The Play Revolution at East SILC John Jamieson!
John Jamieson school, part of East Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre (SILC), have spent the 2024/2025 academic year working hard to to improve opportunities for play and leisure for their students, thanks to a generous donation from the Sir George Martin Trust last summer.
John Jamieson is a through generic special school, supporting pupils with a wide range of challenges including moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties, complex medical needs, physical difficulties, Downs Syndrome, hearing and/or visual impairments and Autism. The school is divided into three Phases: Primary, High School and Post-16.
Where did the project start?
In 2021, the SEND Youth Council hosted a SEND and Alternative Provision Partnership Board Takeover – an opportunity for young people to raise their concerns and share their voices directly with senior leaders and decision makers (find out more about Takeovers here). It was at this Takeover event that the issue was raised around insufficient play resources at specialist provisions. Soon after, Leeds City Council partnered with Leeds Beckett University where one of their students completed some research into play provision in multiple specialist settings in the city – including John Jamieson – and highlighted again the need for better access and opportunities for play in these settings.
Securing funding
During the 2023/24 academic year, a group of students at John Jamieson went even further, and worked hard to identify the main needs of the school when it comes to play, pulling together a list of resources and equipment required to facilitate play and leisure for all students. In the summer of 2024, after receiving the persuasive funding application, the Sir George Martin Trust generously awarded the school £3000 to purchase the resources.
Putting plans into place
From September 2024, John Jamieson staff have worked together to begin acquiring these resources, while also making exciting plans to transform some of their spaces in the school into engaging zones that promote the young people to flourish and achieve their potential.
Among these developments include plans to build an outdoor café, enabling the Post-16 cohort to gain work experience, as well as providing a source of additional income for the school and a comfortable place for staff to have a break. They have also purchased potting benches and troughs in order to encourage gardening, and are excited to use their own home-grown herbs in the food prepared in their new café.
According to the staff, one of the biggest priorities for the Post-16 and the High School cohorts is to encourage them to spend time outside and socialise with one another. Plans for an outdoor sensory area at the school include setting up a permanent gazebo, benches, outdoor sports and gym equipment, a messy play table, as well as building a flower wall and a sensory wall. The staff hope this space will both encourage the older students to spend time outside, and also support them in taking on a mentoring role to younger students who come to use this space too.
The trampolines are a saving grace – [they are a] very effective regulation tool.
One of the most exciting repeat purchases throughout the school are trampolines! Described as a “saving grace”, every staff member spoke very highly of the benefits of having trampolines in the breakout spaces for each classroom, as a very effective regulation tool for their young people. They shared many examples of how utilising the trampolines during lesson time had allowed pupils to self-regulate and return to their learning, supporting their physical, emotional and educational needs.
Having been accredited as an Eco School, horticulture and the environment has been a priority area for encouraging play and leisure with the students. The school has plans to utilise the woodland and wildlife at their school further by creating their forestry area, as well as developing their Polytunnel into an outdoor classroom. They have also purchased a mud kitchen to promote outdoor, messy nature play with their students.
One of the primary phase students talked excitedly about the outdoor spaces that he could dig in at the school, where the pupils are encouraged to use spades and shovels to find stones and bricks in the mud. The student came up with imaginative stories for how the bricks and stones got there and how exciting it was to discover new things in the ground. The staff described this simple activity as a favourite for many of the pupils, and how useful it is to encourage creativity, outdoor play and social interaction.
Another exciting new play resource are the scooters. Specially designed to be sturdy and secure with light up wheels and brakes, the scooters have been a “big win” in many of the breakout spaces. As well as being a helpful regulation tool, staff have seen play with the scooters improving the social interaction between students and encouraging collaborative play – a great success for everyone
The school also have plans to create a Memory Garden for students who have sadly passed away while enrolled at the school. This will be situated in the quiet outdoor area near the café, allowing staff and pupils to quietly reflect.
Other resources include gymnastics bars for hanging and swinging, a swing chair for the older students in the outdoor sensory space, and hammocks in the primary school areas, with hanging and swinging being helpful regulation techniques for the students.
The staff at John Jamieson described how their progress to date is Phase 1 of their play renovation. Hindered recently by bad weather, they are excited to get the ball rolling after the February half-term with purchasing and setting up the remaining resources, as well as beginning the bigger outdoor transformations at the school. This is just the beginning and the staff are excited to share updates as they develop their spaces, and have even discussed a formal unveiling of their new play and leisure offer in the coming months!
Watch this space for more exciting updates on the John Jamieson Play Renovation Project!
