Chailey Heritage School

The school’s multisensory studio is designed to stimulate the senses and allows pupils to explore and interact with different sensations. The specially designed equipment can be used to encourage awareness of abstract concepts or help to give a wider understanding of the world through new experiences.

The studio can be used to experience “sensory stories” or journeys through movement, touch, sensation, sound, images or smell. A child restricted to a wheel chair, who also has a visual impairment, can start to understand what sensations they would experience during a walk through a forest, or what they can expect to discover under the sea.

Pupils are helped to experience movement in different ways such as: moving their bodies to music or feeling the vibrations of a drum on their body. They are encouraged towards moving independently, where possible, through being rolled or rolling on their own, having their feet and legs covered with foil/bubble, wrap/blanket and being encouraged to move legs to get rid of the cover; experiencing being upright and moving freely in an overhead sling; experiencing sliding and rocking. Pupils can also experience Intensive Interaction in the multisensory studio as well as Tac Pac; massage to legs, feet and toes in turn.

Our Multisensory Studio has just undergone a £35,000 refurbishment so we have some fantastic new equipment including:

• a resonating platform where pupils can feel the music vibrating.

• an interactive platform; pupils can be suspended over this in a hoist and play music and light up tiles on contact.

• a new bubble tube surrounded by mirrors.

• a colour wash wall for visual stimulation.

• a water bed which encourages movement.

• a new projector which can play DVDs and music.

• a story frame where multisensory items can be hung and pictures shown.

• UV mats and lights for visual stimulation.

• Wii games console.

• Water template – this template produces a realistic water effect, which when interacted with by movement or touch creates a ripple effect distorting the underlying image.
• Splat template – objects appear on the surface and try to avoid capture. When a player waves over an object or hits the object on the mat it is splatted and produces an animation.
• Wipe template – upon interaction by movement or touch the top image is wiped away showing a smooth and glowing transition effect as the lower image is gradually revealed.