Landau Forte Academy Greenacres now has additional resources for its sensory rooms, thanks to funding from local children’s charity, Simon’s Heroes.
The school, based in Amington, caters for children aged 4-11 years old, fifty of which are on the Special Educational Needs (SEN) register.
Claire Poynton, SENDCo, explained: ‘Like most mainstream schools within Staffordshire, the number of children with more complex SEN attending school is rising. We have a number of children whose parents would like them to attend specialist provisions but there are no spaces.
‘These children have communication and interaction needs and they are not yet ready to access the curriculum of their age-related peers. Many of the children are non-verbal and use echolalia as their only form of communication or they have a diagnosis of autism or are on the pathway for assessment. Most have sensory needs and require 1:1 support to help them to engage in play and learning.
‘As the need for specialist provision continued to increase, we created two dedicated sensory rooms to help the children self-regulate and access learning through play. However, we still required a greater range of equipment to better meet their needs, learning experiences and to keep them engaged.
‘We approached Simon’s Heroes to see if the charity could help fund some additional resources. We were thrilled when they agreed to cover the cost of the items on our wish list. The rooms now contain a wealth of items, including bubble lamps, busy boards, bean bags, shape & number puzzles, a sand table, teaching clock and sensory mats to name a few!
‘These additional resources are already making a difference; the children are far more engaged and interactive and it has enhanced the level of support we provide. We are very grateful to Simon’s Heroes for their generous donation.’
Author: C Abbott.
