Tessa Hyde

Sensory wellbeing is central to everything in the early years. This practical toolkit helps you understand how sensory experiences can impact on young children’s ability to play, learn and connect, and turn that understanding into everyday action, across your whole setting. Written for busy early years teams, the book accessibly explains the eight senses and shows how sensory profiles can look very different from child to child. With everything you need to create a setting where all children feel safe, regulated, and ready to learn and thrive, it: Helps you spot when behaviour is really a child communicating, “this feels too much”, or “I need more input”. Encourages the reader to explore their own sensory preferences and triggers, because regulated adults create regulated spaces. Is packed with resources, including a self-assessment tool and audit, universal and targeted strategies, and suggestions for environment tweaks. Provides realistic, easy-to-implement next steps that can be adapted for different settings. Whether you’re a key worker, room leader, SENCO or nursery manager, this book will help you embed sensory inclusion into your routines, culture, training and leadership —without needing to be a sensory expert. A companion to the bestselling Becoming a Sensory Aware School, this book brings the same clarity, compassion and practical wisdom to the early years sector.

Sensory wellbeing is central to everything in the early years. This practical toolkit helps you understand how sensory experiences can impact on young children’s ability to play, learn and connect, and turn that understanding into everyday action, across your whole setting. Written for busy early years teams, the book accessibly explains the eight senses and shows how sensory profiles can look very different from child to child. With everything you need to create a setting where all children feel safe, regulated, and ready to learn and thrive, it: Helps you spot when behaviour is really a child communicating, “this feels too much”, or “I need more input”. Encourages the reader to explore their own sensory preferences and triggers, because regulated adults create regulated spaces. Is packed with resources, including a self-assessment tool and audit, universal and targeted strategies, and suggestions for environment tweaks. Provides realistic, easy-to-implement next steps that can be adapted for different settings. Whether you’re a key worker, room leader, SENCO or nursery manager, this book will help you embed sensory inclusion into your routines, culture, training and leadership —without needing to be a sensory expert. A companion to the bestselling Becoming a Sensory Aware School, this book brings the same clarity, compassion and practical wisdom to the early years sector.

Sensory needs are often misunderstood and, as a result, neglected across many schools. Yet sensory needs are universal foundational building blocks at the base of both human and learning needs. This practical book covers everything schools need to know and consider about the sensory needs of all students and staff within the school environment. By focusing on all sensory needs in a holistic way, this leads to a deeper understanding of one another and is a truly inclusive approach to benefit all. Sensory Aware Schools have the potential for happier and more productive learning environments, with reduced potential for disruption as well as improvements in how school communities work and learn together. Chapters look at the sensory aware student and teacher and the sensory aware classroom and school, setting out the roadmap for working from sensory awareness to sensory inclusion and towards sensory wellbeing. The book:• Sets out the core and quality standards for Sensory Aware Schools• Provides a clear introduction to sensory systems and sensory awareness, discussing a variety of different models and approaches• Contains audit tools to help the reader to reflect on sensory needs, as well as a wealth of best practice tips, reflective questions and case studies• Develops staff skills in recognising and responding to sensory needs • Offers easy-to-implement, practical strategies for effective, short-term adjustments as well as long-term improvements to the sensory school environment• Includes an extensive sensory curriculum for students. This accessible book equips the reader with a multitude of strategies and resources and illustrates how adopting a whole school approach to sensory wellbeing will benefit everyone. It is essential reading for school leaders, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinators (SENDCOs) and primary and secondary teachers in mainstream or specialist provision, who are keen to develop an ethos of supporting sensory needs.

Sensory needs are often misunderstood and, as a result, neglected across many schools. Yet sensory needs are universal foundational building blocks at the base of both human and learning needs. This practical book covers everything schools need to know and consider about the sensory needs of all students and staff within the school environment. By focusing on all sensory needs in a holistic way, this leads to a deeper understanding of one another and is a truly inclusive approach to benefit all. Sensory Aware Schools have the potential for happier and more productive learning environments, with reduced potential for disruption as well as improvements in how school communities work and learn together. Chapters look at the sensory aware student and teacher and the sensory aware classroom and school, setting out the roadmap for working from sensory awareness to sensory inclusion and towards sensory wellbeing. The book:• Sets out the core and quality standards for Sensory Aware Schools• Provides a clear introduction to sensory systems and sensory awareness, discussing a variety of different models and approaches• Contains audit tools to help the reader to reflect on sensory needs, as well as a wealth of best practice tips, reflective questions and case studies• Develops staff skills in recognising and responding to sensory needs • Offers easy-to-implement, practical strategies for effective, short-term adjustments as well as long-term improvements to the sensory school environment• Includes an extensive sensory curriculum for students. This accessible book equips the reader with a multitude of strategies and resources and illustrates how adopting a whole school approach to sensory wellbeing will benefit everyone. It is essential reading for school leaders, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinators (SENDCOs) and primary and secondary teachers in mainstream or specialist provision, who are keen to develop an ethos of supporting sensory needs.

Building Blocks for Learning Occupational Therapy Approaches is a resource book for educational staff and pediatric occupational therapists, especially those new to the field. It shows how the implications of physical, psychological, social, and learning difficulties impact upon children’s abilities. This highly practical book will help readers recognize when a student’s poor performance within the classroom is a result of a medical condition or underlying motor and perceptual deficits.

The current trend towards social inclusion has resulted in an increasing awareness by school staff of the necessity to support students who have a variety of additional needs. Occupational Therapists identify how physical, psychological and learning disabilities affect a student?s ability to operate in the classroom. This highly practical book will help staff recognise when a student?s poor performance within the classroom is the result of a medical condition or underlying motor and perceptual deficit. Clear tables enable the reader to link observed classroom behaviour with possible management approaches and sources for further advice. Each curriculum subject has been analysed to identify areas where practical strategies will help students to achieve their potential. Information, clearly set out with bullet points, will provide a useful resource for special needs co-ordinators, teachers and support staff when devising Individual Education Plans. Paediatric Occuptional Therapists working with secondary aged students will also find it an invaluable tool.