Memorandum submitted by Brays School, Sheldon, Birmingham

 

Summary

· Creativity supports teaching and learning across all ability ranges including those children with the most complex needs.

· ICT based creative technologies can support curriculum innovation and delivery and provide step change in terms of outcomes

· Training is required to work with creative concepts in order to meet the needs of the individual learners. Concepts can easily be taught to motivated classroom practitioners.

· Research into our new curriculum delivery has reflected a positive impact upon teaching and learning for all children.

· Creative innovation supports the 'Every Child Matters' outcomes framework.

 

 

1. The Setting:

 

Brays School is a primary (2-11 years) special school set in the heart of multicultural Birmingham. Many of our children live in challenging circumstances and over half come from communities where English is as an additional language in the home.

 

All of the children have severe and complex needs which arise from their physical, medical and learning difficulties. Many learners also have visual and hearing impairment and some also exhibit behavioural difficulties as a result of their medical conditions. Children typically work below National Curriculum levels at P level (pre-national curriculum levels P1-8) and many learners attain at the lowest P levels of P1-3 (comparable to children aged up to 1 year).

 

 

2. Impetus to Change The Curriculum:

 

Over the last 4 years Brays has been systematically working its way to develop a curriculum that will best meet the needs of our very complex children. To us the curriculum must be accessible and appropriate, flexible and adaptable to change at individual learner level, stimulating and above all life enhancing.

 

Traditional tried and tested curriculum delivery can serve the majority of our higher level learners but the most complex learners suffer from having no natural in built referencing systems to start from. E.g. everyday objects may or may not mean something cognitively to the most complex children. Not knowing what an item is can be a barrier to understanding an activity, and when this is removed the effect is to make each child a co-explorer with everyone else in the room, including the staff, increasing self-esteem and active participation.

 

Innovation:

 

It is hard to imagine where we were 4 years ago and just how much things have changed in how, where and by what means we deliver accessible learning opportunities for our children. The processes whereby those questions have been addressed have been process-led and child-led, and it is this which has been so beneficial for everyone involved. As teachers we have discovered new strategies for making the curriculum accessible to all of our children, whilst the children have achieved and progressed in quantifiable ways. The professionals have been challenged and have developed their own practise and skills which they can now transfer to other schools where they work. They include children's story writers, a visual artist and musicians developing new computer technologies and Soundbeam methods, and a theatre company. These are important new outcomes which will have long term benefits.

Additionally, the idea of creative learning spaces beyond the typical classroom setting is now well developed within other areas of school.

Examples:

Ø Our light and sound room doubles as our interactive sensory room whereby children experiences are created by themselves and to the delight of others.

Ø Our pool is a sensory world of light, music and water movements which works effectively for all learners developing many skills, enabling them to discover and refine reactions which may not present in other situations.

Ø Taking magical and surprising activities into the limited garden areas around school makes the outdoor classroom a reality, even for children with the highest levels of need. This is our initial approach to Forest Schools ideas upon which we intend to build in the coming year.

 

Using innovative 'Soundbeam' technologies children create their own sounds in whatever way they can. (Soundbeam is an amplification system incorporating an ICT based movement recognition system whereby children create sounds by moving their bodies, pieces of equipment, in fact whatever they can, through light beams to create unique sounds).

 

 

3. Impact

 

The new way of working impacts on our children's ability to engage in their learning, remain focussed, accept supported challenge (both physical and cognitive), work with others in and beyond their school community and increase their knowledge and skill level.

 

Our most challenging targets are always for those most complex children as they have to do so much to move even a small amount cognitively. By remodelling how we work with these children we can see and evidence progress (as evidenced through the Annual Review of Statement of Special Educational Need and their Individual Education Plan targets).

 

The curriculum developments that we initially thought would support our most complex children have also had a huge beneficial effect on the other children with higher cognition and skill levels. They too are able to articulate more, support and work with their peers and adults more effectively , acquire additional skills (that we thought perhaps rather challenging) and above all provide oral or creative work that reflects significant progress.

 

July 2007