At Clare Community Primary School we are dedicated to the inclusion and personal development of all children, including those identified as having special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Staff create opportunities for children to have access to resources and environment that promote them achieving their best academic and personal potential, whatever their difficulties might be.
The Nurture Room is a focal point of the school, a safe and calm space to recharge before returning to the classroom. Children benefit from an experienced member of staff placed in the Nurture Room every afternoon. The room creates a calm, soothing atmosphere with activities that encourage children to have various sensory experiences, helping them to communicate with each other within a small group and have opportunities to learn and practise social and self-regulation skills.
Older children can use the Nurture Room to complete work in a calmer environment when needed, and to take a sensory break before returning to their classroom. We focus on developing children’s self-regulation skills through using Colour Monsters and Zones of Regulations. The strategies teach children to take ownership of recognising their feelings and learning how to deal with them pro-actively, e.g. taking a small or big body break, to breathe.
As a school, we believe that everyone is responsible for teaching children with SEND and the SEND Co-ordinator (SENDCo) is responsible for ensuring teachers and support staff have access to the training opportunities to be able to meet the variety of needs of children at the school. Staff update their knowledge regularly and we believe this creates a unique self-reflective environment of learning and sharing expertise to help children with SEND.