Staff at Rutherford School combined forces to create an immersive experience in reading for students with disabilities on World Book Day.
A core component of Rutherford School’s curriculum is the ability of staff to combine both therapies and learning experiences to create bespoke learning activities for each student. Teachers, TAs, nurses, physios and therapists combined forces to create an immersive experience in reading for World Book Day. Classrooms were transformed with a variety of themed stations. Each station explored a skill or sensory element. From fine motor skills utilising buttons, to sounds and light tracking, each class became a book or a film scape.
Staff and students alike wore costumes, with staff tailoring each costume to the needs of their students. Mermaid tails tied to wheelchair frames and masks were among some of the adornments worn by students on the day.
Students in Caroll class built upon work in their previous mental health week utilising “Inside Out” to identify emotions. Students in Malik class explored the rhyming language of Dr Seuss. Simmonds class was taken under the sea with The Little Mermaid and a sweet feast of candy land was explored by Keller in Charlie and Chocolate Factory. You can see a sneak peak of the classrooms on The Garwood Foundation’s social media.
World Book Day didn’t stop there. Celebrations continued with reading week focussing on a love of books and reading. As Rutherford School’s curriculum is sensory based and pre formal, phonics are explored in an appropriate way for the cohort, supporting communication and early literacy skills. Repetition and revisiting helps reinforce learning, supports
memory retention, and provides students with multiple opportunities to process and vitally, to understand information at their own pace.
Lindi Paterson, Rutherford School’s Teaching and Learning Lead, explained “Repeating activities and concepts in PMLD (Profound and Multiple Disabilities) teaching are essential to help our students learn. It helps build confidence, consistency, and a sense of security. Additionally, repetition allows for sensory and motor integration, helping students make connections and build meaningful skills over time. We really love World Book Day and bringing the school together for a celebration of books, phonics and reading.”
Rutherford School, part of The Garwood Foundation, are a unique educational setting for young people with profound and multiple disabilities. They are currently fundraising the last £100,000 of a £2.5 million target to complete building works currently taking place at the school. These will provide a new hydrotherapy pool, an extra classroom enabling more students to be supported and accessible community meeting space. You can read more and support the Space to Thrive appeal on the Garwood Foundation’s website: www.garwoodfoundation.org.uk/space-to-thrive