Ryhope Infant School Academy have opened their new outdoor learning and play area to support children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Okay, the kids are having a great time. Here's where the idea came from for this new play
00:18room.
00:19It's just been a change in the number of children with SEN, more complex needs, so
00:25we felt that we needed to create a space to meet their needs and ensure that they're
00:31learning and making progress and happy coming into school.
00:33What are some of the things we've got here then?
00:37So we created a big outdoor space and felt that they needed a climbing area, so this
00:44space was completely empty before and used. We've created a swing, there's a climbing
00:51wall, an A-frame to climb over, there's the monkey bars and hanging bars. Then we've
00:56got a big water world which the children absolutely love and have lots of fun in, which has meant
01:03that there's been lots more social skills developed and the children want to interact
01:07more with each other and play with each other, and also interact with the adults, requesting
01:12people on the swing, requesting adults to push them, so it's really developing those
01:16social skills.
01:18And what's in the indoor area as well? There's an indoor space as well, isn't there?
01:21That's more, it has more sensory areas, it's got a soft play, it's got lots of jigsaws,
01:28puzzles, numbers, so we try and focus on more formal, well not formal learning, but math,
01:36English, those type of activities indoors and then it's the big space outside.
01:40So just how pleased are you with the result then?
01:42We're absolutely over the moon and the children are absolutely loving coming into school,
01:47really happy, regulated, and much more engaged, and I've had huge positive feedback from parents
01:54as well, they're loving it as well.
02:17Oh you've got to be quick! Go on then, show them what you do!