Shining Future for City's Special Needs Teaching
(Courtesy of Bath Chronicle, 29 November 2006)
Photographs and illustrations added from various sources
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One
of the education world’s 21st century buzz words is ‘inclusion’.
Inclusion is a policy which seeks to ensure all children have access
to the same levels and privileges of education, whatever their
academic, physical or mental ability. |
An inclusive policy aims to ensure that all children
are incorporated into the education system, and that none misses
out. It is aimed at children with special needs, the
exceptionally bright and those at danger of falling out of the
system through no fault of their own.
Often special needs pupils are simply integrated into
mainstream schooling without sufficient thought about their needs.
But this has sparked fears across the country that children with
special needs could miss out on the very particular attention they
need. |
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Bath and North East
Somerset Council, is, however, bucking the trend seen elsewhere, where
special schools have been under threat of closure, by creating the new
£11m Three Ways School in Odd Down. The school will become a hub
for special needs teaching, allowing full-time or part-time study for
children while providing a support system for mainstream schools. |
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Three Ways
school effectively opened last September, following the closure
of the Lime Grove, Summerfield and
Royal
United
Hospital special schools.Head teacher Julie Dyer said: “The school will
have all the resources needed for pupils referred to it, but it
will be about flexibility. Three Ways will be part of the B&NES
education system, not outside it. We’re looking at
inclusion from a different slant – pupils could be with us five
days a week, or just one day, and in mainstream education the
rest of the time”
The final stages of creating Three Ways and
combating any fears that children with special needs are missing
out is now being entered, as the council counts down to the
opening of Three Ways classrooms in September.
Parents, staff, governors, social services, NHS
workers, voluntary organisations, and – of course – children and
young people themselves, were all consulted over the proposed
scheme for Three Ways. |
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Lime Grove site |
RUH site |
Summerfield site |
In September this year, 150 pupils aged
from two to 19 will all have access to the state-of-the-art equipment and high-quality buildings set out for their specific
needs at the new premises.
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Since 2000, B&NES
Council has been looking into provision for special needs children
and consultation led to the decision to create a new special school
in the city. Three years later
some £5m funding was secured from the Government and a council-owned
site at Frome Road was secured. The school has been designed
by main architects B3 Burgess to take a full range of age groups and
abilities into account. It will feature a
hub of shared facilities, including offices, a hall, and meeting
rooms, and will also have satellite areas established for the
different age groups with suitable learning and social areas.
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On top of this there
are specialist rooms for subjects such as science, information
technology and food, and a hydrotherapy classroom in the basement.
And crowning it all off will be a sensory studio. An existing
Victorian building on the site has been incorporated and will house
the nursery class, as well as crèche facilities. Cllr Jonathan Gay,
B&NES executive member for children’s services, said: “The
Three
Ways
School and
its sensory studio will be unique in the
UK . B&NES Council is delighted to be able to offer students
and the wider community these fantastic new facilities. This
school will help students to gain a fulfilling and fun education.”
On the 28th November 2006 the site was “topped out” at a ceremony that marked the progress
made in the 12 months since building works began. It also
heralded the start of the countdown to a May 2007 finishing date. B&NES head of
strategic services Tony Parker said: “Progress is going really well
and topping out is a chance to recognise that and the hard work it’s
taken to get this far. It’s not a form of handing over; there
is still a lot of work to do and everyone will be digging in even
harder for the next six months to make sure we’re ready.
Pupils have been kept updated and the head teacher has had several
visits. Now we’re in the later stages, we hope pupils will be
able to see what’s going on – there’s a pool and other things for
them to look at now, not just walls where they have to imagine what
will be there.
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Floor to ceiling frieze to wrap around the interior
corridor wall of the Sensory Studio - Ray Smith 2006
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Pop Stars throw weight behind Three Ways studio.
Earlier this month the
Three
Ways
School launched
a pop star-backed campaign to equip one of its most impressive features
– the sensory theatre. Education officials have teamed up with a company
launched by pop stars Vince Clark from Erasure and Martyn Ware from the
Human League to create the specialist studio. But £500,000 is needed to kit out the centre, which is
set to be a hub of the school. It will allow pupils to experience
new sensations and develop their learning in an exciting environment. |
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The aim of the New
Worlds sensory theatre is to take pupils into a different world – a
world of fantasy, far-removed from their day-to-day life and
difficulties.
The egg-shaped venue will have sensors which will pick up
on pupils’ movements and then alter the music, lights and other sensory
stimuli. Head teacher Julie Dyer
said: “For a profoundly disabled child, with little or no control over
their own body, to experience the thrill of running through a green
forest would seem the stuff of fantasy. Yet the technology already
exists to create this forest and this purpose-built sensory studio is
currently under construction.”
Illustrious, the company backed by the pop stars and
designer Jason Bruges, is renowned for creating such three-dimensional
projects for high-profile clients such as the
Victoria &
Albert
Museum , the
Science
Museum and the Royal Ballet.
But the
Bath studio will see their technology applied to
disabled children, and bosses hope it will become a national focus for
research, attracting teachers and artists working at the forefront of
education and technology.
Around £80,000 for the
sensory theatre was pledged before the appeal was even launched, and
more funds have since rolled in. But more money is needed.
Mrs Dyer said: “We now need the support of everyone who
believes in pushing educational boundaries and making new worlds of
learning accessible to all.” |
Leadbitter Construction is involved in building the
theatre. Its regional director; Rob Bradley, said: “It’s a really
well thought out building and will look absolutely fantastic. The
sensory theatre is not something we do every day so is a great
challenge. The difficulty with construction was its unusual shape:
everything had to fit with the curvature of the egg. It is not
completed yet but the wooden skeleton has been finished and looks superb
– we’re now starting to fit the copper cladding.” |
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the huge timber
frame will be clad in copper |
Anyone who would like to find out more about helping the school raise money should contact
Julie Dyer on 01225 838070 or,
email threeways_spe@bathnes.gov.uk.
Donations with cheques made payable to
Three Ways School
Three Ways School
180 Frome Road
Bath Somerset BA2 5RF
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