| The Rosehill School, which has twice been listed as a particularly successful school by the Chief Inspector of Schools, caters for 84 pupils aged 4 to 19 years who have autistic spectrum disorders. As part of the school’s on-going development the staff recognised there was a need for a sensory suite and Deputy Headteacher, Andy Sloan, set about approaching local charity, Wooden Spoon, to see if they could help.
After receiving Andy’s letter, the Nottinghamshire Committee jumped at the chance to help with the new sensory room as their second project. The suite was built during the school summer holidays and since the new school term has started all the 84 pupils have used the suite and the benefits are already plain to see.
The room was formally opened on Tuesday October, 9 by Nottinghamshire Honorary President and former England player, Dusty Hare and Jo Healy (BBC Local Newsreader). Others in attendance were members of the Nottinghamshire Wooden Spoon Committee, a Wooden Spoon National Trustee, representative from the Council, School Governors, the Head Teacher and pupils, staff and parents.
Mr Sloan, said: “This is more than a sensory room. It is interactive, allowing the pupils to interact with the sounds, smells and lights. The room is flexible allowing teachers to adapt the room to each pupils needs. It has transformed the way we can do lessons. Many of our pupils find it difficult to be taught in the traditional methods and have difficulty processing the vast amount of sensory information that is around them. This new room helps the child deal with the input of sensory information in a controlled way by introducing a variety of stimuli one at a time. One class has had a lesson about the seaside. Rather than just looking at pictures we were able to create the wind machine, the sounds and the smells from the seaside in the room. You could see the difference it made to the pupils in the lesson.”
 The school, in St Matthias Road, has a dedicated member of staff who is making sure the room is being incorporated into the schools lessons and is constantly identifying new ways to use it. Plans are being put together to open the suite up to parents and pupils after school finishes in the afternoon.
Mr Sloan added: “The new facility is a tremendous asset and provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to develop and enhance the work we can do with pupils with autism This new rooms provides not only a calm relaxing environment but one where pupils can take control of their environment and become more aware of themselves in space. It helps greatly in the development of spontaneous interaction and communication, areas in which pupils with autism have great difficulty. We are now embarking on a new journey of discovery to see how we can develop the room and, together with Experia (the company who designed and built the room), we hope to continually adapt and modify the room as pupils show us what they need within this new amazing environment.”
Gary Pearce, Regional Treasurer of Nottinghamshire Wooden Spoon, said: “It’s great to be able to support a local school and help them provide the best equipment to teach their pupils. By donating this money we know we are helping lots of families in Nottinghamshire, which is what Wooden Spoon prides itself on. The room has already proved a great success and we are looking forward to hearing how it develops in the future.”
|
