Creative and Physical Development
Aims:
To continue to improve the quality of teaching of creative and physical development across the school day as means of improving children’s health and well-being.
To recognise the importance that play, creativity and physical activity has on our children’s social emotional
To enable all children to enjoy and participate in a broad range of play, creative and physical activities.
To ensure children have the opportunity to be physically active for sustained periods of time.
To ensure all children have the opportunity to engage in competitive sports and activities, either with other classes, other schools or to improve on their own personal best.
To further our work on promoting healthy lifestyles, enabling our children to make positive choices.
Direct reference to: ‘Obesity, healthy eating and physical activity’, July 2018, Ofsted
Physical Development: To enable children and young people to develop their individual unique physical skills which they can control and be used to explore their own environment. To provide essential opportunities to be active and interactive. Pupils to develop physical control, coordination and movement and take part individually or as a group in play, leisure and fitness activities. To develop a healthy lifestyle and understand and make healthy choices.
Swimming
At Oakwood we have our own hydrotherapy pool on site and as children become more independent we have the opportunity to access our swimming facilities at our local Leisure Centre Oakpark. We have trained life saver staff on site and we liaise closely with our school physiotherapy to support with carefully tailored exercise to support the development of our children. As a school we also follow the STA Rockhooper Series, this is a carefully designed programmer to support the children and young people with disabilities to build their individual water safety and swimming skills.
The Rockhooper series is an exciting programme consisting of 9 awards which introduce learners with disabilities to the joy of water. The series develops water confidence and water skills as well as increasing water safety awareness and knowledge.
Please see linked website for more details: Rockhopper Series – STA.co.uk
Outdoor School (Forest)
We have outdoor school/forest sessions as a regular activity in every class timetable. The Outdoor School sessions promote independence, self-esteem, self-confidence, resilience; fostering sensory awareness; physical well-being; enabling communication, especially peer-to-peer communication; promote team building and co-operative learning; thinking and problem solving; not to mention, having fun!
Rebound Therapy
We are proud to announce that at Oakwood we are able to offer ‘Rebound Therapy’ sessions at both Oakwood Main Site and the Satellite. We have a dedicated team of staff who have successfully completed a two day ‘Rebound Therapy Tutor Training’ course and are able to this form of therapy to our very special children. We also have our very own state of the art trampolines and safety spotting decks for each site.
For more information, please see our Therapies page.
Physiotherapy
Pediatric Physiotherapists are based at Oakwood two days a week and work closely with teaching team and with other professionals in school to provide individual support with ensure that our special children / young people’s physical abilities are maximized. Our physiotherapists support and advice is incorporated within their daily routines of their lives.
For more information, please see our Therapies page.
MOVE
Sherborne Movement
On a daily basis many of our pupils at Oakwood engage in the Sherbourne programme. Sherborne Developmental Movement is an inclusive approach to teaching and working with movement and can be used with a range of pupils from PMLD to Autism. It is aimed at helping all pupils to understand what is happening to their body when they move and then to learn to interact with others and build positive relationship through movement.
Stormbreak
Stormbreak is a scheme that aims to improve pupil’s mental health through movement, equipping them with sustainable, transferable skills and coping strategies to thrive during the complex demands of growth into adult life. At Oakwood we incorporate the video resources at key time during the school day to support pupils with regulating their emotions and to promote positive mindsets.
The benefits of Stormbreak for our pupils are:
Build resilience, overcome adversity, and learn to face stress and pressure.
Develop effective self-care, depression, anxiety and anger management skills
Develop optimism, focus, persistence and perseverance.
Improve confidence, self-esteem, self-image and self-worth.
Please see website for further information regarding Stormbreak: https://www.stormbreak.org.uk/
Personal Bests
‘My Personal Best’ is an approach Oakwood has adapted to enable all our pupils to flourish and be the best they can be across all areas of their physical development, individual to their own specific needs. We aim to focus on an achievable target based on their own physical capacities that help build their resilience, self-esteem, well-being and health.
Playgrounds
At Oakwood we pride ourselves on our outstanding outdoor learning areas across both school sites. Introducing new playground equipment has greatly improve the opportunities for our children to grow physically healthier and learn and develop key motor skills. Further key benefits include:
Spatial awareness
Increases self-confidence and self esteem
Improve cognitive development
Reduces the risk of childhood obesity
Helps promote problem solving skills
Helps children / young people to become physically active
Helps children / young people to understand their physical freedom safely
Enhances multiple senses
Improves each child’s individual social skills and physical health
Our playgrounds including: Adventure Climbing Shipwreck, Track Playground with role play gazebo, Year 7 outdoor learning area, PMLD sensory playground, adventure trial playground and may more.
PE
At Oakwood we provide our pupils with the opportunity to engage and thrive in a wide range of high quality Physical Education. We aim to build a passion of lifelong enjoyment and participation in physical activity.
We aim to:
Provide quality physical activity opportunities for all children, catering for interests and individual needs and abilities.
To build skills, knowledge and confidence in all aspects of PE
To encourage children to live a healthy, active lives whilst improving health and wellbeing.
Provide children with the opportunity to engage in competitive sport.
We deliver our Physical Education activities / sessions via the support of Equal Scheme of Work which ensures coverage of all key areas of physical area including gymnastics, dance, athletics, net and wall games, invasion games and striking and fielding. Areas focused on throughout the school year ensure the fundamental movement’s skills are covered.
Focus on Fundamental Movement Skills:
When delivering all areas of physical education we also incorporate and follow the three pillars of progression.
Three Pillars of Progression:
Creativity Development: To enable children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials and provide opportunities and encouragement to share their own thoughts. To enable pupils to explore colour, texture, shape, pattern, form and space in 2 and 3 dimensions. To listen to and participate actively in a range of musical experiences, to develop their imagination and to plan and generate designs. To use music, movement dance and creativity to express their own ideas, thoughts and feelings.
Art / Creativity
Children at Oakwood will safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. Children will use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, reinforcing the uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role play and stories.
Teachers ensure high quality, stimulating, creative and inspirational learning opportunities are available daily to interest and motivate pupil’s involvement across all areas of the creativity. Each half term a new skills will be forced upon which allow pupils to consolidate and develop the sequential knowledge and skills individual to their personal learning capabilities.
Half term focuses including:
Drawing and texture
Printing
Painting
Sculpture
Digital Media
Collage
Music
Music is a huge part of school life at Oakwood, each class has a specialist music session with Bev Cullen, our specialist music teacher. Class music sessions are planned to meet the needs of the pupils and selected songs, music and activities are linked into individual class projects to support our curriculum hooks.
Music sessions also incorporate key progressions skills focus within the areas of: tempo, timbre, dynamics, structure, pulse / beat and metre, rhythm and pitch.
The benefits of music include:
increased participation and engagement
improved communication and social skills
enhanced awareness of self and others
release of frustration in positive ways
personal satisfaction and a sense of achievement
decreased tension, anxiety and challenging behaviour
enjoyment and improved quality of life
She is also a Makaton Tutor who specialises in using Makaton with Singing.
Sessions combine singing, Makaton and the use of instruments to develop pupils’ skills in the following:
communication
turn taking
social interaction
awareness of others
vocalisation
self-confidence
creativity
spatial awareness
co-ordination
physical development
Every Friday lunchtime our Makaton Signing Choir come together to share their signing and signing talents. This is designed to develop our most able students in vocal, signing and communication skills (some pupils use a VOCA). Pupils have performed at singing festivals and The Big Sing at Forest Arts Centre and at the Walsall SEND Conference.
For more information, please see our Therapies page.
