An expedition for all the senses – Brays Special School
Brays Special School, a primary school for children with physical, learning and complex medical conditions, is one of only five special schools to have received the accolade of becoming a national School of Creativity. The inspirational school takes this responsibility in its stride, leading the way in developing and using infrared and ultrasound technologies to improve its pupils' access to the arts, develop their communication, and express their own creativity.
Through modifying their existing technologies staff at Brays are exploring how younger pupils and those with mobility and sensory impairments can be assisted in creating their own music and artistic products more independently, and therefore be shown to be making progress in areas of their work which have thus far been difficult to observe and assess.
Cue the creation of a dedicated space for sensory drama and music workshops!
The ambience created in the Sensory Drama Room has been vital. In a space only five by four metres, the installation of theatrical lighting and a surrounding sound system, along with projectors, multisensory objects and instruments have given enormous flexibility to the space. Importantly, there is a sign on the door forbidding anyone to enter during these child-led sessions: the magic created and shared by staff and children must never be broken!
In the true spirit of Creative Partnerships, pupils' reactions to the space have had a direct influence on how the sensory room has been designed. With the help of teaching assistants and staff, three creative practitioners were involved in devising and sometimes running the workshops. As one explained:
"The children were given roles and responsibilities whenever possible. They decided where the special space should be and how it should look and feel. They were also invited to prepare the space before we started. This space evolved over the project as they became more and more involved. We established a structure for activities but content was very much child-led."
Throughout the life of the project, all pupils and staff had many opportunities to work with at least one of the practitioners and to share their experiences with each other through regular evaluation and planning meetings involving all staff. Pupils are immersed in multisensory learning experiences in the weekly-changing workshops in the dedicated Sensory Drama Room and then transfer those learning opportunities into the classroom.
Brays have developed a new Creative Curriculum which aims to cover all aspects of the National Curriculum through themes such as 'Space', 'Ice Worlds' and 'The Body' so that Science, Geography and History are given their proper place on the timetable. However, the personal curriculum of each of the children - the wide ranging barriers to learning presented by such a diverse group - is also supported. The skills needed to look and see, hear and listen, touch and explore are all stepping stones to sharing experiences and developing emerging communication in a much wider sense.
Through the process, pupils have begun to acquire knowledge and understanding of some curriculum areas which had proved to be ‘difficult to teach’, such as History and Geography. An understanding of the moon, foreign places, the inside of the body is made possible by using the space to give an authentic sense of the subject. It is then possible to differentiate upwards from there for children able to work at a higher level through extended work in the classroom. Pupils work through drama, movement, poetry, music, storytelling and a range of other creative activities to engage with the topics and to deepen their learning.
The deputy head proudly recalls: "Staff have stopped me in the corridor to recount tales of pupil achievement such as [young person] who picked up the stones hidden in the sensory room and declared that they were the Snow Queen's tears."
The parents have been taken into the sensory workshops, which has given them first-hand experience of how powerful the approach is and has demonstrated its potential to reach their children where other methods may have failed. Low achievers, pupils with behavioural issues, and even gifted and talented children have all taken huge strides since being involved in sensory learning. Various stimuli such as smell and sound have been particularly effective at offering an entry point to more abstract or distant or unfamiliar concepts such as a North African market place or the Arctic.
One member of staff recounts: "Just today, one of the children took my hand and dragged me to the space and he was sniffing the air and it was amazing for that child. For the children with either visual or hearing impairment it’s just such a great opportunity to do focused work with a level of excitement."
Involving staff in collaborating with the practitioners to devise themes and scenarios has led to a strong feeling of ownership across the school. There is even pressure on the space used for the workshops as teachers demand their time in there, preferring to work with smaller groups. Over the three years that Brays has been a School of Creativity there have been 400 workshops in the Sensory Drama Room, some with practitioners, and this has produced a huge body of evaluation and experiences for children and adults alike. This has meant that staff are reflecting and being far more observational of their pupils’ responses and progress, taking that approach into their classrooms too.
The practitioners are contributing so much, but learning too, both from each other and from the school’s staff and pupils. Their commitment to, and engagement with, the process has been exemplary and they all speak of their own practise being enhanced greatly. The goal of affecting teaching practice beyond the project has been accomplished, and thanks to the level of understanding and trust between the practitioners, staff and children, Brays can now look to consolidate all of their hard work during their final year.
