We were pleased to award Featherstone Wood Primary School and Nursery an award to create a sensory room and resources. The wide range of wonderful equipment covered such items as a sensory mood water table, weighted lap pads, a LED inflatable pool and a dark den.
Sarah Haynes (Deputy Head) clearly explained the need for the room and equipment, giving her school’s high proportion of SEN pupils in comparison with other local schools and their disproportionate need for social/emotional wellbeing interventions.
Sarah then went on to explain who the room would help and how it would benefit them:
“The aim of the sensory room is not only to benefit our children with ASD and sensory disorders on a rota basis, but will also be used to support other children within the school with emotional and behavioural support as and when it is needed.
By having this sensory room we hope to create an environment for all of our children to learn to regulate their behaviour, giving them a safe and supportive space to work through and gain understanding about their emotions. This in turn will reduce disruption and improve focus in the classroom, allowing the children to progress with their learning.
The sensory room will also be used for our small nurture groups, it will be an ideal safe space for those children to be provided with the emotional support that they need.”
Sarah also addressed our criteria for benefitting as many pupils as possible and the longevity of those benefits:
“…the nurture room will give us a permanent shared space that is away from the classroom and can be used for all future cohorts. All pupils have the prospect of benefitting from our new sensory room and it will help to create a more focused learning environment in our classrooms.”