘Massage Stories
Exploring Communication Through Touch</i>’ by Andrew Muir with Flo Longhorn. I
used the ‘pop massage’ story from this book initially as we explored our topic
of hobbies. There were some lovely reactions from the children. One little boy
who would always be asleep during this time would, without fail, wake up for a
particular part of this massage. We tried playing the song outside of the
massage sequence to see whether it was merely the song, but curiously he
remained asleep. Encouraged by the success of my first use of story massage, I
then borrowed Lucy’s book ‘<i>Once upon a
touch… story massage for children</i>’ by Mary Atkinson and Sandra Hooper and
was interested in the different approaches between the two books. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In essence, story massage pairs together a simplified story or rhyme with
massage movements on the body. Each massage movement represents a corresponding
sentence. For example, ‘pattering’ your fingers across a child’s back may
represent Cinderella running from the ball or moving both hands together in an
upwards motion may represent a beanstalk growing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Andrew Muir with Flo Longhorn’s book suggests certain resources to use
alongside the massage such as cream/oil and sometimes music etc. If you do decide
to use direct on body touch in your setting be sure to follow the Safe Touch
guidelines which you can find <a href="https://www.choicesupport.org.uk/library/publications-by-choice-support/safe-touch/library/publications-by-choice-support/safe-touch" style="text-decoration-line: underline;" target="_blank">here</a> from <a href="http://www.choicesupport.org.uk/">www.choicesupport.org.uk</a>. ‘<i>Once upon a touch… story massage for
children’</i> uses 10 set moves in all of its stories adapting the order, or they
are used to suit the story (all on top of clothes and on the child’s back
although different body areas are suggested) without music. I would highly
recommend both books and that you try them out with your own children to see
what works best for those you support. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Using and adapting story massage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Encouraged by the success of our first use of story massage I tried both
approaches. I found that, in my class, there were stronger responses with the
use of the music alongside the massage and words. I also found that for some
stories I wanted to use additional moves from the suggested 10 in ‘<i>Once upon a touch… story massage for
children’</i>. I set out to create my own version of a story massage using one
of my favorite stories- Alice in Wonderland (it also <i>loosely</i> fitted into our overarching topic of traditional tales).I
simplified the story into 13 short sentences (1 of which is repeated 3 times
throughout) as you would do for a sensory story. For music I initially selected
some songs that I thought fit the sentences before getting a little frustrated
that I couldn’t find a piece of music that I felt adequately sounded like
falling down a rabbit hole! It was at this point that my other half, James,
interceded and said he could make me some music if I could explain vaguely what
it was I wanted. Luckily, he is able to interpret ‘it needs to sound big and
then small, and sort of twirly’ into something I was satisfied sounded like
falling down a rabbit hole! I largely used the moves suggest in ‘<i>Once upon a touch… story massage for
children’</i> but added in one or two of my own that I thought the story
demanded. Why not try creating your own story massage? Using existing stories
and rhymes is a good place to start.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">How do you deliver the session?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">To create a more relaxing environment we always had the main lights off
for this session but had fairy lights on to create more subdued lighting. My
team delivered the session with all of us initially saying the sentence
together at the start of the music and then beginning the massage movement. For
the majority of the pupils the massage movements were done on their backs but
you can change this according to need and preference. I had one little girl in
my class who was very insistent that she wanted it to be on her feet. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What are the benefits?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There are numerous benefits for children of all ages and abilities. These
are just some of the benefits:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<li><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Improved calmness and concentration</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Increased self-awareness</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Develop a sense of anticipation</span></span></li>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I was really pleased with how well my class seemed to respond to the
story. There were many different reactions, for some it was a calming and
relaxing experience as shown by some rather droopy eyes. For others, there was
seemingly curiosity lifting and turning the head towards the area of touch.
Over time certain pupils suggested preference to particular parts of the song
with very strong reactions of happy squeals, smiles and shaking. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Try it for yourself…<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If you would like to try story massage you can download a free example of our
Alice in Wonderland story massage and music <u><a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/musical-story-massage-alice-in-wonderland-11719419" target="_blank">here</a></u>. The version uploaded
is one used as an end of year gift for the pupils in my class. We printed double sided and laminated the information, instructions and story and burned the songs on to a disk so they could
continue to enjoy the story massage at home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You can buy the book <i>‘Massage
Stories Exploring Communication Through Touch</i>’ by Andrew Muir with Flo
Longhorn <u><a href="http://flopublications.com/index.php/book-sales" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></u></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You can buy the book ‘<i>Once upon a
touch… story massage for children’ </i>by Mary Atkinson and Sandra Hooper <u><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-Upon-Touch-Massage-Children/dp/1848192878/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YVR6162M05VGRF9326YE" target="_blank">here</a>.
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-6697276812622509242017-09-07T10:16:00.001-07:002017-10-08T06:36:31.438-07:0010 Top Tips for Special School Teachers: A Parent’s Perspective<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />We are delighted to be able to share with you a guest blog post today from a parent of a child with PMLD. Gemma is an incredible mum to two amazing little boys- Tom and Ed. Tom has a diagnosis of Cockayne Syndrome- a rare and life limiting condition for which there is currently no cure. ‘Amy and Friends, Cockayne Syndrome Support’ is a charity dedicated to support the health and well-being of sufferers of Cockayne Syndrome and their families and carers around the globe. Gemma recently attended ‘Amy and friends’ annual conference, where they were able to spend with other affected families and meet leading doctors and researchers, which they found it an invaluable experience. You can find out more information and how you can support the Amy and friends charity <a href="http://www.amyandfriends.org/">here</a>. <br /><br /><br />With most schools heading back to school this week after the summer break, I’m sure there will be many newcomers to the SEN teaching profession as well as existing teachers with new classes who would find today’s post a great insight into parent’s perspective. Gemma’s post focuses on what she would wish for any new teacher to know, ask, share and do when teaching a child, such as Tom, with PMLD. Here are Gemma’s ten top tips for new SEN teachers.<br /><br /><b>1. Introduce me.</b>I need to meet the team, everyone including TA’s that support my child. I need to see where my child will be spending their time, to know roughly what you plan to be doing. This will ease my anxiety and help me visualise and discuss you with my child.<br /> <br /><b>2. Include me.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Let’s discuss realistic outcomes we are aiming for and how we will achieve them at both home and school. If we build a relationship we can work better together, to help my child have the best chance of succeeding. I am an expert on my child – use this valuable information.</span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><b>3.Welcome me.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I need to feel welcome and have face-to-face contact, especially as we use the taxi transport. Invite me into school to events, school trips and theme days. I love to see my child interacting with staff and peers and can talk about it at home. It is lovely to have opportunities to meet and chat with other parents.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>4. Include him </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Always treat my child as an individual. Be prepared to adjust the environment and differentiate learning to his needs and interests so that he is included in every activity. Focus on independence, communication and self-help first, subjects second.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>5. Respect him.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please treat my child with dignity and respect not only during personal care but at all times. My child may not be able to speak but is always listening, and understands more than you think!</span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><b>6. Talk to me.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please tell me the important stuff daily e.g. toileting and nutrition. I love to hear about my child’s day and see photos to discuss with him and share with friends and family. Use technology to do this– it’s easy, effective and cost efficient e.g. Tapestry for photographs on daily activities, upcoming events and general information that alerts your phone when there is an update. Paper gets lost and overlooked. Please remember that I have so much to think about, that early and reminded notice of events is very helpful.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>7. Let him do it.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please encourage and boost self-esteem. I would much rather see a gift or picture that my child has clearly done, than something perfect, completed by teaching staff or hand-over-hand.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>8. Be honest with me.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Explain, discuss and admit mistakes. Nothing gets my back up like secrecy and defensiveness. If I am rude, it’s likely because I am anxious, please be patient with me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>9. Celebrate him.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There will be challenging times that I need to be aware of and we must manage together, if necessary with the help from other agencies. But always help me find the positive and celebrate the little ‘BIG’ steps.</span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><b>10. And finally….</b>All I really want is for my child to be safe, feel loved and enjoy his special time at school.</span></div>
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</span></span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">Tom after our session this afternoon exploring the topic of hairdressers. Blog post to follow! </span></h4>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-80737379598359820762017-09-02T23:36:00.001-07:002017-09-07T11:34:06.751-07:00Proprioception <div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Today’s blog post is inspired by Parallel London. A couple
of weeks ago Jo Grace invited us to join her in The Sensory Project’s tent at
Parallel London. Hopefully as you are reading this we are either having a great
time walking the sensory 1K taking in all of the sensory experiences or meeting lots of great people in the sensory
tent and delivering proprioceptive experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Many people think of the 5 senses, however being a PMLD
teacher one of the first concepts you are introduced to are the 7 senses and
the need to involve sensory stimulation in your teaching. Proprioception is our
sense of body awareness, it is the understanding of where our body parts are
and how they are moving in co-ordination with each other. If you close your
eyes and think of your feet you can locate them, feel them and have a
understanding of where they are. Children with PMLD often do not have this
ability. Many are in wheelchairs and at school have trays across them to work
from. Flo always mentions how important it is to help our children realise they
have legs and feet beyond their trays! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hannah and I believe in allowing a world beyond their
wheelchairs. We enable as many opportunities as possible to learn on the floor
or in a range of positions during the day which is essential for good postural
care but also body awareness. If you are doing something messy, allow the
chance for them to get their feet stuck in too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Our brain receives messages from receptors around the body.
Our proprioceptive senses gather information from our muscles, tendons (where
the muscles attach to the bone), ligaments, joint capsules (the protective lining
of each joint) and connective tissue as well as receptors in the skin (Building
bridges through sensory integration, 2015). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Difficulties with processing proprioceptive information
result in a lack of body awareness which affects coordination and movement. Some
people with PMLD require more information to help them understand where there body
is, this is also the case for some people with autism, they may walk leaning
against the walls for information of their body alignment and position. Some
people with PMLD may have proprioceptive sensory defensiveness and may be
overstimulated by position or movement changes as the proprioceptive sense is
very closely linked to vestibular, our sense of balance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Activities to develop proprioception<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Today Hannah and I have two different activities with us.
The first is a piece of stretchy lycra material. By wrapping the material
around a child they are becoming aware of their body. Another resource we have
is wind. We have a range of materials including the stretchy lycra and various
hand held fans to create wind across the body; over the face, down the arms and
legs to provide an awareness of the body. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Another technique we use in school is TACPAC. TAC PAC is a
programme that combines music and touch. TAC PAC involves using different
materials and movements across the body to music. For example you may listen to
drumming music and gently tap the child’s legs with chop sticks. You may listen
to floaty music and stroke a feather duster up and down the child’s arms. This
create a whole body awareness. TAC PAC is designed on a 1:1 basis to also
develop trust and interaction between the adult and the child. TAC PAC should
be repeated. We do a TAC PAC 2/3 times a week for a term. TAC PAC has a website
and you can buy the programmes online as well as download their new app. Hannah
and I also make our own dependent on the topic. We have just made one for
doctor using a range of different materials. Hannah’s boyfriend is currently
making the music accompaniment for us! You can find our version of a doctor
themed TAC PAC <u><a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/doctor-tacpac-now-with-music-11712014" target="_blank">here</a></u> on our TES page- this now includes music. All you need to do is source the items.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hannah has also developed her own musical story massage. She
used Flo’s story massage and the book Once Upon a Touch as inspiration.
Appropriate massage is another great way to develop body awareness. Hannah adds
music to her story to increase anticipation. Do the children anticipate the
parts of the story and can they show a preference to the massage movements. It
is another great way to build a strong, trusting relationship between a child
and adult to enable interaction. One of her children has a favourite part, the
sprinkle movement which is a twinkling with your fingers across the back. It
appeared numerous times throughout Hannah’s Alice in Wonderland story ‘look
rabbit follow’. She would lift her head up, shake it side to side and squeal.
After a couple of weeks, doing the story every day she was beginning to
anticipate that something was coming that she was going to enjoy. She also
reacted to the cue music by lifting her head. Hannah found this was the most
she had ever responded to an activity all year. So massage has many benefits as
well as proprioceptive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">We will be sharing our experiences at Parallel in future
posts. On Monday PMLDchat are hosting their monthly twitter chats, the topic
this time is Parallel. If you want to know more about the event or what we got
up to, follow @PMLDchat and be on twitter at 8pm. Please get involved and don’t
forget to use the hashtag #PMLDchat </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<u><a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/doctor-tacpac-now-with-music-11712014"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/doctor-tacpac-now-with-music-11712014</span></a></u></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-79483334303767210832017-08-30T04:01:00.002-07:002017-09-07T11:34:30.708-07:00Our Forum Presentation - Curriculum survey results<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><i><br />'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)<br /><br />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'</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>' 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).</i><br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><u><br />Parents results</u> – 250 responses. The parents who responded to this survey had children with SLD/ PMLD and ASD. <br /></span><br />
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<br /><br /><u> Teacher survey</u> - 112 responses. Responses are from teachers who work in an SLD/ PMLD setting.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xLYeeJ7-I9TL45pxsu47RDKIJLQZOC6u5OvhfeNutU-oEwDsVR7KDCZfei09U2lsW7HtmGvNORoBXwJRDzuAEsZOfKLZifnL6BJmJXk8HKcbUzu32VWWhcKrgXRFyCYes6K4xdKOz2S5/s1600/barriers+as+a+pmld+teacher.png"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xLYeeJ7-I9TL45pxsu47RDKIJLQZOC6u5OvhfeNutU-oEwDsVR7KDCZfei09U2lsW7HtmGvNORoBXwJRDzuAEsZOfKLZifnL6BJmJXk8HKcbUzu32VWWhcKrgXRFyCYes6K4xdKOz2S5/s400/barriers+as+a+pmld+teacher.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><br />If you teach the National Curriculum what is your experience of its impact? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">(a selection of the responses)<br /><br /><br />· Needs to be heavily amended to engage our learners - does have a positive impact but only in highly tailored areas. <br /><br />· Not appropriate or geared towards SEN in anyway. Very rigid doesn't allow for creativity or learning at students own pace.<br /><br />· 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<br /><br />· 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. <br /><br />· 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.<br /><br />· 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 <br /><br />· 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. <br /><br />· 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. <br /><br />· 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. <br /><br />· 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. <br /><br />· 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. <br /><br />· 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. <br /><br />· 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.</span></div>
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<br />If your school follows an informal/ semi-formal curriculum what do you feel are the main benefits?<br /><br /><ul>
<li>Tailored to meet pupil needs</li>
<li>Personalisation</li>
<li>Relevance</li>
<li>Flexibility</li>
<li>Focus on communication and individual development</li>
<li>Bespoke learning opportunities</li>
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</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /> These are just a selection of the results. If you would like the complete results please let us know. <br /><br /> <br /><br />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. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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! </span></div>
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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.</i><o:p></o:p></span><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></span></div>
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Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-64263862075838765892017-08-27T06:33:00.000-07:002017-09-07T11:52:20.068-07:00Best of British Special Educational Needs Forum <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">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 </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">to listen to Peter having read his book on '</span>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. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">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. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jo spoke very movingly about how an i</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ndividual 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. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><o:p></o:p></i>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 <a href="mailto:sarah.hall73@virgin.net">sarah.hall73@virgin.net</a> for more
information.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(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)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The time ran away with us and it was time to meet some
lovely amazing people for dinner. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We will discuss our presentation in our next blog post. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>We will leave you with our favourite quotes from the Forum:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Children look into your eyes and search for
empathetic connection. Teaching is a relationship based profession - Carpenter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The world is for you, you may not be able
to get to it but i will bring it to you - Jo Grace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We need dynamic curriculum models and flexible
teaching that goes where the child needs you to go - Carpenter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Initiatives to include all have largely
failed to include those with complex needs - Carpenter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Many people who favour full inclusion have
exclusion clauses - Andrew Colley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We're talking about 50,000 young people,
working with them is a very significant job - Andrew Colley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">All children should experience the outdoors
- Yvonne McCall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We need to enable children to realise they
are effecting change - Jo Grace <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If somebody touches you then can send you a
whole host of emotions - Dr Maria Robinson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Penny wasn't in it to make a name for
herself she did it for you the teachers and the learners - Dr Jean ware<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Insisting that all children must follow the
steps in the same order is a barrier to learners with PMLD - Ware<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Waiting for communication initiation is a
good thing not a waste of time - Dr Lila Kossyvaki<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">I worry about how much time you spend on assessment and how much time you spend being a great teacher - Imray</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Assessment is not just to pass Ofsted, it
needs to give useful information - Imray <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It is not possible to say what is acceptable
progress. If Rochford can't work it out how the hell can we? - Imray <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I've not met a child with SLD or PMLD in 20
years that succeeded with the National Curriculum - Imray <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Does learning have to take place around a
table? - Yvonne McCall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I want my students to have fun. I want my
staff to have fun - Yvonne McCall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Our focus is putting life in the days of
pupils with PMLD - Jo Grace </span><span style="font-family: "segoe print";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.peterimray.co.uk/">http://www.peterimray.co.uk/</a> - Peter Imray </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://flopublications.com/index.php">http://flopublications.com/index.php</a> - Flo Longhorn </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.bangor.ac.uk/addysg/Staffpages/Jeanware.php.en">https://www.bangor.ac.uk/addysg/Staffpages/Jeanware.php.en</a> - Dr Jean Ware</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://barrycarpentereducation.com/">https://barrycarpentereducation.com/</a> - Professor Barry Carpenter OBE CBE</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.castlewood.coventry.sch.uk/">http://www.castlewood.coventry.sch.uk/</a> - Castlewood School</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WillowsSensory/">https://www.facebook.com/WillowsSensory/</a> - Willows Sensory Service</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/home">http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/home</a> - Joanna Grace. There is currently a sale on Jo's sensory stories </i></span></div>
Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-64888741789643457052017-08-24T13:42:00.000-07:002017-09-07T11:40:56.163-07:00Sensory umbrellas<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">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!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">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!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">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!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdU0PVsg_DYM_pnSwbABWuSaQByz3YTv_RCT4hJEuNKZVH6ASe0H9umURpNpTwIvRO7m0oLC4eVvKERqRBCo6lIVu6M3WSf8Lpceq9YuBjGTTjcuSCvj12iUYpOWg1MgmaZh0xgRvC4Wm0/s1600/21100501_10155501427258828_1922723569_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdU0PVsg_DYM_pnSwbABWuSaQByz3YTv_RCT4hJEuNKZVH6ASe0H9umURpNpTwIvRO7m0oLC4eVvKERqRBCo6lIVu6M3WSf8Lpceq9YuBjGTTjcuSCvj12iUYpOWg1MgmaZh0xgRvC4Wm0/s640/21100501_10155501427258828_1922723569_n.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">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!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">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</span><br />
<br />Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-52581765480769798772017-08-23T12:00:00.006-07:002017-09-07T11:41:32.208-07:00A Sensory Shopping Trip<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<u><b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Smiggle</span></b></u></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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</span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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!</span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span><br />
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Tiger</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Other finds</span></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bvNUvIipjFDFtllrfktayv_QSNKWZrc_PtYo8SCr8EHiYFC8hk85kZriV2hrGGXVQi7pNzmfK24ge3WQylG2LnTG0E2Qn1Si_-Ma8tIXdFKD3yxVwYytj8Y-t_3NVGbCmVt10SYmZRXv/s1600/whisks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bvNUvIipjFDFtllrfktayv_QSNKWZrc_PtYo8SCr8EHiYFC8hk85kZriV2hrGGXVQi7pNzmfK24ge3WQylG2LnTG0E2Qn1Si_-Ma8tIXdFKD3yxVwYytj8Y-t_3NVGbCmVt10SYmZRXv/s400/whisks.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIKxpFfuPqOP2_VHeULqSdl0_mIleaj3BhduQVDbtMETE1BCINXw0YLyfZio1E8UQ9VZk8jkO2f6vjK9e4nqgQfScQf2etVeNvLHqN-CbRjnMbDi8gEojQIzE0lvPUEh59kCW93c-EV6V/s1600/21040425_10155498214838828_144441417_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIKxpFfuPqOP2_VHeULqSdl0_mIleaj3BhduQVDbtMETE1BCINXw0YLyfZio1E8UQ9VZk8jkO2f6vjK9e4nqgQfScQf2etVeNvLHqN-CbRjnMbDi8gEojQIzE0lvPUEh59kCW93c-EV6V/s320/21040425_10155498214838828_144441417_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">These are actually quite good value. We love water lights!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDv3N5XQ6xUQZTGU01krRm-G1Ae9XrrY2PbKeIeufS-2PGrimGlM9estyv_RyvPfWpo7IbyANJ9uAtUB29TBOYa2Ln_-XuAnwAL2t8Z9y6U-a9R6Zbf_J2grq_d-QddF9RIve8ahE-RbnR/s1600/21040505_10155498214758828_1765126466_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDv3N5XQ6xUQZTGU01krRm-G1Ae9XrrY2PbKeIeufS-2PGrimGlM9estyv_RyvPfWpo7IbyANJ9uAtUB29TBOYa2Ln_-XuAnwAL2t8Z9y6U-a9R6Zbf_J2grq_d-QddF9RIve8ahE-RbnR/s320/21040505_10155498214758828_1765126466_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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 <a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/at-end-of-best-of-british-sen.html" target="_blank"><u>Sensology </u>session (see our earlier blog post to find out more about Sensology). </a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_0QxFiNMtRxywrBE2YpqtgdbG6hJnytc0wjNXnLLaROp3wTlNc2VtCa4ZvUY7x8babO-5v_B2OlwBE6HIH2lobo5XKfbIInBs8eJEvPz2eSYrnBpuT2ECt7jyPIwdxDoIJqYHPERxqll/s1600/21040537_10155498216183828_252052265_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_0QxFiNMtRxywrBE2YpqtgdbG6hJnytc0wjNXnLLaROp3wTlNc2VtCa4ZvUY7x8babO-5v_B2OlwBE6HIH2lobo5XKfbIInBs8eJEvPz2eSYrnBpuT2ECt7jyPIwdxDoIJqYHPERxqll/s320/21040537_10155498216183828_252052265_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LXFDmi0rHRedgeNbPQOHH66295YcUKyMotBcScjw8zh8BNeuWQUIo1u-HYWaUXiT6rwqbs9R7dbWVKhZqcW2DXiyiPKbs5GfX1Nbm4byJm-NiNNVmVBP6lqYATo4DixU3mYo1YeW2My9/s1600/21040579_10155498213463828_2081945894_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LXFDmi0rHRedgeNbPQOHH66295YcUKyMotBcScjw8zh8BNeuWQUIo1u-HYWaUXiT6rwqbs9R7dbWVKhZqcW2DXiyiPKbs5GfX1Nbm4byJm-NiNNVmVBP6lqYATo4DixU3mYo1YeW2My9/s320/21040579_10155498213463828_2081945894_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> We had never seen cinnamon sticks so big! We are going to put them in our naturals box. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLIaU0DhyyOmv3h2OZkkNBclJsHrXhVh_jbu1h7P_gsRLHD_btcanrgqrrz2IsnKzrserSNGRl-N7iFjrB7CzN3kKCMOlKmpaHFxmsPu_BRK9a1G5R9XEPFTI_2-akqS2cpAhHtf9k__1/s1600/21040634_10155498216633828_2106107861_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLIaU0DhyyOmv3h2OZkkNBclJsHrXhVh_jbu1h7P_gsRLHD_btcanrgqrrz2IsnKzrserSNGRl-N7iFjrB7CzN3kKCMOlKmpaHFxmsPu_BRK9a1G5R9XEPFTI_2-akqS2cpAhHtf9k__1/s320/21040634_10155498216633828_2106107861_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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 <a href="http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/conferences-training" style="text-decoration-line: underline;" target="_blank">here</a> to find out more about Jo's upcoming conferences and training opportunities.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZPSbn3CIDC9ROzXPwp5B_bdMSSdMf1_aR5p720_ovQdT7IafoCxceaAM2URQj_eIjQt0QcEMU1VIPbHFBWxQEMtrrdF0pBsBBol5LGwZ9isnNw3SNV-qiDZkp8SRteRzrEAOaX8JBHZz/s1600/21040692_10155498216123828_756319168_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZPSbn3CIDC9ROzXPwp5B_bdMSSdMf1_aR5p720_ovQdT7IafoCxceaAM2URQj_eIjQt0QcEMU1VIPbHFBWxQEMtrrdF0pBsBBol5LGwZ9isnNw3SNV-qiDZkp8SRteRzrEAOaX8JBHZz/s320/21040692_10155498216123828_756319168_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIy0qAJBofNccG3VbU9ua7DFbea7VM4mzyqO8pQQu2QZwKF6mKL82sa8-I6eFD50Mc4Sx3YFjVSVUnY0sDFKxHqUyZpXNCY2acrsM96_1UZXKylp_ML2xRS1xXN9ohRFeqWIGnWihgXVA/s1600/21040719_10155498216088828_1087958698_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIy0qAJBofNccG3VbU9ua7DFbea7VM4mzyqO8pQQu2QZwKF6mKL82sa8-I6eFD50Mc4Sx3YFjVSVUnY0sDFKxHqUyZpXNCY2acrsM96_1UZXKylp_ML2xRS1xXN9ohRFeqWIGnWihgXVA/s320/21040719_10155498216088828_1087958698_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A staple in many classrooms!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4UdeUE1zcvSQaBns0nzZnBoA2lIVQ6OUUmahczYVQUMNDlPDtGT1un0YRejPhJ20eVHyMt6TwAs50fpCC4aZsxdyW9W5AjFnxGclYCOYc62jm_uYRrx8FXDPv-BLyFuUUZCm5sKTznas/s1600/21040855_10155498214253828_1568187034_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4UdeUE1zcvSQaBns0nzZnBoA2lIVQ6OUUmahczYVQUMNDlPDtGT1un0YRejPhJ20eVHyMt6TwAs50fpCC4aZsxdyW9W5AjFnxGclYCOYc62jm_uYRrx8FXDPv-BLyFuUUZCm5sKTznas/s320/21040855_10155498214253828_1568187034_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Another staple - we love a water spray! So much anticipation, plus great to add a scent to. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mnmbv0fNGjpPdgkP-yOyGYGferEzQl2qWu8EHwJVtnZhgPgksds3se7oLpkVd7NTy7-W_RPQn1-ieFTV0fdJq9l9ywUAIfrPLpdSiQ8xxxOd4YM7ShPS1GuuYY_zzev8MW_myvonUWTk/s1600/21074273_10155498214928828_55076229_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mnmbv0fNGjpPdgkP-yOyGYGferEzQl2qWu8EHwJVtnZhgPgksds3se7oLpkVd7NTy7-W_RPQn1-ieFTV0fdJq9l9ywUAIfrPLpdSiQ8xxxOd4YM7ShPS1GuuYY_zzev8MW_myvonUWTk/s320/21074273_10155498214928828_55076229_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I love these due to the turn handle! I have bought a set for a new TAC PAC we have made. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuveyycqE2Z9U6U0KMGJ5dgjFTQmcnaZL4gAO835zI9XsdFDpjJvuG-nnaMZ26h_7MmAmCo_QHQ2nmj4Acmo0hGhYe5kjfhckPtOyR0Y5zRn6xMsKooVToghtLrDnmxOBwpdt7DOlstMc/s1600/21074304_10155498213643828_2029398519_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuveyycqE2Z9U6U0KMGJ5dgjFTQmcnaZL4gAO835zI9XsdFDpjJvuG-nnaMZ26h_7MmAmCo_QHQ2nmj4Acmo0hGhYe5kjfhckPtOyR0Y5zRn6xMsKooVToghtLrDnmxOBwpdt7DOlstMc/s320/21074304_10155498213643828_2029398519_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTJUPJawYCl7L-E31_3N-1pJB_UrnVHaCMXdc03E5xnNOU74tMtCD4uV0FgaljT1d_Ip_tDf3zs1DCGpZhxgRTpgz9waE5WPqDCrTTiAdHspcJh2xEYoMw1yMGQh7kpKnPSUbJjB8uYW7/s1600/21074327_10155498214493828_678653416_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTJUPJawYCl7L-E31_3N-1pJB_UrnVHaCMXdc03E5xnNOU74tMtCD4uV0FgaljT1d_Ip_tDf3zs1DCGpZhxgRTpgz9waE5WPqDCrTTiAdHspcJh2xEYoMw1yMGQh7kpKnPSUbJjB8uYW7/s320/21074327_10155498214493828_678653416_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> We have some of these too! We love water toys and they are so squidgy and bright!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LfRCJxPBR1L_Lv-NTCgPUX2WS1WkaMsiVN7f-VJilHCR9KYrfi82RHuGTX3ZHoCMQnfkj8qRHp1VrOPAMN_DTC61MpBqmHVwRI8DkH6fxyCxHw_2mEsH5xxIjYfj0TqB80Jaw8fM9xbA/s1600/21074363_10155498215028828_1994111385_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LfRCJxPBR1L_Lv-NTCgPUX2WS1WkaMsiVN7f-VJilHCR9KYrfi82RHuGTX3ZHoCMQnfkj8qRHp1VrOPAMN_DTC61MpBqmHVwRI8DkH6fxyCxHw_2mEsH5xxIjYfj0TqB80Jaw8fM9xbA/s320/21074363_10155498215028828_1994111385_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5wwY_t44v0cN87LIvOXtHvcO5M0kze4maOGKEql9jD0IXoJ6zz96WDPPKzUTUZCxgf3U9Lj0tvR5-CvJEwIRfGJRJq0cIRNsDi8ZvaUgYJIG0h0u3Cob5RA3-QY-lJIqCPTOBwpCJHTG/s1600/21074372_10155498213703828_1527725012_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5wwY_t44v0cN87LIvOXtHvcO5M0kze4maOGKEql9jD0IXoJ6zz96WDPPKzUTUZCxgf3U9Lj0tvR5-CvJEwIRfGJRJq0cIRNsDi8ZvaUgYJIG0h0u3Cob5RA3-QY-lJIqCPTOBwpCJHTG/s320/21074372_10155498213703828_1527725012_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> 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. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivM_gfng796H62N3y4H7-EdGZUoGn7VpgBYYa7Xc2iYPjH6tvDwlYlNkuxrySK4Pyg3g5-5b-X7NCuimkyNpgxmtJn5uSoV9fHP5P8no-UJsU0DO5GawTfn-XhnExSAsYjWqLVsz4-nfoM/s1600/21074381_10155498216708828_1971801054_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivM_gfng796H62N3y4H7-EdGZUoGn7VpgBYYa7Xc2iYPjH6tvDwlYlNkuxrySK4Pyg3g5-5b-X7NCuimkyNpgxmtJn5uSoV9fHP5P8no-UJsU0DO5GawTfn-XhnExSAsYjWqLVsz4-nfoM/s320/21074381_10155498216708828_1971801054_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBlmP1VyPxhz37iccmX1cMhNTZsZ-h5lXoWoWp456DxFHcmFerGMUFV2CuHjylRukWv1Q3OA5B2qE4Jy88sya65KnEmOZSIFWVT-cCNDOhMsiRpY466eW6TGtF-hxdsdwdeB9qdb-gh7X/s1600/21076492_10155498213673828_5912470_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBlmP1VyPxhz37iccmX1cMhNTZsZ-h5lXoWoWp456DxFHcmFerGMUFV2CuHjylRukWv1Q3OA5B2qE4Jy88sya65KnEmOZSIFWVT-cCNDOhMsiRpY466eW6TGtF-hxdsdwdeB9qdb-gh7X/s320/21076492_10155498213673828_5912470_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pId9WrKrMEKCYT9pn8Q-D0ChJ9P6EgtZnaxv_JJ4hManGkUzuMpmBT-XWvl5-_sZHqP_uJ346v7wfEVKxOr-orEpks0YBIgNcP22suOmwCTuVhF58tskGz4ScX2RE-IcIONWW9GXFCW6/s1600/21076588_10155498214668828_792349511_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pId9WrKrMEKCYT9pn8Q-D0ChJ9P6EgtZnaxv_JJ4hManGkUzuMpmBT-XWvl5-_sZHqP_uJ346v7wfEVKxOr-orEpks0YBIgNcP22suOmwCTuVhF58tskGz4ScX2RE-IcIONWW9GXFCW6/s320/21076588_10155498214668828_792349511_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> We bought this for one of Hannah's class for their Sensology boxes. He is working on developing the strength in his hand. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZOgwFW-tq-_WrozVdZ-TmB_4XQZGlB8ZhB50I2cq25SzpUJczIxBb0PqcEZK8FyAbHP3AGZNshOdLC4wU-MWYecLKxGUXrb2luYKwmMchVyPHEpNW5wcRufkjgfbDh0_zll4lkdgzh0S/s1600/21076685_10155498213943828_1461667052_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZOgwFW-tq-_WrozVdZ-TmB_4XQZGlB8ZhB50I2cq25SzpUJczIxBb0PqcEZK8FyAbHP3AGZNshOdLC4wU-MWYecLKxGUXrb2luYKwmMchVyPHEpNW5wcRufkjgfbDh0_zll4lkdgzh0S/s320/21076685_10155498213943828_1461667052_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Great for TAC PAC. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGZQORaQmbAXsyJbfjX98WMI1QO7YqIE7Sawg62f2j8cOdCATLqhIUvnQJ1tm_g8IG7jjtKBwzcH_MeWVUz-cPRwd5FExwS3-30M1WeBQrAf1lkCdnlC3Lo2dIzhMYaoHK8wYgXCt4PXI/s1600/21076719_10155498213413828_1077720362_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGZQORaQmbAXsyJbfjX98WMI1QO7YqIE7Sawg62f2j8cOdCATLqhIUvnQJ1tm_g8IG7jjtKBwzcH_MeWVUz-cPRwd5FExwS3-30M1WeBQrAf1lkCdnlC3Lo2dIzhMYaoHK8wYgXCt4PXI/s320/21076719_10155498213413828_1077720362_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnkpU6lcwsZaAKoL5exEoC-Od60GtbnayE2ELtEmacDdjm57IuEaaGV77pinQ0kJSDS3MDNG-bEsYid-Z6ao7pSNRA0HZVdegzeSChC01lU9yoG0QJGTHm58MfORN38uE1pkfVyk4G-ca/s1600/21076825_10155498215013828_2004863339_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnkpU6lcwsZaAKoL5exEoC-Od60GtbnayE2ELtEmacDdjm57IuEaaGV77pinQ0kJSDS3MDNG-bEsYid-Z6ao7pSNRA0HZVdegzeSChC01lU9yoG0QJGTHm58MfORN38uE1pkfVyk4G-ca/s320/21076825_10155498215013828_2004863339_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCH3hNEUGJsrzaCAk0YCvIuGI8Oz_JACcvR5moLtfANkv1QzPx4jxXf16HeKOZuR-eJgc_g81IQtD4bDK8VVnZYEIlLuQg5xrKzkYw8Si3OD9Nz8dLSTQnmdcnuagOMkrRml5eKqYpwTLa/s1600/21076856_10155498213558828_293728968_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCH3hNEUGJsrzaCAk0YCvIuGI8Oz_JACcvR5moLtfANkv1QzPx4jxXf16HeKOZuR-eJgc_g81IQtD4bDK8VVnZYEIlLuQg5xrKzkYw8Si3OD9Nz8dLSTQnmdcnuagOMkrRml5eKqYpwTLa/s320/21076856_10155498213558828_293728968_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbH0bkEf0LRwogAz1IBLUM4otg8QedU0xA3LzfasJol_9WLxQrUKbVMF31fNRrhR46wRmW2Xj6lNEtqYnyAq24ufhAIIBIy1yqg6mVkrEeIiuuRrzSXWbNsZF6FUaLeZ3ChfbvkjDNa1MU/s1600/21076871_10155498216263828_1246193735_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbH0bkEf0LRwogAz1IBLUM4otg8QedU0xA3LzfasJol_9WLxQrUKbVMF31fNRrhR46wRmW2Xj6lNEtqYnyAq24ufhAIIBIy1yqg6mVkrEeIiuuRrzSXWbNsZF6FUaLeZ3ChfbvkjDNa1MU/s320/21076871_10155498216263828_1246193735_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Alternative to using sand if your children tend to eat sand, if you want something that flows through a spinney wheel use polenta. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnkas89pHMTTPlvfzCGuCs3-TM1oT4WuZpPndzz6ddo64cP1MqnHiMZ1gn_sErCu1A0YEd98zANn9DPr9K0XJCJRHxHeAARljYcp0i4MbVpqW34hE_bEZ2RvC4LwiFWQyaXdgTWuFcklY/s1600/21076933_10155498213608828_948717062_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnkas89pHMTTPlvfzCGuCs3-TM1oT4WuZpPndzz6ddo64cP1MqnHiMZ1gn_sErCu1A0YEd98zANn9DPr9K0XJCJRHxHeAARljYcp0i4MbVpqW34hE_bEZ2RvC4LwiFWQyaXdgTWuFcklY/s320/21076933_10155498213608828_948717062_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaF1med9YPjlbUC-6XZ3ccdX529YH8-m67sah3J6-aAMZnxMZIVHEY7Fe9GK1YTISHu_aa0karu2id5tPLewK2hVmVUpNAajthJkY9v3YAbkX329TOCLC0MJXSVge6GLxbqMw_l5iaDYMg/s1600/21100226_10155498214083828_196317982_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaF1med9YPjlbUC-6XZ3ccdX529YH8-m67sah3J6-aAMZnxMZIVHEY7Fe9GK1YTISHu_aa0karu2id5tPLewK2hVmVUpNAajthJkY9v3YAbkX329TOCLC0MJXSVge6GLxbqMw_l5iaDYMg/s320/21100226_10155498214083828_196317982_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> We thought these might also glow under UV light, could be great for tracking. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOxElgfk349e9Wb9szb-YDxKtU42ahk5kbiULzZFJfJyYi-i6myqLMzGwV7g6hgd_nbVL12fGXgTQ1s-efRXWI6UcRgjyhHro9ruivKdh3CEe_XNFSmxU2nUNhYKne88Qe6BBRumgFNyB/s1600/21100332_10155498213528828_1337983059_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="960" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOxElgfk349e9Wb9szb-YDxKtU42ahk5kbiULzZFJfJyYi-i6myqLMzGwV7g6hgd_nbVL12fGXgTQ1s-efRXWI6UcRgjyhHro9ruivKdh3CEe_XNFSmxU2nUNhYKne88Qe6BBRumgFNyB/s320/21100332_10155498213528828_1337983059_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My class are working on independent living skills so I thought powder milkshake was really great as fairly simple to spoon and shake. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mTg9oNWWBj-dtqTKBPv-wiT9ptKyiUJQuQdgU7DMG8-zhU9HuYrzJJSFz0QBL9RTDlPb0h_kReA8eG8bBjWYRT5MQGPNSsTTJbsqAX4iQk7JxwFQDt0D7AfIHSpwbBGYFFtrzw_3dh5Z/s1600/21100377_10155498214443828_479684429_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mTg9oNWWBj-dtqTKBPv-wiT9ptKyiUJQuQdgU7DMG8-zhU9HuYrzJJSFz0QBL9RTDlPb0h_kReA8eG8bBjWYRT5MQGPNSsTTJbsqAX4iQk7JxwFQDt0D7AfIHSpwbBGYFFtrzw_3dh5Z/s320/21100377_10155498214443828_479684429_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQyT1g4sUV2hgV4sSAHtiLWCDUzdXXGJ24yGot466qiB_R2OfNyu7elA-xMfKPqbRGh-g07B1nLXJjDnikt8yYqHk7O9cIfFEnok8oVvcwLYnjdnt7-GuZ6I9qI2OTaWRKjf_byYzTk9O/s1600/21100454_10155498215978828_918661760_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQyT1g4sUV2hgV4sSAHtiLWCDUzdXXGJ24yGot466qiB_R2OfNyu7elA-xMfKPqbRGh-g07B1nLXJjDnikt8yYqHk7O9cIfFEnok8oVvcwLYnjdnt7-GuZ6I9qI2OTaWRKjf_byYzTk9O/s320/21100454_10155498215978828_918661760_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7BNcsZwqoLFRYE-8HI-SGpJPkX1BuuQ1S1e4TeiOavPQUe_YGYDWosKymribfBsQiEsAmsE0tBwd7nMQXMg4eIHrAhNNlFOli_aar1D0xaswQdGLfTR_xAWc_NFrxPbzvKDofc8foUZy/s1600/21100856_10155498214653828_845792390_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7BNcsZwqoLFRYE-8HI-SGpJPkX1BuuQ1S1e4TeiOavPQUe_YGYDWosKymribfBsQiEsAmsE0tBwd7nMQXMg4eIHrAhNNlFOli_aar1D0xaswQdGLfTR_xAWc_NFrxPbzvKDofc8foUZy/s320/21100856_10155498214653828_845792390_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">These are great for a UV den! These giant UV rods are so expensive from a sensory shop but only £3 in tiger!! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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!</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The Works</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We found some great bargains in The Works today. Too many as we struggled to carry them all around with us!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Fgvgx1X_pteB4z2EQT4pnF62pQQ8x5gI918P6jM_xW6uHH-AVWzE10tWHPSh9X6GFQfFuHPf2qL_IbCOCGbvsMkTk0TC8VNfTL5zFr4TH21uqlaQmO0AoilbHQ4fX6HJA6JgnUfOxw4P/s1600/21039751_10155498212358828_1887854875_n+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Fgvgx1X_pteB4z2EQT4pnF62pQQ8x5gI918P6jM_xW6uHH-AVWzE10tWHPSh9X6GFQfFuHPf2qL_IbCOCGbvsMkTk0TC8VNfTL5zFr4TH21uqlaQmO0AoilbHQ4fX6HJA6JgnUfOxw4P/s320/21039751_10155498212358828_1887854875_n+-+Copy.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7h03dFIjn0BGBlnZz4Q9nTedv4SyDV91fErq_uS23KMqLAsiLBBGkdZt9V-Qm_2KcMGGFhBRKcUNt3oOCQNfccUoroEX2Bhl1O1l__iahCoPRCl5ghkbvKYTIXeoyBK4pWZ6utrFyjkD/s1600/21074379_10155498212278828_1564313379_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7h03dFIjn0BGBlnZz4Q9nTedv4SyDV91fErq_uS23KMqLAsiLBBGkdZt9V-Qm_2KcMGGFhBRKcUNt3oOCQNfccUoroEX2Bhl1O1l__iahCoPRCl5ghkbvKYTIXeoyBK4pWZ6utrFyjkD/s320/21074379_10155498212278828_1564313379_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> This was an amazing deal £3- I love all things water play!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ttZqG4VSauiZ7G7CqgPLSh9S_0PC55kMl8DfsK7S5yNwNo-vWa7A8mq4YgdnPR1dnSzvr5ZXjAEhychtTcChyNMeBp4MxbArg-y39JDENVQz7lfAp0ZZR-_82EZWPss5TVuFsBpzVvCM/s1600/21074458_10155498212593828_1286518877_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ttZqG4VSauiZ7G7CqgPLSh9S_0PC55kMl8DfsK7S5yNwNo-vWa7A8mq4YgdnPR1dnSzvr5ZXjAEhychtTcChyNMeBp4MxbArg-y39JDENVQz7lfAp0ZZR-_82EZWPss5TVuFsBpzVvCM/s320/21074458_10155498212593828_1286518877_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We bought a couple of these as it's a way for the children to control their own bubbles!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Dqu8l8E28esoBYabzkk9RUVDEiC6CTO7Sb8HjEvgpftrslZe-gUOsnjdNwagGqZFl0kW04fATEaR5-vFNHcxpof9cpj9NqPx-5NPGFcjVKNPGAqN8PzA10EsvpI6RWubEDHQzxk_gWVC/s1600/21076752_10155498212533828_487798654_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Dqu8l8E28esoBYabzkk9RUVDEiC6CTO7Sb8HjEvgpftrslZe-gUOsnjdNwagGqZFl0kW04fATEaR5-vFNHcxpof9cpj9NqPx-5NPGFcjVKNPGAqN8PzA10EsvpI6RWubEDHQzxk_gWVC/s320/21076752_10155498212533828_487798654_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This was creepy but amazing at the same time. It was actually really heavy the the glitter was really clear to see. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So many windmills!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngZIbVZNytz51zisECOokJkrc8Qth9gOqI0UKjrbD_MdXRoS2AYaTpD3n1p5vTE1lcS-0sWyO2rNXf-K_y89r6uWdt0yfDvKmxPL8F1n5mT_spKUwPmGo0ZQMKjQLn3Vclxdq-bEQLQ4f/s1600/21100690_10155498211748828_493082510_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngZIbVZNytz51zisECOokJkrc8Qth9gOqI0UKjrbD_MdXRoS2AYaTpD3n1p5vTE1lcS-0sWyO2rNXf-K_y89r6uWdt0yfDvKmxPL8F1n5mT_spKUwPmGo0ZQMKjQLn3Vclxdq-bEQLQ4f/s320/21100690_10155498211748828_493082510_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2b8XBT0IoProS-M8IFIM1wWP-_VwoHGxrTbSNAeBHKvvm86YZwEOfSazZiz0bEQXsRSUcwobuhTRszp2AUlioLOPqzhSWGL4SOA49yPOo1OB7SB5OZGdbQY1TZonUb2t8O6wcYecReIw/s1600/21101004_10155498212093828_824639115_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2b8XBT0IoProS-M8IFIM1wWP-_VwoHGxrTbSNAeBHKvvm86YZwEOfSazZiz0bEQXsRSUcwobuhTRszp2AUlioLOPqzhSWGL4SOA49yPOo1OB7SB5OZGdbQY1TZonUb2t8O6wcYecReIw/s320/21101004_10155498212093828_824639115_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">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! </span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><a href="https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/at-end-of-best-of-british-sen.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">https://sensorydispensary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/at-end-of-be</span>st-of-british-sen.html</a></u></div>
Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-52909774506229372342017-08-20T13:19:00.000-07:002017-09-07T11:42:07.978-07:00An Inclusive Trip to Alton Towers<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In
June this year we took our two classes on a visit to Alton Towers. The trip would not have been possible without
the installation of two new Changing Places toilets (toilets designed to meet
the needs of people with complex care needs including a hoist and adult sized
changing bench). It is so important that
more places install these facilities. Without these facilities, visits are
often cut short in order to meet these individuals’ basic needs or families and
carers are often forced to resort to changing on toilet floors. For many it is
simply not feasible to visit at all. The
Changing Places Consortium is campaigning for Changing Places toilets to be
installed in all big public places. You can find more information about
Changing Places on their website <a href="http://www.changing-places.org/" style="text-decoration-line: underline;" target="_blank">here</a> including ways you can support or
become a campaigner. You can also find them on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ChangingPlacesUK/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and Twitter <u><a href="http://cp_consortium./">@CP_Consortium.</a></u></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pre visit <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We initially
did a pre-visit in order to carry out our risk assessment. Alton Towers offer
Teacher VIP days which include an hour long seminar offering you information on
the opportunities and facilities available and free tickets to explore the
facilities for yourself. We were fortunate that on the particular day we went
there were no more than 8 other teachers who attended the VIP day. This enabled
the seminar to be really tailored to answer the specific questions we needed in
order to make our visit possible. You can find examples of these below. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">FAQ<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Q1</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><b>. We require a higher staffing ratio for our pupils with
complex care needs. How many free adult places do you offer for these pupils?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A1:</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> <i>One free adult per
child with an EHCP plus an extra adult per 5 children. We were advised to take
each child’s EHCP with us on the day however, they later agreed to accept a
letter from the head of school listing the children and their needs as well as
confirming that all the children had an EHCP. </i> <i>We would
advise you to clarify with Alton Towers what they would accept on your trip.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Q2. </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><b>Where are your changing places toilets located? </b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A2:</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> <i>There is a
changing places toilet located in X Sector and a Space to Change facility
located in Fountain Square. These are easily identified on the map by the
changing places logo.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Q3: </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><b>Some of our pupils will need physiotherapy during the visit-
are there any wheelchair accessible rooms which we are able to use for this?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A room can be provided (this is
different from the one usually offered to mainstream schools and is located in
‘Cloud Cuckoo land’ which is further from the main entrance). There is also a
medical centre. If you visit the medical centre staff during your free day,
they are happy to help. The medical staff advised us that we would be able to
use their medical bed for one of our pupils who requires daily chest
physiotherapy. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Q4: </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><b>Are any of your rides wheelchair accessible? Some of our
pupils need to be lifted or physically assisted. Can you advise which rides
might be suitable for these pupils?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A4:</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> <i>There
is one wheelchair accessible ride in CBeebies world. We were advised to go and
speak to staff working on the specific rides that would be able to advise us on
which ones would be suitable for individuals during our visit. We found that
there was one wheelchair accessible ride in CBeebies Land- The Numtums
Number-Go-Round (please note that only one wheelchair is allowed on each time).
There are other rides that can be accessed if the pupil is able to brace such
as the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride and Postman Pat’s Parcel Post. Lucy
created a chart for each of the rides in the park that we planned to visit,
with the pupil’s names down the side and a tick box to identify which children
were able to access which rides/facilities. This was essential when we split
into groups as it enabled group leaders and staff members to know in advance
which rides they were able to use. You can find this resource along with other
related resources for free on our TES resources page <u><a href="https://www.tes.com/resources/search/?authorId=22047116" target="_blank">here</a></u>.</i></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Q5</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">: When do you pay for the trip?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A5: </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><i>You have to pay 10 days in advance for
a school trip. Cost depends on time of year but in June it was £8 per child.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Q6:</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> Is there a fast track available for
our pupils?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A6: </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><i>Fast track was offered to all of our
pupils at no extra cost, we just had to collect the wristbands from the
entrance on the day. Fast track was great, we went straight to the front of the
queue but there are systems in place if it’s busy whereby your card is marked
with the next time you can ride. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Q7: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Are any radar keys available at the
park in order to access the Changing Places toilets?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A7: </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><i>Radar keys can be borrowed from the information
centre for a deposit if needed for the changing spaces facilities. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Q8: </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><b>Does Alton Towers Theme Park have the
Learning Outside the Classroom Quality badge?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A8</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> <i>Yes- “The Council for Learning
Outside the Classroom, which recognises providers offering good quality
learning outside the classroom and managing risk effectively awards the Quality
Badge to educational destinations which meets the stringent criteria for
quality school trips. It can reduce red tape for you when planning visits,
assures effective risk management and gives you the freedom and confidence to
incorporate more learning outside the classroom into the curriculum.” (Alton
Towers Resort School Planning Pack 2017)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Q9: Is there anywhere to
store temperature sensitive medication? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A9: </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><i>The medical centre can store
temperature sensitive medication for you in their medical centre refrigerated
medicine storage. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We
held a parent’s information evening before the trip took place to offer
information, pictures from our risk assessment visit and opportunities for us to
answer any questions they may have. You can find the PowerPoints from this
information evening for free on our Sensory_Dispensary TES resources page <u><a href="https://www.tes.com/resources/search/?authorId=22047116" target="_blank">here</a></u>.
<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What opportunities are there on offer
for pupils?<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There
were many areas of the park that offered great opportunities for our pupils
with PMLD. In CBeebies Land there was Mr Tumbles Sensory Garden which offered a
wealth of sensory experiences particularly stimulating the olfactory sense with
plants including lemon balm, rosemary, mint and lavender offering a variety of
strong scents along the path. There were also ‘fun house’ mirrors and Mr
Tumble’s voice along with music was played in different spots. There are also
‘lift-the-flap’ activities for more able pupils although we found that these
were not always accessible from wheelchairs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Nina’s
Science Lab provided many opportunities for exploration. There were different
textures to feel, plasma globes, smells to experience in a guess the smell
‘lift-the-flap’ activity, talking tubes and much more. Again, we did find that
some elements of this area were difficult to access for those pupils with bigger,
non-height adjustable wheelchairs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The
Aquarium provided amazing visually mesmerising sensory experiences and the
staff were very accommodating in enabling our pupils to participate in Tropical
Interactive Pool for tactile sensory experiences! Pupils were able to feel
starfish and encountered some strange manicure giving shrimp as they dipped
their hands into the water.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There
were also interactive shows at various times throughout the day from 'Big Fun
Show Time' and 'The Furchester Live Hotel' which were a big hit for our pupils
with familiar characters and songs that brought big smiles and giggles to many
faces! The performers were great at ensuring our pupils were involved in the
games, singing and dancing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkN_EKHwJ8AgpLGvAC13fz2ZEA4CpP2cfmJ2D_-jJVmVOMGURcG6GeFGj7fULRVttwOvV6_5QnylyoibfPRMibhLlLOoNXSFynhHjXFQcY0GC3f0EW40KHoMe7dK_EnEDs0lZwsjqIHfq/s1600/shows+times.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkN_EKHwJ8AgpLGvAC13fz2ZEA4CpP2cfmJ2D_-jJVmVOMGURcG6GeFGj7fULRVttwOvV6_5QnylyoibfPRMibhLlLOoNXSFynhHjXFQcY0GC3f0EW40KHoMe7dK_EnEDs0lZwsjqIHfq/s320/shows+times.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For
more able pupils Lola's world was very popular, especially the interactive
floor and ball pit. This was great fun as the children were able to put the balls in a tube and anticipated
them dropping down. Lola’s world is wheelchair accessible and we found it was
possible to lift some of our pupils out of their chairs to explore the interactive floor. It was also possible for some of our pupils who have more mobility out of
their wheelchairs, to be physically assisted to get into the ball pool. There
are cupboards to open and explore, various noises to listen to, dressing up activities and more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzhn5yzPqznJIG8ldaaarhFaML3qMP1o8JDWVcFEBWyAEnXR6A9AkUbeiVYdM0H0tjWBGHycYSL5IVSwrsp-SQUMw-nCuNBjBScCWPzAWrLHaR9KWVUSjkpb9b24e77iB57WWyfjTgG1G/s1600/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzhn5yzPqznJIG8ldaaarhFaML3qMP1o8JDWVcFEBWyAEnXR6A9AkUbeiVYdM0H0tjWBGHycYSL5IVSwrsp-SQUMw-nCuNBjBScCWPzAWrLHaR9KWVUSjkpb9b24e77iB57WWyfjTgG1G/s320/Picture1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Mr
Bloom’s garden was also a hit with many of our children with SLD. It is a fully
interactive experience including action songs and hands on practical activities led by Mr Bloom’s neighbour</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, Mr Blossom. It is also a lovely opportunity for
learning about recycling and looking after plants.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2TsZYnP490i89iGlQEzvtht2_O0ZuqZAQT8mxyvR8dybdLsTEZFsq3E8s3Rj3L0OrjzyplMMROF8kowxRS4pyWNd_nEmwrXQ1bLbR3MmHJmbXxunUtQaC6aBqMEvT40Z1ssECL4TD9d-/s1600/Mr+bloom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2TsZYnP490i89iGlQEzvtht2_O0ZuqZAQT8mxyvR8dybdLsTEZFsq3E8s3Rj3L0OrjzyplMMROF8kowxRS4pyWNd_nEmwrXQ1bLbR3MmHJmbXxunUtQaC6aBqMEvT40Z1ssECL4TD9d-/s320/Mr+bloom.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxyAZXzg7_lKv24B9hT5C_yvOXfSZ70jUPwBCkAMY4C9ZPFhbYCICwsgtDB1ZWBzgkbNL_lJBonrkfnFdQ7D3SQzqyoY-MRArODWFk-QBF367CgCgs7mrHUBEXEnpgDdfWjBsNBUJn9Q8/s1600/mr+bloom+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxyAZXzg7_lKv24B9hT5C_yvOXfSZ70jUPwBCkAMY4C9ZPFhbYCICwsgtDB1ZWBzgkbNL_lJBonrkfnFdQ7D3SQzqyoY-MRArODWFk-QBF367CgCgs7mrHUBEXEnpgDdfWjBsNBUJn9Q8/s320/mr+bloom+2.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Another
sensory experience was discovered by some of our pupils as we were standing
underneath a roller-coaster. We had to wait outside the Changing Places toilet
which was next to the Smiler roller-coaster ride with two of our pupils who
found great pleasure in the shaking, vibration and ‘clinking’ sounds as the
ride climbed up the slope along with the whooshing and shouts from the people
on board as the ride zoomed down. There is also music playing all around the
park as well as plenty of naturally occurring sounds and smells that were
enjoyed by many.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A
lot of work went into making the visit possible and staff and parent volunteers
were invaluable to making it a huge success. A fantastic day was had by all!</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482520651717964736.post-89991538824629784282017-08-16T07:53:00.002-07:002017-09-07T11:42:27.107-07:00Sensology: Waking up the senses<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">At the end of the Best of British SEN conference in London,
Lucy and I decided to treat ourselves to buying some of the classic Flo
Longhorn books that had been on our wish list. We opted to buy two books- The
Sensology Workout - Waking Up The Senses! and Massage Stories: Exploring
Communication Through Touch. Lucy also bought the book Once Upon a Touch...:
Story Massage for Children by Mary Atkinson which I have often borrowed! I recommend all three of these
books to anyone working with children with PMLD. The books present a wealth of
practical ideas alongside the theory which is very helpful. There are examples
of plans that have been used by both teachers and parents (I always find it
useful to see ‘what a good one looks like’ before creating my own). I have
implemented both Sensology sessions and Story Massage into my timetable for the
past two terms and the impact for my pupils has been fantastic. This post we
will focus on Sensology but I will go into story massage in a future post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<u>What does it look like?</u><br />
So what is Sensology? Well, it does what it says on the tin- it is a session to
wake up the senses! It allows pupils to engage in experiences that stimulate
each specific sense in turn through resources specifically selected for the
individuals you are supporting. This session provides important opportunities
for pupils to begin to show awareness, engagement and to develop preferences.
In my class I begin each session with the ‘busy body’ song. If you’ve ever
taught EYFS/kS1 you’re probably familiar with this tune but if not you can find
the song here <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.letsplaykidsmusic.com%2Five-got-a-body-action-song%2F&h=ATNrSoTfd3ZJM9NUPzXOJB18vqTyaQ_XjQGjEVyq-tqp9Pjh0EZmU0AUXRmg998MFOVI3qRwS-21sL7RF7zzbyR2PWVnps0DEO__NYC2Kurt6VwmnZbMs3zx8WjpBq8OpXioCllmXg" target="_blank">http://www.letsplaykidsmusic.com/ive-got-a-body-action-song/</a>.
We sing the corresponding verse of the song linking to the sense we are waking
up e.g. eyes for visual, ears for auditory and we encourage the children to
look in a mirror as either we point to the specific are or they find it
themselves depending on ability. After this it is then time to explore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Each child has their own Sensology box that contains resources unique to them
based on our existing knowledge of their preferences and suited to their level
of accessibility. It is important that the resources you select provide your
children with opportunities for independence; being able to ‘do’ rather than be
‘done to’ as can often be the case for our PMLD leaners. I would tend to avoid
any resources which will require hand over hand support. Following my learners
preferences helped me to find a good starting point for identifying the
experiences that they will engage in more readily for example, in my class I
have a pupil who is at the stage where he loves to look at people’s faces but
does not yet show very much awareness of other visual experiences. He will
independently engage in looking into a mirror, in fact he loves it and has a
really good giggle at himself! This can be extended by adding in lights such as
finger lights, a red clown nose etc. that may draw his focus and perhaps even
provide opportunities to develop unintentional movements into intentional ones.
We have noticed that this particular child is starting to notice black and
white visual stimuli so creating items such as a monochrome sensory umbrella
with hanging black and white and reflective stimuli will hopefully promote his
emerging awareness. During my session I offer opportunities for high
contrasting experiences: textures (e.g. sandpaper and jelly), tastes (e.g.
honey and soy sauce) and smells (e.g. peppermint and lavender). Offering two
very different experiences again lends itself to the development of
preferences. You can find an example of the Sensology session I delivered with
my class last year on our resources TES page.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<u>How often we do it?<br />
</u>I do a Sensology session every morning and it lasts 20-30 minutes (the
duration is directed by the children- if they show particular interest we may
focus on one area for longer). We turn the lights off to help our children to
focus on each sense without visual clutter (you can keep them on for the visual
section but I usually have them off as I use different types of lights for many
of my learners). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<u>Why do Sensology?</u><br />
Since beginning this session I have really noticed the impact on my pupils.
Within my class I have noticed signs of anticipation amongst my pupils, a
definite increase in awareness and signs of preferences. One of my learners has
learned to communicate a definite ‘yes’ and ‘no’ which he happily exercises in
the session to make choices between the high contrasting experiences. Another
pupil adores the opportunity for tasting and will now open his mouth in
anticipation when he hears the word taste. He has also learned to say ‘more’ in
context and without any prompting to repeat his favourite experiences where
previously he has only used words randomly rather than to communicate. During
our ‘smell’ activities I use a water spray with the added scent oil, before
spraying we say ready, steady….go! Some of our pupils will now indicate ‘go’
when they are ready through movement or vocalisation) and show that they are
anticipating the spray with giggles or closing of the eyes. These achievements
did not happen after one session or even a week of sessions but over the space
of a term and for some longer. As each pupil has their own personal box it is
easy to differentiate and change the experiences at a pace that is appropriate
for each child. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjReFVbMy24TVHZa0gYHDiFmEHenjxacQ4eCEUuRSo05A1CUEOWo741uaGxx5Y5UDtdBzxnwcTdYRiV9Q5c1iEqT2HTmv4HaaphDDsjsrwlNkeOnRQaijrfRCQKQFSw-E3LBwa1i8LM8irO/s1600/20883560_10155473971053828_1010262393_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1334" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjReFVbMy24TVHZa0gYHDiFmEHenjxacQ4eCEUuRSo05A1CUEOWo741uaGxx5Y5UDtdBzxnwcTdYRiV9Q5c1iEqT2HTmv4HaaphDDsjsrwlNkeOnRQaijrfRCQKQFSw-E3LBwa1i8LM8irO/s320/20883560_10155473971053828_1010262393_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<br />
You can find an example of the Sensology session I have used with my class this
year for free on our TES resource page <a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/sensology-session-for-pupils-with-pmld-11692979" target="_blank">here</a> or search </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sensory_Dispensary on TES. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. I have included my own planning
template as well as the one I used for a lesson observation as this includes
greater detail and explanation. Please note that some areas have been removed
to protect the identities of the children. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All of Flo Longhorn's books are available to order from her website: </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://flopublications.com/index.php/book-sales" target="_blank">http://flopublications.com/index.php/book-sales </a></span></span><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Sensory Dispensaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12078231910748989123noreply@blogger.com1