SEN







		Playful Learning Resources and Training


	Delightfully put together. Ready to inspire and support young children’s learning. A brilliant resource Penny Tassoni, Author They are fantastic! Anita M. Hughes, Author Developing Play for the Under Threes - The Treasure Basket and Heuristic Play

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Site last updated 30th November 2008


	Feedback on SEN / Inclusion - Playscope Resources

When we picked up the bag and opened it up and saw all of the objects we were really excited. I will use these resources with all our children—we have children aged 7 to 19 years.

Kelly Anne Thornton, Trainee Play Therapist, Sunfield Training and Residential School for children with autism

The resources offer some imaginative ideas for role play which could be related to the National Curriculum. The activities can also be presented in a 1:1 situation with the teacher and the child if an individual finds a group situation too difficult. Any changes which needed to be made to the resources to suit a particular group of children could be made by the teaching staff as the resources are adaptable. In all, I feel the Playscope cards are a useful resource for teachers, particularly in key stage 2. Ideas are given to implement the curriculum through play. I feel the resources are appropriate for all children who benefit from learning through play, across SEN and mainstream. I will continue to use some ideas suggested by Playscope.

Clare Harris, Key Stage 2 teacher at Sunfield Training and Residential School for children with autism

This resource is appropriate for children of all ages and stages. Our observations have shown it is suitable for all children, with development delay or a range of learning difficulties. Treasure baskets are fully inclusive as children access the resources at their own level, from which practitioners can observe and plan next steps.

Clare Scott and Catherine Sutton, Early Years Support Teachers, Norfolk County Council

During my time at Orchard Barns I was lucky enough to be able to help with the trial of the Playscope Treasure Basket and activities. I found the activities to be extremely easy to set up and carry out with the children. Orchard Barns is a setting which promotes a very inclusive policy through the daily routine and activities we provide. The activities for the basket were excellent and produced in such a way that all of the children were able to participate in all areas. I found the variations and extensions ideas very helpful as it allowed myself and my staff to differentiate the activities to meet the needs of each individual child in the group. As the activities were laid out so easily and clearly I was able to select which activities to use to support the learning needs and style of my group of children. By using the basket I was able to promote all of the areas of learning in the foundation stage.

The children particularly enjoyed singing the songs at the beginning and end of the sessions. When I begin to sing the Discovery Song ‘Gather around the basket of fun’ the children begin to get very excited and know it is time to gather on the floor in a big circle. Again at the end of the session the children happily tidy away singing the tidy away song.

One of the children in my group had severe autism. Child A really enjoyed using the basket and often requested the activities using the photograph of the basket I had put onto her PECS system. Child A also recognised the Discovery Song and knew where to access the basket when I began to sing the song. She loved to explore the objects in the basket and this really helped to develop her concentration skills. As this was one of the targets on the Individual educational plan I used the basket with her on a regular basis. Needless to say I found the treasure basket an invaluable resource and it is used throughout the setting on a regular basis.

Jennie Turkington Team Leader, Orchard Barns Private Kindergarten, Ardleigh

In early December I observed a session in a reception classroom at a Primary School. In a busy and often noisy classroom six children, three boys and three girls chose to freely play with the Playscope Complete Set for over an hour and half. Throughout this period the children played quietly with focus and concentration. At no point was any adult intervention needed. During this time the children explored individually and at times cooperatively: making dinner, making musical instruments, wrapping up the items, hiding objects, building towers, going on a picnic, listening to the sea, etc. Focussed play even continued after this observation. The free play session with the Treasure Basket allowed all the children to play with the resources at their own level and to pursue their own interests. One child in particular, who was experiencing some transitional personal, social and emotional difficulties, explored the resources in the most diverse ways. This child demonstrated considerable creativity and was responsible for introducing several play themes including wrapping up and hiding objects, creating musical instruments, listening to the sea and building towers.

Sue Gascoyne Play to Z Ltd, observation of free play session in Reception Class at a Primary School (name of Primary School withheld for confidentiality purposes).

Feedback, casestudies and testimonials on using the Fidget Floor Mats

The children gathered round the Basket as the song began. They loved having their own space and mat to sit on. The children loved exploring different marks in the sand. This led to naming various shapes. One child made repeating patterns of squares with a wooden hammer. The children remained calm throughout the activity and began to show individual preferences as to which items they liked best.

Rachel Smith, Sparrows Team Leader, Orchard Barns Private Kindergarten, Ardleigh

C (my small granddaughter) loves the mat- it really helps her focus and ground herself. Both the OT and physiotherapist think the mat is brilliant. C sits on it at home and it goes to bed with her every night.

I just wanted to reiterate [my] comments about the floor mat that we bought at the education show. C finds it very useful, it gives her a visual focus and physical position to sit.

I have attached a photo of C on a visit to the Mayors parlour [see photo] with her Beavers and Cubs. It is not the clearest picture but you can just see the ribbons under her bottom, and her beautiful sitting position! This type of formal situation would, in the past, have been difficult for C particularly as the expectation is for independent sitting.

The visual and physical stimulus that she gains from the mat act as reminders, and she also fiddles to provide sensory input aiding her stillness. As you can see she is sat entirely on her own which is also an improvement as in the past she would search for adult reassurance and would, almost certainly, have been sat on my knee or leaning against the nearest adult! This certainly includes her more into any situation, in fact the occasion at the Mayors parlour was her first meeting with the Beavers, she was very quickly integrated into the colony on the evening and has been back with great success, no mean feat for a child with her communication difficulties.

C is 5 years 10 months old, of average to above average intelligence, she has verbal dyspraxia (has physical difficulties making some letter sounds) which has impacted on her speech since pre- school. She has recently been investigated for physical dyspraxia. Whilst undergoing assessment it was her hypermobility (which we have know about since birth but medics were not concerned by) that raised most concern with the OT. She has loose ligaments throughout her body and can bend herself into a myriad of unnatural positions! This however means that she does not get positional sensory input from her joints when still, her coping strategy for this has been to fidget!

The OT recommended a variety of tools to enable focussed fidgeting, such as magnetic rocks and Tangles. I was attracted to the mat due to its bright colours, the sensory aspect of the ribbons and the potential for attaching fiddly things to the loops! As yet I have not tried attaching things but would consider bungee springs (of the key-ring variety) attached to Tangle, bead strings, or small textured objects (e.g. the knitted dollies from the Playscope treasure basket for example). The joy of this of course is that they can be changed easily and are less likely to get lost when moving around school. I feel with some encouragement and vision the mat could be put to a wide variety of uses with a greater number of children.

Liz,Teaching Assistant and mother of C

Just to let you know how we have been getting on with the fidget mat. The mat is being used with a 5 year old boy who is on the special needs register at School Action Plus. His main difficulties are poor concentration and listening skills, inappropriate behaviour towards other children and attention seeking behaviour. The mat was introduced to the class via a discussion about things that we find easy or difficult to do, the children were asked to give examples of things they found difficult, like reading, writing, painting and the teacher introduced the idea of children who find it difficult to sit still and listen. Good role models in the class were asked to have a go on the mat to see if they thought it would help them to sit still and they thought they didn’t need it. The targeted child was very interested in the mat and both he and the other children felt it would help him.

The mat is kept on one side and when the teacher needs the children to sit on the carpet as a group R gets the mat and sits down on it, and it his responsibility to return the mat to its designated place at the end of the session.

The deal is if R doesn’t return the mat or use it as expected then another child will get to use it. This has only happened once.

Before the mat was introduced R would fidget and roll on the carpet, touch other children, get up and wander around, be unable to listen and to look at the teacher, he would often return to the group and clamber over his classmates. Since the mat has been introduced, R will sit cross-legged looking at his teacher. He is able to sit on the carpet for longer periods of time. He will sit still and look at his teacher. The teaching staff feel that the mat has made a real difference to his behaviour in whole class group situations.

When asked in a questionnaire How would you rate the impact of the resource in promoting inclusive practice? the class teacher and Senco responded Excellent. The class teacher feels that by sitting on the mat and being able to focus R is more able to join other pupils in carrying out teaching instructions and completing tasks. He seems (so far*) to be more a part of the class and therefore more included. It has made a remarkable difference. (* This change in behaviour is based on just 2 weeks use of the Fidget Floor Mat.)

Sue Frazer, SENCO reflecting upon use of the Fidget Floor Mat in a Primary School (The name of the Primary School has been withheld for confidentiality purposes.

We used the Floor Mats with our 1 -2 year olds during Circle Time and special activity time. When we first got the mats out the children were very curious and excited about what they were. The children were proud to each sit on their own mat and enjoyed fiddling with the different ribbons around the edge. We found the children sat for longer as they could fiddle with the ribbons if they got bored. The children enjoyed exploring the mats and found a variety of uses for the mats. The children enjoyed stacking the mats up and using them as stepping stones. We also played a version of musical chairs, that we called ‘musical mats’ and the children loved this. Prior to using the Floor Mats the children had problems sitting still and maintaining concentration. Once the children were able to sit on the mats (they) showed improved concentration.

Nursery Practitioner, Orchard Barns Private Kindergarten, Ardleigh, Essex observations on using the Mats to ease transitions.